Hi all

I’ve noticed reading some of your posts that a lot of people tend to take the fasting days quite literally, and end up skipping breakfast and/or lunch just to have a big meal at the end of the day. While I appreciate that for some people that works and that’s fine, I know that for others starving yourself 2 days a week is not motiviting enough and makes you feel down – trust me, I’ve been there! So here is my plan that I use successfully on fast days to help me feel full, satisfied and strong enough to go to the gym, and all under 500 calories

For breakfast I always need my tea or coffee, so I allow myself 1 cup with milk and 1 teaspoon of Splenda (only 2 cals!) and I also have a low calorie cereal bar – something no more than 65-70 cal a bar is usually enough. For lunch I make myself a really nice salad with 2 different kinds of vegetables (pepper, sweetcorn, peas, carrot, cucumber, etc) and some meat (chicken, ham, tuna) for around 100 cals (obviously this will depend on what and how much you have, but salad is great for filling you up as it is water based, and it looks and tastes pretty good too!)

For dinner, I cheat a little and have a can of soup, but homemade would be a great option too! Soup is another great stomach-filler as it is a liquid so it always leave me feeling stuffed! Obviously a low calorie option soup is better, but it depends on how well you’ve done during the day. Sometimes, for a treat, I have a soup that is about 140 cals, and then have a little pot of jelly for only 9 cal!

But that’s not all…

Feeling peckish and its not yet 11 am? Have some grapes – 100g of red or green grapes are only 64 cals, and great for snacking on over a period of time.

Finally, there is room for one more afternoon snack – I usually have this about half 3 – 4 pm before I finish work – and it’s a pot of low calorie, low fat greek style yogurt. While there are yogurts out there that are really high in calories, Weight Watchers do some for no more than 50 cals a pot, and it’s a great way to fill the stomach before going to the gym without making you feel ill!

So, for the totals = breakfast is about 130 cals; lunch is for me no more than 100; dinner can go up to about 150 depending on the brand and whether or not it’s homemade; and the snacks equate to 114, so that means I’m eating 494 calories on fast days! As a result I’m never hungry because I eat more regularly, not saving my calories for dinner because by then I’ve eaten enough during the day to keep me satisfied and I don’t feel cheated!

Give me your thoughts – I’ve lost 6lb in the last 2 weeks!