Monday, Monday Let's Fast

More than following some Trim Health Mama principles, I'm hoping to lose weight by incorporating intermittent fasting, namely 5:2.

A couple years ago we watched a documentary on PBS about fasting and how beneficial it can be to your health and aid in weight loss.  I did lose weight on it and felt amazing.  My blood pressure decreased and inflammation as well.  So why did I quit?

Like most diets I became unbalanced.  I would think, if two days are so great, three days would be better and that morphed into JUDDD (up day, down day or alternate date fasting). I soon became hungry and grumpy and always cold.  I was sick of myself and alienating my family so I decided to change the Fast Five diet.  On Fast Five, you open up a 5 hour eating window each day.  I was happier but it stalled my weight loss so I stopped fasting altogether.

I'm hoping to transition two fast days back into my diet.  Today I am fasting and will do my next day on Thursday.  The proper way to fast is to eat dinner the night before, fast the following day by limiting calories to 500, go to sleep and wake up and eat a normal day. My normal day will be kept under 2000 calories.  This puts you in a calorie deficit, gives your body an opportunity to burn stored fat, and a chance to heal.  The deficit alone should put me on track to lose 1.5 pounds a week.  Couple that with separating the fuels via THM (Trim Healthy Mama), my goal is to lose 2 pounds a week.

My typical day of fasting looks something like this.

Mornings:  Coffee and a THM sipper 
Afternoon:  More sippers and plain water
Dinner:  I probably have used 100 calories by now, so I need to eat around 300 calories. I like to have soup or a low carb wrap with a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese and a slice of turkey.
Before Bed:  Usually a hot tea or likely a hot cocoa.  Lately I am loving a hot strawberry drink which consists of unsweetened cashew milk, 2 strawberries, coconut oil and sweetener, all blended up and heated.  Sounds weird, but it's delicious.

I still have a few more finishing touches on my diet plan that I will write about soon.