How to eat while traveling and stay on the 5:2 Diet

Market Town

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

We love Market Towns. In Pennsylvania, where I was raised, county seats would have market buildings for weekly or semi-weekly sales of all possible meats, fruits, vegetables, baked goods. After our sons were born and we lived in New Hampshire, it was always a special treat to return to PA and take the boys to the market. Their eyes would widen at the pies and pastries, and the apple seller would give them one for free. When we go to Europe on vacation, we seek out the country markets: pop-ups in the town square [Thoiry, Ferne-Voltaire, Annecy, Paris] or those in ancient, covered halls [Durham, Venice, St Helier]. We love to shop there for our provisions and to wander around, feasting our eyes, wishing we could be there for weeks on end to try all the items on sale. Sigh. New Hampshire has nothing like that.

Our meals today are provisioned from markets in Brittany and Normandy. When purchasing, one must be sure to get only enough for your stay — a real shame to have leftover food to discard. The breakfast was born of necessity, utilizing odds and ends for one more meal. The dinner features a serendipitous find at market, which provided two meals.

Breton/Norman Bread Pudding:  204 calories 8 g fat 1.5 g fiber 11.6 g protein 13.8 g carbs [6 g Complex] 124 mg Calcium This dish was invented to clear out the fridge when leaving a rental cottage in Brittany. We repeated it when departing Normandy. It works well anywhere, even in your own home kitchen.

¾ fluid oz milk ½ slice whole-grain bread 1 egg 1 oz cooked fish OR ¾ oz cooked chicken 1 oz tomato ¼ oz cheese, grated fresh herbs, as available 2 oz strawberries   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water   No Smoothie

Cube or dice the bread and tomato. Flake the fish/chop the chicken and grate the cheese. Stir together everything, except the strawberries. The mixture should be moist throughout, but not soupy. TIP: I like to combine it all the night before so the bread has time to absorb the liquids. Heat a saute pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Turn the bread pudding into the pan. Pat and nudge it into a large, flat patty. Cook until brown on one side, then turn it over. [Alternatively, bake it in an oven-proof dish at 350F for 18 minutes.] When done, it should be set and cooked all the way through, and browned on both sides. Plate with the berries and reminice about the vacation you just enjoyed.

We attended the market in Caen, Normandy. What an experience!! It was the largest open-air market we had ever seen, stretching for blocks along the port and into the city center.

So much to choose from that we didn’t see a fraction of it. But we found all the supplies for the week [except breads, which we buy at the local boulangerie]: eggs, vegetables, cidre, seafood. When we saw the fresh pasta cart, we were in heaven. Rabbit Ravioli caught my eye and I envisioned a plate of pasta on Wednesday and a ravioli salad for the following Fast Day. Here it is: a lightly-dressed salad topped with cooked raviolis rewarmed in a barely buttered pan.

Ingredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday ……… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg1.5 two-oz eggs 
garlic + scallionsbleu cheese
fish sauce + applemushrooms
cooked spinach + Srirachaleeks + pear
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion for Monday: …….. single portion for Thursday:

chicken/turkey thigh + egg6-12 oysters + leeks + apple
mirin + soy sauce + dashfennel bulb + fronds + egg white
sake or dry sherry + sugarbleu cheese + butter
onion + parsley + riceoptional: pie crust, not GF
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Dinners on the Wall

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

In May of 2016, I went for a hike with our cousin and her son. Nothing much…just walking the Hadrian’s Wall Path in northern England. [84 miles in 7 days] This was not an ‘all-inclusive holiday’ tour by bus with a guide and meals provided. Cousin Peggy found the places to stay and we figured out on the fly where we would have dinner each evening. Walking an average of 12 miles/day sounds arduous — but it wasn’t really, if you trained for it. You might think that this was no place for a Fasting Lifestyle. With all those calories being expended daily, surely one would need to chow down like a lumberjack every day. Again, not so. A Fast Breakfast can take you a long way into a busy, active day. The remainder is up to mind-set [like any diet plan]. And don’t forget — this was only two days out of the week — the rest of the time I could eat what I liked.

So what did I eat?

At Bistrot 34 in Brampton, I enjoyed this plate of legumes and goat cheese. It was really delicious and full of protein to fight hunger.
At the Gilsand Inn, the meat pie beckoned to me from the menu. The pie was small and tasty and the vegetables were abundant. Without the potatoes and gravy, it might almost be a Fast Meal. Ordering from the menu has limitations.

The take-aways? 1] With determination, one can Fast on vacation. 2] One will not perish by exercising on a Fast Day. 3] It is possible to order off the menu and still be true to the Fasting Lifestyle.

Did I eat salads while suffering from hunger all week? No way! The last day, we walked 21 miles from Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway. [The map says it is less, but taking the wrong turning adds miles!] We dined well that night at the King’s Arms. It was a Saturday so I could eat what I wanted. And I did.

The meal of fish & chips was delicious and I ate it all [I did share the chips with fellow diners]

St Clair

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

On a recent trip to Normandy, France, we stayed in a cottage in the village of Banneville-sur-Ajon. One of the local sights of which we were told was the chapel of Saint Clair. Naturally I thought this was Saint Clare, the friend of Francis of Assisi. Nope. This is Saint Clair of Epte, France. He was originally from England — Manchester, perhaps — and he lived in the 800s. The man was devout and wanted to be a religious hermit. But he was pursued by a wealthy woman who wanted him for her husband. To avoid her sexual harassment, Clair fled to France. Landing at the Seine estuary, he worked his way up the Epte River, leaving a string of miracles in his wake. [This was not a great way to hide from anybody, much less a vengeful woman.] Clair made a solitary life for himself near a spring and lived there happily until the arrival of henchmen from the spurned Englishwoman. Since they couldn’t convince Clair to go back and marry her, they cut off his head. Clair’s body picked it up and walked to the spring to wash it off. Ever after that, the spring had miraculous healing powers. The admirers of Clair declared him a saint and built chapels to him in Normandy, always near a water source. In Banneville, the Ajon River flows prettily through a precipitous valley near-by. Perhaps because of [or in spite of??] Clare’s unhappiness in love, local engaged couples leave offerings of eggs at the chapel prior to their weddings to gain Saint Clare’s blessing on their life together. We were charmed to see a generous basket left at the chapel door by a betrothed pair. I hope they will be a happy married couple.

Breakfast involves eggs, of course, with some salmon from a prior dinner. Dinner features fish, since good St Clare is associated with water. These are examples of how we can continue the Fasting Lifestyle even on vacation.

A simple omelette with salmon folded into in makes a great travel breakfast, served with locally purchased fruit.
Sole fillets from the Farmers’ Market stuffed with a bread/herb/egg mixture. Served with roasted haricot beans, this meal was easily prepared in the kitchen of our cottage. The food shown served two of us.

Ingredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday ……… single portion for Thursday:

1.5 two-oz egg1.5 two-oz eggs 
haggis [Spicy 18-Sept-2018
smoked chicken sausage
applesauce
oregano + parsley
Parmesan cheese
applesauce
Optional smoothieoptional smoothie
optional hot beverageoptional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion for Monday: …….. single portion for Thursday:

Martin’s whole wheat potato sliders
or 100 calorie slider rolls
Herring marinated in wine
+ lettuce
3.5 oz beef BBQ in sauce
<60 calories/oz
onion + apple + vinegar + dill pickle
cherry tomatoes
beets, canned or cooked fresh
carrots
white beans + hard-boiled egg
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Brittany

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

You know how I like to talk about traveling/vacationing and still following the Fasting Lifestyle? Well, I’m going to do it again. We went to Brittany, France last May: partly because it is a wonderful place to visit and partly because some of my mother’s ancestors are from there. I had visited 50 years ago [literally: in 1969] on a student tour and had wanted to return. So we did. We rented a self-catering cottage in the region whence came my ancestors and we had a wonderful time. We hiked, we bird-watched, we drove to lovely and interesting places, we purchased food in local farmer’s markets, and we visited local restaurants. We also ate galettes and crepes and washed them down with cidre, naturallement. Our cottage was in the tiny hamlet of Kergeral near the sea. It was delightful.

It is not difficult to stay on a Fast Diet while traveling. You need to be mindful and to make the right choices. Deprivation is not necessary, as you can see from sample meals below. Upon return, my weight was still below my Target. Hooray!

The last breakfast at our cottage, we had some food left over — eat it or toss it? This ‘breakfast bread pudding’ contained bread cubes, egg, cooked fish, cooked vegetables, and a topping of cheese. Delicious and under 300 calories!
We drove to Carnac to see the Standing Stones and to eat oysters. Here are the oysters, as served at Huitres de Cochennec, enjoyed at one of their outdoor tables at water’s edge. Fabulous combination of location and food consumed. Oysters are a wonderful dinner choice for the Faster.

Breakfasts on the Wall

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.                       Welcome to Organic Tree who is now Following.

We all like to go on vacation: to visit new places and have new experiences. It has been said that “Travel is broadening.”  But that can be a problem — you go on a great trip and come back with several extra pounds.  Often the reason given is that “when you stay in a hotel, you have to eat off the menu and therefore you can’t possibly continue to Fast.”  I’m here to argue against that.  Two years ago, I went on a hiking trip with our cousin and her son. The Hadrian’s Wall Path is 84 miles long. We started on the East end [Wallsend, Northumberland] and walked to the West end [Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria].  And all along the way we stayed in a variety of places: from hotels to inns to holiday parks. The Wall and the Wall Path were truly  amazing: a wonderful walk through beautiful countryside and pretty villages.  We hiked 8 days, ranging from 5 to 19 miles per day.  Can you Fast while on vacation? Yes.  Can you Fast and still go hiking? Yes. It was great. End of the Trail The trip covered two Fast Days and here are some of my breakfast choices for the week:

2-3gg omelette on the road

A two-egg omelette ordered off the menu with a side of mushrooms and a cup of coffee was just what I needed at the  Benkinsopp Castle Inn in Brampton.

 

                                                                In East Wallhouses, at the Robin Fasting on the TrailHood Inn, scrambled eggs on toast became the perfect start to a day on the Path. This is similar to a meal we would have at home a Fast Day. [The extra pieces of toast were not eaten.]

 

 

English Breakfast on the Trail

Of course at some point in England one will be served the Full English Breakfast, as we were at the Gilsland Spa Hotel in Brampton. This can be a temptation for a real pig-out, but I opted for lots of protein and some fruit yogurt.

Traveling While Fasting

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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.

Can’t tell you how often people say, “Well I’m off on holiday and of course that means I won’t be Fasting, since that would be impossible.”  And I think, “Why would you say that?”  Having been at this for 5 years, perhaps it is easier for me to see the possibilities on a menu and do a mental calculation of calories.  But even without that, if one sticks to lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables at meals on Fast Days, then one might even allow the odd glass of wine! Other days, enjoy whatever local fare is offered. The bottom line is this: Fasting on vacation does not mean ruining your trip or spoiling the fun. Rather, it gives you a framework which enables you to partake of local foods sensibly without the groans of disappointment when you read the scales upon your return.

Breakfast the Hotel: Most hotels serve a Breakfast Buffet,   Fasting breakfast in Rome                                                                     often of grandiose proportions. If you view it                                                                                 with a Faster’s eye, you will spot some                                                                                                offerings which exactly fill the bill.   On Slow Days, one can sample more freely from the other tempting treats.                                                                                  Breakfasting from the buffet in Rome looked like this: It was the perfect prelude to a day at the Colosseum and the Church of San Clemente, with its 5 levels of historic interest.

 

 

Dinner at the Restaurant:  If your     Fasting dinner in the Azores                                                                         accommodations are not of the self-                                                                                            catering type, you will find yourself                                                                                             dining in a restaurant on a Fast Day.                                                                                            Seafood to the rescue!  At Botequim Açoriano in Rabo de Peixe, Sao Miguel, Azores,                                                                                                                                                                                               grilled fish with a side salad was a great meal. Enough for two, it just what we needed.

Acores 2

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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.                                                                       Welcome to Reshma B who is now Following.

We will remain on the beautiful island of Sao Miguel, Açores for another day to point out more about how we Fast whilst traveling.  We enjoy cooking and eating our own food at a self-catering accommodation [such as Pico do Refugio], but we do like to dine out too.  At any restaurant on Sao Miguel, the first thing you are offered is local cheese as a starter. The most simple version of this is “Queijo Fresco” [aka Queso Fresco or Queso Blanco or ‘farmer’s cheese’] which is always served with the hot sauce “Pimenta do Queijo.” Spicy “Choriço Paste” is also popular and available at the meat section of the supermarket. Those flavors together made for a fine dish of eggs for a Fast Day breakfast, along with the locally-grown pineapple.  Dinner at a favorite restaurant on a Slow Day would usually involve seafood, and then left-overs would make a another appearance on a Fast Day at home.  On Slow Days, we ‘went native’ and sampled local restaurants and wines and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. “And does this work?” you ask. “Can one enjoy a vacation and without a huge weight gain?” Yes. After 11 days of vacation, my weight was still at my Target Level. Travel should broaden the mind but it doesn’t have to broaden the waistline.

Azorean Queso Egg:  249 calories   10 g fat   0.8 g fiber   15.7 g protein   16.4 g carbs  [8 g Complex]  271.5 mg Calcium   PB GF  Two of the favorite flavors of the Azores combine for this egg dish, and the pineapple ices the cake.Azorean-flavor Eggs w: pineapple          1 two-oz egg                                                                                                                                                              1.5 tsp Queso Fresco                                                                                                                                                 1 tsp Chorizo Paste                                                                                                                                                               2 oz pineapple                                                                                                                                                 blackish coffee or tea or lemon in hot water

Whisk the egg, cheese, and chorizo paste, then bake in an oven-proof dish or cook in a saute pan. Slice the pineapple and sip some Brazilian coffee for a delicious, low-calorie meal.

Dinner at a Restaurant: Seafood is usually a safe choice  Azores Cod w: Veg @ Restaurant                                                                                     for a low-calorie meal in a restaurant, unless it is drowned in a fatty sauce. And since  the Açores are in the middle of the Atlantic, it wasn’t hard to find top-notch seafood.  Here, at the Restaurant of the Agricultural Association, cod was grilled and served with boiled vegetables. If you skip the potatoes, you are more virtuous.  [You can see the Queijo Fresco with Pimenta in the upper right corner.]

Cod w: Veg Left-over For another meal, what could be more easy than this food a second time around?  There is an ample amount of both the fish and the vegetables to be very satisfying on a Fast Day.  We liked the food at the Agricultural Association so well that we dined there twice. Their speciality is beef and it is not for a Fast Day!                                                                                                                                                              .

 

 

Acores I

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

The first time I ever heard about the Azores [‘Açores’ in Portuguese] was in a poem by Joaquin Miller which praised the glories of Christopher Columbus and begins, “Behind him lay the gray Azores…”  Miller was a good-enough poet, but he was wrong about several things: Columbus was no saint; Columbus would never have heard of the Azores, since they had not yet been discovered; and the Azores are definitely NOT ‘grey.’  We visited the island of Sao Miguel in early May and found a riot of flowers covering steep, verdant volcanic mountains, herds of placid cows, and fruits of all sorts, surrounded by a thundering ocean.  It was marvelous, which means ‘a thing of marvels.’  When we travel, we like a self-catering accommodation, so we can have some say about what we eat and so we can cook with local foods. We did a lot of touring, some hiking, and enjoyed some very satisfactory dinners.  Portions were large, so there were leftovers and we enjoyed them too. The cheeses, the native wines, and specialties like ‘chorizo paste‘ and Pimenta da Queijo were great.  Want to go to a beautiful location that is off the beaten track?  The Açores are for you!

Azorean Omelette:  250 calories   10.7 g fat   0.9 g fiber   17 g protein   13.5 g carbs [6 g Complex] 276 mg Calcium PB GF  When on vacation in the Azores, these local ingredients made for a wonderful breakfast.Azorean Cheese ScrOmelette

1-1/2 two-oz eggs  HINT: If you are serving one person, crack three 2-oz eggs into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Whip up those eggs and pour half of their volume into a jar with a lid and put it in the ‘fridge for next week.                                                                                    1/2 oz Azorean cheese OR Gouda                                                                                                                       1/2 oz Pimenta da Queijo                                                                               2 oz kiwi fruit                                                                                                                                                     blackish coffee [Portugese or Brazilian] or blackish tea [from the Gorreana Tea Plantation] or lemon in hot water

Grate/shred the cheese. Whisk the eggs with the pepper sauce and turn into a lightly-oiled nonstick pan. Sprinkle the eggs with the cheese and cook as you would an omelette. Plate with the fruit and serve one of those delicious beverages. Excellent.

Cozido Soup: Cozido do Furnas is a specialty of the Azores island of Sao Miguel. Some of the dormant volcanoes still have warm magma and send steam out through vents and fissures. Locals lower cauldrons of meats and vegetables into steaming wells, then serve the cooked meal at restaurants. The serving for two at O Miroma in Furnas consists of vast quantities of: beef, pork knuckles, blood sausage, carrots, potatoes, collards, cabbage, and turnips. Like a New England Boiled Dinner, but cooked in a volcano! We took the remainders from our meal home.Cozido Soup

The next day, I put the bones, sausage, and juices in a pot with water and Piment da Queijo. While that simmered, I cut up the vegetables and meat into bite-sized pieces [discarding the blood sausage to which I have an aversion]. Combined, it provided a hearty, nourishing, and low-calorie soup for a Fast Day.

Ingredients for next week: breakfast, single portion

1 two-oz egg 1.5 two-oz eggs
 queso fresco  mushrooms
 chorico paste  bleu cheese
 pineapple  leeks
Whatever you need for your smoothie Whatever you need for your hot beverage
Whatever you need for your hot beverage Whatever you need for your smoothie

Dinner, single portion:

 cod  cooked pork tenderloin
 carrots  lettuce   +   tomatoes
 broccoli  fresh cranberries
 cauliflower  zucchini  + red bell peppers
 green + black olivesÇ  balsamic vinegar + olive oil
 excellent mustard
Sparkling water Sparkling water

Mary Goes Over

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How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow. On Monday, eat the meals that will be posted on Sunday.  Eat sensibly the other days of the week.  That’s it.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.                                                                                                 Welcome to bomihill who is now Following.

“If Mary goes over the mountain dry, she’ll come back wet.” When I heard my grandmother’s neighbor say that, I had no idea what she meant. Turns out, it is a venerable Pennsylvania Dutch weather-forecasting axiom.  Mary of Nazareth left her hometown on May 31 to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was soon to give birth to her son [John the Baptist, born June 24] and Mary went to assist her. In ecclesiastical circles, this is called ‘The Visitation of Mary‘.  Mary was also pregnant, following the visit from the Angel Gabriel, who told her she would give birth to Jesus. [Mary was unwed at the time, and I always thought that she left town to discourage gossip.]   Mary returned to her hometown on August 18.  According to the formula, if there is dry weather at the end of May, there will be wet weather in mid-August. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Today’s meals are for travelers: portable foods you can eat while walking/driving/flying.  The breakfast is a home-made version of the familiar sandwich available at the Golden Arches. And the dinner is a commonly available street food in the Western Mediterranean where Mary and Elizabeth lived.

Egg-McArnold: 283 calories   6.8 g fat   5.6 g fiber   17.7 g protein  35 g carbs [22 g Complex]  249 mg Calcium  PB  This, of course, is the Fasting version of a fast-food favorite. It even works for eating on-the-run.

Egg McArnold

1 two-oz egg                                                                                                                                                                         1 Arnold-brand multi-grain Sandwich Thin [100 calories]                                                                               ½ oz Canadian Bacon or 1 slice Jones Brand [20 calories/slice]                                                                                             1 oz grapes                                                                                                                                                     blackish coffee or tea or lemon in hot water                                                                                                 NO SMOOTHIE today

Open up the ‘sandwich thin’ and lightly toast it. Fry or poach the egg to your liking and cook the Canadian Bacon in the same pan. Assemble, using salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy it with your coffee in a to-go cup but don’t eat in the car – sit down and slowly savor this Fast food.

Felafel Pockets:  273 calories  5.5 g fat  7.8 g fiber  14 g protein  48 g carbs  90 mg Calcium PB  This preparation uses two pita pockets from one pita bread. Each serving is 1 and ½ pockets. [HINT: Save the other half for tomorrow’s lunch]

Falafel in pita w: veg

1 whole wheat pita bread, about 140 calories                                                                                                           6 falefel patties total, 3 per pita pocket [see Stocking Up, January 3 ’18]                                                       1/2 cup vegetable salsa [see SPICY May 23 ’18]

Prepare the salsa and let stand while you warm the felafel. Cut the pita bread into 2 equal pockets. If frozen, warm the felafel. Put some of the salsa into each pocket, then add 3 felafel patties. Spoon the remaining salsa on top. Cut one of the filled pockets in half and eat that tomorrow.

Ingredients for next week: breakfast, single portion

1 two-oz egg1.5 two-oz eggs
 canned, roasted green chilis sugar   + leek
 one crepe [see Sidekicks…… crab meat
 pear soy sauce
 strawberries
Whatever you need for your smoothieWhatever you need for your hot beverage
Whatever you need for your hot beverageWhatever you need for your smoothie

Dinner, single portion:

 !/2 cup cooked brown rice halibut filet
 rice wine vinegar olive oil    +   spinach
 one 2-oz egg shallot   +  Scallion
 avocado     +  cucumber Thai red curry paste
 grilled beef chicken broth  +  lime juice
 smoked salmon  +  soy sauce light coconut milk
Sparkling waterSparkling water

Sunny Italy

~ me ~ Leave a comment

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 Fasting in FlorenceThe 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 Buffetbuffet dinner

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

One slice whole-grain 70-calories bread 1.5 two-oz eggs
1 two-oz egg 2 Tbsp crab meat, canned or frozen
strawberries, fresh or frozen Leek
buttermilk Soy sauce sugar
Whatever you need for your smoothie Whatever you need for your hot beverage
Whatever you need for your hot beverage Whatever you need for your smoothie

dinner

1 slice whole-grain 70-calories bread Cabbage     carrot       scallion
Onions celery celery seed Soy sauce oyster sauce
5-0z can of water-packed tuna Roast beef, 1.75 oz
Tomato lemon juice olive oil Olive oil
1-oz slice or Swiss cheese or Gruyere Ground ginger
Lettuce Three 7” spring roll wrappers
Made with olive oil mayonnaise asparagus
Sparkling water Sparkling water