There’s been a lot of discussion about the benefits of intermittent fasting (IF) in recent times. Some proponents recommend it not only as an efficient method for weight loss but also claim it has wider health benefits including the potential to lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol.
Currently the best-known IF plan is Dr Michael Mosley’s Fast Diet (also known as the 5:2 Diet), which sees followers restricting their calorie consumption to 25 per cent of their energy needs, two days a week.
Mosley, a doctor and journalist, credits it with reversing his type 2 diabetes diagnosis and helping him shed 10 kilos, and his book, The Fast Diet, has sold more than a million copies worldwide. Fans love that you don’t have to cut out any food groups, but others report that the fasting days leave them feeling low in energy and, not surprisingly, quite hungry.
The 2 meal day approach
But now there’s a new approach to IF that’s fast gaining popularity in the UK, with a different spin on how to do things. The 2 Meal Day is a new book and eating plan by personal trainer and online health coach Max Lowery.
As the name suggests, it involves skipping one meal – either breakfast or dinner (Lowery himself forgoes breakfast) – each day in order to create a 16-hour fast period and an eight-hour window for eating in each 24-hour day.
Lowery claims it should only take a couple of days to become physically and mentally accustomed to skipping that third meal, and that any feelings of hunger will soon abate.
“Fasting teaches you to tune into your body. You will start to understand what ‘real’ hunger feels like, something that occurs every 16-24 hours not every four hours,” he says.
The 2 Meal Day by Max Lowery, Kyle Books, $32.95
For more, see the August issue of Good Health Choices