5:2 Just One Day

Posted on February 23, 2013 by lindaharley

I only had one fast day this week: a work conference on Thursday and Friday ruled those days out, and while I COULD have gone for Monday and Wednesday that would have meant sharing no meals with my husband all week. So I did just Tuesday. And thought, I’d better make it a good one!

Up till now, I’ve eased myself in gradually by eating in a very similar way to my normal days.  So that was breakfast, a mid morning snack of cheese on rice cakes, soup and a salad for lunch, something like fruit mid afternoon, and then dinner at 6, with possibly an evening snack.  This week I cut out all the snacks, I’ve dropped the salad from the lunch so it’s now down to an under-50 calorie soup.  I might try to get to the stage where I can do just breakfast and dinner, with a longer fasting period in between.  But making the change gradually has certainly helped.

For dinner I brought together some of my low-cal heroes: portabello mushrooms, a tin of shrimp, spinach, and a tub of salsa.

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The mushrooms are about 25 cals each, half a tin of shrimp is 50 cals, the spinach is negligible, and the salsa – well, I discovered that shop bought salsa varies quite a bit from brand to brand, so the lesson learned is to read the nutrition labels carefully.  This Sainsburys one worked out at about 60 cals for half the tub, but was quite high in sugar.  I cut out the stalks of the mushrooms  and chopped them with the shrimp, spinach and salsa.  I then stuffed the mushrooms with this mixture.

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I baked them in the oven for about 20 minutes.  They were really good, and it’s a versatile dish that would lend itself to different stuffings.  I used the rest of the salsa and shrimp next day in a salad, with the addition of a chopped avocado.

shrimp 005Other progress – down to 139 pounds, and able to fit into my skinny dark green trousers.

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5:2 one month in

Posted on February 16, 2013 by lindaharley

I said I would try this eating plan for 4 weeks, and I’ve done it!

My weight this morning was just under 10 stone, which I’m delighted about. It’s been fairly easy sticking to the 500 calorie limit, in fact I’ve enjoyed finding meals that fit within that budget. I feel fantastic, my mood is really up-beat, and friends tell me I’m looking well.  It’s also easy to shift fast days about in order to meet work or social commitments.  So I’m in for another 4 weeks, I reckon!

grapefruit pot with berries

grapefruit pot with berries

Here’s my list of favourite low-cal snacks:

5 calories – 5 radishes, for crunch.  Blueberries and raspberries are about 1 calorie each too.

10 calories – a sugar-free jelly pot.  These come in all sorts of exotic flavours, and make a very satisfying squelch when you eat them. shoes and food 006

15 calories – a mug of oxo or bovril.  Really satisfying!

20 calories – 60g canteloupe melon

25 calories – one Finn crisp cracker with a smear of Marmite

30 calories – 2 stalks of celery with an extra light Laughing Cow squidged down their middles. Blue cheese flavour works really well with celery.  The “extra light”  is 20 cals, compared to just the “light” at 25 cals – I find the taste is better and worth those extra 5 cals.

My favourite evening meal this week was Chick’n’Pickle. Total 140 calories

30g cooked chicken (50 cals)

30g pickled onions (8 cals)

30g gherkins (6 cals)

Pickled egg (70 cals)

Bed of lettuce (5 cals)

It was a bit too pickly – if I was making it again I’d just have an ordinary boiled egg, or maybe even a poached one.

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5:2 Tom Yum Yum!

Posted on February 7, 2013 by lindaharley

Just finished week 3 (in fact today is the first fast day of week 4 for me)

I’ve easily lost a pound a week, my mood is really bright and chipper, I enjoy the menu planning that’s required for 2 days, and then love having fewer restricitions the rest of the time.

I had my cholesterol checked this week – 5.2, spookily enough, but the pharmacist said that while ideally you’d want it under 5, the ratio of my good cholesterol to the bad stuff is spot on.

My fast day heroes this week have been:

1. Tom Yum paste. A tablespoonful is 15 calories, made up into a soup with loads of veg (sliced mushrooms, shredded cabbage, spring onion etc) takes it up to about 40-50 cals.

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 I added in some cold slivers of beef, which made it 123 per portion. Served with some finely chopped red chilli, coriander leaves and a squeeze of lime. I’m going to try variations with chicken or shrimp. You could leave out the meat for a vegetarian 50-cal soup, or bulk it up with a nest of egg noodles (mind you, 170 cals for one nest!) for a more substantial bowl.

2. Anchovies. These pack a taste punch way above their weight. 2 anchovies are about 13 calories, and are plenty when snipped into a salad, or to nicoise up some steamed veg with a few black olives as well. Also good for your oily fish omega oils, but really high on the salt/ sodium scale, so dont eat the whole tin.

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3. Microwavable saucepan. I use these to prepare my evening meals. A chopped leek, some baby courgette rounds, a few mushrooms, half a pepper, diced. Add a splash of water and a few herbs, and blast in this baby in the micro for a few minutes.

4. Aunt Bessies frozen carrot and swede mash. 45 cals for 100g, great substitute for mashed potato.

5. Grapefruit.  Half a grapefruit is about 50 calories.  I found little ready made pot of grapefruit in juice at Tesco, which are much less fiddly than a real fruit, so I shall keep some of those on standby.

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6. Smoked salmon.  Really decadent, but a 30g serving is about 50 cals.  Add a few capers and a wedge of lemon.

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I’ve found that it helps to have something similar to what I usually eat – soup and salad is my normal lunch anyway, so keeping that pattern means I don’t feel deprived.

Summary menus this week:

Tuesday – Half grapefruit (54) and boiled egg (70), crackerbread and laughing cow light (65), tom yum soup and salad (150), sauteed veg with anchovies and olives (90). I was really headachy in the afternoon and so added a Babybel Light (50)

Thursday – Half grapefruit (54) and smoked salmon (50), rice thins and laughing cow light (60), tom yum soup and rocket-berry salad (170), souffle omelette with spinach and mushroom (110).  Sadly, my Graze box arrived today rather than yesterday, and I was unable to resist the cute little afternoon tea for 84 cals – a lovely assam blend with a gorgeous lemon and poppy seed cake.

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Rocket-berry salad

A handful of rocket leaves (5 cals)

A splash of fruity balsamic (5 cals)

Berries – raspberries and blueberries are about 1 cal each, so 20 of each is generous (40 cals)

I don’t usually like fruit in salads, but the syrupy balsamic goes really well with this.

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5:2 Drink ALL the teas!

Posted on January 31, 2013 by lindaharley

Into the 3rd week of this eating regime, and I do like having a structure to the week, and the challenge of menu planning.
Monday’s menu was egg-white/banana pancake with raspberries (80 cals), lunch was miso soup (30 cals) and a beetroot and feta salad (140 cals), and dinner was a slice of ham (30 cals) with leek,  pepper and mushrooms done in the microwave (90 cals)
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I texted my husband as I was leaving the office to see if he needed anything, and to my horror he requested a steak! That was a tough ask, going into a supermarket surrounded by food, and choosing a juicy steak that I wouldn’t even get to eat. Lesson learned there – as well as menu-planning for ME on fast days, ensure there is something already in the house for dear OH.

What really gets me through the day is herbal teas. I have amassed a delicious selection, including green tea with cranberry, rosehip, rooibos Earl Grey, licorice with oriental spices, and good ole rosehip. My daughter often accuses me of always ordering “the most random thing off the menu” and I think she would be nodding her head in appreciation of this eclectic and random teas.
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On Tuesday, the day after my fast, I was feeling incredibly up-beat.  I could eat whatever I wanted, and was enjoying running various possibilities through my head.  Mmmmm chocolate!

My next fast day was Thursday.  I had 85g cottage cheese (85 cals) for breakfast with a few pickles.  Unfortunately these turned out to be garlic flavoured, so I was emitting garlicky-pickle burps all morning – lovely!

For lunch I had the beetroot and feta salad again, with a sachet of Ainsley Harriott hot-and-sour soup (65 cals).  For dinner, I found my new best friend  Aunt Bessie.  Specifically, her frozen carrot and swede mash, a mere 45 cals for 100g.  I had this with a slice of prosciutto (35 cals), and my leek/ pepper and mushroom saute done in the microwave. (50 cals)

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Overall, I’m feeling great.  The fast days take a bit of planning, but the pounds are coming off steadily.  All I need to do now is learn how to buy less food – we visited a lovely wee home bakery in Comber last Saturday, ate some of the gorgeous potato bread with peppers, and chees’n’bacon soda bread on Saturday and Sunday, I was fasting on Monday, we forgot about them on Tuesday and by Wednesday they had to be thrown out.

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5:2 diet – all these little things

Posted on January 25, 2013 by lindaharley

Monday – second fast day

Sorry, I forgot to take any photos today, but what I ate was:
Breakfast – half a banana and egg white pancake with blueberries and raspberries (130cals)
am snack – 2 crackerbread with laughing cow light (65 cals)
lunch – ainsley harriot hot and sour cup-a-soup and cottage cheese salad (145 cals)
pm snack – radishes and celery sticks (30 cals)
dinner – microwaved courgette chunks and pastrami (70 cals).

I find on fast days that it’s down to the little things that I can really scrape my calorie intake down to that 500. I normally take my tea with milk, but on fast days I’ll have it black (saving 50 cals). I explore green teas, herbal teas, and I have a real affection for rooibos Earl Grey.

I’ll have crackerbread at 19 cals per slice rather than rice cakes at 29 cals each.

I’ll go for the laughing cow light at 25 cals a triangle, instead of the full fat dairylea at 40.

I was a bit peckish in the evening, and did nibble on a dry oatcake.

My 3rd fast day was on Thursday. I’ve tried so far to have fast days when I’m not doing anything else, but on this day I was due to perform at a Scottish dance demo in the afternoon, and then my weekly Scottish dance class in the evening.burns 001

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The demo was cancelled as a result of the weather, but I found my energy levels in the evening class absolutely fine.

My menu for the day was;

Breakfast – egg white with flaxseed pancake, and blueberries. This was a bit bland.
am snack – the usual crackerbread and cheese
Lunch – Miso soup and mozarella tomato salad. Could have done with some lemon juice and black pepper.
pm snack – raw veggies. What a lot of crunchy goodness for 60 cals! A dip of salsa would have been lovely.
Dinner – griddled courgette slivers in lemon juice and pepper (oh yum!) and marinated mushrooms (recipe to follow, tweaks already being considered)

I also treated myself to a can of no-sugar shandy.  Normally I don’t like fizzy drinks, and I avoid artificial sweeteners, but as a “wee treat” to look forward to, this wasn’t bad.  Not overly sweet, not too fizzy, and only 10 cals.

Marinated Mushrooms:

Half a pack of small mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters.

one shallot, or half a red onion finely diced

one crushed clove garlic

one teaspoon wholegrain mustard

one teaspoon cumin seeds

one teaspoon onion seeds (nigella )

handful of chopped coriander

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Mix everything together in a container and leave for a few hours in the fridge, overnight if possible.

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5:2 eating plan

Posted on January 17, 2013 by lindaharley

This is often referred to as a 5:2 fast, but it isn’t really a fast. For 2 days a week, you eat about 500 calories, 25% of your normal intake (600 for men). I watched a Horizon documentary on this last year, and then read an article in last week’s Sunday Times, and decided to give it a go.

The theory is remarkably simple – no special foods or additives, no counting carbs, up to me how I spread the calories. Now, I know me. I know that I do NOT function well without breakfast, and that I tend to be a grazer. So I wasn’t prepared to go with only tea or water all day and have a 500 cal dinner. Instead, I ate this:
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Breakfast = 100g cottage cheese with a handful of blueberries (110 cal)

Morning snack = 2 crackerbread with a dairylea triangle (80 cal)

Lunch = tin of chicken noodle soup with a large salad of little gem, cherry tomatoes and cumber (160 cal)

Afternoon snack = radishes and sugar snaps ( 30 cal)

Dinner = soufflé omelette of one egg, 2 egg whites, mushrooms and spinach, with steamed courgettes (120 cal)

Now, I was expecting to feel hungry.  The odd tummy rumble didn’t bother me.  To be honest, the fact that this is only for one day. tomorrow I can eat what I like, got me through any odd feelings of hunger.  I didn’t experience any headaches – I switched my usual 7 or 8 cups of tea a day for black tea or herbal tea.  And it was a day when I didn’t have anything else planned.

So…..so far so good!  I will be trying this for a month at least before I give any verdict.  But the scale was down this morning, let’s see if that’s still the case by next week.

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Half-Marathon: 1 Starting Out

Posted on January 9, 2013 by lindaharley

Well, having come to running late in life, I managed last year to complete and enjoy a couple of 10ks, as well as a relay leg of the Belfast marathon (about 6 miles). So I set myself a greater challenge this year – a full marathon is beyond me yet, I’m sure, but I think I could have a go at a half-marathon at 13.1 miles. I found that entries for the Lisburn half-marathon opened in January, and so I have duly paid my fee and downloaded the training plan!

Another of my resolutions is to average a mile a day, which really translates to a pretty feasible couple of good 3 mile runs per week. And with a half-mar in June that average should be as good as in the bag. I’ve just completed my 3rd run of this year. I actually ran on New Year’s Day, which was a great start to the year! And last week I found a new route which I absolutely love – it’s nice and quiet, mostly footpath when its on a main road, not too many steep hills, is part of the half-mar route that I’ll be doing later, and is only 400m from my front door (out the back of Dobbies car park, for any locals.) I ran it again today with one minor change – I’d cut through a muddy field on the way home last time, which was a mistake, so I wanted to do it properly again to set a base time against which I can measure my improvement.

I’m using MapMyRun to record my routes, speeds, pace etc, and I find it excellent. The only thing is I cant work out how to automatically tweet or facebook after the run, but I shall investigate the settings.
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I invested in the January sales in a proper running top. The temperature is barely above freezing out there, and I wanted something that would keep me warm. This grey and pink number from MPG is great – the long sleeves have little thumb hooks to keep hands warm, it’s really light, body-contouring, and most useful of all it has a little zippy pocket on the back for keys, phone, some change etc.

It’s a real motivator to see my pace getting better each time, even if only by a small amount. I’d love one day to run 10k in under an hour, which would be a pace of 6.00 min/km. I’m a bit off that so far, but heading in the right direction. My last 3 runs were:

1.1.13 7.19 min/km

5.1.13 7.15 min/km

9.1.13 7.12 min/km

I have my iPod shuffle on to keep me motivated – today’s surprisingly upbeat track was The Feeling “Fill my little world”.

And my big dog Max is a brilliant running mate – not much in the way of witty conversation, but unbeatable at pulling me up hills!

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