5:2 DIET VEGETABLE CURRY FOR 98 CALORIES! (NOW 94cals!)

3/03/14
My fast day dinner today comes in at 94 calories - a new low! (Recipe further down this post.)

I made a few tweaks - leaving out the cumin seeds and substituting asafoetida and mushroom sauce instead of soy sauce. I toyed with the idea of only using half a tin of tomatoes, since the curry already tasted wonderful before any tomatoes were added. In the event I added the whole tin, not wishing to bother with the faff of having a dish of tomatoes hanging round in the fridge.

Weirdly, the smell is making my juices run - but I'n not in the least bit hungry, despite not eating since 7pm last night (it's now 5.30pm). 

23/02/14
I’ve just set an all-time record low (for me) for a fast day meal – just a simple veg curry, but it was so tasty and full of flavor and completely filled me up. Here are the ingredients I used - over here for the method:

5g cumin seeds and 5g curry powder dry fried for a couple of minutes – 10 cals

63g onion, finely chopped 20 cals

171g dark green cabbage, cut into strips 22

53g carrots, sliced 15

151g celery, cut into chunks 12

184g mushrooms, cut into chunks 24

400g chopped, tinned tomatoes 82

10g soy sauce 10

Total 195 calories. Divided in two this gave me 4 large serving spoons of curry – so, 98 calories altogether!

This left me very well fed, and, by staying away from the kitchen for a good half hour, I avoided adding anything else.

I’ve found, over the 2 years I’ve been practicing IF, that if I do stick to just a low calorie dinner, I’ll be satisfied with that. If I add beans or a microwaved potato, I find I want to push myself up to the 600 calories that, as a bloke, IF allows.

This fast, however, was a little different from my usual fasts, which generally begin with my final bite of dinner the day before. This time, not planning to fast today, I ate half a bar of Lindt’s Chilli Chocolate at around 10pm. So my fast didn’t really start until then! However, strictly speaking, that was only 275 cals – so, with my 98 for dinner today, I’ve had 373 calories in the last 27 hours, well below the magic 600 figure!

I decided to fast today since I skipped breakfast, as I often do, and found myself travelling back home over lunch time – so it just made sense to fast today, and have a Sunday dinner tomorrow!

This curry is an excellent basis for a range of further dishes - chilli non carne - lasagne (layered with potato instead of pasta - simply glorious!) - vegetarian Bolognese sauce - rich ragu pie, and many more. All these are to be found in the link below.

For all the 5:2 fasting vegetarian/vegan dishes on my blog, click here.

5:2 DIET - PANCAKES USING JUST FLOUR AND WATER

There are several things you can make with just self raising flour and water - here are some of them.

03/03/2013
Pancake day tomorrow - but you don't need eggs and milk, just s/raising flour and water will suffice - and you won't be able to tell the difference! This recipe will save you a packet. Flour and water pancakes - just about as simple as it gets!

It's hard to believe, but these are just as good as those made with traditional ingredients.

Side one

Side two - about 3 minutes per side on a medium heat

And here it is - can you tell the difference?

Ingredients:

200g self raising flour (you can also make these with gluten-free flour)

600ml water

Or:

1 mug self-raising flour

2 mugs water

Method:

Whisk together, to get rid of the lumps, and pour enough into a medium hot, oiled, frying pan to cover the base. Flip over to cook the other side when the bottom is browned to your liking - then serve with the topping of your choice.

(There's also a case to be made for putting some flour in a jug and adding enough water to make it into a fairly runny batter.)

I'm very fond of the usual sugar and lemon juice - but I also like them spread with homemade marmalade. I'm told chocolate spread is also very tasty on pancakes - I'll have to try it!

So, the benefits:

Cost – a batch of these pancakes will cost around 10p for 10 or more – about  a penny each. As against up to around 90p for a traditional batch.

Ease of making - you don't have to plan for these except by having a packet of self-raising flour in the cupboard. Really, there's no need to measure anything - just tip some flour in a bowl or jug and add water - stirring all the time - until it reaches the consistency you want.

Health – if you’re trying to cut down on dairy or eggs, these are for you. The young sister-in-law of one of my students (Nadine) is allergic to eggs, so Nadine was delighted to learn you don’t need them.*

Animal welfare. No animals will be harmed in the making of these pancakes.

Calories - This makes, say 10 pancakes. Self raising flour has 350 calories per 100g, so the combined total of the batch is 700g. Divided by 10 pancakes that makes 70 cals per pancake. Adding lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar (5g) is 20 cals, so a good-sized pancake can be made for around 90 calories.

Nadine, one of my students told me about her young sister-in-law. She loves cooking and has been helping her mum make pancakes  (even flipping them) - and then had to watch her family eat them, for years. Yet she's never been able to taste one, until now. Nadine took the recipe round and they made pancakes straight away - and the youngster tucked into one with absolute delight. "That's pancake day sorted from now on!" was Nadine's comment!

Here's how I got to where I am with these.

Today I'm celebrating two years of Intermittent Fasting!

Thursday 27th February
I began Intermittent Fasting exactly 2 years ago, on the 27th February 2012 - to celebrate, I thought I'd put on record just how those two years of IF have affected me.


I can honestly say I have never felt so well. Even when I was in the forces and pretty fit, I never had the feeling of well-being and zen-like calm (most of the time!) that I have now.

Thanks are due mainly to the wonderfully supportive 5:2 fasting threads on Mumsnet (here's the current one), the very similar 5:2 Fast Diet forum, and the good Dr Mosley's Horizon programme - I'm now at my correct weight, losing 24lbs by October 2012.

INTERMITTENT FASTING AND CANCER

One of the reasons I first began intermittent fasting (IF) almost two years ago was evidence that fasting had some effect on cancer cells. It was the reference to prostate cancer cells being susceptible to fasting that provoked my initial interest!

The evidence suggested that, whilst fasting, the body’s cells go into repair mode – but invasive cells (cancers, tumours) are neglected and become easier to treat.

Since then evidence continues to accumulate that this is so – but in my experience, the research is disparate and scattered.

I wanted to bring any research that I have come across into one place; to which I can refer any friends and relatives who may know someone with cancer – unfortunately all too common an occurrence latterly, it seems to me.

These articles are all available by searching online, of course. However, the purpose of this post, apart from bringing much research all together, is also to link to forums which will give support to anyone deciding to fast, and will also advise on the different fasting regimes – of which there are several.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815756/

http://www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/071012/page5

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fasting-might-boost-chemo/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hS4Mxwm2FYhPvQQpYDZwEMi0x0HQmLpXcK_FGOXCo6g/edit

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0044603

Intermittent Fasting

The best resource I am aware of concerning Intermittent Fasting – and one of the most supportive is

http://www.52fastdiet.co.uk/

There is a lot of science and research on the forum  - putting ‘Fasting and cancer’ in the search box brings up 250+ results.

Another supportive forum is on the Mumsnet website. The first thread was begun the day after the Horizon programme which brought Intermittent Fasting to the attention of the British public. The latest thread (1st Feb 2014) is Nr 38 and they’re currently needing to start a new thread every 10 days or so.

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/a1984380-The-5-2-thread-number-38-Oh-that-this-too-too-solid-flesh-would-melt-Well-Hamlet-it-can-in-a-healthy-sustainable-way-Join-our-friendly-5-2-IF-support-group

Also on the site is a research thread full of Tips and Links – well worth looking through.

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/a1581821-Tips-and-links-for-those-practicing-Intermittent-Fasting-IF-5-2-or-Alternate-Day-Fasting-ADF

 I shall add to this post as and when I come across other research in the subject.

THE MUMSNET BREAD THREAD

Saturday 1st Feb 2014
I made another loaf today, using a tin that I thought was closer to the one that LME was using. It's a more modern shape, longer and lower:

Put to prove

After an hour in the oven with a jug of hot water from the tap

Bit lop-sided - definitely home-made! In the absence of a cooling rack place the loaf across the tin to cool 

Saturday 25th Jan 2014
Several days ago, the Leicestershire Mumsnet Editor (LME) asked me to join her in a project to get more Mumsnet posters making bread. 

Here's my version. (The full story starts at the bottom of this post.)

The Mumsnet loaf!

BREAD IN 13 MINUTES - NOW WITH PICS!

30th January 2014
It's been very remiss of me, but I still hadn't posted a pic of this bread - so here's a veritable portfolio!

The finished article! The bap(?) - a little thicker than I wanted

I've been extolling the virtues of this easy,versatile bread on this Local Mumsnet thread - and when one of the posters on there, blueyama, made it and asked, "Is this how it's supposed to look?" I realised that I simply have to get a photo of the bread on this.

THAI CURRY PIE (vegan) - made with an enriched bread dough

(Calorie counted for a 5:2 diet)

Scrumptious, absolutely scrumptious!

MY BREADMAKING WEEK - starting 13/1/14

Began with a large granary-type loaf I made for my daughter which I almost ruined:

Split opening up from this end

Included 400g of melted yeast - scroll down to 14th January for the sad, sorry saga! :(

A missed #BreadChat. Unfortunately, these chats with other breadmakers around the world, on Twitter, are always held on Wednesday evenings - and I was teaching the first session of my evening class.

And went on to include a pie filled with Thai curry and made with a bread dough! 

Thai curry filling with chunks of tempeh. 

And, with both my community evening class and my family learning class, soda bread and fancy dinner rolls.



And spicy fruit naans,

CHOCOLATE AND BANANA BREAD

Made these with my group of special needs students (note the curried green snake loaf!). There are a variety of fillings - chocolate and tinned peaches, jam and peach and jam and banana.

200g (or 1 mug) strong white flour

1 or 2 dessertspoons sugar

125ml (or 1/3rd mug) lukewarm water

1 rounded teaspoon fresh yeast

Splash of olive oil (optional)

Plus:
Chocolate spread
1 (or more!)sliced banana

Topping:
Brush with a glaze made with 1 teaspoon sugar and 2 teaspoons boiling water.

Method:
1. Place the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Measure the water and stir in the fresh yeast. Pour in the yeast liquid and add the olive oil if using.

2. Have a little extra water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a knife. When it gets too stiff for the palette knife, use one hand to turn the bowl round, whilst the other hand begins to squeeze the mixture together. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure the dough remains soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water. When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

4. Now divide the dough into two pieces. Shape them into rounds and roll them out to around 15-18cms, with one (which will be the top) just slightly bigger than the other.

5. Place the smaller round onto your prepared baking sheet and spread chocolate all over, then place the slices of banana on top. Place the second piece of dough over the first and tuck the edges well underneath so that the loaf presents an even finish.

6. Leave to prove until the loaf has appreciably increased in size and bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7 for between 15-20 minutes. When the loaf is done it should be a good colour underneath. Place on a cooling rack when it comes out of the oven and brush with the sugar glaze.

Variation:
Banoffee pie bread. At step 5 cover the base with slices of banana and place slices of Mars bar over the top of the banana, then proceed as above.

Truly tastes like banoffee pie!

Some pics:

One and a half bananas piled on top of the chocolate spread

Brushed with a sugar glaze

Sliced in two, showing that lovely, gooey filling!

For the price of one and a half bananas, some chocolate spread, a little flour, sugar and yeast, you can get a lovely after-dinner treat that will feed four, easily!

INTERMITTENT FASTING (IF) AND EXERCISE

Saturday 18th Jan 2014
I've just discovered I've grown back the inch I lost as I aged! I shall create a separate post to explain this - but I'm now back at 5' 7" (my younger height) after being 5'6" for many years. Purely as a result of starting pull-up exercises 7 weeks ago at the end of November. Look out for the link.

Thursday 16th Jan 2014

Here's my version of the kettlebell 2-handed swing. I shall ask Mumsnet's very own gym bunny, BCF, to critique my technique - and she's not known for pulling her punches, quite the reverse.

Not much change to my exercise routine - except that I now do 3 x 45second planks - and I can now lift myself about 15cm whilst doing my chin-ups.

Saturday 4th Jan 2014
When I first looked at IF, I came across several blogs which, whilst extolling the virtues of IF, also emphasised strength training - specifically weightlifting:

http://www.leangains.com/ Martin Berkham - IF and weight-lifting

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/#axzz2pS7TUoOH Mark Sisson - The Primal Blueprint

http://www.eatstopeat.com/ Brad Pilon - blogging on IF since 2006

http://gettingstronger.org/ Todd Becker and Hormesis

(All these blogs are well worth perusing - they contain a wealth of info, most of it freely offered.)

I did nothing about this, rationalising that these blogs reflected the particular interests of the blogger. 

However, I've now been practicing IF for almost 2 years, and I've recently added strength building exercises to that regime - inspired, it has to be said, by the womenfolk on the Mumsnet 5:2 threads.


Here's my programme so far:
Back exercises: I had a problem with my back, many years ago, so, since then I’ve been doing two daily exercises to prevent a recurrence:
I lie on my back on the floor with my knees bent and do 100 curls while keeping my lower back on the floor – arms out in front
And then I do the reverse – I lie on my front and bring my head and shoulders up whilst keeping my hips on the floor.

Up until I retired – over 20 years ago, now – I cycled to work, in summer reaching about 120 miles a week – so I was pretty fit.

I joined a gym for a few years – mainly treadmill and cross-trainer.

Then I gained access to a small swimming pool – I spend about 30 minutes a day in there. Some swimming, but mainly I run (jog?) around the pool (in 1.25m of water) 100 times – took me 12 mins 52 seconds the other day, a PB. And I spend 5 minutes going back and forth the length (4 metres) of the pool – my PB with this one is 62 lengths.

At the end of November, I started to look at home-based strength building exercises and came across 5 exercises that can be done at home (4 if you ignore the lunges that are not recommended for anyone with knee problems.)

This was my programme for today:
30 secs plank          x 3 (PB 90secs – I could do more)
20 push ups         x 3
20 squats                  x 3
10 Pull-ups – about 3-4cm         x 3 
(I do these on the stairs overhang. When I began, it was all I could do to hang there for about 5 seconds)

I’d only been doing these exercises for a couple of weeks when I began to notice a difference – I have a heavy portable oven, which I’ve always needed help to move. Not any more, I can handle it myself, now!

Then, once again inspired by Mumsnet, I asked for and received a 3KG kettlebell for Christmas, and I’m building up an exercise routine with this.

This is where I am, ATM:
20 ‘steering wheel’ reps        x 2
2 handed swing x 20 x 2
Sumo deadlift x 20         x 2
Swing x 20 L        x 2
Swing x 20 R         x 2
Clean and jerk L x 20 x 2
Clean and jerk R x 20        x 2

I keep a record of all this on a Word file - and I’m building up to 4 sets of each. Time of day, apart from my morning swim, is variable, whenever I can fit it all in! 

As well as all this, I’ve been looking at the health benefits of cold showers and, after a very tentative beginning, I can now manage over 3 minutes under cold water. Not sure if it’s making any difference, but apparently it takes several weeks before you feel the benefits.

One last thing – I try and do 20 minutes a day bladder muscle exercise. I soon know if I’ve let this one slip – I find myself getting up for the loo in the middle of the night!

I have to say that I’m as fit now as I’ve ever been – I feel like a 40-year-old, a fit 40-year-old. But, since I've only been weight training for a few weeks, I put that down mainly to fasting. 

And confirmation of this is that my age is apparently 47 according to AgeFit, and my Vo2Max is 45! So that’s about 30 years I’ve got in hand.

I haven’t got into HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) yet – tried it with running on the spot, but my knee joints protested – just as they did 30-odd years ago (which is why I got the bike in the first place).