Ideas for fasting days on 5:2 diet

hairyprincess

Fast day number two for me. I had planned to have a cuppa soup at lunch time but at that stage I convinced myself it was only 2 hours until dinner time so I held back through the hunger pangs!

So at 3.45 I sat down to a huge salad of lambs lettuce, rocket, red and yellow peppers, sweetcorn, celery, carrot and a chicken breast fried in flora cuisine squeezy bottle stuff. Drizzled it all in a little sweet chilli sauce, it was yummy, and came to 399 calories.

I was a bit bold over the weekend with my dinners, no rubbish but I was out for dinner Saturday night and then I had a fry yesterday evening. It's not the norm so i'm not concerned.

Richard tea

Im not disheartened. Im more determined now to get it right. Thanks for the meals Hairyprincess & LaChatteGitane.

Macha

A good tip I read in that online book mentioned earlier is the BBC Good Food website's recipes. You can choose them by calories/serving:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search.do

dudara

A cup of Bovril comes in at 20 cal, so it's a quick simple way to knock back the hunger.

onlyup

Cottage cheese + small tin of tuna ~151 cals

gjc

The BBC good food website is very good there are recipes there for 200-400 calories I'm planning on making this today as my fast day

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2089/spiced-carrot-and-lentil-soup, thanks for your help guys appreciate the company.

Question is how come my soup is 238KCal yet cottage cheese and a small tin of tuna is 151 cals??? puzzled???

Im leaving out the yogurt and nan bread as I dont have them in my cupboard and I going to use low fat milk or perhaps water (dont know yet) so are they bumping up the calories or is it a misprint do you think

Stench Blossoms

I think the calories are just an estimate.

You'd be better off putting the ingredients into myfitnesspal etc to get a more accurate amount.

Duvetdays

I'm doing the alternate day diet which is the same kind of idea eat fast eat fast, on the fast day which is 500kcal I hold off for breakfast until around 11 by then I'm starving but a really good breakfast I found is peel and chop an apple sprinkle a tiny bit of cinnamon on it then microwave for about 2mins after it cools slightly I pour a glenisk strawberry fat free yogurt on it. You have a really nice breakfast for 150kcal.

Lunch yesterday way a small can of tuna flakes in a tomato and onion dressing with a handful of mixed lettuce leaves. I find the flavour of the tuna dressing takes the blandness away

Dinner was a two egg omelette with a bit of spring onion and a tiny bit of grated cheddar.

hardCopy

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

I think the calories are just an estimate.

You'd be better off putting the ingredients into myfitnesspal etc to get a more accurate amount.

I'd agree, it's a great starting point though as it can be very hard to create a recipe from scratch that will actually work.

I just wish the recipe section of myfitnesspal was easier to use. If you want to tweak the quantity of one ingredient you have to delete the ingredient completely and re-add it with new quantities, on the regular food screen and on the mobile app you can do this, but not with the Recipe section.

gjc

gjc wrote: »

The BBC good food website is very good there are recipes there for 200-400 calories I'm planning on making this today as my fast day

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2089/spiced-carrot-and-lentil-soup, thanks for your help guys appreciate the company.

Question is how come my soup is 238KCal yet cottage cheese and a small tin of tuna is 151 cals??? puzzled???

Im leaving out the yogurt and nan bread as I dont have them in my cupboard and I going to use low fat milk or perhaps water (dont know yet) so are they bumping up the calories or is it a misprint do you think

I skipped breakfast had a bowl at 1 o clock and will have a bowl at 6 o clock with an apple after it, absolutely no hunger pangs...was very filling (all thats in it is carrots and lentils really) so far so good.

hairyprincess

Fast Day 3: started of terribly! I had not one but two Tunnocks teacakes at 106 calories each!! I pulled myself together after the second one and braved the elements to go for a good brisk walk. I was in two minds whether I would do the fast today but I decided to carry on with it. So for dinner I made a kind of ratatouille, which I forgot to talk a picture of, sorry! But it contained chick peas, garlic, red onion, celery, red pepper, yellow pepper, Courgette, carrot, a tin of tomatoes some cumin and chilli flakes. Yummy and just 291calories

dudara

Today's lunch was an edamame salad plus diet yogurt. When I got home I had a 150g grilled chicken breast that I flavoured with smoked paprika & salt. A little beetroot salad on the side bought the total for the day to 460 cal.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

finding the fast days easier this week compared to last week
up since 8, 3pm now and I'm.. kinda hungry I guess but nothing a glass of water won't fix

up until I started doing this properly I'd get kinda panicky the hungrier I got, used to have big problems with panic attacks so as soon as I felt the big hunger pangs I'd rush straight into the kitchen to get dinner or lunch prepared. now though I seem to be able to handle it much better. I'll probably do up a veggie filled stir fry around 6 or 7 o clock but im not sure if I should throw some meat in there or not. is the 600 calories a maximum guideline or is <600 a-ok if you can manage it


--edit

actually I just realised I'm probably cheating. spoon of coconut oil in the morning and in the afternoon

That's a major benefit about this, you learn that the first wave of hunger isn't something you need to start fussing about and that you're actually fine for ages after.
Am doing 24h fast instead of 36h - 500kcal, I suppose it's easier
dinner to dinner

It's up to 600 for men so you're ok if you want less.
500 for women

gjc

the very first fast day i did..... i crashed and burned at the first hunger pang which i got at 8pm ......you you become more used to it as you go along and managing becomes a little more easier ..i was going completly tooo long without anything...i found soup to be a friend....but also to have it ready on the standby for these emergencies rather than grabbing the first thing in the fridge..i hope that helps you my friend...

dudara

Didn't realise that 100g of broccoli contains only about 35 cals. Had a massive portion of lightly steamed broccoli on Thursday night, along with grated carrot (55 cal) and a handful of cooked prawns (60 cals) to give me a dinner total of 150 cal. This actually left me feeling very full and with 100 cals left over for the day

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah I end up with a massive mountain of food on my plate on my fast days that by my calculations is only around 3-400 calories. it seems wrong.. but since it's mainly bulky low cal veg and a chicken breast.. i guess it's kinda right?

seems ridiculous anyway that I can get that full and eat that much with so little calories

Richard tea

Good or bad???

If you start your fast at 8pm on a Sunday & eat your 500/600 cal meal at 5pm on Monday, should you try and continue the fast until breakfast on Tuesday morning. The reason I ask is because I find myself eating after 8pm which is the 24hrs mark.

kimokanto

Richard tea wrote: »

Good or bad???

If you start your fast at 8pm on a Sunday & eat your 500/600 cal meal at 5pm on Monday, should you try and continue the fast until breakfast on Tuesday morning. The reason I ask is because I find myself eating after 8pm which is the 24hrs mark.

I've been doing 5:2 for about 2months now and usually do wednesday & thursday fast days. I will have my last normal/ non-fast meal @6pm tuesday. Wednesday & thursday will be 500/600 Calorie days and then return to normal eating friday morning brekfast. I reckon approx 60 hours(Including sleep) of fast/low calorie intake. From watching the Horizon documentary about 5:2 diet the extended period of fasting is what causes the metabolism to change. The body then goes into "Repair Mode" where the health benefits are. I know there are different opinions re consecutive/non-consecutive days but consecutive suits me-take the hit in one go! Did my first weight check this week & I am down almost 12lbs from last november so seems to be working for weight loss too.

bluecherry74

I'm going to try this next week and see how it goes. I haven't worked out calories yet (and I will), but does this sound like it would be a reasonable 500 calorie day?

Breakfast - hardboiled egg
Lunch - homemade veg soup, small apple or satsuma
Dinner - grilled chicken breast or grilled salmon, with either a green salad or steamed green veggies.

I'll drink black coffee and water throughout the day.

hardCopy

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

yeah I end up with a massive mountain of food on my plate on my fast days that by my calculations is only around 3-400 calories. it seems wrong.. but since it's mainly bulky low cal veg and a chicken breast.. i guess it's kinda right?

seems ridiculous anyway that I can get that full and eat that much with so little calories

I've started adding loads of green beans, asparagus and peas to dishes to really fill the dish out without loading up on calories. It works especially well in saucy dishes.

I can now eat massive servings of lasagne, spag-bol, gnocchi and keep it around 400-450 calories.

molly09

Just wondering how are people getting on with this diet.
Is the weight loss sustainable?

notice any other health benefits?

dudara

I'm about 5 weeks into intermittent fasting, using the 5:2 concept. It's going really well - I've lost over 4kg and heading to 5kg. My attitude to portion sizes has definitely re-adjusted itself as a result. I also find myself making choices now that I didn't before i.e. when I want a treat coffee, I'll choose a small flat white over a large latte.

prettygurrly

I started this diet a little while ago but I've had a problem getting two days a week in the last couple of weeks due to just lots of things to do but I am going to get better.

My fast days consist of two protein shakes at 150 cals each and then a less than 300 cal dinner usually by either tesco or weight watchers. As I am on the go a lot, trying to cook 300 cal dinners is just annoying so ready meals are doing the trick.

Last year I was doing two protein shakes and a low carb dinner and lost a lot of weight but only kept it up properly for about 2.5 weeks. I'm hoping that this diet means that I can keep going for longer as you have days when you can eat what you like* which makes my life so much easier.

I also have not been to the gym for two weeks and really looking forward to tomorrow morning as I have missed it terribly!

*obviously within reason.

monkey brain

kimokanto wrote: »

I've been doing 5:2 for about 2months now and usually do wednesday & thursday fast days. I will have my last normal/ non-fast meal @6pm tuesday. Wednesday & thursday will be 500/600 Calorie days and then return to normal eating friday morning brekfast. I reckon approx 60 hours(Including sleep) of fast/low calorie intake. From watching the Horizon documentary about 5:2 diet the extended period of fasting is what causes the metabolism to change. The body then goes into "Repair Mode" where the health benefits are. I know there are different opinions re consecutive/non-consecutive days but consecutive suits me-take the hit in one go! Did my first weight check this week & I am down almost 12lbs from last november so seems to be working for weight loss too.

Thats brillant:) i am also thinking of trying it but confused about doing it consecutive/non-consecutive as generally people are saying to split days but i thought from the horizon documentary the benifts were to do them together..

Damer

You can do either, but recon it's much easier to split them, I generally do Monday and Thursday
Usual routine is to have small bowl of porridge for breakfast then a cup of bovril at lunchtime then noodles and veg for dinner..

Damer

Worth a look http://thefastdiet.co.uk/

--Kaiser--

Damer wrote: »

You can do either, but recon it's much easier to split them, I generally do Monday and Thursday
Usual routine is to have small bowl of porridge for breakfast then a cup of bovril at lunchtime then noodles and veg for dinner..

How is that a fast?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

have you even read the thread?

--Kaiser--

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

have you even read the thread?

I had a skim through but eating little does not equal fasting