This topic contains 25 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by Darcsoir 6 years, 6 months ago.
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Hi big and welcome
Weight will come off more slowly if you are eating 800 cal. on your diet days.
The research is clear that you can eat your calories any time(s) you want to. Many find eating them all in one evening meal works best. However, you can eat them in two meals or in several snacks throughout the day. Totally up to you, and you will lose the same amount of weight in the same timeframe any way you do it.
Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/
Good Luck!
Hi, Bigbird, and welcome to Fasting.
As simcoeluv says, 800 calories is what matters, not the time [refrain from too many calories too late in the day, though] or pattern of eating. The other thing that matters is that they are quality calories: lean meat, seafood, veggies without oil or butter, fruits, and no simple carbs. Then you should be fine.
Good luck.
To answer your original question. One meal is better than two meals is better than three meals is better than snacking all day long. Even if you only consume 800 cal each time. Its all about the insulin response that you have after meals. The spike can easily last 2-3 hours. Snack all the time and the insulin stays high all day. Under these conditions you will not access stored fats very easily.
Question above. You can eat anything you like. Will some foods make it easier or harder to achieve your goals. Absolutely. Why not eat real food rather than processed artificial foods? Read the labels real carefully. What is the sugar content on the slimming world/weight watchers packet? More than 5-6% Id bin it. My wife was eating “health bars” from Optif##t. 33% sugar. Might as well be eating a bar of chocolate. She binned the bars.
Eat veggies with lots of fibre. This will help you stay satiated.
Fast days are easy for me as I just have water. What to have if you want to eat something. In not a good cook either so best to keep it simple. Cant go too far wrong if you incorporate lots of veggies. Tonight I had a veggie egg fritter. Grated two zucchinis cut up a mushroom, one chopped up tomato, one asparagus. Cracked some eggs and mixed it up and cooked it. Enough for four meals. Have some for lunch the next day. Season to taste. I like it spicy but each to their own.
Lunch, can a tuna, some lettuce, chopped capsicum, tomato, grated cheese, olive oil + vinegar.
Repeat with a bean salad.
This lady is a stunning cook and everything is real easy. Just stay away from her desert recipes. The veggie stuff is stunning and simple.
Here’s an easy meal for you, bigbird:
Meze Meal with chicken: 297 calories 5.8 g fat 6 g fiber 21.5 g protein 22 g carb 174 mg Calcium PB GF ‘Meze’ is the Greek equivalent of Spanish Tapas. Small servings chosen from multiple small plates which make it easy to eat on a hot Mediterranean night. Well, we don’t live on a vast inland sea, but we’ll take good low calorie, low fat, delicious food where ever we can find it. There are lots of good recipes in the book Meze by Rosemary Barron.
1/4 cup white beans ½ Tbsp capers 1/2 oz marinated mushrooms 2.5 oz tomato, cubed generous pinch Greek oregano 1.5 oz cooked chicken breast 1 oz mozzerella cheese [or use feta, same amount] 1 ½ oz lemon-marinated carrots marinade: 1 tsp olive oil + 1 tsp lemon juice + pinch of granulated garlic + pinch oregano
Combine the white beans with the capers in a small bowl. In another bowl, combine the tomatoes and the oregano. Slice the carrots into small logs or coins and cook until tender. Drain and combine with the marinade in a small jar with a lid. Shake well, remove the lid and let the carrots cool in the marinade. Attend to the shrimp by cooking it and removing the shells, if necessary. Drain the marinade from the jar and pour it over the shrimp. Plate the ingredients to please the eye.
Hi big:
There are many people posting on this site, and many of them believe in particular ways of eating and/or in eating particular types of food.
The standard cop out is to do whatever works for you. But most people don’t know what works for them when they start 5:2. If they did, they wouldn’t be here.
I have found that if a person initially just focuses on doing 5:2 right, focuses on the calories, then over time they discover what works for them. People constantly pop on and post that something they initially felt was undoable for them now seems possible, or even easy. But if told to do it initially, they would discount the advice or get turned off and leave.
So just focus on doing 5:2 right for a couple of months and then reevaluate. Until then, don’t worry about what you are eating or when you are eating it. 5:2 really works if you give it a chance, and don’t get it confused with other ways of eating.
Good Luck!
Of course you can eat whatever you like. Strictly speaking you could eat 500 cal of sugar as your FD food. There is nothing magical about 5:2 and 500/600 cal. Which has now been revised up to 800. The revision was not based on any science. All Im saying is that if what you are doing isn’t working doing more of the same will give you exactly the same results. Plateaus happen, of course they do. If your weight doesn’t move for a month however that isn’t a plateau that’s you reaching your new set point based on your food intake (quantity and choices) and body chemistry/activity. The absolute best study is a n = 1 study and youre the n. So experiment and change things up until you find a combination that works for you. Experiment and figure what works and what doesn’t.
My personal situation: I can eat almonds/walnuts/pecans ad libitum, no need to count calories at all. No weight gain. I eat anything with processed grains I put on weight. So the concept of cal in cal out and cal counting is very basic at best. Now Im not advocating others do this, what Im getting at is find out what you can and cant eat and then keep doing that.
Here’s a breakfast for you, bigbird:
Dutch Breakfast 290 calories 8 g fat 3.8 g fiber 16 g protein 36 g carbs 210 mg Calcium GF – if using GF bread
one 2-oz egg, hard-boiled or coddled HINT: the hardboiled egg can be made days before ½ oz ham, low-fat from the deli ½ of an Arnold Multi-grain Sandwich Thin [50 cal] OR ½ slice 70-cal multi-grain bread [35 cal] OR one “Holland Rusk” [35 cal] 1/4 oz [1/2” cube] Jarlsberg cheese [if you used less bread, you could have more cheese] 2 oz melon or apple or pear OR a mixed fruit cup 4 oz fruit smoothie or green smoothie or unpasturized apple cider blackish coffee or blackish tea or lemon in hot water
Warm the ham in a skillet, toast the bread, brew your beverage, slice the fruit, cube the cheese. Prepare the smoothie or take the other half of the smoothie recipe from ‘fridge and shake it to mix. [our smoothies are home-made. Avoid store-bought ones. If you eliminate the smoothie, add more ham and more fruit.]
Here’s an easy breakfast — prepare it the night before and warm it in th morning. Since it makes two, freeze the other one for a quick breakfast another Fast Day. Oatmeal Pudding 301 cal 3 g fat 3 g fiber 15 g protein 16.3 g carb 198.6 mg Calcium GF PB A riff on a recipe found in Marion Cunningham’s Breakfast Book, this can easily be prepared the night before.
NB: THIS MAKES ENOUGH FOR TWO [2] SERVINGS
1/2 cup rolled oats, cooked in 1 cup water 2 tsp maple syrup ½ cup fatfree cottage cheese pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon 4 Tbsp. blueberries [fresh or frozen] 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or natural apple cider blackish coffee or blackish tea or lemon in hot water
Cook the oatmeal in the water. Take off the heat and stir in the maple syrup and nutmeg. While it is still a little warm, stir in the cottage cheese. Let sit to cool. HINT: I did this part the night before while cleaning up after dinner. If making one portion, pour half of the pudding into a freezer container and top with 2 Tbsp blueberries. Freeze it. HINT: make the entire batch, eat half of it today and freeze the rest for a really simple-to-prepare breakfast for another day. With the remainder, stir in 2 Tbsp blueberries and pour the pudding into a ramekin. Nuke it for a minute to heat through – longer than that and it will bubble over. Serve with a fruit smoothie [OR NOT], and hot beverage for a hearty, healthy meal.
here is the simplest dinner i know of for a Fast day: Chicken/Turkey Dinner: 284 calories 4.5 g fat 9.3 g fiber 31.6 g protein 34.2 g carbs 58.2 mg Calcium PB Perfect use for left-over roasted or lemon-marinated grilled chicken breast. Instead of potatoes, enjoy the crunch of high-fiber crackers. So low in calories that you may even have some lovely fruit for dessert!
4 ounces roasted breast meat, without skin 1/2 [3 0z] cup green beans 2 oz carrots, sliced as coins 2 pieces Finn Crisp crackers 1/2 cup sliced strawberries.
Another thought is that 800 calories on a FD might be too high if you don’t have a lot of weight to lose. I eat 500 calories on FDs and my rate of loss averages a little over .7 of a kg per week. I know the new book has been revised to 800, but that would be well over half of my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) since I’m getting close to my goal weight. I would probably still lose weight, but the rate of loss would be painfully slow and not realistic for me.
Hey Big!
You can do this!!! Believe me…I have walked into a bakery and out again on a fast day lol! I use an app called MyFitnessPal to track mt calories on my fast days. As I do 2 x 500 calorie I really need to hone in on what I eat. I usually have a boiled egg for breakfast…. huge salad with a piece of chicken for lunch and miso soup for dinner. I am currently working on getting different recipes to make it more interesting…. BUT 2 things I love about this system is…. no restrictions on what you can and cat eat, as long as it fits in you kcal for the fast days… THEN the best part is non fast days…. eat what you like!! Of course within some reason…. don’t completely over eat everyday…but still no restrictions!
Good luck to you my friend!
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