Thursday, January 24, 2013

Intermittent fasting!

Looks good for 80 calories!

So it is week three and my sixth day of intermittent fasting and so far so good. Intermittent fasting is basically restricting your calorie intake to 500 calories for women & 600 calories for men on two non consecutive days out of seven. My weight has dropped by 7 lbs which I am thrilled about and I am feeling great. I am by no means an expert but thought these few little tips I have picked up in the last few weeks might aid people who are considering trying out this eating plan.
  • Drink plenty of fluids, I find it easier to drink warm liquids so I constantly have a pot of green tea on the hob. 
  • Save the majority of your calories for late afternoon/early evening. This is when my hunger pangs strike and it is great to have a meal to look forward to.
  • Tins of chopped tomatoes will become your best friend. Soups, stews, chillies and lots more low calorie dinners start with a tin of tomatoes.
  • I prefer not to exercise on my fast days, normally when I am running the thought of a nice meal when I get home keeps me going!
  • Don't waste your 500/600 calorie allowance with high calorie foods, much more filling to take the time to assemble a salad or a home made soup instead of convenience meals.
I would love to hear your tips and success stories with intermittent fasting. It has amazed me that the day after a fast day I am not overly hungry and I think this is the key to success. I watched Dr Michael Mosley's Horizon programme and it was so interesting, fascinating the research behind this lifestyle change. Here is a link if you wish to watch.


Today for lunch I made a very tasty salad comprising of;

50g baby spinach leaves
50g pickled onions
10 cherry tomatoes
5 radishes
1 fresh beetroot

It was very tasty and will keep me going until later on this evening when I will use up the remaining 420 calories on my dinner. If anything these two fast days a week have succeeded in doing is making me become more aware of what 500 calories look like, frightens me to think how many actual calories I am capable of consuming on any given day.

So there is my tuppence worth on this method of dieting, thanks for reading!



9 comments:

  1. I'm starting this soon! Check out #fastdietirl!

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  2. Started 1st fast day today! Have been following your progress- thanks for sharing. Have you any recommendation for calorie counting app?

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  3. Sinead I find "my fitness pal" very good to help with the calorie counting. :-)

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  4. Really interesting, have never calorie counted before as the minute I think about doing so I seem to get hungry but might give it a go

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    1. I think the key is that you are back to normal eating the following day! Doesn't seem as drastic as other diet fads!

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  5. Hi paula, do u eat whatever u want , literally on your non fast days. Do you have recipe for really tasty low cal soup??

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    1. Sue you just eat normally but obviously don't go mad if you know what I mean! Always have a pot of soup on the go here. Tiny drop of oil to fry onion & garlic, whatever veg you want, add 1 litre of stock, simmer till veg soft then blitz.

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