Here are some of my go-to meals for fasting days. I don't like to cook much on a fasting day, I prefer a quick, easy meal but I do like some variety and over the year I've been on 5:2 I've built up quite a repertoire of fasting-friendly meals. I wouldn't really call these 'recipes' as most don't involve much preparation or cooking.
I tend to skip breakfast, have about 100 calories for lunch, sometimes a 50 calorie afternoon snack and the rest of my calories for dinner. If this isn't how you like to fast, just adapt it to work for you. Most of these meals can be added to or cut down to fit your requirements.
Lunches (approx. 100 calories)
- a carrot (41 calories per 100g) and a fromage frais (47 calories)
- 3 cream crackers (33 calories each)
- a mushroom (4 calories) and a low fat yoghurt (100 calories)
- a small apple (60 calories) and a low fat cheese triangle (25 calories)
- salad - mix and match what you like, some of my ingredients are: grated carrot (40 calories), lettuce (5 calories), tomato (18 calories) extra light mayonnaise (11 calories), frozen peas (13 calories for 20g), frozen sweetcorn (17 calories for 20g), beetroot (19 calories for 50g)
Dinners
- Soup with 1 slice of toast - homemade soups can be about 100 calories (fresh or frozen veg boiled in water with 1/4 stock cube and you can add some low fat yoghurt when serving), tinned are usually around 200 calories for the whole tin, bread is about 100 calories a slice
- Wrap pizzas - low fat wrap (weight watchers are around 100 calories), spread with tomato puree, top with any veg you like (I usually have red pepper, onion, sweetcorn and spinach but anything you like) then 30g of low fat mozarella, bake for about 10 mins
- Porridge - maybe an odd choice for dinner but I love porridge and this one fills you up nicely, 60g of oats made with water, a splash of skimmed milk and 3 teaspoons of skinny hot chocolate is about 250 calories
- Stir fry - the value range stir fry packs from supermarkets are about 30 calories per 100g. I have 200g veg with 50g noodles (about 160 calories) and a teaspoon of soy sauce (22 calories) = 244 calories
- Salad - see above in lunch but to add a few calories for dinner I sometimes have chickpeas (50g = 60 calories), or low fat cheese (calories depend on which type but usually about 70 calories per serving) or low fat hummous (50g = 120 calories)
- Baked sweet potato (86 calories for 100g) with sour cream (1 tablespoon = about 40 calories)
- Low fat yoghurt (50 calories per 100g) with one of: small apple (50 calories), raisins (42 calories for 14g), honey (50 calories per tablespoon)
- Biscuit - the following biscuits are all around 50 calories each: value chocolate chip cookie, jaffa cake, custard cream, bourbon
- Skinny hot chocolate (40 calories)
- 3 squares of chocolate (100 calories) - I don't really recommend this as I find it tends to make me want more and feel hungrier but if you're really craving chocolate....
Snacks
- small clementine (about 20 calories)
- yoghurt tube (40 calories)
- fruit compote (baby food pots or pouches - 50-70 calories)
- popcorn (air-popped, 31 calories per cup) with salt or small amount of sugar
