Don’t have the patience for a full-time diet? Then try a part-time no carb diet. That’s the conclusion of a new British study, which says that you’ll actually lose more weight if you only cut carbs occasionally. In fact, people who gave up carbs for two days, and ate normally the rest of the week, lost an average of four pounds more than people who restricted their diet every day.

Why would that happen? Michelle Harvie is a dietician who says it boils down to the fact that when you limit carbs occasionally, then you feel less hungry and one of the main reasons most people give up on diets is because they don’t like the feeling of “going hungry.” Plus, she says if you restrict calories every day, you’ll also restrict energy, so you’ll wind up feeling run-down and unsatisfied, which makes you crave more food.

So what’s on your 2-day-a-week no carb menu? Harvie recommends eating one piece of fruit, plus foods with protein and healthy fats, like nuts, peppers, mushrooms, and green, leafy vegetables. However, skip eating bread, pasta, and root vegetables, like potatoes and carrots.

And know this: With each pound you lose on this diet, you’re cutting your risk for cancer! Harvey says that’s because when you limit carbs, you improve levels of insulin and leptin in the body, two hormones that have been linked to a higher risk for breast cancer.