Hangry (Emma)

Day four was going quite well for me until I reached the evening. My busy day at work and my two meals between 9:30am and 4:30pm had kept me going. And then I headed to the climbing wall.

In fairness, I think much of my hunger is psychological. You just can’t stop thinking about what you can’t have! When I walked into the climbing centre, I was convinced that I could smell food, specifically noodles! When I mentioned this to my climbing buddy, she said she could not smell anything. Ross suggested that the fast 800 might have heightened my sense of smell and I was probably sensing some appetising delicacy from several streets away. Possibly…

Glasgow Climbing Centre

Nevertheless, climbing went well although I did not feel as energetic as I usually would. This is to be expected as the body accustoms itself to burning fat rather than sugar and carbs. I have also had a busy week travelling with work and have not had my optimal amount of sleep. It is surprising how much sleep affects hunger. The fast 800 book highlights this as a risk.

Ross, however, said he felt fine at Roller Derby training, which consists primarily of cardiovascular exercise with periods of intense energy bursts over two hours. 

Our meals for the day consisted of another omelette variety (this time with spinach, mushroom and cherry tomato salad) and a stir fry with pork mince, mange touts and some ‘zero’ noodles – a low carb, fat free alternative to the traditional noodle! This was another recipe from the book. 

Ross had not felt overly hungry throughout the day and came home to a grumpy Emma as I was trying to cook tomorrow’s food. Again, I would be travelling so preparation was key. I had been excited to see a pasta dish in the fast 800 book. Wholegrain pasta, admittedly, but still pasta! When I saw the quantity of pasta allowed, my enthusiasm waned. Who has ever measured pasta in tablespoons? An allocation of just two tablespoons of pasta each boiled away in the pan. They looked rather lonely. As a proud consumer of up to 400g of pasta in one sitting, this was not what I was used to… 

The loneliest pasta 

In fairness, the end result was really yummy and I actually felt satisfied afterwards! Ross not so much this time.

We then began to prepare our breakfast for the following day. I had selected an enticing looking recipe of Blueberry Oat Pancakes (yes you heard it, pancakes!). Except these pancakes contained no flour, just rolled oats, banana and whole milk. Stay tuned for our first disaster. 

Firstly, I had not noticed that the recipe requires a food processor to grind the rolled oats into a coarse powder. In a hungry attempt to think outside the box, I grabbed the pestle and mortar out of the cupboard and began grinding the oats by hand. We made the mixture and placed a small amount in the frying pan. Initially, it looked okay. We added a blueberry or two and then tried to flip the ‘pancake.’ It held on valiantly to the pan. A little more prodding and it tore apart into a strange, oaty mush. We persevered until I (selflessly) offered to try our trial pancake to ascertain whether or not it was worth continuing our efforts. 

It tasted alright to me and, as a hater of food waste, I suggested we continue. When Ross wasn’t looking, I ate the rest of our test pancake. I did not feel too guilty about this as it must have weighed around 2 grams. After some swearing from Ross, I took over the frying process and placed the oaty mess into some Tupperware and hoped that it would be marginally enjoyable the following day. It actually was. More of a porridge than a pancake, with roasted almonds on top. Ross, unsure of our adaptation of the original recipe, opted for a trusty omelette. 

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