Hi there – just registered and wanting to give this a go. The reviews are so positive. Any tips on what to eat/drink for a typical 500 calorie day? Just wanting to know what others have tried that works for them.
This topic contains 9 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by bigbooty 6 years, 8 months ago.
Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
Hi Carlick
I don’t think there is a “typical” FD. Everyone finds a method that suits them – and that’s quite important as this wouldn’t be sustainable otherwise.
You may want to look at:
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/what-have-you-eaten-so-far-on-your-fd/
where people have listed what they are on their last FD.
Some people eat nothing – just water or black tea/coffee. Others eat the full 500/600 calories. Some people try to spread their calories across the day and some just have one meal. Some people eat the same thing every FD and some vary the menu. What works for you is the right way for you.
The advice I’d give, is than you avoid eating at times when you don’t have a strong appetite but plan to have calories available at the times of day when you know you are always hungry. For me personally this means I don’t eat breakfast or lunch on a FD. I have a light snack in the afternoon (usually a piece of fruit) and then I have the majority of my calories for dinner. I also allocate some calories for milk so that I can have cups of tea, made the way I like them, throughout the day. It took me a few weeks of experimenting with varyious options to work out that this is the pattern that suits me best. Most of my FDs are easy if I follow this pattern and are harder if I don’t.
If you want ideas for low calorie meals for FDs, have a look at the recipie section of this forum – go to the top of the screen and select “forum” then scroll down until you find the section on food.
Hi @carlick and welcome.
You have made the best decision to join this forum and start on 5:2!
On a FD I usually eat nothing till tea/ dinner time as I find I’m not usually hungry but become hungry if I eat. Does that make sense? Then I’ll have lots of vegetables with some protein e.g. Chicken, salmon etc. Then if calories left, have some berries and yogurt. Loads of water also throughout the day. I aim for around 2-3 litres. Also if I’m on a work day, it’s easier because I’m so busy I don’t really think about it.
No doubt you will get loads of replies with different approaches to the fast day and it’s really what works for you and is usually an ongoing, evolving process!
Good luck.
Hi Carlick, and welcome! I’m only on day 1 of the FD so am a newbie too, but so far so good. I’ve always been one to eat breakfast so am going to work on having a 230 cal breakfast (porridge, unsweetened almond milk and frozen berries) then 230 cal dinner (2 poached eggs on 1 slice Vogel). For “lunch” I’ll have a 10-cal Hartley’s jelly, and throughout the day I’ll have black coffee, herbal tea and water… lots of it! Drinking keeps the hunger pangs at bay, and keeps your mouth busy so you don’t think about food quite as much. I think it’s about what finding what works for you, be that always eating the same foods on a FD (i.e. not having to think or worry about food), or spicing up your meals and experimenting week by week to keep things interesting. Good luck!
Welcome Carlick and Squiggle1977! Happy to see you here!
LJoyce gave you some excellent ideas for FD. She’s a long term maintainer so she’s a big help when you get stuck or have questions.
My FD almost always include soup. And green vegetables. I try to choose foods where I can get the largest quantity for the least amount of calories. I tend to stick with a handful of favorites for most FD and they are things that I really like. I think whatever works and whatever gets you through the day.
I have a similar focus on the evening meal. The volume of my evening meal on a FD is definitely similar to other days, it just has more low cal veg content to get that volume. I also cut down on the fat as GoSlo suggested so that I can make the calories stretch further.
I find that this means I don’t go to bed hungry as it’s no fun laying in bed trying to sleep with a growling tummy.
For me it varies a lot.
For my first few weeks I was cooking about half a kilo of low-calorie vegetables to take to work with me each day. That way I could have a big lunch which was only around 200 calories. Price and freshness and personal preference were the biggest factors in what vegetables I chose, but it was normally eggplant and broccoli and carrots and green beans. When brussels sprouts are available I stock up, those are my favourite.
Other times I have a couple of boiled eggs and a tomato for a meal. Or some lean ham and a tomato.
Papaya and strawberries go on the menu when those are reasonably priced and good quality.
A chicken drumstick or two can also form the basis of a good meal.
When I’m lazy (which is often) or when I don’t have time to plan for a fasting day, then prepacked soups can be really helpful. They are often very filling and the calorie count is marked on the packaging.
Miso soup is good for a meal when you want to keep the calories to a minimum.
Try and avoid processed grain based carbs. It will make your task real hard. Try and get most of your carb intake from veggies. Go for your cruciferous veggies. Lots of fibre and very low calorie count. Im not a vegetarian but I don’t eat a lot of meat. Check out this Armenian lady’s cooking website. Ive tried some of her vego recipes and they are fantastic. She also makes some wicked deserts but I avoid those. She is also on youtube. Really quirky but she knows how to cook and its all really simple recipes!!
Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
You must be logged in to reply.
Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
Michael looks at the Horizon special, "What's the Right Diet for You" and tells us which diet they say is best for him.
in Welcome to The Fast Diet and Exercise forums • updated 12 minutes ago by jaifaim
in Weight loss • updated 17 hours, 15 minutes ago by Brads27
in Top tips • updated 18 hours, 17 minutes ago by Cassidy_B
12:21 pm
7 Aug 17