Fast FAQs

What is IF or ADF?

IF (Intermittent Fasting) or ADF (Alternate Day Fasting) is a system or nutritional intervention (diet/lifestyle) that features alternating periods of eating freely without dietary restriction with periods of calorie restriction. There are a number of different plans currently popular: 5:2 Fast Diet, JUDDD Diet, EOD, Fast5, Warrior Diet, Eat Stop Eat, and more! Each plan has a different set of rules for their fasting routine.

Can I Use Fast Days Healing Days Recipes With Any Fasting Diet?

Yes! That’s the beauty of Fast Days Healing Days. We realize there is no one-size-fits-all diet remedy that works universally. But our low calorie, nutrient dense recipes work in any healthy diet program. Even programs without fasting! Our recipes are filled with whole foods, and ingredients that are filled with vitamins and minerals. Most are low carbohydrate, and all are controlled carbohydrate. By keeping carbs low, Fast Days Healing Days (FDHD) minimizes the blood sugar response to our recipes and meals–making them very diabetes-friendly. Most recipes also fit into a paleo or primal lifestyle.

Can I Use Fast Days Healing Days Meal Plan With Any Fasting Diet?

Fast Days Healing Days Meal Plans are produced to help give you creative energy in approaching FD (Fast Day) nutrition. The goal is to satisfy average protein requirements while maximizing nutrients and minimizing calories. We currently produce 500 calorie meal plans. If you are using a diet program that allows more calories on FDs, simply begin with one of the FDHD Meal Plans, then add more protein per your individual protein calculations. Add healthy fats, and plenty of low carb veggies and low carb fruits.

How Do You Plan 500 Calorie Meals?

First, follow the individual plan as written. If you need to tweak the plan to fit your individual needs, do it. It’s a lifestyle not a diet. Here’s how Fast Days Healing Days plans our 500 calorie Fast Days (FDs):

Plan Dinner First – Planning dinner first helps insure that there will be a good meal ready and waiting at the end of the FD. Knowing we don’t have to scrimp and penny-pinch our calorie budget helps give peace-of-mind. It reassures us that hunger pangs are fleeting and the fasting period is finite and has an ending with a delicious meal!

 

Plan Protein As The First Part Of Dinner – Planning protein first is vital. You must try to satisfy your minimum daily protein requirement. The calculation for that is (LBM x 0.8g/kg of LBM) and if you are very physically active such as an endurance athlete or weight lifter, it can be as much as 1.1-1.5g/kg of LBM (Lean Body Mass). We have calculators to help, located on our RESOURCES page. Protein is very satiating and helps replenish protein stores, repairing the body and providing vital amino acids that form the foundation of metabolism. Without adequate daily protein, the body will use it’s own tissue in order to get the nutrients it needs for life, resulting in loss of lean muscles (LBM), which in turn, slows metabolism.

 

Plan Fiber-Rich, Nutrient Packed, Leafy and Colorful Veggies As The Second Part Of Dinner – Nutrient dense is the name of the game. Green leafy veg and colorful veggies provide important vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, anti-oxidants, and great sources of soluble fiber important in a healthy lifestyle. Don’t skimp on them. They provide a lot of chew-factor and satisfaction because they are very low in calories and carbohydrates and high in volume.

 

Plan Healthy Fats As The Last Part of Dinner – Generally fats are planned last because they have the highest calorie-cost (9 calories/gram). The higher fat the food, the smaller the volume. At Fast Days Healing Days, Fast Days (FDs) are a little lower in fat (somewhere around 30-50%) — but not low fat by any stretch of the imagination. We need healthy fats in our diets because fats help carry vitamins and nutrients into their correct place. Fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K are helpless without fat! Studies are showing that the association between fat and disease are incorrect. A diet rich in healthy fats (extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil, extra virgin palm oil, avocadoes, seeds and nuts) is a heart healthy diet.

 

If Your Diet Plan Allows, Plan Any Other Meal Next

How Do You Allot The 500 Calories On A Fast Day?

Fast Days Healthy Days likes to eat 1 large meal at either lunch or dinner. We’ve determined for ourselves, that we get hungrier when eating begins early in the day. We generally have a small snack in the late afternoon, then enjoy a “normal,” healthy meal that is about 300-400 calories. But we understand the each person is on a separate path. Beginning fasters may need 3 real meals a day to ward off hunger, especially in the early days. Some 5:2 fasters eat breakfast, then fast for 12 hours and enjoy the second half of their calories. Regardless of the plan, FDHD suggest that you plan your next most important meal that day. If it’s lunch, plan lunch. If it’s breakfast, plan that!

Generally – FDHD Allots Calories This Way

If eating 1 Main Meal plus a small snack:
Dinner: 350-400 Calories
Snack: 50-100 Calories
Dessert: 10-50 Calories (If there are any spare calories left in the calorie bank.)

 

If eating 2 Main Meals 12 hours apart:
Dinner: 250-350 Calories
Breakfast: 150-250 Calories
Dessert: 10-50 Calories (If there are any spare calories left in the calorie bank.)

 

If eating 3 Meals:
Dinner: 250-300 Calories
Lunch: 100-150 Calories
Breakfast: 50-100 Calories
Dessert: 10-50 Calories (If there are any spare calories left in the calorie bank.)

Are Fast Days (FDs) Supposed To Be Low Carb?

No. Most of the intermittent fasting diet authors don’t require the faster to restrict choices in any way beyond adhering to a specific calorie restriction on the day of the fast. Fast Days Healing Days approach nutrition from the low carb or controlled carb perspective because it’s been our experience that living a low carb lifestyle on both Fast Days and feast days (non-fasting days) helps us control blood sugar, blood pressure and inflammation, leading to healing and health. That’s why most of our recipes are low carb. We love the hunger-busting effect of an adequate protein, low carb/high healthy fat diet.

What Do You Eat On A Feast Day (Non-Fasting Day)?

Fast Days Healing Days addresses what we eat on non-fasting days in this great post. The diet doctors tell you there is no restriction whatsoever on non-fasting days. And when you first start IFing, you might feel as if you are eating more than you need, or eating tempting non-diet foods. As time goes on, that “feast” mentality usually smoothes out and normalizes. Many find it difficult to eat their fully allowed Up Day (UD) calories! At FDHD, we choose to eat low carb high fat (aka keto or paleo/primal) on non-fasting days as a way of getting deep nutrition from whole foods. Visit our sister site Fluffy Chix Cook to glimpse how we eat on non-fasting or UDs.