Optimizing Health Through 16/8 Intermittent Fasting: A Free 3-Day Meal Plan
1. Introduction to 16/8 Intermittent Fasting
The ketogenic diet is a high fat, low carbohydrate diet that promotes the body burning fat as fuel. It is effective for weight loss and improving health. However, it can be difficult to lose weight on a normal diet high in processed and high carbohydrate foods. Intermittent fasting is a great solution, as it allows the body to tap into fat stores for energy. Continuous carbohydrate consumption, especially with a sedentary lifestyle, makes it hard to stay lean and promotes fat storage. Intermittent fasting is a popular strategy that has many benefits, allowing the body to function without meals for a 5-7 hour period. This helps adapt the body to burning glycogen stores and can increase energy levels.
2. The 3-Day Meal Plan for 16/8 Intermittent Fasting
I do need to point out here that IF isn't for everyone. People who are underweight, younger individuals, or anyone with a history of an eating disorder (past or present) should avoid fasting and stick with a normal healthy diet. And if you ever feel unwell at any time during your fast, just eat something!
Choose a day or two each week to do an extended fast. Let's jump ahead for a minute to give you a chance to explain this 16/8 dieting pattern to your body. If you work on the premise that 16 hours of fasting is what's required before any of the benefits start (some people might prefer to extend that to 18 hours), you can do two separate 24-hour fasts in a week. This could be from dinner one day to dinner the next, or lunch to lunch, whatever works best for you. For example, eat a normal Sunday dinner, have Monday as a fast day, and then eat something light on Tuesday at around 11 am before resuming your regular 16/8 pattern. 24-hour fasts can be tough for some people, so you might prefer doing them on non-consecutive days or only doing 14-18 hour fasts on those days. Experiment and see what works best for you.
For most, stop eating after dinner. This gives you a minimum 16-hour fast. Make it easy by simply not having dessert after dinner has been cleared away. You don't need it and you know it! A cup of herbal tea is a great way to finish off your evening meal. Not only is it satisfying and virtually calorie-free, but the variety of different tastes and flavors may also help to fill the "dessert void".
If you've never fasted before, probably the easiest change to make is to eliminate breakfast. "8 Hour Diet" Time Restricted Eating. We're already fasting overnight while we sleep (unless we're getting up in the middle of the night to raid the fridge!), so skipping breakfast and waiting until lunch to eat your first meal isn't that hard to get used to. This simple act effectively extends your "fasting window", and by doing so, you may discover some of the benefits that intermittent fasting can provide.
Day 1: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Breakfast Today is the first day of the meal plan, which makes it a perfect day to start one's diet. Starting with breakfast, there won't be a need for you to eat each of these meals, but it would be beneficial to at least try to incorporate it into your diet. The first meal can be as simple as a smoothie. A good smoothie to make is a banana nut butter smoothie. This type of smoothie is a great "starter" smoothie and can appeal to different taste preferences. The nut butter addition to this smoothie allows intake of different types of nuts. Nut consumption has been linked to healthful outcomes, including healthy aging and various disease prevention. Mixed nuts have also been shown to decrease the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease. This smoothie can be made by grabbing a blender, adding about 18 oz of almond milk, a ripe banana, and 2 tbsp of natural almond butter. The next meal would be a quinoa salad with some pecans or almonds. Nuts are high in healthy fats and can also have an anti-inflammatory effect. Quinoa is a healthy grain that is high in fiber and protein. The salad can be made by first making 2 servings of quinoa (4 cups of cooked quinoa) and then adding about ½ a cup each of pomegranate seeds, chopped parsley, and crushed nuts. This meal is very simple to make and the leftover quinoa can be used later for dinner.
Day 2: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Fill a blender with whey protein, 1-2 servings of fresh or frozen fruit, a large handful of spinach, and a small piece of fresh ginger. Blend and serve with a mixed with a handful of every type of nuts. Consuming this after some mental work, or after hitting the gym, is perfectly ending the body's fasting period where it can be used for the benefit of doing a slight cleanse during this fruity meal. This meal should be consumed around 11 am.
In the early afternoon, on the way out the door for work or after training, make the breakfast/lunch "meal" to go consisting of a protein smoothie. This meal should be taken in a cooler tight with ice packs to keep it cold, as soon as it gets warm this will be the first available to use it for a "cheat meal". A "cheat meal" is eating meals that are not scheduled, or consuming other drinks than water during fasting, which this diet does not want to do.
With energy levels and cognitive function still high from waking up, this is a great time for the person following the 16/8 intermittent fasting diet to perform some intense mental work or to hit the gym again before they consume any calories. Since they will be taking in calories in a few hours for breakfast/lunch, there will be fuel to get through this training. It doesn't have to be intense though and actually can be beneficial to do heavy weight training and/or high intensity work later in the day nearer to dinner time.
Upon waking in the morning, insulin sensitivity is usually high. The last meal consumed was dinner the previous night at around 8 PM for the person following the 16/8 intermittent fasting diet, and then the person has probably been sleeping for 8 hours, if not more. This is a total of 12 hours without consuming any type of calories. Since the person following the 16/8 intermittent fasting diet skips breakfast, we will be combining the meal plan for breakfast and lunch, since they will be consumed together in the early afternoon.
Day 3: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Dinner should be wild Alaskan salmon with a large green salad. Add any variety of salad vegetables with a stick of celery and a handful of walnuts. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar are great as a dressing. The fats from the salmon and olive oil will keep you full for a sustained period of time. If you get hungry later in the evening, snack or have the quinoa and vegetables from lunch. Try not to eat later than needed and have a herbal tea before bed. Step 3 should be repeated on non-consecutive days until you are close to or at your goal weight. Always maintain a healthy diet on step 3 for best results.
Lunch is fast and easy. Sauté some chicken breast in extra virgin olive oil. When the chicken is almost done, add Mediterranean vegetables to the pan and heat for a further 5-7 minutes. When cooked, place the chicken and vegetables in a container with 1 cup of quinoa. Even though this is a short meal preparation, you can use the rest for dinner and to take to work the next day. Take a multivitamin with your lunch to provide added nutritional support. Aim to eat with a few berries.
For breakfast on day three, start with a bowl of plain yogurt topped with a handful of blueberries. Add 1 tbsp of flaxseeds for an extra nutrient boost. This meal is high in protein and essential fatty acids. The blueberries provide antioxidants to help enhance your overall health. Have a cup of green tea with lemon to compliment the berries. Lemon is also great for detoxifying the liver and aiding digestion. Drink plenty of water and go for a 10-minute walk. Green tea has a small amount of caffeine and will help prepare you for the busy day ahead. The walk after breakfast will help lower blood sugars. If you typically exercise in a fasted state, save it for before your evening meal, as exercising after a 16-hour fast can be too much.
3. Tips for Successful Implementation
During your fast, make use of Hot-Rox and take Maximum Strength HOT-ROX after you break your fast to really maximize the fat burning during the fasting period. Do fat-burning workouts in the morning such as the Low Intensity Steady State cardio in the morning before your meal, and the High Intensity Interval Training cardio after your final meal. This is the perfect type of cardio to lose fat while minimizing muscle loss. But no matter what mode of cardio you utilize, make sure you perform some type of weight lifting workouts during the fasting period to maximize the muscle maintaining or gaining effects of the fast. This may be the most challenging part of the eating plan for regular individuals, so to ease into it might be in your best interest. Take some time to adapt to the fasting period and reduce the intensity of your workouts to prepare yourself for full implementation of the plan.
First of all, make sure you break your fast with at least 10 grams of protein and no more than 50 grams of carbs to make the most of the Pulse Feast. Try to eat as much quality food as possible during your eating phase and avoid snacking as much as possible. The meal plan utilizing the Pulse Feast is very dense in nutrients and satiating, so you'll find you aren't as hungry as you may think during your fast. Have 3 solid meals in your eating phase and remember you'll be able to eat a significant amount of food with your G-flux conditions. If you feel your metabolism needs improvement, then have the additional calories of your G-flux meals on non-workout days.
4. Conclusion and Next Steps
Now that you understand the science, daily application, and long-term sustainability of 16/8 intermittent fasting, what's next? For those who are considering trying the 16/8 intermittent fasting protocol and believe it could be useful for better health and nutrition, our research suggests it can be safe, feasible, and effective. In order to thoroughly record the 16/8 intermittent fasting strategy and assess if it is safe, feasible, and effective for optimizing health, it is likely that a crossover study design would be best. This type of study allows for each participant to experience both the fasting and control conditions, which would act as their own comparison. Information collected can be used to compare the acute effects of intermittent fasting on indicators of chronic disease and overall health, as compared to the control condition. Many healthcare providers perform routine blood tests to measure their patients' lipid profile and glucose tolerance. These indicators of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes would be ideal to assess in a study of this nature. We predict that many individuals who successfully adapt to 16/8 intermittent fasting as a long-term lifestyle change will find a decrease in fat mass and improvements in weight management over time. A probable increase in time spent in the post-absorptive state may lead to favorable changes in insulin sensitivity and pancreatic health. Finally, an individual's ability to comply with the fasting protocol and maintain energy balance overall will greatly affect results, and we will be able to instruct participants on how to accurately record their food intake during the study. This can be accomplished by using methods such as diet diaries, 24-hour food recalls, or weighed food records.