A super-easy diet plan that will kick-start your weight loss
LOSE
7lb FAST!
Fasting diets are incredibly popular and there’s plenty of medical research to back up the weight-loss promises. Find it hard to stick to low-calorie days? There’s a way to reap all the benefits with less effort, plus no fasting days to worry about. All it takes is a 12-hour window.
HOW THE DIET WORKS
Simply eating your meals within a 12-hour time slot (and then fasting for at least 12 hours afterwards), benefits weight loss without altering your calorie intake, according to research*. Confining all your eating into this smaller window seems to activate the body’s brown fat – the type that actually burns calories.
Restricting your eating hours also helps fight high cholesterol and the risk of diabetes (unless you already have it), as the body’s blood sugar and insulin aren’t constantly raised. Eat healthily and watch your portion sizes as well and the health and weight benefits could be huge.
THE RULES
If you follow these simple diet-plan guidelines** you could lose at least half a stone in a month.
1 After you’ve eaten your last meal/food of the day, wait at least 12 hours – preferably up to 15 – before you eat again. If you know you really can’t function without having breakfast first thing, you may need to eat your evening meal slightly earlier in the day (and no naughty bedtime drinks or nibbles).
2 Ditch the snacks and stick with two or three square meals a day. Either go for brunch and dinner, OR breakfast, lunch and dinner, depending on what works best within your 12-hour window.
3 There’s no need to count calories, but do aim to reduce highly processed foods, choose whole grains like brown bread, rather than white, and make half of each meal vegetable or fruit based.
The easy-fast plan
Try these simple meal ideas to get you started. Just remember that 12 hours is the minimum overnight fasting period you need to lose weight.
BREAKFASTS
✣ 2 slices of dark rye bread topped with 60g light soft cheese, plus a large bowl of berries.
✣ Soft-boiled egg with asparagus spears. Add a little sprinkle of breadcrumbs fried in 1tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of chilli flakes.
✣ 2 poached eggs on spinach, plus a banana.
✣ Bowl of porridge (40g oats, 220ml semi-skimmed milk) with a handful of strawberries.
LUNCHES
✣ 1 baked sweet potato topped with half a small avocado, 2tbsp salsa and 1tsp soured cream. Serve with bagged salad.
✣ A 300g bowl of tomato and basil soup, 1 slice of wholemeal bread with a spread of mustard, 25g sliced Cheddar and a handful of watercress.
✣ Chickpea salad with ap
