The FastDay Forum

Hi All,

This is my first post & my 2nd week on 5:2...so far so good mostly.

My husband is 'stick' thin & works long, physically demanding hours and so is understandably not interested in joining me with the 5:2 diet. He is totally supportive. However, I am struggling with how to prepare (& have him prepare on his cooking turn nights)easy, tasty and suitable meals we can both eat on fast nights & most importantly how do I successfully manage the portion control aspect of shared meals (esp when it's not just a piece of grilled meat + salad)?? We only eat real food, made from fresh produce, including herbs & spices (no packet/processed stuff).

Grateful for any advice on what's worked for you at shared meal times when your the only one fasting.
Thanks

Hi rejazzed, welcome!

My husband is super slim, if anything he needs to gain a little weight , so he doesn't fast either. For me on a fast day, I do liquid fast (only water and tea with no sugar) until dinner time. Then I just cook what we normally eat for dinner, no restriction (we do rice and potatoes and such ). I don't really count calories, but I just try to be mindful of the portion.

My rule of thumb is whatever he's having, I can only get 2/3 of his portion . The husband's got what I call the skinny internal alarm, he always stops when he's full, never splurge on anything. So I'm pretty sure if I eat less than him, I'm fine .

My way probably won't work if you're strict with sticking to 500 cals fast and already have snacks during the day. Another way could be to identify which part of your meal has the highest calorie, and limit that from your plate, while your partner can still enjoy it (e.g. less potato for you, more for him?)

As always, try to listen to your stomach, stop when you're full (easier said than done though).

Wishing you best of luck!

I make a batch of veggie stew that lasts me the three fast days or I freeze batches for other fast days. I add protein and extras if I eat it on non fast days. Maybe you could use a stew either veggie or meat as a base then you other half could add potatoes or rice etc. Just a thought x

[Moogie]

What I do is pre-cook & freeze calorie counted portions for myself, then hubby has something simple for dinner while I have the reheated meal. Sometimes he has the same as me but with extra sides.

I cook a calorie counted meal. I then add a jacket potato for him or real rice if I am having cauli rice. He will then have a pudding - usually fruit and/or yoghurt and some cheese and biscuits later in the evening to make up his calories. I use the hairy bikers recipes quite a lot. To begin with I was cooking 3 portions - 2 for him and one for me but their portions are pretty generous so I just do one each now and 'top him up' as above.

Well, just come back to this forum - I have been fasting 5:2 but feasting rather too much during the summer so need to get on track again and lose some more weight. I tend to do 2 meals for my fast day, I cook him a big pasta meal which he sometimes freezes half of and I will have vegs stir fry with prawns or chicken.

We have the same basic thing, eg curry, but I just give the husband and the kids extras, like rice, naan bread etc, plus they eat a dessert. Generally for portion control I don't strictly count the veggies, I just guess depending on what I put in, but I do count carbs if I have any and protein.

Hi,
Since I have teenaged son who's BMI is very low, I have to cook "real" food for him and The DH. The DH don't need it, but sofar shown no interest in fasting . I also have started to save my kcal for dinner which I cook mainly from scratch
(thin son say I cook too healthy) and only have a small portion myself. I often use the cheap week (blilliga veckan) recipes on the Swedish food chain ICA's website and the recipes tell how many kcal a portion has. Other cooking I use my kcal app so I only get my 500kcal.

Hi and Welcome
Glad the fasts are going well for you
For me I do similar to Dee, I don't cook anything different for myself.
On each of my 3 fastdays I only eat evening meal usually of 2 courses
Obviously I have smaller portion, if its chicken fillet I make mine a small one with loads of veg but I also cut my carbs down so one small potato or the chicken with salad and give OH wraps/jacket potato.
More difficult I agree is the roast this I do similar as in bulk it up then a small amount of meat. I don't calorie count as such and always cook from scratch never anything different just aware of portion size.
Good. Luck. Sue.

[Debs]

He cooks his own, quite simple really!!!
I have started liquid fasting as I am not very good at calorie counting my 500 calls (and really can't be bothered!), so do nothing and he normally cooks himself pasta.

Like most of the other replies, I find it's not hard to do. My husband didn't even know I was doing 5:2 for the first 4 months or so (I wanted to see if he'd notice the change in me, and he did - eventually). On fast days I don't eat breakfast, maybe have a salad for lunch and maybe no lunch. I'll prepare a simple piece of grilled fish or meat, some vegetables, a salad. Often that's enough for him, and I just have a small portion of that. But sometimes I'll also give him bread or other carbs - leftover rice will round out a meal like that.

It can be a bit of a strain emotionally living with one of those people who never overeats and has never had to lose weight and doesn't really get it (even though supportive). But it works! Have a good fast!

I do the same as the others, I only have an evening meal and make a 300 to 500 kcal meal for everyone, but top up the non-fasting members meal with some kind of carbs like potatoes, rice or pasta.

I'm the only one fasting in our household, and we always eat normal/real food. Mondays I do a no-calorie fast so the family make their own dinner, and Thursdays I only have the one meal which is dinner that we all share. The Hairy Dieters Cookbook is a favourite with us all, some fabulous recipes in there!

I make him what I am having and add in carbs!
I usually have fish/chicken and roast veggies or salad. I do him a jacket or couscous on the side. He likes healthy eating too but has a much bigger appetite than me! x

Like others I only have an evening meal on fast days. I usually have fish or chicken with either roasted veg or salad. I give OH rice, bread or pasta to top up his. If we happen to have visitors like this Thursday I do the same for them. Tomorrow we will have salmon with roasted veg and they will all get rice too.