Monday Jan 21 .. Fast day 3

So , its my birthday today and I'm on a fast day.. Its not ideal, but by the time you get to my age birthdays aren't a great reason to celebrate.

As it happes as a present I was treated to a night at a luxury hotel, here in Dublin, and had a splurge of a dinner with matching wines at Patrick Guilbauds (Irelands only 2 Michlin star restaurant).. [Juicy Gossip..Danel Day Lewis was dining at a nearby table in anticipation of the European Priemier of Lincoln ]

That coupled with a complete pig out on Friday, and so, in a way it's a relief to be back on a fast day.

I'm sticking to the tried and tested formula.. 60g of porridge. For variety I'm mixing it up with both pinhead oats and normal rolled oats, and for that spicy taste explosion I broke in a clove...  Mmm Mmm

This afternoon has been tough. For a start its a snow day here today and I'm working from home. That's tough for me as I tend to nibble a lot more when I'm at home.. On top of that someone (who'll ermain nameless) decided to roast a chicken earlier today.. When the aromas of a roast chicken are permeating the house, snacking on cold porridge  doesn't quite hit the spot.

Its now 17:17  and I'm starting to feel quite hungry.. Dinner will consist of the Basa (frozen fish) with fish stock, ginger chilli  and veg that I had last week, and after all the rich food of the last few days I'm looking forward to it.. 

I'm going to try and hang on til 18:30 or 19:00 before diving into it to help make the evening more bearable..

Tea

Ì've already mentioned my new-found appreciation of tea and its hunger quashing

But it looks like there some additional benefits

Its been noted as an appetite suppresent
http://voices.yahoo.com/6-ways-supress-appetite-naturally-without-76752.html
also here (but this is specifically about Green Tea which I'm not drinking) http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/top-25-natural-appetite-suppressants?page=15

Apparently it will slash my risk of stroke.. Definitely a plus.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2259550/Tea-How-cups-day-slash-risk-stroke.html

Fast Day 2: Jan 17

So whileI didn't have a complete pig out yesterday, I definiately had a partial pig out (scone, danish pastry, mince pie left over from christmas), so its actually feels good to be back on fast today. 

So I'm returning to the salted, spiced, and non sweetened porridge. Mmmm

Again sarcasm aside its not bad at all.

I'm on pinhead oats today (aka stell cut, or Irish oats) since I noticed per 100g they had slightly less calories than the normal porridge oats (according to their respective nutritional information panel's anyway). Plus been bigger I figure they may prove more satiating throughout the day.

Theres an increased cooking time with pinhead oats (20 minutes vs 2) , but I've found that pre-cooking them (2 minutes in the micorwave, and let them cool naturally) works fine. So I usually just cook mine the night before.. Then add some milk the next day when I'm eating.

Breakfast/ lunch
60g pinhead oats
a good pinch of salt
a dash cinammon
a sprinkle allspice
Water (4x the volume of  oats)
Splash of low fat milk (about 50ml)

~ 250 cals

On top of that I drink a lot of water.. Plus my saviour so far, black tea. I find drinking black tea definitely eases the hunger pangs

Jan 16: day 2

So I made it through the day yesterday. Mainly thanks to the substantial dinner. In fact based on that I feel this diet thing shoudl be a doddle.

Last night I went for a 5km jog.. It was quite slow but I did feel a bit tired at the end of it. That may or may not be related to the diet. I often feel quite tired at the end of those jogs

Totay is one of the 5 'off' days  so I can pig out.. I'm going try to be sensible but its 12 noon now, and I've probably gone over the 600 cals I had yesterday.

Jan 15: Update 2

I managed to make it through the day more or less following the diet.

For dinner I had the folowing substantial looking meal thanks to my wife..

Fish filet poached in fish stock, with rice and veg... spiced up with some ginger and chilli.

On thing I remember from previous diets is the lack of taste of everything. Boiled veg and poached fish doesn't sound appetising but you'd be wrong. 

Actually it was really tasty.. you wouldn't know you were eating a calorie restricted dish. The key things are..

• Seasoning.. These come almost for free. salt, pepper, spices, ginger and chilli all add up to big flavours.
• Fish stock (knorr stock pots) for an extra flavour kick. Could use other stocks here instead.. 
• Small portions of rice (30 g) for calories.

Jan 15: 14:30 update

so far so good..

After some consulatation with my mentor (wife).. I've decided not to eat the lunch I had planned.

Theres a couple of reasons for this.

• The lunch was not prepared to be just 300 odd calories. I just grabbed some leftovers from the fridge in a panic this morning before I left for work

• A couple of glasses of water and cups of tea have managed to stave off the hunger pangs I expected throughout the day so as a result ..
• I still have some porridge left for later in the afternoon
• Having a later 'dinner' (and I use the term loosely) would be a better option especially since I'm due to meet friends for our weekly jog..

Jan 15: Fast Day 1 11am

In anticipation of my first fast day I had a bit of a pig out the night before.. Probably not the best approach to take..

So I was a little more prepared last night and got breakfast and lunch ready.

Breafast is a mouthwatering 50g of porridge (~ 180 cals).. plus slat and cinnamon  for a taste explosion!!Mmmmm
I left it slightly less than the 300 cals allowed since I will be adding some milk plus my lunch is not quite as measured out.

Anywho its now 11am andso far I'm not doing too bad..

Yes I am thinking about food all the time but thats not too different from everyday for me.

I've just eaten half the porridge and am trying to keep the rest for later when I think the real hunger pangs will kick in. The probelm now is one of self control. Now that  I've tasted the porridge (surprisingly not that bad without any sweetener), I'm craving a whole lot more food... If I can get over the next 30 minutes I'm hoping those cravings subside..