5:2 diet with LighterLife Fast

I've always had an issue with my weight and this blog documents my ups and downs regarding weight loss. Getting to grips with it in a way that easily fits in with my busy lifestyle is a constant struggle for me. Now that I'm older a combination living with a partner who likes rich foods, attending fun foodie blogging events and a baking hobby mean that I can pile the pounds on quickly if I have a hectic few weeks without noticing.
I've been following a diet plan on and off for about 6 years with some great results but counting points and weighing food can be very tiresome, I was really pleased to be chose to take part in a three month trial that will do away with any fuss or worry.

I'm sure you have all heard of the 5:2 diet, also known as the Fast diet – but just in case you haven't here is a quick overview. The idea behind the diet is that you eat normally 5 days a week (healthily, not scoffing too much) and then fast the remaining two. On the fast days you quarter your calorie intake, it is advised that you eat 600 calories and get your RDA of key vitamins and minerals along with fibre and protein. The two fast days should not be taken consecutively.

The reason I was drawn to the 5:2 diet was that dieting 2 days a week seems a lot easier to follow and fits in better with my lifestyle than tracking what I eat 7 days a week. It allows me to work out on the days that I am not fasting and to still enjoy eating out or unexpected drinks and not feel guilty about treats. I was a little worries before starting that I wouldn't be able to concentrate at work on 600cals a day and that I would feel tired. Trying to figure out what to eat for just 600 calories a day but feel full would be a headache but luckily there is now a solution – LighterLife Fast, which is now exclusively available at Superdrug.

On a fast day, it’s almost impossible to get all your recommended daily allowances (RDAs) of the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs if you were to prepare meals yourself. LighterLife Fastpacks are specially formulated nutritional food options that contain all the protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals required.

The idea behind LighterLife Fast is to make life easier on those fast days providing you with four LighterLife Fastpacks  for those 600 calorie days.

The new range starts at £7.99 for a box of four Fastpacks.  The Fastpack options include:

• Savoury meals such as Spaghetti Bolognese and pasta carbonara
• Porridge – the breakfast favourite!
• Four delicious shakes – vanilla, strawberry, banana and chocolate
• Four scrumptious meal bars in nut fudge, crispy peanut, cranberry & raspberry and toffee flavours

I chose porridge for breakfast, pasta cabonara for lunch and spaghetti bolognese for dinner. All options were tasty but smaller portions than I would normally eat. I found a few things really helped me with the plan, one of them was to add the water to the food a little at a time when cooking and stir a few times. They turned out much better using that method. I also added black pepper to the cabonara and a dash of cinnamon to the porridge to add to extra flavour.

The peanut bars were a great snack, they were large and filling and had a hint of chocolate. Very tasty!

I've been following the LighterLife Fast plan for two weeks now and I've been very pleased with the weight loss results:

Week 1: -2lbs

Weeks 2: -2.5lbs

I was pleasantly surprised with the results. As you can see from my instagram stream I really don't hold back on my non-fast days. I've gone out for afternoon tea, cooked a bonfire night feast and had cheese fondue and still manged to lose some weight. I've got two weeks until I go to Budapest and really want to lose another 4lbs before going so I'm going to be a little more restrained on my non-fast days to ensure the weight keeps on going down.

Have you ever tried the 5:2 diet? Would you consider then LighterLife Fast method of 5:2 fasting?

*LighterLife Fast has sent me a months worth of their Fastpacks to try and document my experience. 

#RealJuice with Philips and Madeline Shaw - Weekend juice recipes

Juicing seems to be buzz word this year in the  health community but taking part in a juice detox can actually not be that good for you or your health. Philips are campaign for #RealJuice and want to encourage people to ditch bottled juice in exchange for one fresh juice a day rather than an extreme detox.

I am currently following the #RealJuice plan created by Madeline Shaw (Millie Mackintosh’s nutritionist) and Phillips. You can read more about the plan and my first 5 days following it here but I've shared the weekend recipes below.

Here are a couple of tasty recipes from the plan that you can try yourself at home:
Saturday: Hangover helper juice - 3 medium-size tomatoes, 3 stalks of celery, 1 peeled lemon (or less according to taste), 2cm of ginger, 1 jalapeño pepper (seedless), 1/2 a cucumber

This is a spin on the classic bloody mary and the ginger and pepper gives it a real kick.

Sunday: Classic cleanse juice - 3 carrots, a beetroot, an apple and two stalks of celery.

Beetroot contributes to cleansing of your living, helping to reinvigorate your body. It was a little too earthy for my tastes so I simply added another apple. Delicious!

Which of these juices sounds the most tempting to you?
Have you tried any of the juices from the first five days of the plan?