A Taste of September

Victoria plums and damsons from the garden picked on a sunny day.

5 2 Diet and a 340 Calorie Supper Recipe

 Recently I watched the BBC's Horizon documentary  Eat, Fast and Live Longer   That comma is essential, as its not about eating fast. It is now on Youtube click here. The programme was  presented by Dr Michael Mosley. He has written about it here  I would say a must watch and a must read.

 In the programme he explores the powerful new science behind the ancient idea of fasting and tests it out on himself, with remarkable results. The 5 2 diet is a form of intermittent calorie restriction which according to the programme can produce similar results such as lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels good for minimising muffin tops and reducing the risks of developing type 2 diabetes due to obesity.

How it works is that on each of 2 days of the week you limit yourself to 500 cal for women or 600 for men. That can be taken in one meal or spread out through the day. And now for the good news, you can eat whatever you want on the other 5 days. 

 I could use a bit of improvement in the blood pressure/cholesterol departments so have decided to give it a go.

On the first day I split the calories between breakfast and an evening meal. I had a banana, half a peach and 1 desert spoon each of yoghurt and muesli in the morning. In the evening I had a pollock fillet with broccoli and carrots and although I was hungry for it, it was dismally lacking in flavour. 

Today I had most of the calories in the evening, the others were in 110 g semi skimmed milk shared between coffee and tea. This worked better for me. I worked out a recipe for my evening meal. It might not look much but it was particularly delicious after a day with no breakfast or lunch and I enjoyed every atom! It was as near as I could get to a give fish pie within the calorie restriction.There were still enough calories left in the allowance for 70g peas but when I looked in the freezer they were nowhere to be found.

 It worked OK cooking it in the microwave but as I still had some calories left I could have fried the onions and fish in 1/4 tsp olive oil and cooked it all on the stove.

The other potato was sliced too.

Ingredients  for 2 people          263 cal per person
                                                                             calories
Potato unpeeled and thinly sliced         160g             120
Smoked haddock                                  186g          216
A large egg                                                             90
Semi skimmed milk                             100g            50
Cornflour                                             15g            50
Onion   finely chopped                         20g             5
Bay leaf
Parsley           a small piece It weighed less than a gram
Water                              2-3tbs

Broccoli                          400g                                96          

I put the fish, onion, potato, bay leaf and parsley into a pyrex dish with a lid and microwaved on high for 5 minutes. I added the milk with the water and the cornflour mixed in and microwaved for about 90 secs stopping part way through to gently stir it.
I steamed the broccoli and boiled the egg.