Be the Best you with Angie & Calum Best

GIVE YOUR MIND, BODY AND SOUL A WORKOUT WITH ANGIE & CALUM BEST…

FAST YOUR WAY SLIM

Angie: Last week, on my social media, I asked my followers what they would most like to read about in my column. After sifting through the questions about Calum – his sleeping habits, which toothbrush he uses and what size his feet are – the number-one request was about healthy dieting and how to keep the weight off.

I’ve loved the Hay Diet – which involves not eating starch and protein or fruit and veg at the same meal – for the past 40 years, ever since it was introduced to me by Barry Manilow.

But the latest weightloss method is intermittent fasting, where you alternate cycles of fasting and eating. After having a brainstorm, I’ve put my very own spin on it, as you’ll see here…

MY DIET PLAN

Our bodies have three cycles a day: 1 Appropriation cycle: noon to 8pm, when we’re most awake, active and efficient at digesting denser foods. The most important rule during this time is to eat when hungry, but to eat little and often. 2 Assimilation cycle: 8pm to 4am, when you are most likely relaxing or sleeping, and your body is assimilating, or absorbing, all the nutrients from your food into your organs, bones and cells. 3 Elimination cycle: 4am to noon, when your body is cleansing itself and releasing toxins. That’s why we wake up needing to pee, and have morning breath!

It’s important that when you break your fast (have breakfast), you only have fruit or green juices that require the least energy for digestion. Wait until noon for anything heavier, when you start the cycle again. The elimination cycle is the most important for weight loss and health.

These principles are rather like intermittent fasting. In my fasting plan, you split the day into two cycles – you eat during an eight-hour window and fast for 16 hours, eating between 10am and 6pm, and fasting from 6pm to 10am. When you wake up, drink a glass of water at room temperature with lemon juice in it, then a plain glass of water to dilute the acids from the lemon. Eat nothing but fruit till noon, and choose those that are high in antioxidants, such as melons, grapes, berries or mango. Eating fruit first thing, instead of bread or a full English or cereal, is the key to weight loss. Then, at noon, have your biggest meal of the day, and healthy snacks (raw or non-processed foods) after that. Eat foods as close to their natural state as possible – nothing packaged.