Fasting alone

This topic contains 12 replies, has 11 voices, and was last updated by  SueWR 10 years, 8 months ago.

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  • I’ve bought the Diet Book and the Recipe Book and I’m eagerly starting the Fast today. However I’m doing this alone and my initial reaction to the Recipe Book is disappointment that the recipes are written for 2-6 people and aren’t easy to round down. Do other single Fasters have any tips please?

    hello and welcome to the forum,
    id just make the meal for two and freeze the other half for another ready made fast day meal xx

    Hello Lady Caroline,
    You may find these recipe ideas useful.
    I have not bought the diet recipe book as I prefer to experiment with different ingredients of my own choosing. At the moment I have a smoothie in the morning and a salad in the evening and don’t really suffer with hunger pangs. I “fast” from 7pm on Monday evening through till 8am on Wednesday and these meals are quite satisfying. The recipes are :-
    Breakfast smoothie (prepared in my blender) at about 11am as I like a late breakfast.
    Small bunch chopped Kale 50g (17cals)
    1 Apple 150g (70cals)
    1 Banana 100g (103 cals)
    1 Lime 76g (9 cals)
    Ginger 50g (50cals)
    Total cals = 249
    The ginger is quite a lot here but is supposed to be good for my arthritis.
    I can substitute anything eg tomatoes instead of celery taking account of the total calories of course.

    Dinner at about 7pm
    All veg except tomatoes are chopped in a food processor.
    2 Hard boiled eggs chopped 112g (162cals)
    2 Sticks celery 190g (15cals)
    1 Carrot 100g (34cals)
    6 Cherry tomatoes 150g (30cals)
    1 Bell pepper 140g (42cals)
    10 mls Soy sauce (10cals) to enhance the flavour.
    Total calories 293
    Grand Total Calories = 542.
    My recommended calorie intake calculated from a TDEE of 2211 = 553
    This means that I have a few calories to spare so a drop of skimmed milk in a coffee is something to really look forward to.

    By removing one of the ingredients eg the bell pepper the total calories would be down to 500 which is the recommended upper limit for ladies.
    I hope this is useful and that it may give you some ideas.
    Best wishes
    RogerT

    Have to admit I haven’t bought the recipe book, mostly because I am not that interested in cooking at all.
    On fast days for dinner at 6pm I stick to a plateful of salad leaves, celery, cucumber, onions and cherry tomatoes with some salmon, tuna or chicken breast. My husband has the same with a Jacket potato and coleslaw.
    Maybe with winter approaching I will be looking for easy cook food and hope to pick up some tips here.
    I think cooking for two then freezing a portion, as suggested by fastforlife is a good idea as it keeps you in the danger zone of the kitchen for a minimal time on a fast day.

    Thank you RogerT for taking so much trouble with your reply. I plan to eat in a similar way to you but I’ll leave the ingredients whole I think. I enjoyed a fruit salad with plenty of strawberries for breakfast and will have a bean salad this evening.
    I’m going to try Xylitol (low GI substitute for sugar) in my black coffee but I don’t know whether this is approved of.
    All the best,
    LadyC

    I’m also a single faster and I generally stick to really easy no-cook meals or quickly prepared meals. I do like a good salad and I keep things in the freezer that are single-serving oriented (like frozen raw chicken breasts and Quorn (?) burgers — haven’t tried these yet but someone recommended them). I usually keep plenty of salad veggies on hand and on the weekends I roast some veggies — those are great in salads or as a side. I also have my favorite single-serving dishes that I can do quickly in the microwave after work. Some people are down on microwaves but I do most of my cooking in mine. It’s much more efficient energy-wise and I don’t room in my tiny freezer for stocking up. I do wish there was a 5-2 cookbook that was single-serving based and with simplier meals — the current cookbook is a little bit too “foodie” oriented for everyday use for me, just a thought.

    I’m also a single faster, so hello 🙂 I don’t particularly like advertising but check out ‘The Skinny 5:2 Diet Meals For One: Single Serving Fast Day Recipes & Snacks Under 100, 200 & 300 Calories: 2 Fast Diet Meals For One: Single Serving … & Snacks Under 100, 200 & 300 Calories. I found it on Amazon and they do a kindle version 🙂

    I am a single faster and work long hours with a long commute as well – I have no time for food prep during the week. Most fast days now I get a graze “light” box (always under 600 calories) delivered and have 3 or 4 of their healthy snacks depending on what they send http://www.graze.com – fruit and nuts and seeds – all good stuff 🙂

    Hi, this post sure caught my eye! I am retired and no longer enjoy cooking, so although I bought The Fast Diet book, I did not buy the accompanying cookbook.

    Besides, the thought of even cooking on my fast days (aside from easy soup recipes), does not appeal.

    Personally, I stick with super easy stuff. Pump myself with a lot of coffee, easy soup recipe I make that is high in protein/fiber for lunch, and protein shakes (ready made in asceptic containers). Stuff like that.

    The protein shakes are lifesavers. You know exactly how many calories you are getting and the protein helps keep you full.

    Hope this helped a little.

    Thank you all for your help and support. Lots of good ideas here. My first day wasn’t too hard and now I’m preparing for the second on Monday. I’m now more aware of the calorie content of my meals on non-fast days, which is a bonus. I normally eat healthily but maybe a bit too much fruit, seeds, nuts etc. which are high calorie.
    This is a great forum of generous, supportive people.

    I have black coffee for breakfast. At about midday I prepare a veg soup: veg, water, seasoning, can of tomatoes, handful of barley and handful of kidney beans. I have a bowl of soup plus one hard boiled egg for lunch, and same again for dinner. works for me !! No hunger pangs and works out at 500 calories.

    Great thread! Some of the recipes in the books look great but working out how to cut them down seems complicated! I agree with you cherrytomato, simpler meal ideas would be welcomed – once recipes start getting an ingredient list bigger than the instructions I tend to lose interest. Just finished my second day and didn’t bother eating all day until my meal a few minutes ago. Had two-egg omelette, canned tuna and two ryvitas. I enjoyed it, but now feel a little nauseas. I’m definitely going to work this one out thigh, I feel so motivated and actually excited about the health changes I can look forward to.

    We both love cooking but the very last thing we want to do on fast days is spend time in the kitchen so, we usually get M&S chicken breasts in a variety of sauces/toppings and have these with either salad or veg. They would be very easy to split and just cook one.

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