Eat, fast and live longer - the 5:2 lifestyle

[Rogizoja]

Hang on in there ElleG, I'm sure you'll soon start to shed the kilos - I'm rooting for you.

$65 sounds a lot to me. Found a spirelli on Lakeland's site at £18 adn that seems pricey to me. Think I'll just stick with the julienne peeler!!

And thanks for the blog sites - seems there's a growing band of followers out there taking up the baton - should be a great source of low-cal recipes for fast days.

Persevere ElleG, persevere 

[Shazzy]

Well got up and spontaneously decided that I would do a fast day to see how I would go! I have loaded fitness pal onto my phone to help count the calories.  I think I have come in at 495 for the day. To be honest I have found the day quite difficult.
It has been an interesting exercise just seeing what food equates to what amount of calories!!

[Rogizoja]

Really well done Shazzy  , you've taken the first step - now you need to decide whether you're in it for the journey  . I also found the very first day quite tough (the urge to "pick" was quite strong) but now I find it easier to stick to the plan. By the way, going to bed early also helps to get over the "end of day" craving (and maybe even work off a few extra calories as well!!  ).

Stick with it Shazzy and let us know how you get on.

[ElleG]

Shazzy, first day is always the hardest.  .

My husband has been happy to join me. He really missed porridge, so we are having oats with a little bit of milk and half a cup of raspberries. I find I cook a big meal for lunch. This week has been 150g chicken between us and lots of green veggies in the stir fry, and a veggie curry the other day. At night we have eggs (only one for me), lettuce and a few cherry tomatoes. Then finish with strawberries and yogurt for him. We have mochiattos (15 mls of milk), can't give up the coffee.

This week has been easier as we both enjoy porridge, the bulky meal fills us up, and the night time is fine.

Good luck if you decide to continue.  I think the secret is to eat low cal foods that you enjoy, that are filling (lettuce, broccoli zucchini etc) and have some protein with them. It will get easier - I am writing down meals and the calorie count so in weeks to come, it will be easier to decide what to eat.

[Shazzy]

Thanks both EllieG and Rogizoja for the encouragement. I did fast again yesterday and it was a little easier. I did end up eating just over the 500 calories but I was working yesterday and needed ( ) just a small youghurt in the arvo.  It also helped having celery and a punnet of strawberries to nibble on.  Any meal suggestions would be great.....
Sounds like you are both going really well on it. Will follow your progress with interest.

[cookie1]

I'm enjoying reading this and how you are all going. Well done.

[Shazzy]

Want to join Cookie1

My big tip that is on a fasting day (as is today!) dont go to the shops and come home with a bbq chicken!! The smell is amazing!

[ElleG]

A fast day here as well. I couldn't have bought chicken and stayed strong Shazzy 

We had Indian Lamb curry today. It was lovely and VERY  hot. Worked out about 167 cals each - I didn't count spices, ginger, chillies or garlic - overall those calories won't make much difference

It had 100g lamb mince, fresh tomatoes, zucchini and a stack of mushrooms and lots of spices. Very filling, can post the recipe if anyone is interested - a mixture of a few different recipes and winging it.  Started in the TM, started to burn the onion spice mix and finished in the frypan.

DH has just eaten his and is very impressed 

[Jude59]

This is similar to what DH and I do (Fast-5) except that we eat one meal a day... That is, nothing until 5:00 pm Mon - thurs and nothing til 1:00pm fri, sat, sun (Though you can mix it up if you have too as long as its just the one meal a day ). It's very good for you to fast and amazingly it takes next to no time to get used to and has a lot of health benefits.

[Shazzy]

Wow Jude that is amazing - not sure I could do that - I stuggle with this 5:2!!

I would love your curry recipie ElleG plus any others that you have been using. My imagination is fairly limited at this stage!

[ElleG]

Jude, I am in awe  I also could never do it.

Shazzy, after a few weeks I am finding we are having 'set' breakfasts and dinner and having something filling at lunchtime.
Breakfasts are 2/3  cup of Oats, water,  1/2 cup milk = 284 div by 2 = 141 calls + raspberries 1/2 cup each 27cals 
168 calories for breakfasts
13 cals for 15 mls of milk for a  Coffee mochiatto = 180 cal total

Dinner is either one egg (73 calories) for me and two eggs for DH, lettuce and either a few cherry toms (3 cals each)or 1/2 tomato each. DH has either 1/2 or 1/4 cup serve natural yogurt with berries depending on how many calories left. I usually have some berries, also depending on what calories are left.

I did some research and have found that Teresa Cutter, the healthy chef, has quite a few recipes that will be suitable for the 5:2 diet. She lists calories. I have downloaded her ebook.

I will put the Indian Lamb Curry (approx 183 cals) per serve,  in a separate thread in diets - so I can also find it again 

[Jude59]

Your body really does get used to it. You have a five hour food window, so 5:00-10:00 or 1:00-6:00. We find it hard to eat more than you normally would plus I get to have a few champers of a night

[ElleG]

Jude, can I ask,  is this for similar benefits that the 5:2 promotes? Or other health benefits? I know I have been on the HCG diet and found I got used to not eating until lunchtime. Now, I love breakfasts again. Five hours is not long!!! I think I would be on a feeding frenzy

We are getting into the swing of two fasting days a week. I am not losing weight, DH is, but have decided as long as I am not putting it on I am fine about that.

[Rogizoja]

That's an interesting one Jude, though I think we'll be sticking with the 5:2 as the Fast-5 seems to be just too restricting for our lifestyle. Also I'd be interested to see if eating "normally" once a day would really deliver the health benefits of the 5:2/alternate day fasting etc. plans (I'm sure I could pack in a LOT of calories in a five hour window!!).

What I really, really like about the 5:2 is that for five days you can eat "normally" and for the fast days you can adapt your time of eating to when you prefer to east (breakkie, lunch, supper etc).

Happy fasting!!

[Jude59]

Jude, can I ask,  is this for similar benefits that the 5:2 promotes? Or other health benefits? I know I have been on the HCG diet and found I got used to not eating until lunchtime. Now, I love breakfasts again. Five hours is not long!!! I think I would be on a feeding frenzy

We are getting into the swing of two fasting days a week. I am not losing weight, DH is, but have decided as long as I am not putting it on I am fine about that.

Yes it's all about the benefits. My husband had very sore hips and was in a lot of pain but that has practically gone now. Relief from this sort of pain is one of the touted outcomes for IF.  Plus the freedom of not thinking about food all day. I feel great. Even though there is a five hour window we tend to eat what you would in a normal day or less.  I think that your stomach gets used to being empty so it is very hard to over eat. We stick to the sort of meals we enjoy and only eat treats on a Sunday when we have the family here for lunch. I really don't find this in the least bit restrictive. It's lovely to not have restrictions on what you can and can't eat though we do, loosely, try to be low carb on alternate days. For example we usually break our fast around 5:00 or 6:00pm with nuts and cheese (and a glass of wine), then about an hour later we have dinner, like salmon and loads of veg generally with butter or olive oil or salad and dressing or something like that. Next night might be apples or pears and blue cheese and then homemade wm bread and homemade peanut butter or curry and rice or pasta or whatever carbs you feel like.  There's really no plan apart from keeping away from overly processed unnatural foods.  On fri, sat, we change to midday meals and Sunday  is our "relaxed" day.  I don't talk about this with too many people as mainstream  think we are crazy   we have practiced skipping meals regularly ove r the years (generally compensating for too many social outings) but more recently after finding out all the benefits have settled wih Fast-5.