DIET

No 3 – Intermediate Diet

I hope you have tried my “easy” ideal menu structure on my previous post.

How was it? Easy? 😉

This post is about taking it to the next level ideal menu. This is for you if you tried and tested the “easy diet” last week, or for those of you who are more advanced in the world of healthy eating.

Even if you consider yourself a novice, try it out at least for a day. You may find that it is not as hard as you think!

And, remember the 20%-80% rule (or even 30%-70% if that feels more doable for you.) These are called “ideal menu” for a reason! They’re meant to provide structure in your meal planning so you can achieve your “ideal healthy eating” most of the time!

One big change is that you try to go without breakfast. In other words, you’ll go without eating or drinking anything other than water, herbal tea, tea and coffee for 14 -18 hours.

For example, a 16 hour intermittent fast would be: finish your dinner by 8pm today and start with lunch at 12 pm tomorrow.

Can you put milk (non-dairy, please!) in your coffee and tea? The jury is still out on the level of liquid calories that will break your fast.

And, it’s complicated because some non-dairy milks create glucose spikes – you don’t want that during your fasting period! One rule of thumb I’ve come across (for those of you who can’t do without that milky tea and coffee) is to wait at least 14 hours.

Then start what some call your “dirty fast” for another 2-4 hours. Stick to nut and seed milks. Grain based milks (especially rice and oat) will spike your fasting glucose.

The menu outline and tips are below. Now, it’s time for you to decide which of the days over the next week you can manage to follow my “easy” healthy living diet structure and which of the days you can introduce the “intermediate level” and step into action! Provision in advance (preparedness = success!)