So, here are the details of the plan that we are going to be following for healthy bodies and healthy minds! It is a bit of a hybrid between Alternate Day Fasting and the 24 hour fasting that we were doing during the 5:2 plan.
THE RULES:
1. No Counting Calories! Well, we won’t obsess with counting calories. Although it can be useful to keep a record of what we’re eating using a site such as MyFitnessPal, by combining alternate day fasting and low Glycaemic load eating (see below) it really isn’t necessary to count them at all, but for the purposes of information I will be publishing calorie information on the blog.
2. Go HUNGRY! Fasts are conducted with zero calorie consumption. So in essence, non caloric beverages are the order of the day and the fasts will last for around 24 hours.
3. Get Active. We will gradually incorporate a program of weight training and light/moderate cardio to the plan. This will be done gradually rather than all at once.
4. Have a day off where you completely ignore rule number 1, 2 & 3.
As you can see, there are very few rules and that’s why we like it!
NUTRITION AND FASTING:
In essence the plan alternates between Feed days and Fast days, with any Feed days that fall on the weekend treated as Feasts. But what does that actually mean in practice?
Feed: A Feed day begins at 2pm (why? see ‘fast’ day section below) and all of our meals are based on consuming foods with a low GLycaemic Load. We will be moving onto a Mediterranean diet rather than the typical western diet.
The Mediterranean Diet is based on the diet of the Eastern Mediterranean and Southern Italy (although I would include North African cookery into that mix) and is characterised by an emphasis on eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, fish and lean meat (preferably white over red), legumes and wholegrain cereals, monounsaturated oils rather than saturated animal fats and moderate red wine intake with meals.
The Mediterranean diet is almost always low GL which makes it a great diet to use alongside fasting because for weight loss they are both trying to achieve the same thing. They are trying to bring down and stabilise insulin levels. This is so important when trying to lose weight because the only way that we can get our bodies to start efficiently using it’s stored fat is to give it the signal to start burning it as fuel. When you have elevated levels of Insulin we are sending the complete opposite signal to our bodies as insulin is a ‘storage’ hormone and promotes fat production.
If you would like to learn more about low GL check out books by Patrick Holford or Nigel Denby.
For those interested in calories, we will be eating maintenance calories on a Feed day, which for me (Mark) will be 2400Kcal, Louise will be eating 2000Kcal and Audrey will be 1800 Kcal. These figures were worked out using the Harris Benedict Equation and have had our activity levels factored in. More information on calculating daily calorie needs using this method can be found here.
fast: We will be consuming one meal at 2pm consisting again of low GL Mediterranean diet and this meal will be 500Kcal (during weight loss) for all three of us. The fast begins at the end of this meal and will continue until 2pm of the following Feed/Feast, resulting in a 24hr fast. Non caloric beverages are permitted during the fast.
FEAST: A FEAST day is basically whatever Feed day falls on the weekend. It works out that one week it will be a Saturday and one week it will be a Sunday. It is a day where although we will still begin eating at 2pm, all other rules are thrown out of the window. It is a day off. A day to enjoy some of the things that you might have fancied during the week but decided against having. However, let me make this clear. It is NOT a binge day. It simply means that the doughnut that we avoided is now available to us. ONE doughnut. Not a box of doughnuts! Get it? No rules, but a bit of common sense!
THE FASTING AND EXERCISE SCHEDULE:
Along with the Fasting and Nutrition plan we also have an exercise schedule. Over the first few weeks we are going to build up to including this exercise rather than suddenly do everything at once. There are basically two types of exercise, Weight Training and Light/Moderate Cardio:
Weight Training workouts will be undertaken at the end of a 24hr fast. This actually means that the workout is always done on a Feed day, just before lunch time as the 24hr fast is not broken until 2pm and the post workout meal. The workouts are full body including an Abs Workout and last for approx 45 minutes.
Light/Moderate Cardio sessions are during weekday fast days. They will either be a nice walk or if the weather isn’t very nice we’ll do approx 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer.
Due to the nature of alternate day fasting it schedule ends up being a repeated 2 weekly cycle. This is how it looks in practice:
Week1.
Monday: (Feed) Weight Training
Tuesday: (fast) Light Cardio
Wednesday: (Feed) Weight Training
Thursday: (fast) Light Cardio
Friday: (Feed) Weight Training
Saturday: (fast) Day Off!
Sunday: (FEAST) Day Off!
Week2.
Monday: (fast) Light Cardio
Tuesday: (Feed) Weight Training
Wednesday: (fast) Light Cardio
Thursday: (Feed) Weight Training
Friday: (fast) Light Cardio
Saturday: (FEAST) Day Off!
Sunday: (fast) Day Off!
I think that covers just about all of the basics, so that you have a summary of what we’re doing. We’ll be going into more depth, adding more blog posts about the exercise, nutrition, meals etc as we continue with the plan.
I hope you enjoy following us on our journey! Please come back for our weekly progress reports, including stats updates and our reflections on what is or isn’t working.
Take Care,
Mark
You can also find us at:
Twitter: @FeedFastFeast
You can also join fellow Fasters at the Facebook Group
