With 6lb already lost in the first week of the Sirtfood Diet, how did I fare in Week 2? Here’s my Sirtfood diet week 2 review…
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Endorsed by many celebrities and hailed as the new 5:2, the Sirtfood diet has had me intrigued since I first read about it. But is a diet that includes red wine, coffee and chocolate, just too good to be true?
Last week I successfully completed Week 1 of the Sirtfood Diet, losing a grand total of 6 pounds as well as feeling much healthier and sleeping better than I have in years – you can read all about how I got on with week 1 of the Sirtfood Diet here. But how did I get on in Week 2?
Sirtfood Diet Week 2 Review
Day 8 Monday
It was so nice to be back on 3 meals a day!! The juice part of the diet, did its thing and helped me lose 6lb, but now comes the much more fun part of the diet: the ‘maintenance’ phase! This part of the diet is much more of a healthy eating plan than a ‘diet’ per se. You are allowed 3 healthy Sirtfood meals a day plus 1 or 2 little snacks. Drinks-wise you are still limited to green tea, coffee, black tea and water, but you are now allowed to have 2-3 glasses of red wine per week.
Today started off with a Sirtfood Smoothie, which was ok, but not as nice as the Sirtfood Muesli and it was a bit of a disappointment that after 7 days off breakfast, the first breakfast you are allowed is in liquid form!
Lunch was much more exciting: I had another Chicken Sirtfood Supersalad, which was just as nice as it was on Saturday. I had already baked an extra chicken breast at Sunday dinner time so this salad took just minutes to throw together.
Dinner needed to be flexible as my husband was getting back late, so I opted for the veggie option of Tuscan Bean Stew again, which was very easy to make and tasted wonderful.
On Monday night I did my weekly shop – it was a little more expensive than my usual shop but not by much and pretty easy to do, as I had already got all the tricky things in before I started the diet. I mainly stuck to the plan, but swapped in a few meals from The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book*. I was impressed at just how family friendly The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book is. There are lots of family favourites in there, such as Spaghetti Bolognese, Fajitas, Chicken Korma and Beef Bourguignon. In fact by the time I’d finished I had a list that was far too long of all the meals I wanted to try!
And yes, I did keep up my little Lindt 85% chocolate habit – pretty much all week in fact!
Day 9 Tuesday
Breakfast was the wonderful Sirtfood Muesli again, which was as nice as always. This really is a fab way to start the day and fills me up brilliantly. I don’t feel hungry again until lunchtime.
Tuesday was the day of my daughter’s school trip and I was going along as one of the parent helpers, so I needed to have something at lunchtime that would work well as a packed lunch. Fortunately the lunch scheduled for Tuesday was wholemeal pittas. Perfect for a packed lunch. I do however have a strong aversion to soggy sandwiches, so instead of making my pittas up in the morning, I packed everything I would need for them and made them up at lunchtime, much to the amusement of my daughter’s classmates!
After a busy day, our evening meal was mercifully simple to throw together – a delicious butternut squash and date tagine. I was a little concerned that with the butternut squash and the dates it would be too sweet, but actually it was ok and the sweetness worked so well with the cinnamon. I would really like to try this tagine again but with lamb in it too, as I can imagine the cinnamon and dates would go so very well with lamb.
(Edit: I did eventually remake this tagine with lamb and it was amazing!! You can find it here: Lamb, Date and Butternut Squash Tagine)
Day 10 Wednesday
For breakfast I had Greek yogurt with mixed berries, chocolate and walnuts – a rather decadent treat for breakfast – and much nicer than Monday’s smoothie. (And waaay better than the green juices!). I added a few coconut flakes for extra scrumptiousness.
Lunch was supposed to be the Sirtfood Supersalad again, but still having some ingredients left over from yesterday, I decided to have pittas again. I think one way this diet could be improved is by recognising that you might have some leftover ingredients from the previous day and reusing them the next day. If I just followed the diet plan as set, I would have had to throw some pittas and other ingredients away. I also think some of the dinners, such as the tagine, would make great lunches and making an extra quantity the night before would make lunchtimes so much simpler.
The kids and I had a great time making these delicious Sirtfood Bites after school. They are made from a mixture of dates, cacao, walnuts and turmeric and taste absolutely amazing! You are supposed to have 1 to 2 a day. Unfortunately by the end of Wednesday there were none left in our house – I guess the kids liked them then… Oh well, far better for them than Haribo!!
I did manage to snaffle a couple though. On Wednesday I usually go for a run with my jogging group so a couple of Sirtfood Bites were just perfect for giving me the energy for a 4.5 mile run…Ok so it was actually 4 Sirtfood Bites that I ate. But I figured I would burn them all off on my run, no?
Day 11 Thursday
Thursday’s breakfast was supposed to be spiced scrambled eggs, but the idea of cooking and eating scrambled eggs at 7.30 on a busy school morning just did not appeal, so I made the wonderful sirtfood muesli instead. To shake things up a little, I added in a few blueberries and raspberries in to the mix as well.
Lunch was supposed to be the strawberry buckwheat tabbouleh again, but I decided I rather fancied having a go at something else, so instead I made this rather awesome potato salad to go with rainbow trout and watercress, a recipe from The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book*. I also added in a handful of rocket for extra Sirtfood goodness. This one was one of the stand out meals of the week and very simple to put together. You simply cook a few new potatoes and then dress the hot potatoes with a simple mixture of capers, red onions, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, parsley and celery. Add a ready cooked fillet of smoked trout and a handful of watercress and you are good to go. I really couldn’t get enough of this!
I was feeling slightly peckish at about 4pm and unfortunately we had polished off all the Sirtfood Bites the day before. I didn’t have time to make any more, so instead I had a handful of walnuts and a date. I figured since they were both Sirtfoods and ingredients in the Sirtfood Bites, they would make a good alternative. It would be nice to have a few suggestions for quick and easy snacks in the books, though. The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book* does have several snack recipes, but no suggestions for quick and easy snacks you don’t have to make.
Day 12 Friday
I did feel I may have over indulged on Thursday – I ate quantities of both meals that were a little larger than I should have, as well as having that extra snack and low and behold when I weighed myself on Friday morning I had put on a pound. However despite putting on a pound, I have still been reaping the rewards of a very healthy diet. I am still feeling very much ‘bright-eyed and bushy-tailed’ and continue to sleep incredibly well. My stomach is also flatter than it’s been in years!
Friday’s breakfast was a re-run of Wednesday’s, with Greek Yogurt, fresh fruit, cacao nibs, walnuts and coconut flakes. Totally delicious and easily kept me going until lunch. I actually should have had the Sirtfood Smoothie, but I decided the yogurt and fruit option would be much nicer – and it was!
For lunch I decided to have the Sirtfood Super Salad, instead of the Waldorf Salad on the plan. I am enjoying the fact you can mix and match and swap in different things, depending on what you fancy. This time I chose to have some leftover feta cheese instead of chicken in my salad. Although not an ‘official’ option, I had some left over from Wednesday’s pittas and I knew it would go brilliantly with the other ingredients, particularly the rocket, avocado and walnuts – and it did! I will definitely be having this version instead. I actually preferred it to the chicken option.
I did try to keep the diary as free as possible for the 3 weeks of the Sirtfood Diet, but it was impossible to find 3 weeks with absolutely nothing planned and we had had this Friday ear marked as a ‘date night’ for months. I suppose I could have cancelled it, but my husband and I have date nights so infrequently that, well, I didn’t really want to! So we decided to go ahead and go out to a restaurant as we had originally planned.
However, this did give me a bit of a problem, Sirtfood-wise. There are absolutely no instructions for what to do at a restaurant in the book. Obviously I couldn’t ring up the restaurant and ask them to make Buckwheat Pasta with Smoked Salmon , Chilli and Rocket, as per the plan! I decided to just go for small portions and only one glass of wine. We went to a lovely Thai restaurant – which was great as I knew I would get at least a few Sirtfoods, such as chilli, shallots, nuts, herbs and spices, as well as that all important glass of red wine. I also had a coffee afterwards rather than pudding. And I can tell you, after 12 days of abstinence, that glass of red wine tasted very good indeed!
Day 13 Saturday
As I was going on a 10k run on Saturday morning, I knew I needed something substantial for breakfast – and I most definitely did not have time to make pancakes, as per the plan. I have been looking at my buckwheat flakes and wondering if they might make a good porridge all week, so decided Saturday would be a good day to give it a go. I cooked up a mixture of buckwheat flakes, flavoured with cacao (unrefined cocoa, not a typo!), dates and coconut. And topped it with a mixture of walnuts and berries. Not a bad breakfast option, if I may say so and perfect for my run. I felt like I had rocket fuel inside me! And shaved 5 minutes off my previous PB!!
Lunch was supposed to be Tofu and Shitake Mushroom soup, which sounded nice to me, but I couldn’t imagine anyone else in my family would be particularly happy with it, so I swapped in another recipe from The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book* of Grilled Sausages with Herby Scrambled eggs. I slightly adapted the recipe by adding in some turmeric and chilli to the scrambled eggs to make them extra Sirtfoodie!! My kids were not convinced and refused to try the eggs, instead plumping for toast and baked beans to go with their sausages. My husband had all of the above!
Day 14 Sunday
I had a bit more time on Sunday morning so decided to make the Sirtfood Pancakes, which should have been Saturday’s breakfast. These delicious pancakes were made with buckwheat flour, rather than wheat flour, and served with a delicious dark chocolate sauce, strawberries and walnuts. They were unbelievably good and quite obviously the kids thought all their Christmases had come at once. My only complaint would be that the recipe called for 1 tablespoon of double cream and there were no other recipes that called for double cream in the next few days, meaning the cream would have been wasted…if it hadn’t been for the fact my kids and husband promised to help me polish it off!
For Sunday lunch we all had the pittas again, with more feta, and this time, lemon and coriander houmous – also delicious and the kids really enjoyed choosing what to put in their pittas. Then for dinner we had the pizzas that we should have had on Saturday evening. Like with the pancakes, the pizzas were made using buckwheat flour. The tomato sauce has red onion in it too for added Sirtfood goodness. There are several ideas for toppings but I went for goats cheese, rocket and chilli…for me and me and my husband… I let the kids choose what they wanted to have and they plumped for cheddar cheese, mushrooms, peppers and oregano. But we all had fun making and eating the pizzas and it was a lovely thing to do as a family on a Sunday afternoon. And a lovely end to week 2 of the Sirtfood Diet.
Sirtfood Diet Week 2: Reflections and Suggestions
A diet for foodies
Week 1 was quite nice, but in Week 2 the recipes got significantly better: highlights have included, that amazing Sirtfood Chilli, the wonderful potato salad, those chocolate covered pancakes and the wonderful Sirtfood pizzas! – and I’ve been looking ahead to what I plan to cook next week, mostly from The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book* and the recipes are even better. With the possible exception of Week 1, this is definitely a diet for foodies!
Week 1
I have been musing over week 1 and how it went. There is no denying it was a bit of an extreme week, though less tough than I had anticipated. I think if you are really keen to lose a lot of weight fast, it is worth doing, but if you are just after a generally more healthy diet and aren’t too fussed about losing lots of weight then it’s probably not necessary. I would miss it out and go straight into week 2, which is much more fun! And even if you don’t want to follow the diet as such, I would hugely recommend buying The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book* and just doing a few of the (delicious) recipes, or making a couple of swaps/adaptations to your normal meals, like adding red wine and cocoa to your next chilli con carne, sprinkling everything with parsley and turmeric and eating a few more strawberries and walnuts!
Why the Sirtfood diet works
I have also been musing over why the Sirtfood Diet works. Obviously there is the recent discovery of the ‘skinny gene’ and the way certain ‘sirtfoods’ may be able to switch this on, but I think even apart from that, this would be a good diet. It focuses on generally sensible portion sizes (they have been much more sensible this week), hardly any snacking, mainly zero calorie drinks, very little alcohol, no puddings and foods which are packed with nutrients. There is virtually no sugar or refined white carbs, protein is generally lean or vegetable based and the fats are healthy ones like extra virgin olive oil, oily fish, avocados and nuts. Many of the foods encouraged by this diet are those considered ‘superfoods’ such as chilli, kale, buckwheat and green tea. Even if Sirtfoods aren’t as magic as the book makes out, this still seems a pretty sensible diet to me.
Health benefits
I haven’t actually lost any weight this week. In fact I put a pound on, which is a bit sad – but hardly surprising since this week featured a trip to a restaurant and a dinner party! But I have continued to experience all the other benefits of the Sirtfood Diet that I experienced in the first week – more so in fact now I am eating properly. I am feeling super perky, alert and very positive. I am also still sleeping like the proverbial baby. But then I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since I am feeding my body lots of very healthy foods, full of vitamins and minerals and not eating any junk/processed food /refined carbs or sugar. I think perhaps there is a lot to be said for the old adage: you are what you eat!
Portion sizes
One of my gripes last week was the portion sizes seemed massive. I haven’t found that at all this week. I mean they have been nicely big, in a non diety kind of way, but I’ve always been able to eat them and generally left the table feeling ‘almost full’ as you are supposed to rather than hungry or stuffed! Some of the meals have been so nice I have wished I was allowed to have more, mind! But I have tried very hard to stick to the recommended portion sizes and have mostly managed!
Variety and leftovers
Last week I got thoroughly fed up of kale, celery and buckwheat in week 1. This week was so much better – so much more variety!
Restaurants and parties
I really tried to pick a 3 week period to do this diet where there were going to be relatively few social occasions, but my life is so busy, there was never going to be a 3 week period where nothing happened! One difficulty with this diet is it doesn’t give you much help with how to handle restaurants and dinner parties. It’s a diet with a meal plan which says ‘eat this on this day’. But it doesn’t tell you what to do if that is impossible. I can’t ask a restaurant or a friend to make what it says in the book… Or even ask that they incorporate plenty of Sirtfoods into their menus! If the authors are planning a third book, some help and guidance on this would be extremely useful!
Looking ahead to Week 3…
Week 3 is really more of the same. In fact in the first book ‘The Sirtfood Diet’ it is exactly the same: the plan for weeks 2 and 3 are identical. Well, I figured that would make for a pretty dull blog post next week if I just did exactly the same as this week!
So instead I am going to use the next week to explore all the other options available in the second book: The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book*. I have been reading ahead and I am so excited by some the recipes – I’m looking forward to trying the Sirtfood Burger, Beef Bourguignon, Fajitas, Burritos and Coq au Vin as well as a few family favourites like Chicken Korma and Spaghetti Bolognese – all with a little Sirtfood twist! My only problem is, there may not be enough days in Week 3 to try them all out!
Want to know how I got on? Check out my Week 3 Report.
So, how about you? Have you ever tried the Sirtfood Diet? How did you get on? Were your experiences similar to mine?
Or are you considering trying the Sirtfood Diet? Do you have any questions about the diet? If so do ask them in the comments below and I will do my very best to answer them. ?
More Reports from the Sirtfood Diet
What is the Sirtfood Diet and does it really work? Part 1
What is the Sirtfood Diet and does it really work? Part 2
More Recipes from the Sirtfood Diet
Sirtfood Diet Green Juice Salad (Vegan)
King Prawn Stirfry with Buckwheat Noodles
Kale and Red Onion Dhal with Buckwheat (Vegan)
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Charlotte Oates says
Some of the dishes look delicious, I’m very tempted to give that muesli and those pancakes a go sometime.
I think the issues you’ve highlighted in this post are the reasons I struggle with a very restrictive diet for more than a few days – being able to use up what you’ve brought and eating out are do tricky (especially if someone else is cooking). It’s great to hear how well you’re feeling on it though.
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Charlotte 🙂 The food is absolutely delicious and so long as I am at home, cooking for myself, it’s not at all difficult. But out is a whole different matter. This diet has really highlighted for me how differently I eat when I am out. I was really ‘good’ on Friday and Saturday and I still ate a ridiculous number of calories (not that this diet is about calories, per se, but obviously that does matter!). It was easier to do in the restaurant when I was in charge of what I ordered, plus it was a restaurant that I knew did small portions, but Saturday night was another matter. Put me in front of a table laden with delicious food and my willpower just melts! How on earth I managed to resist that cheese board is a total mystery to me…normally I would happily eat my own body weight in cheese!! Eb x
Alison says
Not heard of this diet, will have to look for it. Some of those recipes look lovely, I love the look of that Tuscan bean stew. Its good to hear you are feeling good on it, some diets make you feel run down
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Alison! I’ve loads more information on The Sirtfood Diet on my blog – check out this post for a summary of the diet: https://www.easypeasyfoodie.com/what-is-sirtfood-diet-does-it-really-work/ The Tuscan Bean Stew is amazing. So quick, simple and healthy. Love meals like that!! No this is definitely not a diet to make you feel run down. Even in the first week, where calories were very restricted, I felt good most of the time and this week I’ve just felt amazing! But hardly surprising really given all that goodness going in!! Eb x
Rebecca | AAUBlog says
wow this looks like my kind of diet. the food looks so lovely and full of colour – I’ll have to look into this diet #tastytuesdays
Eb Gargano says
Thanks for your kind comments Rebecca. The food is so lovely, it really doesn’t feel like a diet! And I love how much goodness I am putting into my body! And my body loves me back for it. I am feeling so good!! 🙂 Eb x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
Your buckwheat flake porridge sounds absolutely inspired Eb, especially as you improved your PB by 5 whole minutes. And a 10K run! Wow! You really are packed full of energy! I think we may be seeing you on the starting line in Rio challenging Mo at this rate! 😉 It’s such an interesting diet, which you’re reaping the rewards from – but as you say the ‘plan’ certainly does seem wasteful when you only need a small amount of cream in theose fabulous pancakes (I’m not surprised your children thought all their christmases had come at once) which wastes the rest of the carton (and same with the pitas).
Off now to read your post all about buckwheat.
Angela x
Eb Gargano says
To be fair I’m just a beginner runner so improving my PB by a decent amount is probably to be expected as my fitness levels increase, but still I would like to maintain the porridge helped a lot!! Rocket fuel that stuff I tell you!! Haha – I don’t think Mo has anything to worry about!! Now, imagine if Mo had some chocolate buckwheat porridge…Yes, the plan is good and the rewards are fab but the food waste frustrates me. I mean I’m savvy enough to ensure that doesn’t happen, but it would have been nice if this had been built into the plan…after all if you are following a strict plan you can’t just finish off the leftovers and having half a pot of cream in the fridge is not great for resolve!! Thanks for you lovely kind comments. Eb x
Mandy says
So interesting reading how you got on in week 2. I think I’d be really disappointed not to lose any more weight and you’ve done a great job of looking for other positives! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare
Eb Gargano says
Haha, well I was a little bit disappointed, but I wasn’t especially surprised after having been out for dinner twice last week. I tried to be good but it’s really hard when you are out. I find it much easier at home. Actually it wasn’t hard to look for other positives, though. I am feeling so happy and bright and positive on this diet and although I’ve only lost 6lb (I have now lost that errant pound again!), my body shape is definitely better – my stomach is MUCH flatter and there are definitely less squidgy bits!! I do also keep reminding myself that you are supposed to be putting on muscle as well as losing weight in this diet – it’s one of its special features – so actually I could have lost loads more in fat, but gained a few pounds in muscle – and, looking at my body shape now, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that were true. Thanks for your lovely comment! Eb x
Petra says
I haven’t heard of Sirtfood diet before but I don’t think it’s for me. It seems that it includes lots of meat which I don’t eat. It seems you have had some great great healthy meals though. I think as with every diet the portion control is key. I eat really healthy most of the time but sometimes I know my portions are too big and that’s probably what stops me from losing some weight but I know what it works for me – reducing carbs, increasing protein and exercising more and at the same time reducing portions of course.
Eb Gargano says
It doesn’t have to include meat, that’s just the way I’ve done it. The authors have actually really thought carefully about vegans and vegetarians and there is a different vegan (and therefore veggie) option every day – you can just choose if you want to go for the meat/fish or the vegan/veggie option each day. I have mixed and matched between the two as that is the way I like to eat normally and I can vouch for all the veggie options I’ve eaten as being wonderful – as well as often being quicker and easier than the meat/fish options (not to mention cheaper!) I totally agree with you about portion control. One of the great things about this diet is it has forced me to be a bit more controlled about my portions! I do tend to eat too much naturally and I have found this diet helpful for giving me very specific quantities that I have followed carefully – I have also avoided snacking which I’m sure has made a big difference. That and having no calories in my drinks – apart from my 3 glasses of red quota I am allowed each week!! I still find it amazing just quite how many calories it is possible to consume through drinks without even realising! This was something I noticed a few years ago when I was regularly having lots of juice, hot chocolate and wine and wondering why I was putting on weight!! Now I try to drink water/tea/coffee etc. and just have juice/wine etc. occasionally. That and exercising more definitely!! Very important. Thanks for your lovely comments 🙂 Eb x
Petra / Be Healthy Now says
It’s good to hear they thought about people who don’t eat meat as well! I need to look into this a bit more then..
I am well aware of calories in various drinks, including juices and that’s the reason why I never drink them. I only drink water and herbal teas throughout the day and I don’t add sugar to them. The only weakness for me are portion sizes and I know this is something I need to work on.
Eb Gargano says
They really have and the veggie/vegan meals I have cooked have been really delicious. Worth a go even if you don’t want to follow the diet as such. Eb x
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed says
I’ve been meaning to pop over to find out more about the Sirtfood diet after seeing your Facebook and IG feed. Your meals look so delicious Eb, well done for losing 6lbs and it’s great to hear you feel so well on it. I’ve not had buckwheat for ages, you’ve inspired me to start eating it again. x
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Sarah! I really do feel very well on it. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised – feeding my body lots of nutritious food. I’m bound to feel good! The meals are fab – I’ve been so impressed. And pretty easy to do, though I have adapted a few of them to make them even easy peasier!!! I can’t help myself! Enjoy the buckwheat!! Eb x
Michelle says
Hi. Is it crucial to eat the meals recommended, or can someone do a variation of the sirtfoods recommended? Plus, does one have to exercise? Thxs!
Eb Gargano says
Hi Michelle! My understanding is that you should stick fairly strictly to the regime in the first week, for maximum results. But thereafter you can be a bit more relaxed, so long as you make sure you are eating plenty of Sirtfoods. Personally, I stuck very closely to the diet as written for the first 7 days, but after that I mixed and matched with other meals in the SirtFood Diet Recipe Book. In terms of exercise, yes! The book recommends 30 minutes moderate exercise (such as a brisk walk), 5 days per week. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂