5:2 Diet Plateau and a Gingered Parsnip Soup Recipe for a 5:2 Fast Day

Weight Loss Plateau – Gingered Parsnip Soup Recipe for 5:2 Diet:

Every so often with the 5:2 diet, I seem to hit a diet plateau and no matter if I am fasting twice a week or not, I simple stop losing weight.  Although I find the 5:2 diet quite easy to follow it’s quite often when I am REALLY trying to lose a bit more weight for a special event (in this case a formal dinner on Sunday, where I need to dress up).  I find it really frustrating and with many diets I’d probably give up.  For whatever reason, I seem to have more commitment to the 5:2 diet than I’ve ever had before…and eventually (sometimes as much as a few weeks later) I start to lose weight again.  I’m now pretty close to my target weight (2-3 kg) but I don’t seem to be able to shift that last little bit!

I’ve tried to be quite strict on today’s fast day, because I do wonder sometimes if  the weight loss plateau is simply that I slip into bad habits – I stop weighing things, add a little more oil, maybe sneak in the odd biscuit.  So I am back making home made soup again for this 5:2 diet fast day – for me it’s a way to control exactly what I am eating.

This gingered parsnip soup is a warming winter soup that is just over 100 calories for a bowlful.  It’s not dissimilar to that old favourite of curried parsnip soup, but by using a simpler spice mixture the result is cleaner and fresher.  I’ve added lentils to give the soup body and help make it filling. If I’d had an apple or two to hand I’d probably have tried adding them in too.

5:2 Diet Parsnip Soup with Ginger

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Serves	3-4
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	35 minutes
Allergy	Milk
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Soup
Misc	Freezable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Halloween

Ingredients

• 250g Parsnips
• 5g Fresh Ginger
• 1 Small Chilli
• 20g Red Lentils
• 700ml Stock
• 1 Medium Onion
• 1 tablespoon Low Fat Creme Fraiche
• 2-3 shots 1 Cal oil

Directions

Step 1	Peel and dice the parsnips, onions, and ginger. Deseed the chili and cut into 3 or 4 pieces
Step 2	Put onions, chili and ginger into a heavy based pan sprayed with 2-3 shots of 1cal oil or wiped with a drop of cooking oil
Step 3	Sweat over a low heat until the onions are translucent
Step 4	Add in the parsnip chunks and stir well. Cook for a further minute.
Step 5	Add in the stock and the lentils
Step 6	Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes
Step 7	Remove the chili pieces and blend with a stick blender before tasting. If you want a spicier soup (I did), add back in 1 piece of chili. Blend again with the stick blender
Step 8	Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir through the creme fraiche to serve.

What else can you do if you reach a plateau on a diet?  Well, of course you can check your overall eating and drinking habits.  In my case I am cutting down the amount of alcohol I drink and I am trying very hard to follow an exercise programme with both aerobic and resistance exercise on 4 or 5 days a week.  I’m not worrying too much because in less than two weeks I am off on a fitness boot-camp – if that doesn’t work, then I might start to panic.

Do you have any ideas about how to get beyond a diet plateau – 5:2 diet or any other kind?  I’m very open to suggestions!