If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you will have seen that i've been posting 'what I ate today' for the past week as I have started a new diet to try and shift some of this unwanted baby weight.
Due to me having a c-section, i'm unable to start exercising (which is what I planned to do as soon as I had her) until around the 3 month mark because of my stomach muscles repairing themselves. I probably could do some light exercising now though but it's still a little tender and i'd rather wait until I know i'm good to go! So, I thought the best way would be to go on a healthy eating diet until I can exercise alongside it to shift the weight...
I come across the '5:2' diet when I heard a few people talking about how good they found it and how quick they were seeing results. I'm really impatient when it comes to these sort of things and if I don't see any results, I get bored dead quick. So, I purchased the book and thought i'd give it a go.
The diet itself can be altered to suit your ow lifestyle but the way that I am doing it is:
5 days of healthy eating (no more than 1200 calories each day)
2 days of fasting (no more than 500 calories)
(Hint the name '5:2') The idea of it is that on the fasting days, you cut down your intake so that your weeks total calorie intake is lower, initially making you loose weight. I downloaded 'MyFitnessPal' to help me out with my calorie counting and it's brilliant! To log what you've eaten, all you do is scan the barcode on the food and type in how much you have and voila! It tallies up your foods telling you how much you have left for the day! At first, I did find it a little difficult weighing and measuring all my foods but you kind of get into a routine of weighing everything out. I think with diets, it's all about portion size. A handful portion of everything on your plate should be enough!
So, I started this diet last Tuesday weighing in at 12stone 5llbs (shocking isn't it) and I competed the diet as stated everyday. Even at the weekend, although I have no pictures of my food, I still didn't go over my 1200 calorie limit!
Go me!!
Go me!!
You can purchase the book and it has handy tips in for foods and also lists some quick and easy low calorie recepies to get you through those fasting days!
Day 1:
Breakfast - Porridge with Soya Milk, Apple and Dried Fruit & Tea with 1 sugar 355 kcal
Lunch - Plain Bagel with Tuna and Cucumber (tsp of Mayo) 324 kcal
Snack - Apricot, Mango and Strawberry Smoothie (made with 30g Low fat Yogurt) 64 kcal
Dinner - Soft Noodles with Chicken, Sugar Snaps, Baby corn & Mixture of Peppers (2 tbsp sweet & sour sauce) 456 kcal
Total calories - 1187
Day 2 // Fast Day:
Breakfast - Porridge with 5 Frozen Raspberries and Tbsp Dried Fruit & Black Coffee 116 kcal
Lunch - Tomato Soup with 1 Rivita 244 kcal
Dinner - Haddock fillet with Steamed Brocolli, Baby corn & 6 Roasted Baby Tomatoes (1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar) 144 kcal
Bedtime - Camomile & Honey Tea
Total calories - 505
Day 3:
Breakfast - Museli with Apricot, Yogurt and Raspberries & Tea with 1 sugar 244 kcal
Lunch - Tomato and Mozerella with 2 slices Parma Ham 164 kcal
Snack - Strawberry, Mango & Banana Smoothie (made with 100ml Soya Milk) 178 kcal
Dinner - Chilli Penne Pasta with Homemade Bolognase Sauce 380 kcal
Bedtime Snack - Breakfast bar & Decaff tea with 1 sugar 131 kcal
Total calories - 1106
Day 4:
Breakfast - Museli with Apricot, Yogurt and Dried fruit & Decaff Tea with 1 sugar 337 kcal
Lunch - Tomato, Parma ham and Soft Cheese Bagel 52 kcal
Snack - Strawberry and Raspberry Smoothie (made with 100ml Soya Milk) 178 kcal
Dinner - Homemade Chicken Tikka Pitta with Salad (1 tbsp Mayo) 339 kcal
Total calories - 1326
(also went out that night, oops!)
Day 5 (Saturday):
Breakfast - Museli with 30g Yogurt, Tea with 1 sugar 219 kcal
Lunch - Cornish Pasty & Bottle of Drench 550 kcal
Dinner - BBQ Dinner including Chicken breast, salad, corn on the cob, 2 baby potatoes and spoon of Pasta approx 260 kcal
Snack - Tomato and Mozerella with 2 slices Parma Ham 164 kcal
Bedtime - Camomile & Honey Tea
Bedtime - Camomile & Honey Tea
Total calories - 1193
Day 6 (Sunday):
Breakfast - Porridge with Raspberries & Tea with 1 Sugar 166 kcal
Lunch - Wholemeal bread roll and Turkey Breast 167 kcal
Dinner - BBQ Dinner including Chicken breast, salad, corn on the cob, baby potatoes, burger and spoon of Pasta approx 364 kcal
Snack - Walkes Sunbites & Drench and 1 piece of Cadburys Marvellous Creations 281 kcal
Bedtime - Tea with 1 Sugar - 40 kcal
Total calories - 1016
Day 7 // Fast Day:
Breakfast - Cereal bar & Tea with 1 sugar 115 kcal
Lunch - Chicken and Mushroom Soup with 1 Rivita 219 kcal
Dinner - Tuna fillet with Lettuce, Peppers, Cucumber and 6 Roasted Baby Tomatoes (1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar) 136 kcal
Total calories - 469
As you can see... apart from Friday, i've managed to stick to my 1200 limit and also my 500 limit on fast days too (give or take a few calories) and i'm really proud of myself. The first fast day I did, Adam kept tempting me with 'Shall we get pizza? Could really eat some chips...' but I didn't cave in! I've found that planning your weekly meals helps a lot too as you aren't trying to figure out all the calories in one day and you know what you can and can't eat on certain days.
If you're on a diet, here's a few little tips to help you out:
- Measure your portions. Once you've done it a few times, you will get the hang of it! Try to use something that you know holds the same amount i.e. cups/bowls etc
- Try to stick to 3 meals a day at about the same time each day.
- Don't eat fruit on days you have limited calories on. The sugars in fruit will counteract with your body and leave you craving more rather than filling you up. Stick to nuts or have a cereal bar if you're peckish!
- Drink LOTS of water. I try to have 4 pints a day!
- Frozen berries such as blueberries, strawberries and raspberries only come in at 1 calorie per berry! Perfect to throw on your plain porridge!
- Roasted Baby Tomatoes (around 10 tomatoes) are only 30 calories and really fill you up!
- Steam or Boil anything you can rather than frying it.
- Drink fruit teas rather than adding sugar to normal tea! A cup of tea with semi skimmed milk and just 1 sugar is 40 calories!
Hopefully, I can keep this up for a few weeks but for now, after 7 days of being on the diet I have lost 2llbs!
Are you on a diet? Let me know how it's going and if you have any tips!
Hi Emma
ReplyDeleteJust seen this blog, love it! And thanks for this info - I did the 5:2 diet for almost a month but I didn't realise until now that the 5 days need to be 1200 calories or less! Neither less, I was still loosing 1llb a week.
BUT disaster has struck as I went on holiday and I managed to put a whole 1/2 stone back on! So I am back now in business in trying to loose weight (and more :( )
Mrs O x