20 best meals for the 5:2 diet

We discussed Michael Mosley’s 5:2 diet last year but some readers have requested some further guidance on how to prepare meals on the fast days. So here are a few low calorie dishes that you can easily prepare to help get you through the fast days without totally depriving yourself.

Fast Day Meal Planner – 500 Calories

Here we have 20 meal options: 5 breakfast, 5 lunch and 10 dinner, plus eight snacks. Chose one option for each meal and plan the day so that you consume no more than 500 Calories in total. All figures are of course approximate. Some people skip breakfast completely and have two meals of around 200 Calories each and then 100 Calories of snacks throughout the day. Drinking tea / coffee with milk is a popular “snack” for many as it helps to ward off hunger. Black teas, such as Earl Gray, are almost calorie free.

Breakfast 

1. Boiled egg (50 Calories)
2. Small pot of natural yogurt (50 Calories)
3. 0% fat Greek yogurt with a dessert spoon of honey (100 Calories)
4. One egg omelet with 5 cherry tomatoes (100 Calories)
5. 35 gram of natural porridge oats made with water (130 Calories)

Lunch

1. Tin of soup, or make your own. Go for vibrant flavors and spices. (100 Calories).
2. Two crispbreads with low fat cream cheese (100 Calories)
3. Small mixed salad with lettuce, cucumber, carrot, red onion, pickled beetroot, coleslaw made with yogurt instead of mayo. (around 80-100 Calories)
4. Crab or tuna salad with celery, courgettes and some olive oil and lemon juice (150 Calories)
5. Cottage cheese on rye bread (100 Calories)

Definitely no croutons or bread rolls with your soup!

Dinner

1. Prawn / fish curry with 125 g of prawns / fish, tinned tomatoes, low-fat yogurt, with 60 g of steamed rice. (250 Calories)
2. Chicken and bean stew with 100 g chicken breast, cannellini beans and low-fat yogurt (275 Calories)
3. Cheese omelette made with two small eggs and a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese served with fresh vegetables (170 Calories)
4. 140 g of white fish (e.g. cod or hake) with steamed vegetables (200 Calories)
5. 100 g chicken breast with steamed vegetables (200 Calories)
6. Venison burger without the bun. Venison is a very low fat and lean meat (160 Calories). Serve with steamed vegetables  (total of 200 Calories).
7. Prawn and aubergine curry with cauliflower rice (200 Calories).
8. Char-grilled vegetables with puy lentils, courgette and poached eggs (300 Calories)
9. Baked cod with butter beans, red pepper and sautéed cabbage (300 Calories).
10. Quorn and chunky vegetable soup (250 Calories)

Snacks 

Snacks can be eaten between meals if your meals do not add up to 500 Calories. Total snacks is usually around 50 Calories. Some snacks are very low calorie. Here are some suggestions:

1. Low-calorie jelly (7 Calories)
2. Milky coffee (10-20 Calories)
3. Raw carrot sticks
4. Cherry tomatoes (25 Calories per 100 grams)
5. Half a banana (45 Calories)
6. Small bowl of olives (10 large olives is about 50 Calories)
7. Dark chocolate (10 grams is about 55 Calories).
8. 20 raspberries (20 Calories)

The key to successful dieting is good planning. Do not wait until the morning of your fast day before deciding what you will eat, have the day planned in advance. See our article on the 5:2 diet to learn more about this weight loss system.

#Michael Mosley