My experience with Intermittent Fasting
Avneet here!
We have so many experts sharing their expertise on intermittent fasting and its benefits. So, I thought of giving it a try. I was gaining weight and started feeling unhealthy during the last semester of my college. My eating habits were getting worse, it is easy to order food online with just a tap at any point of the day. Added to the party was the sedentary lifestyle, sitting at one place all day with no activity. Slowly, I started having breathing issues as I started gaining weight. I visited the doctor and he advised me to lose some weight. One of my cousins was already following it and she could see the results and recommended it to me.
I am not an intermittent fasting expert, this blog is just about sharing my experience following this lifestyle. If you want to try it, I would advise you to consult your physician or doctor first.
Intermittent fasting is a strategy for calorie decrease that restricts the timeframe in which food is devoured. The rule is to eat only 8 hours a day and fast for the remaining 16 hours. This has to be practiced every day. This fasting technique is getting very popular amongst people all around the world, but in India it has been followed since ancient times.
When I researched and talked to physicians about intermittent fasting, I was overwhelmed with the information and scared to incorporate it in my lifestyle. I started slow with 9 hours of eating window and 15 hours of fasting. I ate everything but in small portions. I like to eat different food every day, following other diets restricted me to do so. Intermittent Fasting gave me a pathway to enjoy all my favorite dishes and lose weight at the same time. In the beginning, it was difficult for me as I had a habit of munching late at night but as days passed it got easier.
A brief about my daily meals
At 9 am drink any hot beverage with some biscuits or dry cake. At 10 am I eat my breakfast in which I usually used to eat Poha (Flattened Rice dish) or stuffed parathas ( Indian flatbreads). Around 12 noon I ate a few seasonal fruits or cucumbers. By 1:30 pm have my lunch or sometimes I skipped it if breakfast was heavy. I usually cooked my own dinner, I generally make curry chicken, pasta, fried rice, and have my dinner by 6:30 pm.
That’s how my day went. Every day I used to eat a different dish so that it isn’t boring and can eat whatever I like. To get better results I reduced the consumption of fat and carbs but never stopped eating it.
Slowly I decreased the time frame of eating from 9.5 to 7 hours and increased the fasting for 17 hours. What helped me fast for long hours was sleeping early, so that I don’t eat anything late at night. I also to increased my water intake.
The intermittent fasting diet works (for me) since restricting times of eating normally lessen calorie intake. What’s more, when the body encounters a calorie deficiency, it will start to utilize a different source of energy, like body fat, all things considered. I will continue following this diet as it worked best for me and it keeps me very energetic, I don’t feel lousy anymore.
Added energy! Better digestion! Weight reduction! Improved concentration! Increased fat burning!
Today I will be sharing one of my dinner recipes which I used to eat when I followed intermittent fasting and still eat it because it is very easy and takes very less time to make.
Tofu fried rice
Recipe
Potion size- feeds 2
Prep time 15 min Cooking time 15 min
Cooked rice 3 cups
Onion 1 medium size
Carrot 1 medium size
Green capsicum 1 medium size
Green Chilies 1 tsp
Fine chop garlic 1 tbsp
Tofu cut in small dice 1 cup
Soy sauce 1 tsp
Siracha 2 tsp
Ketchup 1 tsp
Salt and black pepper powder to taste
Method
Cut all the vegetables into small dice.
In a wok or big sauté pan add oil, heat it on high flame. Once the oil is hot add garlic and salutes until fragrant.
Add chopped onion and sauté for a minute, then add chopped capsicum and carrots. Sauté until slightly cooked. Add tofu and sauté gently.
Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Add rice and top it with sauce. Sauté until all the sauce is mixed.
Serve hot.
Notes
Use long-grain white rice for better results. Cold rice or day old rice is best.
Sauté vegetables on high flame so that they cook and remain crunchy, not mushy.
For flavors, you can add sautéed chicken, fried egg, scrambled egg, etc.
Adjust hotness according to your taste.
