Browsed by
Category: Diet of the Month

Intermittent Fasting: Day 6

Intermittent Fasting: Day 6

Comments 0 Comment

Second 24-hour fast day–let’s do this!

I decided to start my day with a super-charged cup of joe famously known as Bulletproof Coffee. Have you heard of this? Popularized by keto folks, this is not your regular cuppa. Though the recipes vary a bit, Bulletproof Coffee is essentially a cup of strong coffee that’s been blended with heavy cream, clarified butter, coconut oil, and MCT (medium-chain triglyceride) oil, or any combination thereof. While it is not low in calories by any means, it does check the boxes for those following a liquid and/or fat fast and is meant to get someone through those challenging days when your regular java just won’t cut it.

In honor of June’s Diet of the Month, The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Jason Fung, MD and Jimmy Moore, I decided to test out the version found in their recipe section, which combines 1 cup of coffee with 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream, 1-2 tablespoons butter or ghee (clarified butter), and 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil. I went with the lesser amount of each of those high-fat additions, gave it a good whisking with my Aerolatte, and took a swig.

…

Read More Read More

Homemade Pizza with a Cauliflower Crust

Homemade Pizza with a Cauliflower Crust

Comments 0 Comment

Lately I’ve been seeing quite a few recipes for pizza made with a cauliflower crust, so when I spotted one in The Complete Guide to Fasting, I thought I’d better whip one up in honor of Pizza Sunday and June’s Diet of the Month! Around here, we have a tradition of pizza (usually homemade) for Sunday dinner and I was interested to see how this grain-free, cauliflower crust pizza would measure up against the more traditional crust made with flour, yeast, salt, and olive oil.

…

Read More Read More

Intermittent Fasting: Day 4

Intermittent Fasting: Day 4

Comments 1 comment

Happy Saturday! If you’re new to The Diet Oracle, welcome! For the past few days, we’ve been testing out an intermittent fasting schedule from The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Jason Fung, MD and Jimmy Moore. Most days I will be following a 6:18 eating/fasting pattern, though this regimen includes two 24-hour fasts over the course of the week. (For more information about my routine for the week, check out this previous post.)

…

Read More Read More

Intermittent Fasting: Day 3

Intermittent Fasting: Day 3

Comments 2 comments

So here we are. It’s Day 3 and I will be attempting my first 24-hour fast of the week. For the last couple days, I’ve been following an intermittent fasting regimen from June’s Diet of the Month, The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Jason Fung, MD and Jimmy Moore. Though Days 1 and 2 were a 6:18 schedule in which I basically skipped breakfast but had lunch and dinner as usual, today will be my first attempt at an all-day fast, going from dinner on Day 2 to dinner on Day 3 without eating. Let’s see how it went!

…

Read More Read More

Intermittent Fasting: Day 2

Intermittent Fasting: Day 2

Comments 1 comment

Today we are continuing our discussion of June’s Diet of the Month, The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore. As part of our in depth look at what this diet plan has to offer, I am putting intermittent fasting to the test for an entire week to give you an honest look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So let’s take a look at how Day 2 of my intermittent fasting (IMF) regimen went. Day 2 will be a repeat of Day 1 in which I skip breakfast, have lunch and dinner as usual, and no snacking after dinner. I will also continue, per Dr. Jason Fung’s recommendations, to focus on whole, unprocessed foods, natural fats, and limited refined grains.

…

Read More Read More

Intermittent Fasting: Day 1

Intermittent Fasting: Day 1

Comments 2 comments

Here we go! Day 1 of intermittent fasting (IMF)! If this is your first visit to The Diet Oracle, this month we have been taking a look at The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Jason Fung, MD and Jimmy Moore for June’s Diet of the Month. Today, I will begin a week-long test drive of one of their recommended regimens to see what intermittent fasting is all about. (If you’d like a quick snapshot of the plan I’ll be following, check out my previous post, Intermittent Fasting: Ready, Set, Go!

…

Read More Read More

Intermittent Fasting: Ready, Set, Go!

Intermittent Fasting: Ready, Set, Go!

Comments 0 Comment

Now that we’ve had some time to read up on the claims and promised results, it’s time to take The Complete Guide to Intermittent Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting for a spin!

So, not gonna lie here, I am just a bit nervous going into this. I must confess that I love to eat and am not particularly inclined to miss meals. Aside from an epic stomach flu or routine lab tests, I’ve never really fasted before and am not sure how this is going to go.

Despite this, however, I really am interested to see how Fung’s claims will hold up when taken for a test drive. Since it’s not realistic to think there could be any measurable health changes in just seven days, I’m mostly interested to see how intermittent fasting (IMF) will impact my appetite, workouts, and weight.

…

Read More Read More

Myths of Fasting

Myths of Fasting

Comments 1 comment

In Chapter 3 of The Complete Guide To Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting, Dr. Jason Fung deals with what he perceives to be the many myths surrounding fasting. He believes that if a person looks at both the anecdotal and scientific evidence he has to offer, that the case against fasting falls to pieces. Let’s take a look at the six myths he addresses.

…

Read More Read More

How can fasting enhance weight loss?

How can fasting enhance weight loss?

Comments 0 Comment

Setting the obvious aside, (you know, the not eating bit) let’s take a look at why Dr. Jason Fung believes that fasting offers particular weight loss benefits over and above simple caloric restriction as we continue our ongoing discussion of June’s Diet of the Month, The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting.

When we eat, the complicated process of digestion and absorption kicks off. Food is both mechanically and chemically broken down and then absorbed as it travels along the GI tract. When blood nutrient levels begin to rise, our bodies respond hormonally and metabolically. One particular response Dr. Fung is keen to point out is the insulin response.

…

Read More Read More

What is fasting?

What is fasting?

Comments 2 comments

From Chapter 1, Dr. Jason Fung acknowledges that the mere suggestion of fasting sounds crazy to most people. Starvation?That’s your recommendation?? In the opening pages to The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting, Fung argues that starvation and fasting are two entirely different things. While starvation is involuntary and typically due to a lack of food, fasting is a choice to abstain from eating for a period of time.

Though humans have historically fasted for religious reasons, Fung argues that living in a constant state of feast, feast, feast (with no famine) has wreaked havoc on our health and that a return to periodic fasting may offer the solution.

Though there are countless diets out there with complicated rules and restrictions, fasting is simple and straightforward. As opposed to most diets that have a laundry list of things to do, fasting is about what not to do. The authors explain that this is part of the beautiful simplicity of a fasting regimen. You need not fuss over food lists, measuring portion sizes, cooking and clean up, packing special meals, and other tedious tasks that often go along with dieting. Rather, all you have to do is abstain. Furthermore, fasting regimens can be as flexible as necessary. Fung emphasizes many times over that there is no single right way to fast and that a person should experiment to see what works best for them.

…

Read More Read More

%d