The FAST way to drop a dress size

START THE COUNTDOWN TO PARTY SEASON

So, what’s new? Well, a few years ago, I adapted the 5:2 plan to create The Fast Beach Diet, a six-week ‘summer holiday primer’ regime you could start in May, June or July, and be ready for take-off (clothes, not planes) later in the summer.

Now I’ve adapted that same turbodriven 5:2 diet – I call it The Fast Diet Max – to get you in shape for party season. It is the same as the traditional Fast Diet, but a tad tougher and a bit bolder. The extra commitment is short-lived. Just a bit more effort. For just six weeks.

The original Fast Diet involves strict calorie restriction but only intermittently – a term known as intermittent fasting or IF. Scientific studies – and the accounts of thousands of dieters who have had success – show that sticking to a limited number of Fast Days each week is a sure-fire way to lose weight.

Our experience is that non-consecutive Fast Days work best, though you can do them back to back if you prefer. Most people divide their calorie intake between breakfast and an evening meal, aiming for a lengthy ‘fasting window’ between meals. But you can skip breakfast and lunch, and have a more substantial evening meal containing your whole calorie quota if that better suits your day.

The Fast Diet Max takes a slightly different tack – it’s meant to be an adjunct to The Fast Diet, and I recommend getting the first book to find out about the plan (The Fast Diet, Short Books, £7.99) so once you finish this you can revert to the more familiar version. But in these pages, you’ll find all you need to get started with the Fast Diet Max – including mouthwatering, easy-to-make recipes for dishes to eat on Fast Days, each stating how many calories per portion they provide.

I see the Fast Diet Max as a sort of jump-start; a short-term, souped-up Fast Diet. The three-pronged approach is based on ways to: Tighten up on Fast Days Toughen up on non-Fast Days Tune in on any day

BEFORE YOU START

You need to know what shape you are in. It is helpful to know your body mass index or BMI score – it’s a ratio of height to weight that can tell you if you are normal weight, overweight or obese. Don’t over-think it, but consider what, how and when you’re likely to eat on Fast Days.

Empty your snack drawer at work and clear the house of junk food. Shop on non-Fast Days, so as not to taunt yourself with undue temptation. Stock up on herbal teas and make Fast Day food in advance and ready in the freezer.

If you don’t have an underlying medical condition, and if you are not an individual for whom fasting is proscribed (see Page 8), then there is no time like the present.

HOW TO TIGHTEN UP YOUR FAST DAYS

The original Fast Diet was conceived by the BBC’s Dr Michael Mosley in 2012 (our book which started the 5:2 diet revolution came out in January 2013). He tried several different fasting regimes; the one he settled on as the sustainable was five days off, two days on, which meant that the majority of the time was spent free from calorie counting. In 12 weeks, Michael lost more than 20lb of body fat and his blood glucose fell from pre-diabetic levels to healthy.

I lost 22lb and returned to my prechildren body weight (and, more importantly, shape).

One Fast Diet suggestion is that, once you reach a target weight, you ease off and stick to a 6:1 regime with just one Fast Day. But on the six-week Fast Diet Max, you should aim to step up the programme by experimenting with extensions to the original plan. One way is to add a third Fast Day for six weeks, amountingg to Alternate Day Fasting ng (ADF). It might surprise ise you to learn:

During scientific trials into ADF, when people were ‘allowed’ to feast on a normal day, they tended not to do so. They reported not feeling hungry after a day of fasting and rarely ate more than 110 per cent of their normal calories.

People lost more bodyody fat than those doing a conventional calorie-restricting regime. If you go on a standard, medically approved diet (restricting your calorie intake every day) you will lose 75 per cent of weight as fat, and 25 per cent as muscle. On ADF, by contrast, the weight lost is almost entirely fat. So, give 4:3 a go. If it appeals, try it for six weeks only, always insuring you meet your nutritional needs – so, plenty of plants, adequate protein, occasional dairy and fats.

TRY THE 2-TO-2 APPROACH

We’re not over-prescriptive about timings of a fast: the plan should be flexible, so it can be adapted to suit your lifestyle and daily agenda. That said, you can experiment with timing. You may, for instance, choose to fast not from bedtime to bedtime, but from 2pm until 2pm, with reduced calories (or none) consumed at all during that 24-hour period. Here is how to go about it:

After a normal lunch on Day 1, eat sparingly, amounting to no more than 500 calories for women and 600 for men (or nothing at all) until a late lunch the following day. That way you fast while you sleep and no single day feels ‘deprived’ of food.

You might choose to fast from supper to supper, which again means no day is All Fast and No Fun. The point is ‘adjust to fit’. If either of these approaches feels wrong, stop and revert to the usual 5:2 Fast Day approach.

EXTEND YOUR FASTING WINDOW

As an alternative, you might choose to extend your Fasting Window – the time during which nothing at all is eaten. In the classic Fast Diet, we recommend breakfast, perhaps at 7am, then supper about 12 hours later, amounting to no more than 500 calories for women, and 600 for men. It’s what works for me, and for many women who need a little sustenance to get the day going. However, plenty of successful Fast Diet Dieters prefer to ignore brea breakfast; they are fasting f for longer: from supper the previous night to supper on a Fast Day, when they’ll eat all their calories. On this regime, the Fasting Window can be as long as 24 h hours – as with the 2 2-to-2. You might de decide to do this on the Fast Diet Max. Perh Perhaps give it a go for one of your weekly Fast Da Days.s Al Alwaysa shut down a fast if it feels overwhelming.

BE FAST-IDIOUS ABOUT YOUR CALORIE QUOTA

If you have been on the Fast Diet for a while, it’s human instinct to feel you know what’s what, so an ‘unconscious non-compliance’ creeps in. While the 5:2 demands you ‘comply’ for only two days a week, it is still a challenge, to measure and count on those days. It is a bit of a chore.

For the next six weeks, do not guestimate, do not cheat, do not avoid the chore. Be particular. On Fast Days, renew your vows and be resolute about those calorie quotas.