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1. Decide which days you are going to diet during the week.Remember the days must be non-consecutive. Think about what you’ve got on in your schedule. The best days are busy but not social ones. So pick your boring days and you will be fine.

2. How many meals are you going to eat on your diet days?Three small meals ORbreakfast and dinner ORlunch and dinner.

3. Use the appropriate meal planner as a guide.Set out what you are going to eat. Buy and prepare your food in advance.

Use this handy guide to help you work out the best days to diet and the best times to eat during the day.

• Try to diet on the same days each week – try Monday and Thursday.

• Eat a filling breakfast and make it through to an early dinner as soon as you come home from work.

• Work through your lunchtime or go for a brisk, refreshing walk.

• Plan and prepare your evening meal in advance so that it is quick and easy to cook when you get home.

• Plan your diet days for days when you are busy but have no social engagements, especially if they involve food or drink.

• The days you diet can be flexible so you can choose different days each week – check your calendar and plan accordingly.

• Prepare your food in advance. Cook batches and freeze in individual portions. Then you will have a perfect meal ready in minutes when you get home from work.

• Eat one or two small meals or snacks during the day, having most of your calories in the evening.

• Keep busy on diet day evenings – try out a hobby or go for a walk.

• Choose your diet days so they are your busiest days when you and the kids are out and about.

• Eat three small meals at the same time as your children.

• Prepare your food in advance so it is ready at the same time as their food.

• Eat your main meal as an early tea with your family. You may find you can eat the same meal – just without the carbs.

• Try to make sure you both diet on the same days. Consult your diaries and stick to the same plan.

• Men can eat an extra 100 calories per day, so they can have a little extra for breakfast or lunch.

• Plan to sit down and eat your evening meal together.

• Go to the cinema or for a walk together on the evenings of your diet days.

• Plan out your diet days carefully. Come up with a schedule and stick to it.

• Try dieting on a Monday and Wednesday as that way you will get your diet days out of the way as quickly as possible.

• If you are struggling with motivation on a diet day, remember why the 2-Day Diet is different – tomorrow you can eat normally with no guilt.

• Everyone finds some days harder than others. But as you get used to the diet it gets easier and easier.

• If you fall off the wagon one week you can always try again next week – don’t give up!

If you are feeling a little nervous about your first day: don’t be. Think positive and it will fly by.

Your first day may be the hardest. This is because you may never have allowed yourself to be properly hungry before and your body is telling you that this is wrong. Rest assured, it is natural to feel hungry. Ease your hunger pangs with a calorie-free drink or go for a walk.

The most important thing to remember is that it is only one day and tomorrow you can eat like a king. Feel proud of yourself. If you are hungry you are actively losing weight. Revel in a real sense of achievement.

If you are reading this on your first diet day then I suspect you are feeling one or other of these common symptoms for the first day. Not everyone gets these but if you are one of them, then read on for some simple ways to combat them and get through the day.

Headaches are a common problem in the first few days of the 2-Day Diet. I believe the main cause of this is a change in caffeine intake. If you normally have a few cups of tea and coffee then a headache is almost a given if you cut down. But as this diet is not about caffeine-reduction and you are most likely to go back to your normal intake tomorrow, then any headache you have today is in vain.

Think about what your average caffeine intake is on a regular day and try and have a similar amount of drinks on a diet day too. I normally incorporate my normal skinny latte and two cups of tea into every diet day. But you do need to count the calories so if your normal caffeinated drinks are too calorific for a diet day then you need to swap to something else. Any coffee drink without milk has negligible calories, think Americano or Espresso. If you prefer a milky drink then make sure you use skimmed milk and don’t overdo the milk. Also worth trying are drinks such as green tea, which is mildly caffeinated and, of course, diet colas are an option.

As a general guide, your caffeine intake should be below 500mg per day. But if you are sensitive to caffeine or suffer from headaches, restlessness or anxiety you should consider dropping this to less than 250mg. If you have trouble sleeping, try not to consume any caffeine after 3pm. This is because caffeine has a half-life of eight hours. If it is consumed after 3pm, it may still be affecting you at 11pm. For the purposes of the diet, you should be trying to maintain your standard consumption of caffeine so as to maintain a feeling of well-being over your diet day.

Light-headedness or dizziness can be a problem, particularly on your first diet day. This is your body ‘rebelling’ against the diet and saying it can’t cope when really it can! In fact, studies have shown that tests done on people suffering from a ‘blood sugar crash’ have actually had normal blood sugar levels. The first thing to do if you get a wave of light-headedness is to move about and get some fresh air if possible. The wave might well pass in 15 minutes.

If this is still your first week of the diet and you are finding that one or other of these symptoms is limiting your ability to function normally, then you should eat something small and filling. Ideally go for about 100 calories, perhaps a small banana or a Ryvita with a light spread of soft cheese. On these days you will eat 100 calories more in total – so that is 600 for women and 700 for men.

Don’t let it put you off, and you will find the next day easier. Your body adapts quickly and after two weeks it should no longer impact on your feelings of well-being.

Finally, if you are a new starter, the great news is your weight loss in the first week or two is at its most dramatic. After two to three weeks it will stabilise. So push on through, you will see the results on the scales almost immediately.