FIT YOU AND YOUR LIFE TO FASTING
FOOD PERSONALITIES
Let’s start by talking about your food personality. Yes, you have one! Pop psychology will come up with an alarming array of traits that are determined by how you interact with your knife and fork. Here are a couple of examples:
Slow eater? “You will prioritize your own needs first.”
Enjoy trying new foods? “Open-minded and will embrace change.”
Let’s put aside a sweeping character profile for now and focus on the big picture. We’re all unique in how we relate to food, and it makes perfect sense that a fasting approach that suits one person won’t suit another. For example, in my close circle of family and friends I find every conceivable food personality type:
•Man-child – the type of bloke who never grows up and is deeply suspicious of anything new. Still insists on cartoon character cereal and thinks nobody can match his Mum’s Sunday roast (like, never).
•The grab-and-go type – thinks life’s too short for proper meals and prefers, quite literally, to eat on the run, usually propped up by caffeine or sugary snacks at regular intervals.
•The Monday dieter – we’ve all been there – a few drinks after work at the end of a tough week and it’s goodbye to good intentions.
•The free spirit – can consume anything and everything without putting on weight. Funnily enough, these types are usually slim as they don’t tend to eat when they’re bored or upset but simply when they’re hungry.
•Food hypochondriac – trawls the Internet for symptom checkers in her lunch hour and is convinced she has an intolerance to most major food groups, despite being told by her doctor and nutritionist that everything is just fine.
•Husband – burns off all he consumes, even pastries, pies and beer at the rugby. Maddeningly healthy. It’s not fair!
OK, I’m poking a little bit of fun but I bet my predicament about how to keep everyone’s belly happy is similar to yours or will reflect some aspect of your upbringing.
Rather than adopt the usual “one size fits all” approach, try overlaying your personality traits with your current life circumstances to give you a more personal take on choosing which Eat, Fast, Slim method will suit you best.
Take a moment to write down everything you ate yesterday. How many times did you eat because your body was giving you signals that you were hungry (a rumbling tummy, for example)? What else prompted you to eat?
For example:
•“I always eat at that time.”
•“I didn’t want it to go to waste.”
•“I couldn’t resist.”
Let’s assume that you’re motivated to give fasting a try. The next step is to find a fasting approach that will work best for you and your life. Think about it like speed dating. If the approach you choose is a bit dull, slow and doesn’t quite hit the spot, say, “Thanks for the time, but no thanks” and move on!
First, let’s summarize some of the main things to bear in mind:
•Men and women respond a little differently.
•Different personalities respond differently.
•Juice fasting will be best if your goal is to help heal a health condition.
•Lifestyle intermittent fasting will suit if your goal is a buff and toned body.
•If your goal is to have an overall “time-out”, a retreat-based juice fast will probably suit you best.
To keep matters as simple as possible, I classify all fasting methods as either lifestyle fasts or juice fasts. Remember that whichever fasting method ends up suiting you best, it’s important to follow the advice in the “Nutritional Rules for Fasting” chapter. When you eat, you must eat well. This means no cutting out of major food groups and no heavily processed foods. If you can’t pronounce what it says on the label, the chances are you shouldn’t be eating it.
LIFESTYLE FASTS
Lifestyle fasts are designed to be incorporated into a long-term eating pattern and have been popularized by bodybuilders and “ultra” athletes who’ve been switched on to fasting for years because it’s incredibly good at fighting fat. Lifestyle fasts are also popular among celebrities or the uber health-conscious in search of the body beautiful.
Intermittent fasting is a popular type of lifestyle fasting and usually means leaving a long gap between one meal and the next at least once a week. With some plans you skip a couple of meals randomly once or twice a week, or there again you might eat only during a four- to eight-hour window every day, fasting the rest of the time.
There are many variations on this intermittent fasting theme. At the time of writing, many people are talking about the 5/2 fast, where you dramatically restrict your calories just two days a week. During those two days you’ll eat around 500 calories. Another method uses the same framework but increases the fasting day frequency to every other day.
And for years fitness buffs have used another method, known as 16/8 intermittent fasting, to help them achieve a lean and toned body. It’s really straightforward… All you have to do is skip a meal – breakfast or dinner – and ensure that what you eat most of the time is healthy.
In most cases, it will take a while to find a pattern that suits you best. The plan on page 179 shows you an example of how to structure a week of intermittent fasting using the 16/8 method and on page 180 you’ll find a plan for the 5/2 method. In both cases you can follow it exactly or adopt a variation that suits your lifestyle – after all, the point is to integrate fasting into your life, not to let fasting rule your life!
Fasting every other day (often referred to as alternate-day fasting), is a pretty tough call – 500–600 calories does not amount to much food, and it can be difficult to reach your nutritional needs on this. In fact, I’d only suggest this method if someone had to lose a lot of weight very quickly for medical reasons. From a nutritional point of view, it would require some supplement support.
For fasting purists, there is also water fasting, usually for a full 24 hours once a week. On this kind of fast you eat nothing but remain hydrated by sipping water throughout the day. However, this isn’t easy and, in my personal opinion, not to be recommended. For this reason it’s not one of my fasting protocols.
It’s not all about hard work though. There’s a trend among lifestyle-fasting devotees to have a “cheat day” once a week. By all means, if you’d like to relax a bit at the weekend or have the occasional day off, this will do you no harm and may even make fasting easier to stick to. But be warned – it’s easy to undo all your hard work if you allow yourself to overdo it or eat all the wrong things. Stick to the nutrition rules as closely as you can most of the time.
If you’re exercising, the generally accepted recommendation for men is that the main meal of the day is immediately after your workout, as this seems to be best for gaining muscle mass and burning fat. For women there’s some evidence to suggest that training after a meal is more beneficial.
To discover whether lifestyle fasting will suit you, tick all the statements below that you agree with:
•My main aim is to get rid of my muffin top/bingo wings/moobs/beer belly.
•I’d like to build muscle or look more “toned”.
•I’ve tried lots of weight-loss plans but always fall off the wagon.
•I’m looking for a straightforward eating plan that I can stick to long term.
•I feel comfortable with the idea of skipping meals.
If you counted three or more ticks, there’s a good chance that lifestyle fasting will suit you. If not, move on to the section on juice fasts (see page 112).
If you think lifestyle fasting is for you, use the next set of questions to help you decide on the frequency and length of the gaps between your meals:
1When do you tend to feel most hungry?
a)In the morning.
b)In the afternoon or evening.
c)My appetite varies from day to day.
2How big are your meals?
a)I tend to eat a substantial lunch and dinner.
b)I like a big breakfast, then tend to eat smaller meals later on.
c)I’m more of a grazer, and rarely eat large meals.
3What’s a typical lunchtime like for you?
a)I often have an early lunch because I’ve skipped breakfast.
b)I have time to make lunch my main meal of the day.
c)I rarely have time for a proper lunch.
4What’s a typical evening like for you?
a)I eat dinner with my family or partner.
b)I grab something “on the run” and rarely eat at the table.
c)There’s no such thing as typical, but I tend to eat out at least once a week.
If you answered mostly:
a)Try the 16/8 Lifestyle Fast, skipping breakfast daily. With this plan you eat during an eight-hour “window” every day. Most people find that having an early lunch around 12pm works well. This means that you can have your dinner between 7pm and 8pm.
b)Try the 16/8 Lifestyle Fast, skipping dinner. The sample plan (see page 179) is based on lunch, dinner and a substantial afternoon snack. However, choosing to skip your evening meal instead of breakfast is also fine and may suit your lifestyle better. If this is the case, in order to make sure that you are eating enough overall and that your meals are balanced, I suggest that you use a dinner recipe at lunchtime, and have an extra snack in the afternoon just before you begin your fast. Time your eight-hour eating “window” from whenever you have breakfast. So if, for example, you have breakfast at 8am, your last meal of the day should be before 4pm. It’s up to you whether you choose to have an early lunch and a substantial afternoon snack, or have a substantial snack mid-morning and save your lunch until 3pm. You may need to experiment to work out what works best for you. And remember, it’s never a good idea to drink alcohol on an empty stomach, so choose another pattern if you ever drink alcohol in the evening.
c)Try the 5/2 Lifestyle Fast. With this pattern, you eat “normally” five days a week – in the sample plan (see page 180) there are three meals and two snacks, but feel free to pick the number of meals that suits you best. On the other two days, you’re restricted to two very small meals, adding up to a total of 500– 600 calories. This works well if your lifestyle is more erratic – you just need to make sure that your “fast” days are separated by at least one day.
You can effectively carry on with any of these fasting patterns for as long as you like. You can follow them for several weeks or months to help you reach a goal weight, or continue with them long term, based on whatever feels right for you and your body. But stop if you have health issues, are underweight, are actively trying to conceive or are pregnant. Women may want to take a break from lifestyle fasting schedule the week before their period begins as it can be harder to stick to at this time.
You’ll find sample fasting plans and a wide selection of recipes in the final part of the book (see pages 176–285).
Juice fasting comes from the tradition of the healing arts, such as naturopathy, nutritional medicine and cleansing. Fat loss is considered more of a welcome side-effect to the dynamic and often dramatic improvements to troublesome health conditions. A typical juice fast day consists of five juices and a broth, spread evenly throughout the day.
Aside from what passes your lips, the main practical difference between a juice fast and intermittent fasting is the length of time you do them for – juice fasts are short term only. However, there are other differences too. The perfect conditions in which to undertake a juice fast involve plenty of rest and relaxation in order to create the right internal environment for self-healing. During a juice detox your body is working hard to heal and rejuvenate and so the maxim “less is more” applies here – if you can, ditch the spinning class in favour of a spa treatment.
Ideally, follow a juice fast for between one and five days. The first two days are generally the hardest but it’s worth persevering for at least three days to get the best result. After many years of working with juice fasting, I’ve come to the conclusion that the optimum period on this type of fast is generally just short of five days. Any longer requires more management and should only be considered when there are adequate reserves (body fat) or if there’s a specific medical condition – although losing the typical 2.25kg (5lb) safely in less than a week by doing a juice fast can feel fantastic!
For many people, weekend-long juice fasts every three months are a popular addition to an annual five-day juice-fast. This means that the next boost is never more than a season away and you have a regular time to focus on you and your body. A typical juice-fast day consists of five juices and a broth, spread evenly throughout the day.
There are some contra-indications to juice fasting for certain medical conditions so make sure you read the “Fasting Safely” chapter before getting started.
ARE YOU A JUICE FASTER?
To see if juice fasting is for you, tick all the statements below that you agree with:
•My main aim is to improve the symptoms of a health condition.
•I’m concerned about the effects of ageing on my health.
•I’d find it very difficult to skip meals regularly.
•I can set aside between one and five days to dedicate to juicing and relaxation.
•I’m looking for a “kick start” to weight loss and I’d like to see a quick result.
If you count three or more ticks, there’s a good chance that a short-term juice fast will suit you. You’ll find a Juice Fast plan on page 182) and a wide selection of recipes on pages 276–85).
SUPPORTING A JUICE FAST
Many juice-fasting programmes take place in a spa environment with saunas, relaxing massage and activities such as yoga built into the day. Granted, this can be hard to emulate at home. I’ve attempted many an ill-thought-through juice fast at home, only to be thwarted by a toddler knocking over my hard-earned (and time-consuming) juice, or worse, finding that my day’s quota of juices has been raided by a thirsty teenage son and his mates after school. (In the end, he was assigned his own fridge!)
So, if you can create a bubble in which to enjoy some “me time” during a juice fast, all the better. Book up a massage, visit the sauna or steam room at the local gym and generally prioritize your well-being in the broadest sense. (If all else fails, join me on one of my juice fasting retreats!)
It’s important to think ahead before you begin your first juice fast in order to get the most out of the experience by minimizing negative side-effects. This means getting your nutrition basics right before you begin. The simplest way to do this is to first follow my Countdown Plan (see page 178) for at least three days, to make sure that you’re abiding by the rules in the “Nutritional Rules for Fasting” chapter.
There’s one area of supporting a juice fast that requires a different kind of intervention. During a juice fast you don’t take in bulk (bulk usually helps to move the indigestible food residue and the body’s own wastes toward the exit), but you may wish to support the process of bowel elimination in a different way by colon cleansing (see pages 83–4).
FASTING AND THE “REAL WORLD”
What I love about fasting compared to pretty much any other diet is its simplicity. It’s much easier to stick to something that is more about watching the clock than counting every calorie. It’s a healthy, simple answer in an industry that has become tricky, over-complicated and sometimes just downright ridiculous (more on that in a minute). The fact of the matter is if a weight-loss claim sounds too good to be true, it probably is. No fad diet is practical in terms of everyday life and is therefore highly unlikely to be sustainable in the long term. That’s why the nutritional rules and fasting plans that you’ll find in this book are firmly rooted in sound healthy eating principles.
THE FASTER’S FRIENDS AND FOES
Fasting is inherently easy to follow but – no matter which fasting plan you choose – you still need to guard against things in life that can trip you up, distract you from your goal and spiral you into self-sabotage. I call them the “faster’s foes” and, needless to say, those old vices of greed and temptation figure large.
The people you spend your time with, how well you sleep and the food you choose to eat play a huge part in how easily you fit fasting into your life. The so-called “faster’s friends” are the people, habits and things that you can always draw on for support, so make sure you read “The Fasting State of Mind” chapter so that you are mentally prepared.
Most important of all is what you choose to eat outside your fasting hours. The advice in the “Nutritional Rules for Fasting” chapter is essential reading, and the Fasting Plans (see pages 178–82) will help make sensible eating easier for you.
Last but not least, there’s the silly stuff you really don’t need…
GIMMICKS ON TRIAL
While you’re trying to find your way in fasting, you may come across a lot of weird and wonderful advice. In fact, we have a board on the wall in the office where my rather acerbic team gather some of the stranger admonitions and homilies from around the world of diet fads and brands. If you’re reading this book in order to lose weight, I’m pretty sure it won’t be the first book you’ve ever read on the subject (and perhaps you’ve already encountered some of the strange diets out there that could put your health – and your sanity – at risk). Below are some fun snippets that illustrate just what nonsense is out there.
“If you can find rabbit, it is an excellent source of pure protein. But do not add mustard sauce on Thursdays.”
The Dukan Diet by Dr Pierre Dukan (Hodder & Stoughton, 2010, p.143)
“You eat nine specially-formulated cookies (just 60 calories each) throughout the day to keep hunger away.”
The Cookie Diet (www.cookiediet.com)
“Eat absolutely no fruit, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables or dairy products other than cheese, cream or butter. […] Eat nothing that is not on the acceptable foods list.” [The acceptable foods list includes such delights as pheasant, veal and flounder!]
Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins, MD (Ebury Press, 1992, p.123)
“The combination of no breakfast, a cold bath and a caffeine boost is powerful. […] If you hate black coffee, use caffeine pills.” Six Weeks to OMG by Venice A. Fulton (Michael Joseph, 2012, pp.64–5)
Cold baths are harmless but a bit daft in daily life. I’ve used cold baths in the past for post-marathon training soaks (so-called “nature’s anti-inflammatory”) and in that context they may have a place. However, depending on them to boost your weight loss isn’t a sensible strategy. Any extra calories burned when your body raises its core temperature will most likely be used up by the splash of milk you put in your hot tea or coffee to warm up again. In other words, in terms of calorie burn, sitting in a cold bath has a negligible effect. If you want to invigorate yourself in the morning in a more pleasant way, simply have a blast of cold after a warm shower. It’s certainly good for circulation and some people even claim that it gives hair an extra shine.
Now, I love a cup of java as much as the next person but using excessive amounts of caffeine to increase calorie burn alongside fasting isn’t likely to help either. As anyone who has lived through a student “all-nighter” essay deadline knows, caffeine is great at boosting mental alertness and abating drowsiness due to its effect on the central nervous system. However, pull this trick too often and caffeine becomes the enemy of a sound night’s sleep. Inadequate sleep, which all of us experience from time to time, makes good intentions so easily slip away in favour of a quick-fix carb.
Therefore, the rule is that a little caffeine is fine but a lot isn’t. It’s also addictive (come off it for a day and feel those headaches), so keep your coffee quota to no more than two small cups a day – no super-sized lattes! You could even try switching to the infinitely more healthy green tea –although it contains some caffeine it also has high levels of polyphenols, which have anti-cancer properties.