The FastDay Forum

pamie wrote: Hi TML13, I get my husband to taste everything as we work together!!
Because if I just had one taste I'd be lost for the day.

It's good to have someone you trust. I'd be scared of having someone else to try my cooking.

One mans meat is another mans poison - very true. I find rice cakes and quark revolting. I very seldom nibble, because once I start....but if I can't get by without something in the afternoon it's invariably salty, something like a spoonful of miso paste in a mug of hot water. I have recently started eating coconut oil, not instead of olive oil (I would never give that up!) but in certain dishes like stirfries and curries, and so I sometimes add a slither of coconut oil to my black coffee or tea and it is incredibly satisfying.

A 1/2 cup is 118 ml apparently (I though it was something quite different!) so I reckon 30 calories-worth of strawberries/casaba melon would be 154 ml, less if it was a different melon. So, if it's full with 30 calories, I guess that is a very dainty bowl you are using gigi?

Well Dom, I use metric scales on fast days and for 150g( which chopped roughly is a fullish normal size dessert bowl)it is 30-35 cals for strawberries, watermelon or rockmelon.( I use Borushek's calorie counter)
I will stand by my fruit nibbles!
I'm thinking when they talk about cup sizes maybe they cut it up very finely which would condense it a lot more?

TML13 wrote: Rice cakes, sugar-free jelly, carrot and cucumber sticks, broth made of stock cubes and I'm thinking that when summer comes I could make popsicles with diet coke or other sugar-free drinks.

Before i did 5-2 I had a short period where i was following the principle of low salt/sodium

I would stay well away from anything with stock cubes.. its packed full of salt even the low salt ones are too much

the physiology is well written here about the problem of salt
http://www.livestrong.com/article/32441 ... less-salt/

Juliana.Rivers wrote: I would stay well away from anything with stock cubes.. its packed full of salt even the low salt ones are too much

the physiology is well written here about the problem of salt
http://www.livestrong.com/article/32441 ... less-salt/

Fast days are the only times I deliberatly seek something salty as in bouillon and stock. I halve the 'serving' so I'm not getting the full 'dose' of sodium. I feel I am replacing the salt lost whilst fasting and drinking lots of coffee and water. It certainly takes away the bit of fog that may creep in on the afternoon of a fast. I make most of my food at home from fresh ingredients and rarely add salt to anything and I'm aware of hidden salt. I have tracked my salt intake on MFP and found I have to really have a 'junkie' day to come to the recommended sodium intake. If I have over done it with salt my body is the first to tell me (no more than 2 bloody marys when in Las Vegas my ankles swelled something fierce and I could barely walk).

I say that if you don't already have a high blood pressure problem, that a stock cube can be beneficial on a fast day, just don't have soup later (especially american soups, absolutly loaded with salt!). Just be mindful of everything that you consume and LISTEN to your body.

Greek stock cubes have a very different content than the ones that I find in the UK (or the American ones). They have about 1/4th of the calories and a very low salt percentage.
I always thought that stock cubes were evil till a friend told me how much she enjoys them now that she lives in Greece and I was like "ehm, didn't you have stock cubes in the US?" but she explained that the Greek ones are very healthy ones.

@gigi55: Quark is a staple food for lots of people in Germany. Similar to plain yoghurt, however with much more protein. It is for me the only healthy food that I really enjoy eating. Not plain, but with fruits (as a sweet version) or with herbs. However, the creamy version with 20% or 40% obviously tastes better than the "standard" low fat one
It is used as a spread on bread, for deserts, instead of sour cream as a dip and for several cakes. Especially German cheese cakes are made with quark instead of cremecheese. A much lighter and tastier version.
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_(dairy_product)
And some more receipts here:
http://www.germanfoodguide.com/chdetail ... e_number=2

Try it!

Marks & Spencers sugar free butter scotch drops only 8 calories and one is sweet enough to satisfy any sugar cravings!

I've never seen nor heard of quark...

http://images.mysupermarket.co.uk/Produ ... 009156.jpg
http://i.groceries.asda.com/g/690/054/5 ... hot_2.jpeg
http://images.mysupermarket.co.uk/Produ ... 149710.jpg

You can buy it in the UK, not sure about Greece and unfortunalty I never managed to buy it in the US, though.

I usually make it through to dinner but occasionally, I've grabbed a miso soup. If I really feel that I need to eat something, I find a few cherry tomatoes work quite well. 5 of them are 10 calories.

Is it at all like cottage cheese? I use it a lot and the low fat version has 2% fat...

I try not to nibble on fast days, but at work there are pretzels and I love them. I have had a couple (40 cal apiece) just to take me til lunch but in future will take a string cheese instead - same calories but for me, very filling. On one occasion I felt I was just starving (after having pretzels) and got some miso soup and found it worked very well. I now have some at work for emergencies.

Thanks Lin and Abby for the Quark lessons!
It is such a funny name, sounds like some species of duck!
I actually eat mostly dairy free so that may explain why I haven't heard of it.
I often use soft goat cheese to replace cottage cheese or cream cheese in recipes so it may also be a substitute for quark.

Just joined today: I'm in the States, and I get Nasoya brand Shirataki noodles at 40 cals for a whole bowl! I sprinkle 1 Tbs. Braggs Nutritional Yeast Seasoning on them, and a bit of truffle salt-- YUM. Quite filling physically and psychologically, and 3 mins to prepare.