Tag Archives: 5:2

5:2 Meal Plan Feb 16 – 22

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We’re on to week 6 of our 5:2 lifestyle and I’m delighted to have got below a virtual milestone this week. On to my next goal!

So my plan for the week ahead. I still have some food left in the fridge – it’s amazing how much less we are eating. So I have to think about how to use up the odds and ends as well as making the most of whatever local seasonal produce I can find and also to keep things simple – I’m not going to be spending much time in the kitchen this week.

My choice of seasonal and locally grown foods for this week include: red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, leeks, celeriac, parsnips, apples, kiwi fruit, pears, plus clementines from Spain.

I am working on a target of 450 – 500 calories on a fast day and 1200 calories on a feed day – any more than that has to be earned by exercise. The numbers are based on my calculations for losing 1lb a week according to my BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate), as a largely sedentary person of my age, height and current weight. You can calculate your BMR here.

My husband has a target of 600 calories on a Fast Day and 1800 on a feed day. He gets larger portions and tends to eat crackers with soup as well.

I’m not showing breakfast except on fast day, or if I plan to try something new.

Here’s the plan:-

Saturday

  • lunch: Home made pizza – 320 kcal for my portion
    Mixed Leaf Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette – 50 kcal
    Satsuma – 30 kcal
  • supper: Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower & Almond soup – 160 kcals (for 200 ml BBC Good Food version – mine is lighter)
    Mushrooms and Grilled Back Bacon on Wholewheat Toast, green salad with balsamic dressing
    Glazed Pineapple with Cinnamon Fromage Frais 160 kcal ( BBC Good Food again, my version is lighter, but I haven’t had time to write it up yet!)
  • extras: yes, wine and chocolates, why not?
    I make the pizza dough in my bread maker. I split one batch to make 2 thin crust pizzas, which cuts the calories down enormously.

Sunday

  • lunch: Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower & Almond soup – 160 kcals
    Farmhouse Paté with crispbread, light cole slaw and green salad – 260 kcals
    small piece of cheddar cheese – 10g – 40 kcals
    Fresh fruit salad (apple, pear, blood orange, banana)- 80 kcals
  • dinner: Roast Pork with Seasonal Vegetables – going to try a variation of my healthy Sunday roast this week, using a lean pork fillet joint. I may base it on this recipe (290 kcals) and I’ll add some seasonal veg, like parsnips and red cabbage.
    Chocolate Pear Crisp – 140 kcal (I made this last week and it was yummy, but I think I can improve on it)
  • extras: wine and dark Belgian chocolate (that’s it for treats until next weekend…)
    I’ll make a couple of wholewheat loaves today and freeze one. I’m trying to make sure that the majority of our staple carbs are wholegrain.

Monday – FAST day

  • breakfast: Scrambled Egg with Lean Ham – 120 kcal
  • dinner: Simple Vegetable Soup – 70 kcal
    Asian Poached Chicken
    Vegetable Salad (red pepper, celeriac, carrot, broccoli, spring onion)
    Vietnamese Style Dressing
    Cherry Choc dessert (0% fat fromage blanc, cherries and grated dark chocolate; no sweetener)

Tuesday

  • lunch: Stir-fry pork and vegetables (using leftover from roast)
    Light apple and blackberry crumble
  • supper: Caribbean Butternut Squash Soup
    No-Carb Caesar Salad with Crispy Parma Ham (this is a suggestion in The Fast Diet book, it is a really good idea. I’ll use leftover poached chicken in this).
    fresh fruit and fromage blanc

Wednesday

  • lunch: Leek Risotto with Parmesan Crisps (Nigel Slater recipe) – 250 kcal
    I’ll use the chicken stock from the Asian Poached Chicken for this
    Frozen Cherry Choc dessert
  • supper : Caribbean Butternut Squash Soup
    Farmhouse Paté with light cole slaw and mixed salad – 260 kcals
    light apple and blackberry crumble

Thursday – FAST day

  • breakfast: Porridge with blackberries
  • dinner: Carrot and coriander soup
    Teriyaki Salmon with steamed vegetables
    Clementine

Friday

  • breakfast: Swiss style muesli with grated apple (soak oats overnight, add grated apple in the morning)
  • lunch: Wholewheat Penne Pasta with Duck Ragu (from the freezer)
    fresh fruit salad
  • Carrot and coriander soup
    Tuna and Bean Salad with Feta Cheese
    fromage blanc topped with chopped kiwi and dried cherries

There should be enough tasty variety of food there to keep us both happy – and keep the weight off. I’ll try and add the recipes as I have the time. I’ve got plenty more ideas!

Body Mass Index – BMI

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I weigh myself in kilos, which I can understand for bags of flour and portions of fish or piles of vegetables, but they mean nothing to me in terms of body weight – maybe one of the reasons why mine crept up so steadily the last few years! It was a shock when I realised that my 68.4 kilos was about 10 stone 10 lbs – a healthy weight for me is a good way under 9 stone!

How do you know what a healthy weight is for you? Well apart from your own sense of what weight you should be to look good and feel good, you can use a BMI calculator. This will give you an estimate of your body mass. There are some new weighing machines on the market that will calculate percentage body fat, but I think unless you have a lot of money to spend, these are unreliable. BMI will only give you a range of healthy weights for your age and height, it’s up to you to decide where you need to be in that range for your body frame.

My BMI today

My BMI today

My starting BMI was 29.45 – right towards the top end of overweight  – and would have been set to continue into obese unless I had taken action.

We started on 2nd January on cutting out alcohol for the month, reducing our calorie intake and increasing our activity levels . Then fortuitously my husband saw Michael Mosley talking about the 5:2 diet on TV, as his The Fast Diet book was about to be launched. After doing some researching we both agreed it would be a fantastic way to change our lifestyles and something that we are both enthusiastic about for the long term health benefits. Being in my early 60s I am optimistic that it is not too late to reverse the trend towards diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, high blood pressure and whatever other ailments I was heading for.

The first thing though is to get rid of this excess weight  – and the 5:2 way of eating is really helping with that. I’m still calorie counting as I need to re-educate myself about portion size, which foods have hidden or surprise calories and to know that even when I am eating on a non-fast day that I am not going overboard in adding calories that my body can’t burn off.  I’m really enjoying the challenge of finding interesting, flavourful food that is filling but not fattening.

I know this is a popular diet with foodies, as it can give you the leeway to indulge yourself a little and still maintain a healthy weight. But whilst I don’t want to exclude anything in particular long term, in the short term it is worth saying NO to the wonderful French patisserie, the rich buttery pastry, the rich creamy sauces and so on, while I am working on getting to a maintenance weight.  So I am being careful, but not entirely restrictive. Weekends and the occasional night out can still include a couple of glasses of wine and something sweet. If I have burned calories by cycling or Zumba, then that gives me some spare calories that I could use. But I don’t want guzzle a whole handful of chocolates and ruin everything I have achieved so far –  and thanks to the changes that are happening to my body and brain, I don’t want to! How brilliant is that?

Yes there is some willpower required to keep going on a fast day, to wait another 15 minutes before having something to eat, to say NO to a cream cake or whatever is your weakness – but the goals of being healthy, looking good, and best of all, feeling good – well those are worth working for, worth a little short-term discomfort.

The act of fasting twice a week helps to reduce your stomach size, reduce your appetite and reduce your cravings. It makes you more mindful about what and when you eat and to not mind being a little hungry occasionally.   If you combine this with steps towards avoiding junk food, cutting back on snacking and sweetened soft drinks and replacing processed and refined foods with home-made and wholefoods wherever you can, then you will be well on the way to a really healthy lifestyle, even if you don’t take any more exercise.  It’s a journey, not an instant fix. I’m lucky to already have a lot of knowledge about food and I enjoy planning meals and preparing things from scratch, but I’m still learning about nutrition. I’m happy to share to help others to get healthy and it  encourages me too.

So keep at it. If you have read this far – I hope you will find some useful and inspiring ideas here to help you to keep going with 5:2 in the long term, along with me and my husband.

My current BMI is 27.04 – I still have a further 5 kgs to lose to get me into the healthy zone and my target is to get a little under that, to allow for a little fluctuation.

Let’s all get to a healthy BMI and keep the cost of medical care down!

You can calculate your BMI here on the NHS website.

Not going to bed hungry!

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Today was our 10th fast day. Amazing! My weight is still on a very pleasing downward trend. I love my bathroom scales at the moment! I’ve also lost another 1cm off my waist and hips in the last week or so, so I love my tape measure too! I use one that I got from free when I joined the British Heart Foundation – I’m still in the pink ‘at risk’ zone for my waist measurement, but at least I am out of the red ‘high risk’ zone now.

I’ve noticed a few people on the 5:2 Intermittent Fasting support group on Facebook saying that they are going to bed hungry and early, wishing for their breakfast to come soon. That’s certainly not the case for me. Once we’ve had our evening meal I am finding myself completely comfortable and not in the slightest bit hungry. Mid afternoon is when I usually find my stomach grumbling and rumbling, but a cup of rooibosh tea or lime and ginger tea and the feeling passes. The weather was dreary, damp and cold here again though, so I was very glad that the wood burner stove was going as I felt decidedly chilly.

Waking up the morning after I was in no particular hurry for breakfast either. I really think there is a great benefit from going 12 hours or so without filling your stomach – not just because your system gets a break from food processing and pumping out insulin, but your stomach gets used to being empty, your mind gets more used to your stomach being empty and overall it helps to decrease your appetite.

So for our fast day morning this Thursday we had a breakfast of porridge (made with water) and a dozen blackberries each, from last year’s harvest in our garden. A cup of black coffee. No sugar, no honey, no sweeteners, no milk.

During the day I drank another cup of black coffee, a couple of glasses of water, a lime and ginger tea, 2 cups of rooibosh tea.

For our evening meal we had simple vegetable soup followed by peppered smoked mackerel with poached egg, wilted spinach and steamed broccoli and carrots. For dessert we had fromage blanc with a few home grown cherries from the freezer, poached with some mixed spice. No sugar or sweetener

According to myfitnesspal, my intake was just slightly over target, at 515 calories. The mackerel was quite a lot higher in calories than I expected (my 60g fillet was 186kcal), more than twice what a piece of salmon would have been, so not really a brilliant choice for a fast day. But it was very tasty and the meal was very filling.  I think the soup to start with is a great way to break a fast and it certainly helps to fill me up.

About an hour before bed I had a cup of camomile tea, which I often find is helpful for getting a good night’s sleep.

Neither of us went to bed hungry!

5:2 Fast Day Dinner – Soup, Steak with Salad, Cherry Dessert

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Simple Vegetable Soup

Simple Vegetable Soup

Simple Vegetable Soup

Per person:

  • 100g frozen veggies (not including potatoes)
  • 1 tsp marigold bouillon powder
  • 300ml water

Simmer 20 mins, blend a little if you like to vary the texture.

70 kcals per serving.

 

Rump Steak, Garlic Mushrooms, Light Coleslaw, Watercress and Blood Orange Salad

Rump Steak (100g) with garlic mushrooms, coleslaw and watercress salad

Rump Steak (100g) with garlic mushrooms, coleslaw and watercress salad

We don’t often eat red meat and I find even a small portion quite filling, so this seemed like it would be a good choice for a fast day, when it is helpful to eat protein, which the body cannot store – and it is especially needed if you are exercising.

I cooked the mushrooms (2 each, chopped) in a frying pan with the faintest hint of olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of water. The steak was dry-fried. The coleslaw was made with mayo and plain yogurt. With the watercress I added the segments from 1/2 a blood orange (between 2 people) and a few baby tomatoes (I know, not in season, but I like a bit of colour…) and dressed it with the orange juice.

210 kcals

5 Spice Cherry Compote with Fromage Frais

For dessert I got some stoned cherries out of the freezer and put 12 per person in a saucepan, with a pinch of 5 spice powder and about 100ml of water. Cook gently, shaking occasionally, until nicely warmed through. Serve with a little pot of plain 0% fat fromage frais. Note that no sugar was added, the cherries are quite sweet in themselves and the spice gives the whole dish a bit of a lift.

55 kcals

5 Spice Cherry Compote with Fromage Frais

5 Spice Cherry Compote with Fromage Frais

Total for the day for me – 475 kcals. With a breakfast of Smoked Trout and Scrambled Eggs, this was a day with plenty of protein and hardly any carbs.  I think we both felt like we could demolish several hot buttered crumpets and a slice of Christmas Cake somewhere in the middle of the afternoon, as we were feeling not only hungry, but cold as well – but honestly that soon passed with a cup of lime and ginger tea…..

I really feel as though I have had plenty to eat and will be happy to go to bed with just a cup of camomile tea!

5:2 Fast Day Breakfast ~ Smoked Trout and Scrambled Egg

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Quick and easy high protein breakfast for a 5:2 fast day

quick and easy fast day breakfast

Smoked Trout and Scrambed Egg – a quick and easy fast day breakfast

  • Smoked Trout (or Smoked Salmon)
  • Egg
  • Pepper
  • wedge of lemon (optional, to serve)

140 kcals ( 45g smoked trout, 1 egg) or 240 kcals (65g smoked trout, 2 eggs)

Use a good non-stick pan for the eggs and you won’t need to add any butter. Use the best eggs you can get, preferably organic free-range. Crack into a jug, whisk lightly with a fork, season with freshly ground black pepper. You can either cut the trout into pieces and mix in with the egg just before serving, or serve the slices with a wedge of lemon.

5:2 Meal Plan Feb 9 -16

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We’re on to week 5 of our 5:2 and it’s proving to be straightforward to stick to and the results are pleasing – we are both visibly slimmer. I’m trying to increase my activity level as well with a weekly Zumba class, some cycling and in between using Wii Fit and Wii Zumba.

So my plan for the week ahead. I’m going to the local market on Sunday and will be hoping that they have some lovely seasonal veg to use – at this time of year I might find sprouting broccoli, leeks, parsnips and chicory. Not much happening in my garden, just a few parsnips and some beetroot left. Several of the meals here are based on BBC Good Food recipes, though I nearly always reduce the sugar/fat/carbs even more. I’ll be putting up my own versions as soon as I get tome to write them up.

Note: calorie amounts here are for what I eat myself, my target is 1200 calories on an ordinary day and 400 – 500 on a fast day (I’m only 5′ tall and base my requirements on being sedentary – extra food has to be earnt by exercise!). I serve larger portions to my husband!

Here’s the plan:-

Saturday

  • breakfast: porridge with a little soya milk – 64 kcal
  • lunch: Home made pizza – 320 kcal for a half portion
    (When I first made these pizzas I thought we would eat a whole one between us, but I usually only eat 1/4 and there is always some left over for tomorrow’s supper)
    Mixed Leaf Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette – 50 kcal
    Satsuma – 30 kcal
  • supper: Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Soup – 170 kcal
    Sardines on Toast – 140 kcal (per slice)
    Chocolate Pear Crisp – 140 kcal
  • extras: 2 glasses of wine and 1 dark Belgian chocolate (we’ve been SO good!)

Sunday

  • breakfast: wholewheat toast with a scrape of butter and marmite – 110 kcal
  • lunch: Baked Orange Chicken with Seasonal Vegetables – 400 kcal
    (we’ve had this nearly every week recently, I like the fact that I get at least 3 meals from this, plus stock for soup)
    Baked Pear with Amaretti and vanilla ice cream – 140 kcal
    (1 scoop of carte d’Or ice cream on half a hot pear with its crunchy topping. yummy)
  • supper: Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Soup – 170 kcal
    leftover Pizza and Salad – 200 kcal
    Mocha Fromage Blanc – 50 kcal
  • extras: 2 glasses of wine and 1 dark Belgian chocolate (that’s it for treats until next weekend…)

Monday – FAST day

  • breakfast: Scrambled Egg with Smoked Trout – 140 kcal
    quick and easy fast day breakfast - 140 kcals

    quick and easy fast day breakfast – 140 kcals

    Simple Vegetable Soup

    Simple Vegetable Soup – 70 kcals

  • dinner: Simple Vegetable Soup – 70 kcal
    (100g frozen veggies, 1 tsp marigold bouillon powder, 300ml water per person, simmer 20 mins, blend a little if you like to vary the texture)
    Rump Steak – 100g / 125 kcal,
    Watercress and Orange Salad – 40 kcal,
    Light Coleslaw – 30 kcal
    Mushrooms with Garlic – 15 kcal
    Cherry compote with fromage blanc – 55 kcal
    (frozen cherries, 5 spice powder, a little water, simmer until softened. sprinkle a little spice on the fromage blanc too)
  • Total for the day: 475 kcal
Rump Steak (100g) with garlic mushrooms, coleslaw and watercress salad

Rump Steak (100g) with garlic mushrooms, coleslaw and watercress salad – 210 kcals

5 Spice Cherry Compote with Fromage Frais

5 Spice Cherry Compote with Fromage Frais – 55 kcals

Tuesday

  • breakfast: half a grapefruit
  • lunch: Leftover baked chicken and vegetables
    Cherry compote with fromage blanc
  • supper: Moroccan spiced cauliflower and almond soup
    (this was a big hit last week, so I’ll do a whole cauli this time and freeze what’s left)
    Tuna and bean salad with feta cheese
    Pancakes with lemon and sugar / maple syrup (it’s Shrove Tuesday!)

Wednesday

  • breakfast: wholewheat toast
  • lunch: Thai style turkey stir fry with noodles and prawn crackers
    apple and cheese
  • Chicken fajita wraps (using remaining leftover chicken) with guacamole
    kiwi fruit

Thursday – FAST day

  • breakfast: Porridge with blackberries
  • dinner: Carrot and coriander soup
    Smoked mackerel with a poached egg and wilted spinach
    Satsuma

Friday

  • breakfast: half a grapefruit
  • lunch: Ham, egg and chips
    (restricted to 100g of chunky oven chips)
    fresh fruit salad
  • Carrot and coriander soup
    Pasta spirals with duck ragu
    fruit with fromage blanc

That’s it. I’ll add in the rest of the calorie counts later, along with any other fruits or veggies that get included.

Baked Orange Chicken with Pumpkin, Parsnips and Peppers

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The idea here is to have the enjoyment of a roast chicken, but by using orange juice instead of fat and having other veggies instead of potatoes, the whole meal is lighter and healthier. When there are just the 2 of us for lunch, I can get several meals from an average sized bird, plus then there’s the bones to make stock with for a tasty soup.

a great alternative to a Sunday Roast - Baked Orange Chicken with Pumpkin, Parsnip and Peppers

a great alternative to a Sunday Roast – Baked Orange Chicken with Pumpkin, Parsnip and Peppers

Serves 4
325 calories per serving, 22g carb, 28g protein

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 2 oranges
  • 1 lime
  • 500g pumpkin or butternut squash
  • 1 med-large parsnip
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1 tbsp jerk seasoning
  • 1 tsp Bisto gravy powder (optional)
  • 300 ml vegetable stock or water

Heat the oven to 180C.

Remove any visible fat from the chicken.

Peel the pumpkin or squash, the parsnip and the red onion. Trim the pepper and  chilli and remove the seeds and pith. Cut all the veggies into wedges and put into a roasting tray.

Make slivers from some of the orange and lime peel (no pith) and reserve. Lightly grate the remainder over the veggies. Squeeze the juice of the fruits and pour half over the veggies. Put the chicken on top and brush the remainder of the juice over. Rub in the jerk seasoning.

Bake for 1 to 1.5 hours, until the chicken is cooked through, basting regularly with the juice.

Put the chicken to rest on a warm serving plate and keep the veggies warm while you make the gravy.

If there is any visible fat in the pan juices, strain it off. Add stock or water to the pan together with the orange and lime rind. I like to use a little Bisto mixed with water to make the gravy a little thicker, but it will have a good colour anyway from the jerk spices. Bring to the boil and simmer for few minutes whilst steaming other veggies to serve with it, such as julienne carrots, broccoli spears and peas.

Serve slices or portions of meat without skin, the wonderful coloured vegetables alongside and gravy with some of the peel to bring the whole dish together.

You could use sweet potato or beetroot instead of parsnip.

Based on a recipe in an old Good Housekeeping cookery club book “Healthy Eating”, 1995.

5:2 Meal Plan Feb 2 – 9

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Amazing, this is our 4th week of doing the 5:2 diet and we are both feeling good and looking better!

Here’s my plan for the week, almost completed (my plans run Saturday – Friday). I won’t include breakfast except on Fast Days. My brekkie is usually either a slice of home-made wholewheat toast with marmite (or peanut butter for a treat) or porridge, or occasionally half a grapefruit.

We are trying to switch to having our main meal in the middle of the day and a lighter supper – except of course for fast days when we aren’t having lunch at all!

  • Sat lunch: home made thin crust pizza with parma ham, sundried tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, green salad. satsuma
  • Sat supper, with friends: guacamole with taco chips. super healthy salmon burgers with rice (based on BBC Good Food recipe), pickled carrot ribbons and steamed broccoli. crepes with lemon and sugar (Candelmas Day treat)
  • Sun lunch: Orange baked chicken with pumpkin, parsnips & peppers. baked pear with amaretti
  • Sun supper: Moroccan spiced cauliflower and almond soup (BBC Good Food). leftover pizza and salad. fruit salad with fromage blanc
  • Mon breakfast: ham and poached egg
  • Mon supper: Vegetable soup. Baked cod with steamed vegetables. Fruit salad with fromage blanc
  • Tue lunch: leftover baked chicken and vegetables. Cherry compote (no sugar) and fromage blanc
  • Tue supper: Grilled halloumi. Rice and beans with tuna. Cherry compote with fromage blanc and crumbled amaretti
  • Wed lunch: Coronation chicken (mayo mixed with yogurt) with avocado salad. half a pear and a satsuma
  • Wed supper: Lentil and coconut curry with cauliflower (based on BBC Good Food), naan bread. spiced pineapple with cinnamon fromage frais (based on BBC Good Food, but much less honey)
  • Thus breakfast: porridge with blackberries
  • Thurs dinner: vegetable sop. smoked haddock with poached egg and spinach. satsuma
  • Fri lunch: Mexican meatballs with wild and basmati rice mix, avocado salad. cheddar cheese. satsuma
  • Fri supper: Chorizo and rocket spaghetti. spiced pineapple with fromage frais

Focus on Flavour – Keeping it Light

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Since early January we have been working on evolving our lifestyle with the aim of getting our bodies back to normal, i.e. not ‘overweight’, improving our fitness level and hopefully increasing our chances of living to a ripe old age in good health.

We are following a 5:2 diet (5 days eating normal, healthy meals: 2 days restricted calorie intake – 500 for women/ 600 for men), inspired by Michael Mosley’s “The Fast Diet”

With this in mind I am preparing a lot of our meals from scratch and trying to eliminate unnecessary calories.

I’m going to start trying to photograph our meals, especially when it is something new.

Each week I am planning our meals for the week, so I’m going to share those meal plans here and link to recipes or include my own as and when I can.