Diet on fasting days: benefits of the menu and permitted foods

How to choose and spend a fasting day for weight loss

The most effective options for fasting days are selected depending on specific needs. That is why you first need to decide on the end result of fasting days that you want to achieve:

• For quick weight loss, protein, cucumber, orange, and kefir fasting days are suitable. To maximize the benefits of fasting days, experts recommend doing them twice a week.
• For the prevention of atherosclerosis, fish days twice a month are effective. A fasting day on kefir is also effective.
• A fasting day on buckwheat with kefir or an apple fasting day will help cleanse the intestines and remove toxins.
• For gastrointestinal diseases, including gastritis and hepatitis, milk-fat fasting days are carried out as additional therapy - with sour cream, cottage cheese, kefir or cream.
• To saturate the body with vitamins, fruit fasting days are useful in spring and autumn. A fasting day on apples, watermelon, and melon is considered especially effective.

Effective fasting days are based on strict adherence to simple but important rules. So, during such a short-term diet, only one type of food is consumed - this allows the body to quickly absorb food and begin breaking down and eliminating toxins. The exception is fruit and protein days - here you can significantly diversify your diet.

The feeling of hunger is a command to the body not to waste accumulated fat, but to reduce muscle mass. To avoid muscle atrophy, you need to eat often, but in small portions. At the same time, the amount of protein per day cannot exceed 700 g, and vegetables - 2 kg.

To effectively cleanse the body, it needs more water than ever. Therefore, the daily norm increases to 2.5 liters. If there is a need for more, you cannot limit yourself. You can drink unsweetened Chinese green tea without aromatic additives.

It is advisable to refrain from complex physical or mental activities - you may feel weak and even apathetic. But walking, performing SPA treatments or visiting the pool are even useful.

Effectiveness for weight loss

We have previously written about the effectiveness of intermittent fasting for weight loss.

The 5/2 diet is a very effective weight loss plan. It allows you to significantly limit your caloric intake and speed up your metabolism, without losing muscle tissue.

Australian scientists claim that intermittent fasting leads to significantly greater weight loss than conventional diets with a limited supply of nutrients to the body. The technique reduces appetite and does not affect the adaptive mechanisms of energy regulation.

According to experts from Canada, within a year after switching to systematic food restriction, body weight, waist circumference, volume of adipose tissue, as well as the glycemic and cholesterol profile completely return to normal.

As an example, here are some important studies that looked at weight loss with intermittent fasting:

1. Reduction in total body weight by 3-8% with a fasting period of 3 weeks.
2. Reduction in waist circumference by 4-7% in 3-8 weeks.
3. Almost complete absence of muscle tissue loss.
4. High performance when combining this diet with strength exercises. This combination leads to a significant increase in endurance.

Protein fasting day as an effective way to lose weight

To lose extra pounds, and especially to remove abdominal fat (the so-called “fat belt” at the waist), protein days are the best choice. Great for this:

• lean meat: chicken, turkey, veal or beef;
• lean fish: bream, hake, pike perch, pike and cod;
• cottage cheese and eggs;
• all types of legumes.

You need to eat 700 g of these products in any combination per day. They need to be steamed, baked, boiled. For example:

1. Breakfast of 100 g of veal and unsweetened Chinese tea. It is a strong antioxidant, rich in vitamin C, minerals and tocopherols. When taken regularly, this tea has a cleansing and healing effect on the body.
2. Lunch of 200 g of beef, washed down with a glass of mineral water. It must be non-carbonated and without flavorings.
3. Afternoon snack of 200 g of poultry meat and a glass of choleretic tea. This drink is a must when you are on a dietary restriction, as bile stagnation may begin.
4. Dinner: 200 g of stewed beans and a glass of tomato juice.

For variety, you can replace one meal with fish, cottage cheese or hard-boiled eggs.

The benefits and harms of unloading

When done correctly, unloading has the following positive effects on the body:

• normalizes the process of food digestion;
• improves the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine;
• weight decreases by 1-3 kg;
• the speed of metabolic processes accelerates;
• Toxic compounds and slag masses are removed;
• eating habits are developed: a person eats less food per day, eats small portions, chews food thoroughly;
• weight loss occurs smoothly and does not affect the functioning of muscles and internal organs;
• the diet does not put stress on the digestive organs.

Regular fasting diets make it possible to refuse to lose weight using express diets, which disrupt the functioning of internal organs and increase the risk of developing diseases.

At the same time, mono-diets 1-2 times a week, despite the positive effect, have a number of disadvantages:

1. The body does not receive enough vitamins and minerals. The diet consists of 1-2 products, so during fasting a person does not receive the full range of necessary nutritional components. In this regard, it is strictly forbidden to abuse mono-diets. When using the weight loss method for more than 2 days, your health worsens, the functional activity of internal organs decreases, and your metabolism slows down.
2. Poor tolerance. A low-calorie diet leads to decreased performance, muscle weakness and chronic fatigue. Due to the feeling of constant hunger, the risk of breakdowns increases and mood worsens.
3. When unloading with the use of fermented milk products, vegetables and fruits, the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach increases. This negatively affects the condition of the mucous membranes. Increased acidity of gastric juice can lead to the development of peptic ulcers and gastritis.

Orange fasting day - a pleasant alternative to apples

Fruit fasting days are much more effective if you limit them to only one type of food. Apple fasting is useful for cleansing the intestines, but is difficult to tolerate, causing a constant feeling of hunger. You need to consume 1.5 kg of apples per day, of which 500 g can be baked.

But the orange, despite its low calorie content, is distinguished by a large amount of dietary fiber. Therefore, orange day is easier to bear. For weight loss, two diets are most effective:

• 1.5 kg of oranges that need to be eaten per day;
• 4 oranges and 2 apples, the total weight of which should also be 1.5 kg.

How to eat properly on fasting days?

The diet does not imply specific rules regarding the quality composition and timing of food intake on fasting days. Each person chooses an individual option for himself.

In most cases, people adhere to one of the following schemes:

• 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner);
• 2 meals (lunch and dinner).

The daily calorie intake is limited: about 500 calories for women, 600 for men.

It is recommended to give preference to foods rich in fiber and protein. This will increase your feeling of fullness and satisfy your hunger.

During fasting days, the menu should be varied. Here are a few food options that you might prefer:

1. Vegetable salads. Any natural products will do (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots).
2. Natural yoghurts with berries (ideal options are strawberries, wild strawberries, blueberries).
3. Hard-boiled or baked eggs.
4. Lean meat.
5. Fried fish.
6. Rice with cauliflower.
7. Soups.
8. Black coffee or tea without sugar.
9. Water or various drinks without sugar (it is recommended to carefully study the composition to prevent large amounts of dyes and preservatives from entering the body; flavor enhancers can increase appetite several times).

Diet recipes

Below are several quick recipes that are ideal for fasting days using the 5:2 diet method.

Fasting day on buckwheat to normalize metabolism

A large number of microelements in buckwheat porridge makes this fasting day very beneficial for the body. The kefir-buckwheat diet also promotes rapid weight loss by removing toxins. But this combination of products has a laxative effect. This must be taken into account when planning a fasting day.

Daily diet:

• a glass of buckwheat is filled with cold water overnight;
• the resulting porridge without adding spices and oil is divided into 6 meals;
• You can drink a glass of kefir along with buckwheat, but not more than 1 liter per day.

In addition to kefir or instead of it, you can drink green or even herbal tea and mineral water, and the total amount drunk should be the same 2-2.5 liters.

It is important to remember that only the right approach to fasting days helps to lose weight and improve the health of the body. If you have doubts about the chosen diet, it is better to consult a specialist and find out how to arrange fasting days without harm to your health.

Safety, contraindications

In the first days of intermittent fasting, a strong feeling of hunger may appear, but after a few days it disappears.

Also, at the beginning of the diet, the following side effects may develop due to the low energy value of the diet:

• weakness;
• dizziness;
• drowsiness;
• photopsia (sticks or floaters before the eyes).

The development of these reactions indicates exhaustion of the body and should serve as a reason to stop the diet or temporarily change its rules (increase the amount of food consumed).

If you experience headaches and bowel problems such as constipation, you should stop the diet and consult a doctor.

It is important to note that the 5:2 diet has important contraindications:

1. Diseases of the digestive system (cholelithiasis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum).
2. Pregnancy and breastfeeding period.
3. Underweight (BMI less than 18.5).
4. Pathologies of the female reproductive system accompanied by infertility.
5. Age less than 14 and more than 75 years.
6. Hyperthyroidism.
7. Chronic cardiac (IIb-III), liver or kidney failure.
8. Cirrhosis and viral hepatitis.
9. Hypertonic disease.
10. Diabetes mellitus type I.

Sticking to very strict diets with the exclusion of many foods from the diet is quite difficult. Failures, stressful situations, and mood swings are inevitable, as a result of which any desire to lose weight disappears. It is better to immediately choose a convenient power system for yourself without serious restrictions, which will suit you in all respects. This is exactly what the extremely popular Western diet 5:2 (or diet 5 in 2 days) is considered to be.

Reviews

And why only 5 2? You can also have fun with diets 3 5, or 1 2 3 4, and also 3 2. People! How long can you talk nonsense? You just need to not eat anything and not sit on your ass for 24 hours.

Marina K.

Great way! It’s not that I’ve lost anything, but it’s captivating that I don’t have to deny myself anything. It's just that two fasting days is not as scary as it seems. And for those who find it difficult, they can de-load just one day every week. The truth is there is no difference between this diet and just a regime where you regularly unload, for example: 1 5, when one day you fast and 5 eat whatever you want.

Pros and cons of the 5:2 diet. Contraindications

Like many diets, Michael Mosley's program has its pros, cons, followers and opponents. However, most people find the rules simple and the results quite effective.

This power system has many advantages:

• You can eat normally for almost the entire week; fasting only takes 2 days.
• There is no need to fast; you can eat low-calorie foods at the rate of 500 kcal.
• You can choose when to cut back on your diet - it’s very convenient.
• Meat, chicken, bread or cheese are not prohibited and can be consumed in moderation.
• Nervous breakdowns practically never happen.
• The risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart attack is reduced.

The disadvantages of this program are the following:

• When your diet is reduced, weakness may appear.
• There is a possibility of accidental overeating.

The 5:2 system has a number of contraindications:

• any stomach diseases;
• pregnancy and breastfeeding (at this time it is better to adhere to a special nutritional system);
• childhood and adolescence;
• exacerbation of infection.

Before you decide to try this diet, you should consult your doctor!

Taking into account all these features, you need to decide in advance whether this system is suitable for the indications or not. If you follow all the rules, you can lose weight from 6 to 8 kg in two weeks if your initial weight was impressive. It’s easy to withstand, there are practically no downsides.

The essence of the 5:2 diet

The original diet is called The Fast Diet 5:2. This rather convenient nutrition system was invented by the British Michael Mosley, a doctor and also a journalist. He tried it on himself, losing 6 kilograms, after which he wrote a book with the rules and principles of the menu. Michael Mosley's diet quickly became known throughout the world, gaining popularity due to the ease of its implementation, a minimum of restrictions on ordinary days, and a short fasting period.

The essence of the system is that you need to lose weight with serious restrictions only 2 days a week, reducing consumption to 1/4 of the calorie intake on normal days (on average, a woman needs 2000 kcal per day, a man - 2400, respectively, on fasting days the calorie intake is reduced to 500 kcal, for men – up to 60 kcal).

For the remaining 5 days, you can eat whatever you want, but without excesses or excesses. You can’t overeat, but you don’t need to exclude everything tasty and unhealthy either. It’s not so scary, you can endure it almost without difficulty, which pleases many of the nutritionist’s followers. 2 fasting days plus 5 regular days - this is the basic rule that must be followed. According to the author, such a diet allows you to lose up to 1 kg per week.