2 - 2!

My most recent fast day ran from 2pm Sunday until 2pm Monday.  The book outlines this approach which intrigued me so I thought i'd give it a go. 

I enjoyed a Mother's Day roast at 1pm so by 2pm I'd finished my roast chicken and rice pudding (yum).  I found the rest of the day very easy and woke up not hungry at all.  At lunch time on the Monday I had a low calorie hot chocolate and two kallo chocolate rice cakes which are a recent yummy discovery of mine.  They are so gorgeous in fact that I've subscribed via Amazon to having a pack sent to my work address every month! 

Gorgeous chocolate rice cakes 56 calories!

I had my dinner slightly earlier than normal on Monday evening (5pm) but I didn't need to count calories as I was off the fast by then.  I enjoyed a casserole with a couple of glasses of Shiraz.

I am so impressed with the 2-2 that I think I'll keep it going alongside my 'normal' fast day on Thursdays. 

My clothes are feeling more roomy and the scales are showing I've lost 4 pounds so far!  Yay fast days!

How's your fast day going?

It's my 4th fast day today.  It's going really well; how's yours going?

I've had just two Belvita biscuits for breakfast (116 cal) and am on the black coffee and fruit teas all day in preparation for a massive salad tonight. 

Below is my ongoing food diary which I have used since starting to fast to keep track of what I'm eating and to also monitor my mood and the difficulty rating of getting through the day.  Doing this has also meant that calculating food has become easier and quick as I go on as I can simply copy and paste one cell into another.  I've included a simple macro in the total cell (=SUM(D2, F2, I2)) to calculate automatically the total calories consumed over the day.

Get in touch if you're on a fast day too, it would be good to hear how you're getting through it.  See you soon, Emily.

Advice to a friend

My friend is on her 2nd fast day and having tough day...

My second day was like that too.  Have a low cal hot choc as a treat and do some crunches at lunch time to take your mind off eating.  Fantasise about food you'll enjoy tomorrow.  You can have ANYTHING you want tomorrow! Stay strong X

 

Eating out on a fast day = not such a nightmare!

Hi everyone,
Yesterday was my 3rd fast day and I was dreading it because it included a meal out.  The quality may not be Michelin but the choice and flavours at Wetherspoons are quite good so I looked online and was really pleased to see that their menu not only has calories on it but there's an option to search for foods of certain calorie content.  Perfect for my fast meal out. http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/food/dietary-requirements

I chose a skinny chicken burger with salad and no dressing (429 with dressing) which I enjoyed very much after a breakfast of half a portion of porridge and black coffee.  One tip I recommend is, as the book says, eat very slowly and enjoy each mouthful.  I ate the burger with a knife and fork so it seemed more like a proper meal and put my cutlery down between each mouthful to make it last longer.  I was the last person to finish eating and because I was eating while everyone else was I didn't get jealous over their larger, yummier-looking meals.  One friend wanted a starter which I thought would be really difficult so after a quick chat she agreed to have it with her main - lovely friend.

I also found that diet coke worked wonders for my appetite last night with lots of lemon.  It hydrated me and the bubbles filled me up.

I hope your fast days are going well too.  Take care.

Quorn bolognese and wholemeal pasta

Hi everyone, today's not a fast day but I wanted to share what I had for lunch today with you as a quick mini-post.

I was hosting an impromptu lunch for family and I made a VERY quick quorn bolognese with wholemeal fusilli.  No photos though as it was really yummy and went down a storm!

I used:
Quorn mince (1/2 pack)
1/2 onion
1/2 red pepper
1/2 courgette
1 clove of garlic
1 beef stock cube (vegetarian would work also)
Dash of red wine
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Mixed italian herbs
Black pepper
Spray olive oil

Wholemeal fusilli
Reduced fat mature cheddar cheese

I fried the chopped onion, pepper and courgette in a saucepan until the onions were softened and slightly browned and then added the quorn mince.  I added all the seasoning, the wine, a splash of water from the kettle and the tomatoes.  I stirred through and left to simmer for 10 minutes.

While the bolognese was cooking I boiled the fusilli and grated a small amount of cheese on a fine grater (to make a small bit go further).

I served the dish piping hot in bowls and it was very popular.  This amount serves 3 easily.

I haven't worked out the calorie content as this isn't a fast day but it's very low fat and healthy.  A chilly day, fast, comforting lunch!