Remember…it is not rocket science! 😉
Cold here now that the sun has gone….back to dancing ….
This topic contains 28,293 replies, has 835 voices, and was last updated by Neilithicman 4 hours, 2 minutes ago.
Hi Purple
We had a feast day yesterday, as opposed to a normal nonfast day. I learnt a valuable lesson. 🙂 We had friends to lunch, then went out to dinner. Lunch was Chicken and corn soup for which I will post the recipe separately, followed by Roast trout and vegetables and peas. Small helpings plus wine.
Then last night we went to Morks Thai restaurant. Beautiful delicate flavours that we love, chili, lime, basil, prawns, duck, coconut milk. Yummy! The food was lovely and I had two small courses plus a beer. No nibbles.
However, I can no longer digest that amount of food in a day in comfort. I was awake until midnight and had broken sleep. As we have discussed before, I sleep very well after a fast day. I can now see that too much food badly affects my ability to sleep. O, well. I’m happy to have proven this yet again! 🙂
So, very little food today and bring on tomorrow’s fast day.
Chicken and corn vegetable soup
(from memory as on plane). Will post when on the ground.
2 Carrots, 1 leek, parsley. Sliced.
2 stalks celery plus a little of leaves. Celery tops add flavour. Sliced.
3 Spring onions (shallots) sliced. Pepper, fresh ginger.
GF vegetable stock powder, water to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
1 fresh corn cob, slice off niblets. Feel like a chef 🙂
Add fresh corn niblets or frozen to soup. Simmer 5-10 minutes.
4 chicken tenderloins or 1 chicken breast. Slice thinly.
Return soup to mid boil and add chicken. Cook for 10 minutes. Season to taste.
Note. Good for nonfast days. Can have on fast days if you leave out the corn.
bayleafoz – in regard to eating large amounts of food and sleep, i had a night with friends on the weekend celebrating a birthday so drank large quantities of alcohol and ate lots of food. as soon as i got to bed couldn’t sleep. all the liquid in my digestive system made me feel really bloated and uncomfortable. while all the rest of the people there got off to sleep no problem, i thought i might as well get up because my insides felt so unsettled. Very interesting, huh?
Hi miss skinny,
My advice is to see this as a slow and steady way of life, measure everything before you start and take note of your food for the first few weeks as you get used to what works for you and what doesn’t.
I like to think of this as the tortoise method, rather than the hare method…..so keep saying to yourself ‘slow and steady wins the race’ and keep an eye on all of the other health benefits, like blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, etc, as well as your clothes, while you start getting smaller in areas you never thought to measure!
When you start feeling hungry, distract yourself, drink water, breathe deeply and dance!
Cheers and keep posting with your journey!
You’ve got us all wrong Miss Skinny ;). We never joke…ha, ha.
I think most of us figure this WOE gives us the freedom to laugh and dance! Come and join in.
My advice. …read Michael’s book and trust yourself to be able to change your own health. IT DOES WORK.
We’ll be with you all the way on the ride.
Cheers Purple
Bon voyage Miss Skinny,
We laugh and dance a lot on this thread. Be kind to yourself on this slow journey back to health. You will find that you gradually replace bought food with home made soups and home made meals of modest portion size. Have lots of flavour in your food with your choice of lemon, chili, herbs, spices, pepper, etc 🙂
To all the newbies
Definitely the change down in size of clothing is my favourite outcome of this way of living. 🙂 so endorse the measuring of each and every body part that you want to skite about later. 🙂 imagine posting that you lost your chicken wings aka bingo wings!
With 5:2 the fat appears to melt from the inside, so persevere. Drink lots of water. Just finishing a fast day Monday and it makes me rabbit on! To bed early tonight.
Even after losing 14 kg and 17 cm from waist, I still have my protective layer of fat just under the skin. BMI is now 23.4 and I am very happy with my new way of life. Maintaining away with 1-2 fasts a week.
Hi guys! I had a soup fast day yesterday – 4 cups altogether, 2 at lunchtime and 2 at dinner – fish,potato, coriander and cabbage soup. it was really hearty and i calculated the whole day was at around 580 calories so i was happy. i don’t usually eat potatoes on a fast day so felt a bit like i was cheating, but thought i’d give myself a break with that…didn’t suffer too many hunger pangs and went for a long walk. nice day. hey bayleafoz tried to keep my water intake up – maybe that’s why i didn’t feel so hungry? congratulations on your 14kgs – i’m impressed!
Good morning Southern hemispherites
Mygirl:
my favourite soup recipe is 2 onions, 2 carrots, 1 swede, 1/2 head celery including leafy bits (all chopped), 1 litre of fat-free chicken stock (I make my own from a left over roast chook carcass), 1 large jar of tomato passata or home-preserved tomatoes or 2 cans Ardmona salt-free tomatoes. Brown the veg in a minuscule amount of olive oil and then add the stock and tomatoes. Cook till soft. I then blitz it with my stick mixer which saves me being tidy about chopping the veg but you may prefer it chunky. I’ve never worked out the calories but figure it’s fairly low per serve. This quantity makes about 4-5 litres. On non-FD’s we have it with toast and grated cheese on top. On FDs I stick with miso and miracle noodles at 30 calories for lunch.
Happy Tuesday all. Nicky
Thanks Purple and others for being so welcoming.
Had a rocky start to my first fast day eating nothing up until 2pm when I had coffee at work and then could not drive past Pita Pit on the way home without stopping.
Much less calories than I’ve been consuming on a daily basis but not the ideal 500.
Being flexible about fast days is a good idea for when those unexpected events pop up. For now I just want to make a positive start and get a few good fast days under my belt. Going to start a food journal and make soups today for the freezer and stock my office with some of my favourite teas and pledge to drink more water.
Great to have a group where timely winter warming soup recipes pop up, lol.
You should be proud of yourself for starting creaturofhabit!
Anything new takes a while. I’d recommend starting gently with 3 tiny low cal meals and no snacks then work towards 2 or one eating session, whatever suits you.
It is tougher in winter, but an Omolette for breakfast (no oil or fat and a tomato or mushroom) is a good start. Homemade (or bought if you carefully check the calorie count…watch their serving sizes..) veg soup is brilliant and warm for a winter lunch. No bread, no pasta or spuds in it. Lots of onion garlic and chili flakes.
For dinner, steam 50gm fish in a parcel of Thai flavours, steamed leafy veg and even some miracle (Shiritaki) noodle stirred in.
You need to master feeling satisfied on low cal and then embrace your hunger in between.
Have reserves of low cal, filling foods (even an apple) ready so that you don’t go and buy something. Bought takeaway food is almost never suitable for a fast day so be prepared. Save it for the next day!
Good luck for Thursday.
Purple 🙂
Re the discussion on a serving of soup….a serving is simply how many calories you want to consume.
Work out what the per 100gm the soup is then weigh out your bowlfull (tare the scales with the bowl on before filling). A good set of digital kitchen scales are essential if you really want to know what you are eating. P 🙂
After 5 months on the 5:2 way of life, I bought my first pair of size 11 Sportscraft trousers today. And I got a beautiful size 12 top. When I began this WOL, I wore size 14-16 tops and size16 trousers.
I am now a regular size 12-14 in tops and I wear size 11-12 trousers. Woohoo! Dancing around the house, IHAW. Am sooooo happy with my size now. 🙂
Good morning all
Pleased to report 800g lighter this morning after fasting Monday and yesterday.
Had 150g garfish for dinner last night, sprinkled with 1/2tsp lemon-flavoured fish oil topped with sliced tomato, wrapped in baking parchment and microwaved. Had with shredded lettuce and pickled asparagus (delicious NZ brand). Made my version of hash brown for OH to have with his pan-fried garfish and now looking forward to the second patty for my lunch today with some leftover roast chicken.
Bayleaf, so well done on size 11 trousers!
Now I’m wearing size 16s have moved to size 14s for ‘trousers of truth’ role – so encouraging to see tiny progress (or should that be regress?) in measurements.
Happy Wednesday all. Nicky
Hello Patsykona Im from north of Christchurch and restarting properly the 5.2 after 2months of half hearted attempts at fasting.
Earlier this year I lost 13kg and have since lost momentum not kilos!! Am back in the saddle and feel happier already. I was never very good at counting cals but the weight fell off.
I see where I went wrong, I should never have stopped the 5.2 routine and if I needed to slow down weight loss to just increase the cals a bit on those days. good luck MMM
Well done Miss Skinny. Be patient with yourself. As Bayleaf says, it takes time for your body to adjust to change. Habit is a powerful thing but can alter.
Most of us find it easier to delay your first food as long as possible, keep that meal smallish to save the majority of your fast day calories for dinner. Use lots of low cal, filling veg, onions, lettuce, bok choy, mushrooms, tomatoes, berries. Add some lean protein.
Experiment until you find what appeals and works for you.
All the best PVE
Having you lot rabbit on about Miracle and Shirataki noodles, Googled them, decided to try them, as Woolies and Coles had them. Well not in Coffs so tried in Bellengin my home town which has a large % of alternate life stylers. The IGA and two health stores had never heard of them.
Actually got blank looks from all my queries. Are the Noodles that good? On line comments are very iffy i.e. no taste.
Purple you will enjoy this, also asked for Cauliflower Mash having NO idea what it was but thought it sounded good in your posts. Blank stares again then I finally woke up to the fact it was really a mash not some exotic low cal food.
Cheers
Tim.
Poor Tim
I’ve even left my bowl of soup to stand near a power point (phone flat) to reply…
Shiritaki/miracle noodles come with lots of names. I first found them in an Asian supermarket. Coles have them as Simply Noodles. They are almost zero cals, made of yam, rubbery and tasteless. They need to be rinsed well and stirred into something very flavoursome (eg )veg and fish. Their advantage is they fill you up on cold winter fast evenings.
Cauliflower rice is made at home… chop 1/2 a cauli roughly and put it in a blender until it is rice size.
Chop an onion an fry it in a tiny bit of oil for 5 minutes. Add a small amount of stock (cold water with a sprinkle of Veggata stock powder) and cook for 5-7 minutes. Best all done in a frying pan. Serve it as you would rice. Yum.
Good luck. Pleased to hear from you again. 🙂 P
Hi Bay
I just give the onions about 5 minutes then add the stock and cauli. Because the cauli is so fine it doesn’t take long to cook. Also, keeps a few days in a sealed container in the fridge. My fella HATES cauliflower so I make it just for me. P 🙂
Just reread the original recipe I sent Tim. Sorry Tim I didn’t actually add the cauli!!!
A bit like stone soup. 🙁
Purple, my little patch forms an island and I get flooded in, max 4 days . Keep a decent Pantry just for those times.
Actually drifting towards vegan, I think being steered in that direction by our group, but find decent fresh produce expensive and hard to come by. Getting a bit picky as time goes by.
Lots of iffy produce around.
If it wasn’t for the stuffed back I would be still growing my own, my kids really loved the home grown veg. The girls always hated Brussels Sprouts is that female thing?
Cheers
Tim.
Oh no Tim. Stinking brussel sprouts! I think that’s a Pommy thing. Even my mum, the world’s worst cook, wouldn’t serve them.
I have a vegan son and find myself heading that way when my husband is away. I bought a book called Vegan Before 6 which is interesting.
Pity about the poor availability of good produce. Don’t you have some local markets? Purple
Hi, happy fast day everybody!
Tim, I feel for you and wanting quality veggies, but not having easy access to them. I recommend you might like to use the Aussie grown packets of frozen mixed veg available from all supermarkets, which will give you a broader range to try, as well as being fairly cost effective to use, as the remainder will store well in the freezer until you need them next.
The other thing you could try is to chat to neighbours who grow their own veggies, who always have too much when it’s harvest time, so offer to take the extra off their hands.
As for making use of your own space to grow something hardy and tasty, try container growing of easy plants like parsley, rosemary, chilli, spring onions, thyme, marjoram, basil, chives and so on. If your back is too painful to bend over, have the containers up higher, where you can stand to plant and harvest them.
Many plants like to be grown in those white polystyrene boxes, and these are readily available from the back of grocery shops. They’re not only free, but very light and can be moved easily. Get a friend to help you fill them with quality potting mix, (look for the row of quality assurance ticks on the side), to get the best mix which has all the fertiliser already added.
Growing these types of plants can save you a lot of money, and taste so much better than the sad, wilted, store bought ones. And can certainly give whatever you cook a real, calorie-free lift…..and let you feel great that you added something of your own to the meal!
Cheers dears!
Purple and IHW, I’m always open to suggestions and have found the advise here so practical and
useful, thank you. I should have perhaps said that I do grow my own herbs ,half a dozen or so, even if thats all.
There are 2 fortnightly markets alternating, one so so and the other real scungie.
Coffs have a farmers market every Thursday which is quite good but its along way to go for veg.
Re price an example is Russian garlic $32Kg at markets, $28/24 generally.
Have discovered Fry’s Vegan schnitzels which I am very happy with at Coles and Woolies which are high in Cals 241 and protein 12 but filling. Normally 4 Snits for around $7 so NTB.
The other new Vegan thing I quite like are marcos Moroccan Veg Burgers 269Cals.
Happy feasting everyone.
Cheers
Tim.
Purple, what a test for your fasting resolve! Not only passionfruit yoghurt this afternoon but bacon and egg roll this morning. I hope there wasn’t a food car on the train or that would have been the end of me.
Like Bayleaf I don’t like Maccas food but the smell of anything frying really tests my resolve, especially on the way home from work on a fast day when I’m already capable of eating the steering wheel. Just grit my teeth and think about OH at home with fire alight and cup of tea waiting for me, then wholesome low-cal dinner. Mr Will Power is at my place most of the time, although he must have gone elsewhere last night when the peanut M&Ms were calling.
Hi Tim, how very trying not having easy access to good f&v but you seem to have it sorted. Well done!
Nearly the end of the day for Thursday fasters. Hang in there, you CAN do it.
Hi IHAW, great suggestions for growing in polystyrene containers – I have even grown potatoes in stacks of two (bottom cut out of the upper one of course).
It’s very shady in my bushland garden so have to resort to boxes in the sunny car parking area but their deep enough for root veg like baby carrots, beetroot and parsnips. Peas and beans are a breeze with a little 4-stick bamboo tepee poked into the corners and tied at the top. Nicky
Hi all,
I’m having a so-so fast day today. I’d forgotten that I’d arranged to go out for dinner with a friend – I’m keeping an open mind about whether I’ll try and have the least calorific thing on the menu or not bother and just eat ‘normally’. I have kept to the fast so far though – a boiled egg for breakfast and a grapefruit for lunch (I don’t usually eat lunch on fast days but succumbed to the grapefruit on my desk.)
Just so that new 5:2ers don’t think we’ve all become food angels, this is what I had yesterday on my ‘feast’ day: breakfast: 2 slices of avocado on toast, vegemite on toast, 11am: a small almond croissant and soy milk chai, lunch: large salad plus a sandwich; afternoon: three different very sweet pastries (these were being offered around the office); 6pm apricot jam on slice of pumpkin bread; some nuts and slice of cheese 8pm: large helping mushroom and spinach risotto; 9pm papaya with full fat yoghurt.
It was one of those days where I seemed to put something in my mouth every hour or so, much of it bready. After days like that I look forward to my fast!
I think I’ll be maintaining this week if not going upwards 😉
Nicky, I was only on a Sydney suburban train:( People are incapable of a 1/2 hour train trip without filling their faces). I’d be sick if I ate Maccas these days.
My fast day food Peggy…nothing until 11.45. 50 cals of lettuce tomato and a veg patty. Walked 15,000 steps around the Harbour foreshore . Got some lovely photos. Planned on nothing until hubby gets back at 7, but the train eaters set off the gastric juices so I HAD to have a cup of home made veg soup. (3.45)
Has anyone else noticed that hunger comes in 4 hour cycles? Learned behaviour?
Good luck for the rest of the day fasters.
Purple
Hi everyone, a question do you weigh your food before or after cooking?
Reason I ask is that tonight, a fast night, I am having Tomatoes and Bacon for dinner.
Had to ditch the toast and butter!
Am allowed 300 cals for the meal. 200g of Tomatoes are 40 cals and 100g of bacon
are 244 cals. This equals 3 rashers uncooked BUT weighing after grilling I can have
5 rashers for the 100g. I did a check weigh and grill last night.
That leaves 16g for strawberries.
A hungry lad with only 2 hours to go.
Cheers,
Tim.
Your doing well Tim. Weigh before you cook but it is not an exact science and every book gives different cal values for foods.
Use less bacon..1 shortcut rasher is about 100 cal. An egg is even less. Flavour with onion which is really low. Add some greens, chopped up bok choy or spinach or just a whole lot of your herbs. Bulk it up. Just toss in as many veg as you can find. Not spuds, though.
Enjoy the strawberries too.
It isn’t a sin if you go to bed happy and a little over.
well done Tim. Proud of you.
Your mate P
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