{Reflections} 1 month on the 5:2 ‘diet’

Hello everyone!

Apologies for my absence during the past week, I was caught up in various work & life endeavours that blogging unfortunately fell by the wayside. The good news? Well today marks day 35 of me being on the 5:2 diet (or as I like to think of it – following the 5:2 lifestyle) which means I’ve made it past the month! Whilst I’ve seen some definite results (more below), there are definitely some pros & cons to this ‘way of eating’ & I hope to highlight what I’ve found difficult/easy over the past few weeks, plus what I’m aiming for in the future.

Anyway! Some stats to start:

I have:

• Lost 10 lbs
• Lost 5+ inches from my measurements (need to take some new ones soon!)

 

^^^ 2 weeks progress pics (left) vs. 4 weeks progress pics (right) ^^^

Learning Points So Far

• Fast days are easier than expected – a coffee in the morning followed by a substantial dinner seems to be the right fit for me.
• The hardest things on fast days (for me) are the cold & lethargy – I definitely feel the chill on fast days. I suspect as the weather continues to change I will be switching more to heart warming soups for dinner (like today’s fast day dinner – bone broth!). Hot tea is a godsend. As for lethargy, this is a harder one to be objective as life is generally a bit more busy at the moment so it’ll be interesting to see what happens to my energy levels when things start to calm down:
  

  To make bone broth, I boiled a packet of pork ribs for a few hours, adding veg for the last half hour of so.

   

• In a way, the feed days are harder than the fast days for those seeking weight loss. I type this sentence with care as I realise that this is a very individual thing & whilst I had a good few lbs ‘to lose’ at the start of this regime, I was still within the normal BMI category (though felt ‘heavy’ compared to my usual previous weight). For this reason, I tend to watch what I eat on feed days. Which was initially hard as when I started my urge was to occasionally over eat on feed days. Even to the point past feeling comfortable! Luckily, some discipline & some self-restraint & I’m getting there.
• Following that, I believe nutrition to be more-than-ever important. When I eat, I want to eat well to ensure my body is getting enough nutrients, protein, balanced carbs, good fats & vitamins. I didn’t want to have to suffer ill effects that others sometimes report e.g. hair loss so tried to ensure I was cooking some nutrient rich meals both on fast & non-fast days.

^^^ Cajun chicken cooked with turkey bacon with a side of mashed plantain & guacamole. Berry smoothie made with fresh & frozen berries, greek yoghurt, milk, chia seeds & topped with gluten-free granola. ^^^

• That said, treats are on the menu. & what’s better is that they are guilt-free! I have loved this aspect of the 5:2 lifestyle – that there is room for it to have treats, and to have them more than once a week!
  

  I may have tried BOTH the chocolate fudge & lemon drizzle tiers to this wedding cake the other day 😉

   

• I have avoided the neuroses of ‘being on a diet’ – I don’t find myself thinking about food all the time, thinking about what I can & can’t eat & beating myself up for any ‘slip ups’. Instead, I am loving getting creative in the kitchen, trying out new foods, & enjoying my time eating out with friends & family!
• Not only that, but I feel comfortable in my own skin & body – whilst I don’t like the idea of finding self-love through our exteriors, I can’t help deny that feeling at my best physically, helps me feels at my best emotionally too.

 

Thoughts for the future?

• Continue to be active – I would say I’m doing some sort of activity at least twice a week at the moment which is great. Whether it is HIIT or just having an active day, I’m not being too discerning.
• Eat whole foods. This is going to be one of my main focuses for the next month. Ideally I would like to cook unprocessed (paleoesque) wholesome meals whenever I cook for myself & relax my eating style when I’m eating out/being cooked for etc. My own cooking is the prime time to pack my meals with as much tasty goodness as possible

^^^ Roasted chicken breast with roasted veggies, & baked plantain with herbs & spices! ^^^

• Eat until I am full (a work in progress)
• Continue engaging with the fast diet/fast day forums as much as possible – the amount of support on these forums is immense!
• Read more about the evidence behind intermittent fasting.

I think that’s about it!

Have you have any lessons you have learnt through intermittent fasting that you would like to share with me? How long have you been 5:2ing for?

{Fast Day} Low Calorie Turkey Fajitas Recipe

 

I rarely get cravings for Mexican food. (Well apart from guacamole. I swear I could eat that stuff by the bucketful every day if I had the chance.) When I do get hit by an urge to munch on some Mexican fare, I don’t really hanker for the heavy wraps or cheese laden dishes, rather it is the amazing spices which get me salivating before I’ve even served up. So that’s what I hope to bring to the table today – the flavours of an old favourite, but without the calorific load. Perfect for fasting days, and packed with nutrition too!

First things first, it’s day 29 & also my 2nd fast day of the week (I’m planning to do my 3rd on Friday) – I decided to squeeze in an extra fast day this week before the indulgences of the summer bank holiday (plus a wedding this weekend) begin!

Oh, and before I forget, newsflash! If you’re from the UK, have a Holland & Barrett store nearby & are a fan of the Eat Water Slim products, pop in for their penny sale i.e. buy one, get the 2nd for a penny (only for the noodles):

I stocked up (£5 for 4 packs) – not cheap but worthwhile if you use them. I probably depend on them a bit too much but they are perfect to quickly throw something together on a fast day (& I would have no qualms using the noodles as a pasta substitute) when pushed for time/inspiration. (and no, I don’t work for either Eat Water or H&B 😉 )

Otherwise I popped to the pool today – I hadn’t been for a while & had somewhat fallen into the habit of convincing myself that I feel too ‘weak’ on a fast day to exercise. Once I gave myself a stern talking to, I was in the water & I felt strong! I managed to do several HIIT rounds before running a few errands about town. A relatively active day!

Now, are you feeling hungry?

 

Hungry for fajitas filled with succulent spiced turkey, crunchy peppers, creamy guac & salsa with a bit of a zing? & all for under 500 calories?

I used turkey here as it has less calories than chicken so it meant more volume. Feel free to use chicken though, it will taste very similar!

Whilst this dish has several components, we’re talking a kitchen-to-table time of less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients (serves 1 – I doubled up as a lot of the ingredients are ‘halves’ so I just saved the remainder for tomorrow’s lunch!)

• 1/2 avocado: 150 cals
• 150g turkey, diced: 165 cals
• 1/2 red onion, diced: 25 cals
• Juice of 1/2 lime: 10 cals
• 7 plum/cherry tomatoes, halved/quartered: 16 cals
• 1 whole red pepper, sliced: 37 cals
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped: 4 cals
• Cos leaves, washed, drained & patted dry: 25 cals
• Chilli flakes
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbs fajita mix (I use Discovery): 25 cals or a 1 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp each of garlic salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, regular pepper

Total calories: 457

 

For the Guacamole

Mash the guacamole with a tbs of the red onion, garlic clove & lime juice.

For the Salsa

Mix the cherry tomatoes with the chilli flakes (to taste), a tbs of the red onion & the pinch of salt.

For the Turkey

‘Water’ fry the rest of the red onion for a few minutes.

Coat the turkey with your spice mix & add to the onions (top up with water as needed so that it is continuously ‘water’ frying & not getting dry/burnt) for 3 minutes.

Add the peppers & continue to fry all the ingredients for 2 minutes.

 

And that’s it!

Load up your cos leaf:

 

Roll up, eat & repeat! (I used 5 large cos leaves in total to use up my various mixtures)

This would be a good easy meal to serve if you are eating with others, just increase the amounts – you could give your loved ones proper wraps & grated cheese if they really wanted them 😉

 

Constructive Criticism & My Reply

Hello all!

I wasn’t planning on posting anything today but then I received an interesting message I thought I would share with you. It initially surprised me but once I let go of my ego I realised there are some important points both in the initial message & in my response. I would love to know your thoughts. As I mentioned in my reply, if at all my blog is not a positive influence on your lifestyle, then please don’t read it. All I ultimately want is success for everyone, myself included, so if it is not helping you on your journey, be ruthless & scrap it 😉

Without further ado:

Edit: I have been asked by the author of the comment to remove it from my blog so have done so, you can see the original comment on this post here: https://forum.fastday.com/5-2-diet-results-f32/my-before-during-progress-pics-t12938.html

My reply still stands & if I’m not living up to your standards, if I’m not the person you want me to be, then I can’t change what is & if this still doesn’t feel right for you then by all means; I encourage you to unfollow the blog.

Hi ——-, thank you so much for voicing your thoughts & concerns. I am somewhat mortified that anyone would interpret the publication of my own progress as dismissive in any way towards other people of ANY age or size. I acknowledge the forums as a way to stay accountable & receive support, nothing more, nothing less. I am not a doctor who plans to write any books concerning the ‘correct’ way to lose weight or how to carry out the 5:2 lifestyle or the like, I am merely a medic new in the world of 5:2 with a vague interest in the science behind it.

Although I am still in my 20s, I can appreciate the difficulties people have with losing weight whether they are older, have complex medical histories or are exposed to various factors both genetic and environmental. I consider myself open-minded & non-discriminatory towards anyone irrelevant to weight, age, race, social class etc. I would never in a million years dream of labelling someone as ‘not really trying’ & if any one has experienced that in the medical world then I apologise on behalf of medical staff.

So, I apologise if you find the documentation of my experiences doing the 5:2 lifestyle depressing. This is not my aim (if anything, I would want to inspire people to try it out & get creative in the kitchen!) & if this is the case I urge you to not visit my blog.

Take care,

Lucy

{Progress Pics} Same outfit, 27 days later

 

Hi everyone, just a fleeting visit today (life is very busy at the moment!) – thought I would post my progress pics for this week even if the changes since my week 2 progress pics aren’t as dramatic. Nevertheless I’m down another lb (leading to a total weight loss so far of 9lbs in just under 4 weeks which isn’t too shabby. Plus since my week 2 pics, I have still lost inches from various places.

I did a 4:3 last week & am attempting another this week. Whilst my weight is stable I still want to see if I can lose some abdominal fat as my waist to height ratio is currently 0.53 (which is above the desired healthy ratio of 0.5). I definitely notice the psychological difference of doing a 5:2 vs. a 4:3 week but have actually more discipline than expected sometimes.

How are you all getting on?

 

{Day 24} Keep Calm & Carry On: How to Avoid Bailing on a Fast Day

This has become my mantra for the day. After weeks of surprisingly myself with how easy my fast days have been, today was a bit of a curveball. For no particular reason really – it’s my third fast of the week as I thought it was time to try another 4:3 week, I closely avoided lunch with the boss at lunchtime, & I’m generally feeling exhausted from a busy week… When I’m tired my appetite shoots up as my body can’t distinguish between needing sleep or needing food.

I had a rather unappetising-looking dinner of ‘Slim Pasta’ with a chicken, pepper & mushroom sauce which thankfully was tasty but I was still left ravenous. So my tips for staying on track on a fast day? Here goes…

• “This too shall pass” – I am still hungry. But my ravenous want-to-eat-everything-in-sight feeling has dampened. Remember the feeling of intense hunger eventually will pass.
• Drink a pint of water – I have done this twice this evening already. It helps a little.
• Distraction – go do a (non-food-related) activity. If you’re feeling tired, have a pamper, put your feet up or switch on your favourite TV show.
• Mini treats – I know sugar free jelly isn’t as satisfying as a trifle but it is still something. Well made herbal tea blends also are a good warming ‘treat’.
• 
• Remember how far you have come – for me, 24 days now!
• Think of tomorrow – breakfast is not too far away…
• Seek support – I like writing on the fast diet forum or the FastDay forum to  keep myself in the ‘zone’.

That’s it for now, do you have any other tips I could use?

Weigh in time tomorrow (& hopefully some progress tips if I remember 🙂 )