B00AFYX78I EBOK (14 page)

Inspired by Jenny, I made a donation to Shelter and will do
the same when I hit weight loss milestones. If it’s something that appeals to
you, you might consider doing the same.

The Best Reward - it works…

Of course, you should soon begin seeing the results of the
diet itself - which is the biggest reward.

Many of us see changes from week one – in January 2013, the
Facebook group has had members who’ve lost six pounds in a week, while others
haven’t lost anything until the second or third weeks. My own weight loss was
very un-dramatic but it felt sustainable and what kept me going was the
knowledge that the health benefits were the most important thing to me.

Trouble-shooting

Most people who embark on the diet find it sustainable and simple.
But what if it’s
not
working quite as well as you’d hoped?

Now move onto Part Three - it’s all about
the food!

For
starters…

There’s
no point in fibbing about this - you can’t eat much on your Fast Days. But even
500-600 calories can fill you up, and for most of us, it’s far less daunting
than a ‘true’ fast where you’d eat nothing at all.

The
way people structure their Fast Days varies – there’s no right answer!

Usually
have 100g frozen fruit for breakfast (thawed - 29 cals). Weight Watchers
tomato soup (76 cals) at lunchtime and either a Weight Watchers frozen meal in
the evening, or fish or chicken with salad in the evening to make up to the
500, less if possible. Allow 60 cals for 2 coffees with milk during the day. 
Weight Watchers chicken and beef hotpots are about 230 cals each.

Steph, 49

1x
Coffee (white with sugar)
1x
cup-a-soup for lunch
2
pieces of fruit in late afternoon
A
decent meal in the evening
Also
drink herbal teas during the day if I feel peckish

Sunil, 34

Shop-bought
soups (as low-calorie as possible) and ready meals, with some veg and fruit. I
aim for 500 calories and total it as I go.

Val, 56

Oats
So Simple Porridge with Semi-Skimmed Milk at around 1pm (180 calories)

Bachelors
Golden Vegetable Cup-a-soup at around 4:30pm (59 calories)

Dinner
usually around 300-350 calories, often from the Hairy Bikers Diet Cook Book
which is excellent as it's not low fat and gives calories per portion.

Andrew, 42

I've
started making dhal, baked beans are good, salads are filling, make my own tom
soup with a half stock cube in a little boiling water, 1/3rd tom puree added
once that's dissolved, herbs and garlic puree added (the stuff in the tube),
then topped up with more boiling water. Easy. I avoid hi GI foods.

Linda, 52

Yogurt, cuppa soup, and an omelette!

Graeme, 38

As
I outlined in Step Two, you will need to make decisions about
how often you eat on your Fast Day – one, two, or three meals - and also
whether you want to cook, or use ready-made meals. Many of us do both, though
as I carry on with this regime I veer more towards spending the minimum time in
the kitchen. I adore cooking but it’s less fun when you’re measuring every
teaspoon of vinegar, or fretting over lemon juice.

In this part of the book, I will make suggestions for
ready-made
and
home-made options for breakfasts, lunches and dinners,
plus snacks, treats and tips for eating out. Equally, if you want to munch on
muesli at tea time, or sip soup for breakfast, it’s your call!

 The recipes are pretty simple  - and do please adjust them
as you wish. Or you can put your own dishes into the Recipe section of the
www.MyFitnessPal.com
site to work out how many calories your favourites contain. You can make a
huge batch of soup or stew and then measure it out into portions to freeze –
this way you enjoy all the economic benefits of a home-made dish, but run less
risk of accidentally going over the limit for the day.

I’m a vegetarian and I do recommend focusing on fruit and
veg on your Fast Days as you’ll get more for your calories - though there are
meaty suggestions too.

Also bear in mind that some scientists say eating a lot of
protein may switch on IGF-1 which may be counter-productive. Dr Mosley has said
he keeps protein down to under 60g on Fast Days – as an example, a medium egg
contains approximately 7g and 100g of cooked chicken breast contains around
30g. You may prefer to do the same - it’s a balancing act, though, as protein
tends to keep you full for longer.

I’ve included an
A-Z of Ingredient Inspiration
(with
a few letters missing, I must admit - ever tried finding a nice food beginning
with U?) to give you new ideas for seasonal produce. Plus there’s a list of
sweet
and savoury snack ideas
, for those times when you
need something now
!

Finally, I’ve included a section of
daily menu ideas
to help you get started – plus a template so you can plan your own.

A note on measurements: I am a confused British cook – I
weigh myself in pounds, measure myself in feet and inches, but cook in grams,
especially since 5:2 because the measurements seem more precise. I hope this
doesn’t make things too confusing, especially for readers in the United States
- there are links to conversion charts in the Resources section.

Food and Fasting Tips

Before
we get to the recipe section, here are some helpful guidelines which should
help on Fast Days.

Measure,
measure, measure (at least till you get used to it!)

Yes,
it’s a bit tedious but it can also be very enlightening. It will really give
you an insight into why we might be consuming more calories than we ever
realised before. Weighing and then recording
exactly
what you’re eating
on the Fast Days – right down to a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar or a sprinkling
of sunflower seeds – is the best way to avoid the temptation to cheat. Of
course, once you’re more used to the quantities you can eat on Fast Days, you
won’t need to measure so frequently.

Doll’s
House meals

The
simplest approach to doing this diet is cut out all snacks, and then measure
tiny portions of the foods you and your family normally eat (checking the
calorie counts carefully until you can estimate them). Sometimes it’s easier
than cooking something entirely separate when time is short.

It
helps to use smaller plates or dishes - I think of my Fast Day yogurt and fruit
as a doll’s house-sized portion.

Vitamin
‘Insurance’

 It
makes sense to take a multi-vitamin during the fasts, just to make sure you’re
getting enough nutrients. Of course, if you’re eating lots of vegetables, you
might be getting even higher levels of certain vitamins than usual, but I think
taking a good multi-vitamin is a sensible move for anyone who is dieting.

Meal
replacement shakes and bars

There’s
no need to buy ‘special’ foods for your Fast Days, and personally I prefer to
eat foods that are similar to what I eat on normal days - just smaller portions
or with fewer ‘naughty’ additions.

Having said this, diet shakes, soups and bars have proved
useful for some people – they are fortified with vitamins, and they also offer
very precise calorie-controlled portions, so you know exactly what you’re
getting.

Although
the milkshakes were boring, I can see the benefit and am pleased I took that
route to start: a) I didn’t have to think about calories on restricted days,
therefore, I didn’t think about food and b) because the milkshake was so
restricting, choosing what to eat after the two weeks were up, has made me more
aware of not to go over my calorie limit – and I don’t want to.

Anita, 51

I’d
find them off-putting, but if you enjoy them or find them convenient, there’s
no reason why you shouldn’t use them - so long as you eat a varied diet on
Feast Days!

Savouring the flavour

Unless
you have chosen meal replacements, one good way to make your Fast Days more
enjoyable is finding ways to add flavour without adding too many calories:
which means that spices, fresh herbs, and lower-calorie sauces come into their
own to add depth and keep your taste buds entertained.

Take your pick from:

Chilli
- flakes are
brilliant for pepping up soups, stews and baked beans – one study also suggests
they might help with fat-burning and increasing the metabolism. But go easy -
they pack a punch. Chopped fresh chillies are delicious too but need even more
caution.

Hot
Chilli Sauce is another easy way to liven things up. It contains more calories
than the flakes but you need very little.

Fresh
Herbs
are
great as an addition to a salad: the most versatile are chives and basil. Try
chives with scrambled eggs or with other herbs in an omelette, basil torn up
and added to tomato-based soups or stews/sauces. Rocket or young spinach leaves
work well both as a salad crop and added to soup or stews to add body and
taste.

Garlic
-
low in
calories and a little goes a very long way. It’s much less potent if you roast
it along with other vegetables - break into cloves but leave them in their pink
skins till they’re roasted, then squeeze it out of the skins as a puree. You
can even spread on a slice of bread if you’re brave, it’s as unctuous as
butter.

Horseradish/Wasabi
- I love the
scary-hot tang of wasabi (the green horseradish you get in pre-packed sushi  trays
or in a tube) even though the tiniest quantity is eye-watering. Great to take
your mind off fasting, though!

Miso
- this
Japanese fermented paste comes in jars or tubes and adds a meaty (though it’s
veggie) flavour to all sorts of dishes, and also works as a very low calorie
soup stirred with boiling water in a mug. You can also buy it as powdered
sachets ready to make into soup - more convenient to take to work.

Mustard
- like horseradish, it’s hot
and tasty and works with cheese, ham and other cold meats.

Pickles/chutneys
- I am addicted to all things
sweet and sour, including pickles and chutneys. Be mindful of the sugar
content, but a small amount, calorie-counted, can give you a hit of flavour -
spread some very thinly on a slice of bread, add a slice of low-cal cheese and
grill for a Fast Day cheese on toast…

Salsa
- either buy
fresh, in jars (still surprisingly tasty) or make your own (see the recipe
under Ingredient Inspiration) - it’s great as an accompaniment to fish, lean
meat or Quorn/Veggie burgers and as it contains no sugar, is a much better bet
than tomato ketchup.

Soy
sauce
- is
salty but definitely adds zing, as does
Worcestershire sauce
.

Vinegars
- cider or
wine vinegars can work well as a dressing without oil, as can balsamic, though
the latter is slightly more calorific as it’s sweet, so measure it and count in
your calorie allowance - it’s around 16 cals per tablespoon. I also love
tomatoes baked in the oven with a few drops of balsamic and then served with fresh
herbs like basil or thyme.

What NOT to eat on your Fast Day

Of
course, you can eat what you like - up to your calorie limit - but here are
some things that many people avoid on Fast Days:

Fruit
and Fruit Juice

Juiced
and many whole fruits may upset your blood sugar balance due to the natural
sugars - you could be hit by cravings by 11am which is NOT what you want. The most
useful exception is fresh berries – whole strawberries, blueberries and
raspberries won’t give you quite the same intense sugar hit, but they are
intensely flavoured. Frozen berries can also work well when fresh aren’t in
season - blueberries and raspberries are particularly nice.

Refined
Carbohydrates

White
bread, potatoes and white rice are particularly likely to give you that carb
high that will then make you hungry ‘on the rebound’. Complex carbohydrates -
seeded rolls, brown rice, sweet potatoes - will have a less dramatic effect but
you won’t get a very big portion of these foods if you want to stay within your
Fast Day calorie limit.