My favourite 5:2 diet 'fast day' breakfasts.

As you may know, I’m a pretty big advocate of the 5:2 diet (the what:what diet? I explain it here), so it pleases me greatly that so many of my friends are now trying it out after having read my posts. What supportive friends they are. And I love supporting them back.

Having read numerous articles and books (I thoroughly recommend this one, by Dr Michael Mosley himself) about intermittent fasting and the 5:2 diet, as well as having done a fair few fast days myself now – sometimes randomly, sometimes properly 5:2ing for a few weeks – I like to feel I’m pretty clued up about it.

As a result, I seem to have become a 5:2 diet coach for my friends. And I don’t feel put out by this at all! On the contrary, I’m keen to help them as much as I can to become the healthiest versions of themselves.

Somewhat depressingly, a recent study by Nakd Wholefoods found that 1 in 4 people will deliberately sabotage a friend’s diet, usually by inviting them out for drinks, tempting them with unhealthy treats and trying to dissuade them from dieting. Isn’t that awful!? I think so.

Apparently, the main reasons for doing so are because their dieting friends talk about their diet too much, make the non-dieters feel bad about themselves for not dieting , and are grumpy and miserable. Well. Can’t we just all support each other please?

Peanut butter is a great filler-upper.

I’ve been offering my 5:2 dieting friends tips on how best to go about their fast days… For example, try and wait as long as possible before eating, thus waiting longer before breaking the fast (more health benefits) and waking up the stomach – for most people, once you eat even a little something it triggers hunger for the rest of the day. (I wrote a post full of tips here actually.)

I’ve been trying to motivate them and give them a boost when they’re struggling – did you know that for some people, each fast day works out as a pound of weight lost? Quite the motivator, that little gem.

And I’ve been offering meal ideas. In fact, my meal suggestions have been so very well received that I’ve decided to share them with you all here.

I tend to split my fast day calories (500 for girls) into two meals – one around 2.30/3pm (breakfast), and then the other at normal dinner time (7.30pm-ish). It works for me. And, naturally, I drink gallons of tea, sugar-free squash, diet fizzy drinks, water and sugar-free iced tea throughout the day.

In this post, I’m going to share with you some of my favourite fast day ‘breakfasts’ in the hope that they’ll inspire you. If you’ve got something you can’t WAIT to whip up and eat, you’re going to be much more excited about (well, hopefully not dreading, at least) your next fast day. There’s every chance I’ll add to this post as new tasty brekkie ideas come to me, so do check back and see! And I’m hoping to do a dinner one in the near future too. [Update: here's the post with my fave fast day dinners.]

They’re all around 250 calories or less, and full of refreshing fruit, filling protein and FLAVOUR galore!

Without further ado…

1. My super simple, super tasty, super filling banana, blueberry and cinnamon pancakes. So good they warranted a blog post ALL to themselves! About 250 calories

Pic from Almond Butter Fever

2. Banana, blueberry and cinnamon porridge. (Yup, same flavour combo because it’s a winner!) Measure out 40g oats, cover with just-boiled water and stir for a few minutes until the oats have expanded and started absorbing the water. Add a mashed banana to make the texture creamier, a handful of blueberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon to taste. If you like your porridge runnier, add more water, and if it’s not hot enough, pop it in the microwave for a quick blast. Filling and delicious. About 250 calories.

3. Apple with peanut butter dip. This was inspired by Nic’s Nutrition’s skinny PB dip and is SO yummy and seriously filling. As in, I genuinely felt really full after eating it earlier today. With these quantities you get to have a really good amount of dip with each bite of apple, and the creamy peanut buttery dip with the crisp, juicy fruit is a marriage made in heaven.

Mix together 1 generous tbsp smooth peanut butter and 1 tbsp fat free natural yoghurt in a small bowl. Cut and core one large apple into slices, dip into the peanut butter mix and enjoy. About 250 calories.

4. Fruit salad with yoghurt. Of course you can use any fruit you like really, but you’ll have to count up your calories! I like to go for a banana (relatively calorie-dense but energising, filling and delish), and a mix of berries (super low-cal and also delish!)

You could use frozen or fresh, and strawberries really should become your best friends in the low-cal fruit stakes. Top a sliced banana, 100g strawberries and a handful of blueberries with 150g fat-free yoghurt (natural or fruity). Yum! About 250 calories.


Aaaaand for your non-fast days? Allow me to direct you towards my top 10 FAVOURITE breakfasts. (Mmm breakfast.)

What I’m yet to be able to advise people on is how to get to sleep better the night after a fast day – it is my one massive problem with the 5:2 diet! It would seem my body thinks I’ve gone into starvation mode so decides to stay alert all night in the hope of sustenance. Foolish body! Very annoying. So if anyone has any tips on that front, I’d LOVE to hear them!

Also, have you got any fast day breakfast ideas to share? Hit me up!