Fast Diet - Week 5 - #LoseDayTuesday

Week five of the 5:2 Fast Diet!! To find out more about it, read my original post here.

Four weeks down and into the fifth week. I have continued on with Monday and Wednesday fast days and have found it easier to get them "over with" earlier in the week. I am not finding the fast days quite as difficult as they first were, but I would rather fast on busy days to keep my mind from constantly thinking about food.

This diet has really identified my eating patterns that need changing. I have always known how much time I spend thinking about food, but I hadn't really noticed how much of the day I participate in food, be it prepare, cook, eat, pin and now calorie-count! I justify it partly because of this blog, but I have become aware of some of my behaviours towards food that I have held onto that must change.

Whenever I have some time to myself in the afternoons when Baby M naps, I make an afternoon treat. Whenever I feel unwell or have had a migraine, I heat up potato in some form to soothe my woes. Whenever I am stressed or anxious, I bury my worries in sugar. These behaviours are ingrained in me as a way of dealing with life, but as I have other mechanisms to deal with things these days, it surely is time to let go of the emotional eating! I have a post prepared for later in the week regarding non-food cuddles, a topic that is personal to me but something I really want to talk about.

I am still enjoying good food. I am still baking and not worrying about eating an entire fish (he was a little guy don't worry), followed by rhubarb and apple crumble. The difference is now though, that knowing a big dinner is looming, I ate small and healthy meals all day so that my evening intake wouldn't tip the scales terribly. This diet is helping me restore balance in my food life, and it is starting to show, ever so slightly, in my clothes!

The scales may not be saying all that much still, but my clothes are fitting better and having tried on clothes from a few years ago that are now fitting (but not quite yet looking good, still work to do!) it is giving me a surge of motivation to keep going and see where this diet can take me.

Enough ramblings from me, here is my food intake for last weeks' fast day. 

Lunch - Scrambled eggs with grilled tomatoes

This was made possible by the discovery of oil spray. I've always seen it on the shelves but never felt compelled to pick it up before this diet. But hey, if you can have a little moisture in the pan to grill some tomatoes and it only adding one extra calorie for the process, well that's okay with me. I grilled 5 cherry tomatoes, and then scrambled one egg with some fresh parsley. Delish.

Snack - Green olives

Yes, the same snacks as I've had before, but I was just needing some salt!!

I also had to sacrifice some calories on throat lozenges, darn cold and flu season is playing havoc on me this year!! 30 calories were wasted, grr!

Dinner - Chicken Puttanesca with Courgetti

This was definitely a case of moulding a recipe around my pantry, but it worked! I again consulted the Fast Diet Recipe Book, and stumbled upon the Sarah Raven's Chicken Puttanesca recipe, and adapted it to match what I had on hand. I had some spare calories up my sleeve, so had my chicken on some amazing courgetti (courgette-spaghetti). Here's the recipe post.

Drinks

I caught up with a friend for some park time for our little girls and then we huddled inside at the nearest coffee shop for a warming beverage. I asked (without too much hope) what herbal teas were on offer, and to my surprise, discovered a new tea that blew me away! Teapigs Creme Caramel tea is divine. It is sweet and packs a punch in the flavour stakes. I've had it since with milk and sugar, and it really didn't need it, or add anything really, it doesn't need it. 

I found drinking water much easier this week, so was able to get 2L per day easily. 

Total calories for the day = 415

Exercise

Pilates, lots of walking, and a workout in the stairwell again. It's actually one of my favourite ways to work out. I have loaded up a fun playlist on Spotify on my phone, plug the headphones in and away I go. It is such an exit from life for me, and I really enjoy it. Plus, I can look ridiculous and get really sweaty, without anyone ever seeing!! 

Weight loss?

Total loss to date = 1.8kg (3.97lbs)

Last week I was toying with the idea of doing a third fasting day, and gladly was talked out of through some really encouraging comments. This week, I am wondering whether I need to start actually counting calories on non-fast days. If you're doing the Fast Diet, do you count calories every day? I just am starting to feel like whilst I am seeing some changes, I'd like to see more, and am wondering how to tweak my week to make this happen. So I think my two options are to count my calories every day (oi) or to up my exercise... Which do you guys think would be more successful??

Have a great week! One Fast Day down, one to go!

meg xx