So I've been on the 5:2 diet for five and a half weeks now and I've lost eight pounds *cheers*. That works out to just over a pound and half a week and I've not even been gymming that much. (I went once last week and haven't even been this week which is really bad.)

Anyway, I'm happy with my results so far and it's becoming easier as the weeks go by. Today was the start of warmer weather in Hertfordshire and I found it quite refreshing to stick to two salads and a pot of edamame beans for my fast day.

I buy all of my groceries from Tesco and my favourite salad at the moment is the Tesco Pesto Salad Kit. It's got an amazing pesto dressing, a pack of parmigiano shavings and a pack of pine nuts on a bed of mixed leaves. I had a third of it today for dinner with two slices of turkey breast for 172 calories.

The longer you're on the diet, the more savvy you become in finding foods with a lot of mass but not many calories. Salads are an obvious one but the other day I found out that Mini Peperamis are only 40 calories each so they're ideal as a little snack when you want something "bad".

It's amazing that I've managed to lose weight after what I've consumed at the weekends. For example, I went out for an Italian on Saturday, drank a load of red wine (two bottles!) and then had a hungover McDonald's the next day.

I'm hoping to lose a couple of stone in total so will keep you posted on my 5:2 journey with hints and confessions.