Customer Reviews

The Fast Diet Recipe Book: 150 Delicious, Calorie-controlled Meals to Make Your Fasting Days Easy

I very nearly didn't buy this book due to the negative comments on here. I am quite fussy about cookbooks and like a certain format of 1 recipe per page accompanied with a photo. When I saw all the comments about the expensive and unusual ingredients, I had images of pigs cheeks, fois gras, sea urchin etc etc.

I have now read every recipe through and I would say that for the average cook, the BBC Good Food readers, or Delia/Jamie fans amongst us, this book has nothing unusual in it. In fact, the first recipe I made, the Teriyaki Chicken was delicious and found a use for the bottle of Mirin I had unused in my cupboard. I didn't have any Sake though, so I improvised with Grappa....I guess vodka would do the trick too.....it was delicious, super simple and the kids loved it.

I can't wait to try some of the other dishes, as I read them through I was thinking 'yum yum' to most of them.

Some of the ingredients you might have to buy specially (such as mirin) but once it is in your cupboard you could use it again, and it certainly wasn't expensive!

So do give it a try, it has inspired me to try the 5:2 diet again because when I had a brief dabble with it before I relied on eggs and yoghurt!

An easy to follow, delicious healthy recipes. Although I feel hungry at lunchtime, the suppers are filling, and the diet works

Good clear instructions with plenty of meal suggestions. I've lost 11 Kg already. My wife & I use our 500 & 600 cals allowance at breakfast & evening meal only, skipping lunch -- this seems to work better.

The best book I have ever bought. Bought it four months ago and have already lost two stone. Anyone who struggles with losing weight should try it.

Both my wife and myself are doing this diet and after three weeks we have both lost 9 pounds. The book has some great recipes and good information about the diet. I must admit though that I did see it cheaper in my local supermarket.

Lovely book to help me with my fast days and non fast days. Beautiful pictures and easy to follow instructions. Recipes I've made so far have been delicious, especially the lightweight cottage pie, never had tried celeriac before but what a surprise, even my husband liked it. I would recommend this book even if you haven't got the original fast day diet book as all the rules and guidelines of fasting are explained fully at the beginning of this book. Very useful index at back as recipes are in order of calorie count, great for when you've cheated a little and need a quick scan to find a meal within your remaining calorie quota. Very happy I bought this book and well worth the money.

Good Book, Hubby and myself lost 2 stone each in 5 months, throw other diet books away they not needed!

This book is essential for those of us who have been doing the 5:2 fast diet for some time and occasionally fancy something different but have gotten into the habit of having the same safe meals as we know how many calories they contain. It brings variety back into your diet and also inspires you to try new combinations. Well presented and easy to use. I would definitely recommend this book and am using it every week.

I've been doing the Fast Diet for 2 months now and am very pleased with the results so far, but I'll keep this review on the recipe book and not the diet itself.

One of my worries with the diet was that the food I would have on my fast days would be too boring and would put me off keeping the diet going. A friend is doing the diet and buying low-cal snacks/wraps/meals from shops on the fast days, but the idea of doing that long term was not appealing to me. I'm a fairly competent cook and wanted food that interested me on those fast days.

Luckily, I've found the recipes in this very tasty and fairly easy to make. I've not had any issues with ingredients, yes, some I've had to buy but they're not that unusual or hard to get. Until I'd read reviews on here about expensive, unusual ingredients, I hadn't even thought about it! I've also found the recipes surprisingly filling considering the calorie count, I had visions of pecking at a saucer full of food, but most are decent sized portions.

Favourites so far include the cottage pie (made with celeriac), one of the tastiest cottage pies I've had and even superior to many "normal" ones. We also like the O'Kelly Fish and Lentil curry, and it's hard to even think of a recipe made so far that we've not enjoyed. Some are simplicity indeed, like smoked salmon for breakfast topped with capers, red onion and lemon juice.

It is possible to do the diet without the recipe book, as it's only the calorie count that matters, but I'd recommend this book if you're short on ideas for what to have and want some time-saving recipes instead that spare you the calorie counting.

Some very nice, simple and easy recipes which are helping me not just on my Fast Days! Have recommended to friends.