How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow. On Thursday, eat the meals that will be posted on Wednesday.  Eat sensibly the other days of the week.  That’s it.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

Last Spring, I went on a package tour of Italy to revisit some favorite places and to see some new sights.  Major binge, you are thinking?  A chance to depart from the Fasting Lifestyle and eat myself silly?  Nope.  I’ll show you how to eat from the hotel buffet, still maintain the 5:2 pattern, AND return home without gaining a pound.  I’ll assume that you will be doing a lot of walking when you go on vacation, just as I did. That helps to mitigate the effects of the occasional gelato stand.

Fasting in Florence The breakfast buffet was tempting and since it was the same day after day, I could promise myself a treat tomorrow if I wanted it.  On a Fast Day, I could choose hard-boiled egg, ham, cheese, fruit, blood orange juice, and even a cappuccino. [Without the fancy coffee, this is the breakfast that I call Dutch Breakfast [Nov 9, ’16]  That breakfast gave me the fuel to tour all day and skip lunch.

The Dinner Buffet

The hotel or cruise ship buffet may be your down-fall unless you are strategic. Remember: this is a Fast Day. Tomorrow you can eat more liberally.  Step one, eat a big salad with no dressing.  Salt, pepper, lemon juice — those are fine but avoid the creamy or prepared dressings.  Step two, half a plate of vegetables, the other half is meat or seafood.  Those are sirloin tips and shrimp on my plate.  Step three, don’t go back for seconds.  Step four, avoid the dessert table and drink lots of water.

Ingredients for next week’s meals:  breakfast

dinner