Nourish Me: on not eating

The experiment in not eating - based on Dr Michael Mosley's 5:2 fasting research - has been made even more fascinating by the questions customers in the shop ask, keen to know if it actually works. The process is different for everyone, I say, you will find your rhythm, come to enjoy not thinking about food. Women will ask how much weight I've lost (a dress-size and bit), but men want to know if my health has improved (probably is my answer). But here's the truth: fasting has brought other, unexpected, more personal things that, to my mind, are far more valuable yet somehow harder to explain on the spot at werk:

I'm an even better cook - thinking less about food makes me cook simpler and, dare I say it, healthier meals

A sense of satisfaction is to be gained from learning that one does not need to graze constantly, that feeling hungry doesn't always equate to actual hunger

I'm able to practice Lesh's mindful 'tude to eating because, finally, I get it

That the discipline itself translates to all other areas of life

The meal I find myself making most often at the end of the day is what I like to refer to as a boring omelette, one based on one of Mimi Spencer's in the recipe book (which, I reckon, you don't actually need - the less you think about food, the better). For one, as Tod Davies says, here's what I do: grate a zucchini into a tea towel and squeeeeeze it hard, trying to get the zucchini flesh as dry as possible. That gets whisked into 2 eggs with some pepper. I melt a tiny knob of butter in a well-worn (therefore non-stick by default) frying pan, add lots of sliced 'shrooms, some sliced spring onions and saute until cooked to my liking. Tamari is a nice addition - it seems to make mushrooms taste more like they should, but don't let the tamari burn. Ew. I then pour in the eggs, stir them around and let things bubble away for a bit before dotting a tiny amount of soft goat cheese on top then sliding the pan under the grill 'til golden and puffed. Green leaves on the side, dressed with lemon juice and nothing else. Double the above if your partner fancies a boring omelette, too.