Week 2 of my fasting diet

Ok, it's Monday; fasting day and I'm pretty hungry right now!

Week one of the diet didn't seem too bad, in fact, the second fasting day had me in a much chirpier mood than usual at work. Not sure if the two things are related but I guess I'll find out if it continues. You generally wouldn't confuse my face with a ray of sunshine (especially not at work) but for some reason I just had a some new energy from somewhere- I was wearing a yellow top instead of the usual black frock so maybe it was also a little bit of colour therapy.

Today I think I may have over-indulged in some strawberries and mistakenly thought that a piece of salmon would have about the same amount of calories as chicken but it actually has more! Baked salmon 100g is approx 190 calories so I have gone over a little to around 550 calories today. I had the same breakfast and dinner as last week but for tea I had salmon (marinaded in soy sauce, lemon and chilli) with cabbage, carrots and peas. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't check the calorie content before I made my tea and I hope that this has not been a wasted fasting day.

What the scales say:

Scales show a couple of pounds lost but it's only been a week so I'm not too bothered about that just yet. I'm usually a scale addict and weigh myself in the morning everyday but I've been trying to not get too obsessed with the morning step on, step off, have a wee, take off my socks and step back on! Maybe I should get the measuring tape out but I have a problem with misplacing it. I don't know why, I must have at least 5 tape measures in my house but they all end up missing (in a place where the pens and odd socks hide).

The other days:

On the days when I've not been fasting I have still been eating reasonably healthy. I'm still weighing out carbs as I had done before in my healthy eating plan. I've also had a couple of treats; a slice of carrot cake, a packet of crisps and a few gin and slimline tonics.... OK so I've had a few treats.

I shall end my post with a pic of my fasting-spoiling-calorie-laden dinner of salmon and veg whilst kicking myself for not checking first. Lesson learnt: do the math.

New diet... Fasting 5:2

So the diet up to my holiday had me stuck at scale mate. I managed to hit 8 stone but only for one day (after a big poo). Saying that, I did find myself fitting into size 10 jeans in some shops. I'm still not confidently a size 10, I'd say I'm a 10-12 and the mission is to be a size 10.

I've been reading recently about an intermittent fasting diet, eating only 500 calories two days per week and eating normally the rest of the week. Today is the day that I try to fast. I've worked out a 500 calorie day plan (using the quick calorie guide found in the book 'Cook Yourself Thin' and google searches for anything not included in the book) and I'm going to do this twice a week (if I can) to see how this goes.

Here is what I plan to eat on my fasting day:
Breakfast: Poached egg = 82
1 slice of wholemeal Toast, Warburtons 400g loaf = 58 (no butter or spread)
Coffee with Skimmed Milk = 20
Total 160 cal

Lunch:
Half tin of tuna = 70
Lettuce, 60g = 10
1 Tomato = 15
Total 95 cal

Dinner: Grilled chicken breast, 100g = 120
Steamed broccoli, 90g = 22
Boiled carrots 50g = 12
Total 154
Total for day = 409

This leaves 91 calories for a couple of cups of coffee and I may snack on a tomato or carrot if I'm feeling starving.

All in all, this doesn't sound too bad, three meals... lets go..

Some links to further reading on the fasting 5:2 diet research/ news articles:

Telegraph
Some nice 250 cal recipes:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9483381/52-diet-healthy-recipes-250-calories-or-less.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2183677/Why-starvation-diet-actually-good--make-live-longer.html