The FastDay Forum

I would say you stayed within the 500.
I no longer eat breakfast, fast day or normal. It just doesn't feel 'natural' anymore.

I like to add Peppadew peppers to a salad. If you've not bought them before, they are tiny little red peppers in a jar, you can get mild or hot, I use mild. Look for them near jars of olives in the supermarket. They add a nice little "bite" to salads.

According to the jar, they are 113 calories/100 grams. I've just weighed three, which is what I would add for one portion, and they came to 14g so not going to add significantly to the total calorie count.

I love to add pomegranate seeds to salads and a very small helping of pumpkin seeds if calories allow. My staple salad is lots of celery onion, spring onion, a grated carrot, shredded red cabbage and as many different leafy lettucey things as possible with the pumpkin and pomegranate sprinkled over. I also like to add a small spoonful of cottage cheese instead of a dressing as it is quite filling for very few calories if you get the lowest fat varieties.

Tonight's salad will be served with turkey burgers as I have saved most of my calories for a nice sized dinner

@shachat I'd say you've made an excellent move - particularly with your decision to go green smoothies rather than juice as, methinks, stripping all the fibre out in the latter is not such a good idea.

Joe's reboot website is good for recipes, if you've not already found it: http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/recipes/
but please stick with the smoothies rather than juicing! FatDog

I like to add Peppadew peppers to a salad. If you've not bought them before, they are tiny little red peppers in a jar, you can get mild or hot, I use mild. Look for them near jars of olives in the supermarket. They add a nice little "bite" to salads.

According to the jar, they are 113 calories/100 grams. I've just weighed three, which is what I would add for one portion, and they came to 14g so not going to add significantly to the total calorie count.

Great idea - not had those for ages but might have to get some again. Of course they also taste great stuffed with soft cheese....

I make my own coleslaw every day and keep it in the fridge for when I feel peckish (basically cabbage, carrots and occasionally onion made with lowcal mayo or salad cream) and have ham or cold chicken for lunch. I adore lettuce and rather than use bread (I am wheat intolerant) use it to make 'sandwiches' eg layer the lettuce and put the filling (eg ham/cheese)inside, roll it up and chomp away!

Thanks FatDog. I had a look at Joe's Reboot website when I started trawling the internet looking for tips on smoothies. I'm still hugely inspired by him, but am finding that I need to experiment for myself with the smoothies because a lot of recipes call for apples (which I'm allergic to) or use high cal fruit (like bananas or avocado, which I love but don't necessarily want to have on a fast day) or high fat additions (coconut oil, peanut butter(!) ).

I'm not fasting today but had a green smoothie for lunch - I'm still astonished by how much one of those fills me up! Still struggling to find the best way to get a smooth consistency with the not-very-good equipment I own. I tried the hand blender today with limited success. Next step is try the blender and then whizz the result with a hand blender - can be done but bit of a faff. I think the step after that will be invest in a more powerful jug blender!

Be that as it may, I shall persevere - in spite of this rather rocky start, I'm finding green smoothies a very enjoyable way of getting loads of veggies in me. Can only be a good thing!

Seejay, I like putting those Peppadew peppers in tuna mayo salad.

The cafe at work does mixed fruit and veg smoothies. I tend to go for orange which has carrot, cherry toms, pineapple, and orange. The also have purple, which has Okinawan purple sweet potato (beni'imo) as a base, and green, which has spinach or some kind of green leaf. They do either milk, soy milk or water base. Sometimes I just buy the cup of veg unblended. I'll get brave enough to try green and purple some day.

Something to bear in mind eating the salads in particular, is that nutritionally they are best eaten with oil. So maybe make allowance for a tablespoon of olive oil - 120 calories, so yes a lot of calories, but it does mean your body gets all those nutrients.

Green smoothie update - the experiment continues. Fasted today, was aiming for 3 green smoothies but only managed 2 and a bit. Somewhat bewildered by this - I'm not renowned for my small appetite and most certainly not a fussy eater. I'm enjoying the smoothies anyway, just that my appetite has reduced since I started having them.

Combination of blender followed by a quick whizz with a hand blender worked a treat. Bit annoying having to wash up another bit of equipment but am postponing buying a more powerful blender for the moment.

Still haven't addressed the problem of too high a salt intake with the smoothies but, like Scarlett O'Hara, I shall worry about that tomorrow. Sufficient unto the day!

Further green smoothie update. Did a complete U-turn today - galloped off and bought myself a Lakeland Power Blender - 1000 watt motor. Quite heavy - glass jug (which is meant to be durable) and not dishwasher safe which is a bit annoying, but OMG, the difference! It just whizzed up all the veggies, carrot chunks and all, completely effortlessly, and I had a proper smoothie drink. Thrilled to bits with it and quite prepared to put up with the faff of washing up (takes all of 2 minutes!) for the result.

Moral of the story - get the right equipment for the job. Duh!

That's 3 green smoothie fasts this week - am rather holding my breath for the weigh in tomorrow to see if I've broken through bleeping plateau. No fasting next week as I've got family over but want to do my best not to gain weight at least. Part of the sustainability test. We shall see. Watch this space!

Shachat, re the salt problem, have you tried adding some strong flavoured herbs like thyme or oregano as a sub? Alternatively you could invest in a vegan product caked Seagreens, which is ground bladderwrack. A pinch of that is a great salt sub and a jar lasts for months and months. very popular with raw food people.

Thanks a lot for that suggestion, Dhana. I'm going to look for Seagreens. Available in health food shops, I'm guessing?

I've tried using herbs to reduce the salt but that didn't seem to do the trick. It tasted ok but I still needed salt.

Definitely need to tackle this problem or I'll end up abandoning the green smoothies which would be a shame.

Green smoothie update Number Umpteen. I think I may have solved the salt problem thanks to the path Dhana led me down. I couldn't find Seagreens but did buy seaweed from the health food shop and whizzed it up with the smoothie. It's lovely and salty so I don't have to add any more. And I'm sure it's doing me good - iodine and calcium(?).

I've recently lost a pound so I'm off the plateau at last but haven't done a way-hey post about it yet because I'm waiting to see if the downward trend will continue or whether I'll be stuck with a one lb loss for another 4 weeks. If this isn't a blip and I really am off the plateau, the green smoothies could be the thing that made the difference. Watch this space!

New blender works a dream, by the way. Having faffed around with less powerful equipment, I'm thrilled to bits with how easily it whizzes everything up to a smooth consistency.

I know, I should get a life!