All of the recipes can be found in the Spring chapter of this cookbook (see here). Take a look at the Plate fillers section for more ideas of good carbohydrates to include in your normal days. Notice how I have made sure no food is wasted. I have made two person recipes and eaten the second portion for lunch or dinner, either the next day or on subsequent days. I have also made a batch of soup and frozen portions for later in the week.
Shopping list for full seven days
Meat and fish
2 × 90g (3¼oz) lean lamb leg steaks
50g (1¾oz) streaky bacon
2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
400g (14oz) skinless chicken breasts
400g (14oz) skinless smoked haddock
200g (7oz) raw king prawns (shrimp)
4 sausages
Fruit and veg
2 small sweet potatoes
2 large potatoes
700g (1½lb) new potatoes
2 Little Gem (Boston) lettuce
1 cos (Romaine) lettuce
Bag baby spinach
Bag mixed salad leaves
Cucumber
2 medium tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
6 spring onions (scallions)
5 leeks
Mushrooms
1 celery stick
1 lemongrass stalk
1 green chilli
Frozen peas
Garlic
3 lemons
1 banana (men only)
Dairy
900ml (4 cups) skimmed milk
4 eggs
Babybel Lights
10g (2 tsp) butter
10g (2 tsp) Parmesan cheese
Low-fat plain yogurt
Fruit yogurt pots
Storecupboard
Wholemeal (wholewheat) bread
1 baguette
Ryvitas
Wraps
All-Bran
Caster (superfine) sugar
Sultanas (golden raisins)
Dried apricots
Dried figs
Dates
Wholemeal self-raising (wholewheat self-rising) flour
Couscous (men only)
Basmati rice
Naan bread
Porridge (rolled) oats
Granola
Olive oil
Sunflower oil
Extra virgin olive oil
Black peppercorns
Cornflour (cornstarch)
Vegetable stock (bouillon) cubes
Fish stock
Tomato ketchup
Extra-light mayonnaise
White wine vinegar
Dijon mustard
Dry (hard) cider
1 can light coconut milk
1 can anchovies
Jar capers
Black olives
Dark chocolate
Medium curry powder, smoked paprika, ground cumin, cumin seeds, hot paprika, cayenne pepper, ground turmeric, ground ginger
Dried thyme, dried oregano, dried mixed herbs, bay leaf
Fresh mint, fresh tarragon, flat-leaf parsley, fresh coriander (cilantro)
Salt and pepper
Light oil spray
The 2-Day Diet is fast becoming one of the most popular diets worldwide. In the UK it is the most talked about diet of 2013 and has spread all around the world. It is incredibly popular in Ireland, Sweden and South Africa, to name just a few.
But why is it proving so successful? I think there are two unique draws of the diet which make people choose it AND stick to it.
Firstly it is the diet’s simplicity that is its main selling point. You can easily describe how to do the diet in one sentence and anyone can go and get started straight away. You don’t need to buy special foods or pay anyone any money.
The second point is the 2-Day Diet’s long-term success rate. People who start the diet are more likely to stick to it than other diets. This is because you are not dieting every day, meaning you can still enjoy life’s pleasures five days a week.
Another reason why so many people love the diet is that it really can burn those last few pounds like no other diet. When you diet normally, the body will always use the simplest energy stores first. This means that you will always burn off the food you have just eaten rather than the fat on your hips. When you do the 2-Day Diet, on your diet days you enter a semi-fasting state and your blood glucose levels fall. This triggers the release of metabolic fuels from the body’s stores of fat. The 2-Day Diet is therefore one of the most effective diets for burning fat.[1]
Health benefits
The majority of people following the 2-Day Diet are interested primarily in weight loss. Losing weight and reducing your BMI obviously has plenty of health benefits. But on top of the health benefits of losing weight there are also indicators that this type of weight loss has advantages over and above other forms of diet.
Areas where intermittent fasting seems to bring additional benefits are diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s prevention. Research into intermittent fasting is ongoing and 2013 has brought some interesting new topics to light.
The most research has been done into diabetes and heart health. Does intermittent fasting reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular markers for heart disease? A review of current research[2] suggests that limiting calories in this way can reverse type 2 diabetes and has the potential to be cardio-protective.
On first glance the link between being overweight and Alzheimer’s does not seem obvious. But when you note that more and more scientists now see Alzheimer’s as just another form of diabetes, then things begin to fall in to place. This has grave implications worldwide. The prospect of an Alzheimer’s epidemic on the scale of the current worldwide obesity epidemic is extremely