Intermittent fasting, or fasting, is a diet that consists of more or less prolonged periods of fasting alternating with periods of eating.
This alternation between fasting and eating can have many health and circuit benefits: regulating satiety, reducing fat stores, cleansing the body…
However, intermittent fasting must be adjusted and well supervised to avoid any dangers. We use an example fasting menu developed by our nutritionist to explain the real advantages of intermittent fasting and how to practice it well.
Intermittent fasting: what is it for?
Intermittent fasting, or fasting in English, is a diet that consists of alternating between periods of more or less prolonged periods of fasting and eating. Intermittent fasting is more flexible, more accessible, and allows you to enjoy the same health benefits than strict fasting, where no food is allowed.
Here are the main health benefits of intermittent fasting:
Reduce insulin production and body fat and sugar storage;
Stimulate fat destocking;
greater control over how food feels;
Stimulate the secretion of growth hormone;
Improve physical and mental performance and reduce recovery time;
promote cell regeneration;
Allows cleansing of the body and stimulates the body’s autophagy or self-cleaning function by its own cells;
Reduce cell oxidation and premature cell aging;
Prevention of overweight and certain associated conditions: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc.
Fasting Menu – Special Intermittent Fasting 16/8
To help you plan your day’s menu in practice, here’s an example of a special fasting plan or 16/8 interval diet. Fasting is the best known and most common method of intermittent fasting. This approach involves alternating 8-hour food intake periods with 16-hour fasting periods.
Here, the last meal of the day is eaten before 8pm and the first meal of the day is at noon the next day.
Lunch (12 noon)
Dim Sum (4pm)
Dinner (before 8pm)
Vegetable Salad with Walnut Oil
150 to 200 grams meat, or a substitute
200 g green vegetables
200 g cooked whole starch
30g cheese
Seasonal fruit
tea or infusion
honey yogurt
handful of oil seeds
40g muesli with red fruit
250g vegetable broth
150g white fish or salmon, cheese and olive oil sauce
200g cooked starch
Homemade Fruit Platter
2 dark chocolate bars
To better suit your habits, you can move dinner later, which in turn moves lunch later. It is important to keep alternating 16-hour fasting periods with 8-hour eating periods.
Successful Intermittent Eating: Mistakes to Avoid
Fasting to lose weight is not as simple as it seems. Some very common mistakes can ruin all your efforts and make intermittent fasting counterproductive.
not drinking enough water
Eliminating metabolic waste and toxins requires adequate hydration. This hydration must be even more important during intermittent fasting so the body can support the fasting period and continue to function optimally.
Thirst is usually less important when fasting. Therefore, it is imperative to be mindful of this and drink at least 2 liters of water per day, allocating the intake for the day.
eat twice the amount during a meal
When fasting, it can be difficult to maintain a balanced diet between meals. It can be really tempting to hop on food, eat more and switch to happy foods. But this is a big mistake.
To reap the health benefits of fasting, the quality of your diet during the eating period is as important as the fasting period itself. Therefore, it is necessary to favor meals rich in plants, whole grains, lean protein and essential fatty acids.
Setting goals that are too difficult to achieve
Fasting is a complex sport. To avoid mistakes, it is recommended to proceed step by step and listen to your body first. If you’re fasting for the first time, try setting your goals in stages.
Start with earlier meal times in the evening, earlier breakfast times in the morning, etc. In this way, the fasting time can be slowly increased without crashing the body.
Fasting is just for weight loss
Intermittent fasting is more of a lifestyle than a diet. It’s not designed to lose weight, although it can help. Summarizing the quick into this single goal can make it more complicated. Then you risk missing out on all the other benefits of fasting (both physical and mental) and giving up early on. Plus, it can be frustrating and guilt-ridden to have food gaps or lose weight too slowly.
Fasting for Weight Loss: Our Nutritionist’s Opinion
Fasting to lose weight is the new trend. As mentioned above, the health benefits of fasting are many and very interesting. However, in the context of weight loss, it is still necessary to remain cautious.
