The Fast Diet: seven fasting day menus

MENU ONE

Women
Daily total: 483 calories

Breakfast (142 calories)
– Half a tub of cottage cheese (100g, 78 calories)
– One sliced pear (100g, 40 calories)
– One fresh fig (55g, 24 calories)

Dinner (341 calories)
– Sashimi
3—5 pieces salmon (100g, 180 calories) and tuna (100g, 136 calories) served with soy sauce, wasabi and ginger
– 1 tangerine (70g, 25 calories)

Men
Daily total: 597 calories

Breakfast (271 calories)
– Mushroom and spinach frittata
Fry half a sliced onion (75g, 27 calories) in 1 tsp of olive oil (27 calories). Add 4 small chopped mushrooms (20g, 3 calories). Cook until tender. Add a generous handful of spinach (30g, 8 calories); cook for 2 minutes. Pour over 2 beaten eggs (180 calories). Cook for 5 minutes, and finish under a hot grill until eggs are set.
– 12 strawberries (96g, 26 calories)

Dinner (326 calories)
– Seared Tuna
Heat a griddle pan and sear a tuna steak (168g, 229 calories) on both sides using no fat, but squeezing on lemon if necessary. Serve with 1 whole grilled small red pepper (120g, 52 calories) and 1 sliced, grilled courgette (100g, 18 calories). Cut the pepper and courgette into long strips (for the courgette, about 1/2cm wide). Mix in a bowl with 1 tsp olive oil (27 calories), season, and grill on medium-high heat for 5 minutes each side. Dress with a squeeze of lemon

MENU TWO

Women
Daily total: 503 calories

Breakfast (197 calories)
– Porridge
Made with 40g oats (160 calories) and water. Top with 145g of blueberries (37 calories)

Dinner (306 calories)
– Chicken stir-fry
Cut chicken fillet into strips (140g, 148 calories). Fry in a non-stick pan in 1 tsp olive oil (27 calories) with 1 tsp finely chopped ginger (2 calories), 1 tbsp chopped coriander (3 calories), a clove of crushed garlic (3 calories), 2 tsp soy sauce (3 calories) and half a squeezed lemon (1 calorie) until browned and sealed, adding water if chicken sticks. Add a handful of sugar snap peas (50g, 12 calories), 100g finely sliced cabbage (26 calories) and 2 carrots cut into thin strips (160g, 56 calories), and cook for 5—10 more minutes until the chicken is cooked, adding water if necessary
– 1 tangerine (70g/2.5oz, 25 calories)

Men
Daily total: 592 calories

Breakfast (288 calories)
– 30 raspberries (120g, 30 calories)

Dinner (304 calories)
– Roast salmon
Place a 140g salmon fillet (252 calories) with 10 cherry tomatoes (150g, 27 calories) on the vine on a baking tray. Bake at 200°c for about 15—20 minutes until the fish is cooked. Serve with a generous 112g helping of green beans (25 calories)

MENU THREE

Women
Daily total: 503 calories

Breakfast (125 calories)
– 1 boiled egg (61g, 90 calories)
– Half a grapefruit (115g, 35 calories)

Dinner (378 calories)
– Vegetarian chilli
Fry a clove of garlic (3 calories) and half a finely chopped red chilli in a tsp of olive oil (27 calories). Add a pinch of cumin and 1 large or 4 small chopped mushrooms (20g, 3 calories) and cook for five minutes, adding water if it sticks. Add half a tin of chopped tomatoes (200g, 32 calories) and half a tin of kidney beans (200g, 200 calories), stir and simmer for 10 mins. Serve with 2 tbsp of cooked wild brown rice (80g, 113 calories)

Men
Daily total: 593 calories

Breakfast (298 calories)
– Simple muesli mix
50g oats (201 calories) with a grated apple (100g, 47 calories). Cover with skimmed milk (150ml, 50 calories)

Dinner (295 calories)
– No-carb caesar salad
Grill 2 slices of parma ham (34g, 76 calories) for 4—5 minutes, turning once, until crispy. Slice 1 chicken breast (140g, 148 calories) into two. Grill for about 3—4 minutes each side or until cooked. Cut into pieces and place on a substantial bed of 100g chopped cos lettuce (16 calories). Serve with 1 tbsp grated parmesan (45 calories), and 1 tbsp reduced- calorie caesar salad dressing (15g, 10 calories — eg sainsbury’s be good to yourself). Crumble the grilled parma ham over the top

MENU FOUR

Women
Daily total: 497 calories

Breakfast (194 calories)
– Smoked salmon(112g, 159 calories)
– 1 plain Ryvita (35 calories) spread with 1 tsp light cream cheese (11 calories)

Dinner (303 calories)
Put 2 tbsp of thai fish sauce (20 calories), the juice of one lime (20g, 1 calorie), 1 tsp sugar (16 calories), 2 sliced spring onions (20g, 5 calories) and 1 red chilli, finely chopped (1 calorie), into a bowl. Mix well. Add 10 small cooked prawns (30g, 30 calories), 2 grated carrots (160g, 56 calories) and 50g vermicelli noodles (194 calories), soaked according to instructions. Toss well

Men
Daily total: 594 calories

Breakfast (330 calories)
– Grilled kipper (100g, 280 calories)
– 2 tangerines (50 calories)

Dinner (264 calories)
– Marinated steak and asian cabbage salad
Marinate a piece of sirloin steak (90g, 120 calories) in a mixture of soy, juice of 1 lime and crushed garlic. Grill until cooked, turning once. Serve with asian cabbage salad: combine 1 grated carrot (80g, 28 calories) with 90g savoy cabbage (24 calories) cut into thin strips, and a handful of coriander (1 calorie). For dressing, mix 1 tsp sugar (16 calories) with 1 tbsp thai fish sauce (10 calories), the juice of 1 lime (2 calories), a crushed garlic clove (3 calories). Pour over salad and top with 10g chopped roasted, unsalted peanuts (60 calories)

MENU FIVE

Women
Daily total: 496 calories

Breakfast (171 calories)
– Strawberry smoothie
Blend a banana (100g, 95 calories), a pot of fat-free natural yoghurt (150g, 62 calories), a large handful of strawberries (50g, 14 calories), a splash of water and some ice until thick and creamy. Serve immediately

Dinner (325 calories)
– Oven-baked smoked Haddock
Place a fillet of smoked haddock (200g, 202 calories) on a non-stick baking tray and roast for 15—20 minutes, until fish is cooked through. Serve with a poached egg (61g, 90 calories) and sprigs of lightly steamed tenderstem broccoli (100g, 33 calories)

Men
Daily total: 592 calories

– a generous handful of spinach (30g, 8 calories)

Dinner (415 calories)
– Roast mackerel and vegetables
Place a mackerel fillet (147g, 351 calories) on top of 2 sliced tomatoes (170g, 30 calories). Wrap in foil and roast in a hot oven for 10–15 minutes or until fish is done. Serve with a big pile of tenderstem broccoli (100g, 33 calories) dressed with the juice of half a lemon (1 calorie) and salt

MENU SIX

Women
Daily total: 488 calories

Breakfast (233 calories)
– Dipped apple
Slice 1 apple (100g, 47 calories) and 1 mango (150g, 86 calories) and serve with 2 tbsp of half-fat creme fraiche dip (100 calories)

Dinner (255 calories)
– Tuna, bean and garlic salad
Put 140g canned cannellini beans (108 calories), 120g good-quality canned tuna in spring water (119 calories), 6 chopped cherry tomatoes (90g, 16 calories) and a generous handful of baby leaf spinach (30g, 8 calories) in a salad bowl. Mix well. Drizzle over a dressing made from 1 clove of crushed garlic (3 calories), the juice and zest of 1 lemon (1 calorie) and a splash of white wine vinegar

Men
Daily total: 591 calories

– 4 almonds, chopped (8g, 69 calories)

Dinner (320 calories)
– Prawn, watercress and avocado salad
Mix 28g watercress (6 calories) with 140g cooked prawns (139 calories), half an avocado (72g, 137 calories), half a red onion (30g, 11 calories) chopped and 1 tbsp capers (2 calories). Dress with white wine vinegar
– 1 tangerine (25 calories)

MENU SEVEN

Women
Daily total: 498 calories

Breakfast (140 calories)
– 1 boiled egg (90 calories)
– a slice of ham (23g, 25 calories)
– one tangerine (25 calories)

Take 1 tortilla (55g, 144 calories) and top with 2 tbsp passata (5 calories), 3 small diced balls of light mozzarella (90g, 159 calories), and scatter with chopped vegetables: mushrooms, red pepper, courgette, red onion, aubergine, spinach are all ok (170g, 50 calories). Cook in hot oven for 5—10 minutes

Men
Daily total: 587 calories

Breakfast (261 calories)
– Scrambled eggs
Add a splash of skimmed milk (15ml, 5 calories) to 2 beaten eggs (180 calories) and scramble in a non-stick pan. Serve with one very small piece of parma ham (34g, 76 calories)

Dinner (326 calories)
– Spiced Dhal
In 1 tsp olive oil (27 calories), fry a finely chopped small onion (60g, 22 calories), a clove of crushed garlic (3 calories) and 1 tsp finely chopped ginger (3 calories). Cook for 5 minutes. add half a pint of water, 50g dried, washed red lentils (159 calories), a pinch of cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Boil for 20 mins or until lentils are tender. Garnish with 2 tbsp of fat-free natural yogurt (40 calories). Serve with 2 poppadoms (72 calories)

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