Petra @newmiboYou’ve been fasting intermittently for some time but now you feel as though your weight loss has slowed down or your birthday is coming up and you want to look and feel better. I’m going to share 3 steps, which I’ve tested on myself, to help you speed up your weight loss. You can try it for 2 weeks or for maximum results give it 30 days and watch the weight drop off.
1. THE RULE OF THREE
Clean up your fast. Fast with only 3 beverages.
WATER | TEA | COFFEE
This is particularly important if you’re trying to speed up your weight loss process. Any other beverages, except the 3 mentioned above, may potentially sabotage your progress.
What exactly should you avoid and why?
Number one thing to avoid is SWEET TASTE. I wrote extensively about this here.
When you taste something sweet you are more likely than not, going to crave sweets and junk. Even if you manage to complete your daily fast, you may end up eating junk or crave sweets in your eating window. Observe this in your environment; people who regularly drink diet drinks also tend to eat a lot of sweet stuff and processed foods. People who don’t drink sweetened drinks tend to follow up with a healthier diet.
What falls into the SWEET TASTE category and must be avoided:
artifically sweetened drinks; diet/zero soda, artificially flavoured /sweetened /zero water, sugar free mints, sugar free gum (best to avoid), sugar free/skinny syrups.
You will also have to avoid natural sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit.
Remember, what we’re trying to eliminate is the sweet taste whether natural or artificial. You may find it difficult to start with but as the time goes on you are going to love the results.
Another innocent looking item which we are going to avoid is MILK.
Dairy contains calories, natural sugars/lactose and protein. This can trigger the release of insulin and thus sabotage your fast. If you want maximum results you can not have anything that can potentially sabotage your efforts.
Coffee drinkers, learn to drink your coffee black. Black coffee helps with appetite suppression like nothing else. In fact, this study concluded that
decaffeinated coffee can acutely decrease hunger and increase the satiety hormone PYY.“
What else to avoid in your fasting window:
lemon juice, fruit teas, fruit infusions, vitamins, supplements, collagen,
Feel free to consume any of these items in your eating window if you wish.
STEP 1 SUMMARY : FASTING WINDOW
FAST CLEAN
THE RULE OF THREE: WATER | TEA | COFFEE (also decaf)
AVOID EVERYTHING ELSE :
sweet taste, flavours, milk, lemon juice, vitamins, supplements, fruit teas and infusions, fat, protein, carbohydrates, calories, chewing gum, You are welcome to have any of these in your eating window.
Next step is to look at the EATING WINDOW. It isn’t what you think.
2. EAT THE SAME MEAL
Firstly, I can see how unorthodox this may sound, when we’re constantly told to eat a variety of foods, but hear me out. More variety naturally leads to more food consumption.
On the other hand, eating the same meal leads to psychological habituation aka boredom which means you will naturally end up eating less. Your taste buds won’t be dictating how much or what to eat instead your true hunger will take charge. You will start eating to satisfaction and by week two you will find it difficult to overeat.
Imagine, if there only ever existed one flavour of ice cream. After a while you would be bored of it and would skip it easily. The problem is that there are countless new flavours and combinations coming at us daily so you always desire something new.
Talking of ice cream, you may include ice cream as part of your meal but it will have to be the same flavour each day. Ideally, you will have selected a healthy meal containing some veg, protein and fats. The choice is entirely up to you, select a meal you can eat and afford daily.
You can be a little extreme, you are only going to do it for a few days. One such extreme example is this man who lost 20 pounds eating the same meal (bacon) every day for 30 days.
Advantages of eating the same meal:
you will save money
you will not be preoccupied with food
you can’t mess it up
you can buy in bulk and save money and time
you can prepare in bulk
you will eliminate the stress of “dieting” and what to eat
you will naturally decrease your portion size
you can eat your favourite food
you WILL lose weight
you do not need to count calories
Expect to eat more the first week which is perfectly normal, eat as much as you need to, the second week you will have naturally reduced your food intake as the desire for the same meal will lessen.
Beware: You do not want to do this long term as to not risk nutritional deficiencies. This should only be used as a reset or short term challenge.
STEP 2 SUMMARY : EATING WINDOW
Eat the same meal/foods every day
Ideally avoid sugary foods and junk
For maximum weight loss keep it low carb (not necessary)
3. EXTENDED FASTING
Challenge yourself to an extended fast of 24 hours and beyond once a week. Take a look at Dr Fung’s extended fasting regimen if you haven’t done one before. Extended fasting is a great way to increase caloric deficit and to extend the amount of time you keep your blood sugar low hence burn fat stores for fuel.
The length of this fast depends on your fasting experience and your current intermittent fasting method.
Example:
If you’re currently fasting 16 hours daily, challenge yourself to a 24 hour fast once a week.
If you’re already fasting 20-24 hours, try 32-36 hours once a week.
Another variation would be increasing your extended fast progressively by a couple of hours each week. Do it preferably on the same day each week so that it becomes a routine and when the day comes you will do it automatically.
Example:
WEEK 1 on Monday you will start a 24 hr fast; after lunch or dinner until lunch/dinner time on Tuesday
WEEK 2 on Monday you will start a 26 hour fast by having an earlier lunch/dinner
WEEK 3 on Monday you will try a 36 hour fast
WEEK 4 on Monday extend your fast to 38 or even 48 hours
The combination of having already planned your meal as mentioned above, clean fasting and extended fasting will take your weight loss to another level. It is impossible not to. You can add salt and unflavoured unsweetened electrolytes to the rule of three when doing extended fasting.
You should see results within 2 weeks but more noticeably in week 3 and 4.
STEP 3 SUMMARY:
include extended fast once a week
same day each week
same length each week or extend the length gradually
follow step 1 with the addition of salt or electrolytes
These are tips based on my own experience and research for motivation only, please use your own judgement and do what feels right for you. Best wishes xox
