Nowadays, most Indians are going on the obese or overweight scale, due to lack of exercise, sitting jobs, stress eating, etc., and facing difficulty in reducing weight, thus, people are searching online for many diets to lose weight fast.
Firstly, people should understand that losing weight in a healthy way is a slow process, one cannot achieve it overnight. If you lose weight fast with fad diets, the chances of gaining weight again are high.
Among all the popular meal plans in the current trend, the Intermittent fasting diet is one of them. Nowadays, it is very popular among Indians. Before going on or following an intermittent fasting diet, one has to understand the diet pattern, pros, and cons of this diet.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Firstly, let’s understand the meaning of the word intermittent, Intermittent means occurring at irregular intervals, it is not a continuous process.
Thus, an intermittent fasting diet doesn’t mean having your meals at regular intervals. In this diet, you have to fast for a certain number of hours each day.
Though fasting is already a common religious practice in India for ages, slowly this religious practice has declined.
Currently, people are aware of its health benefits. Fasting helps to detoxify the body or you can say, it removes toxins from our body, which generates due to junk food, processed food, overeating, etc. Our body also needs rest, the idea of eating all the time to remain healthy is not good.
In today’s world, people usually choose more healthy foods, but they keep on eating the whole day. This way our body doesn’t get rest at all, our body organs also need time to digest food.
Sometimes, the previously eaten food is not digested properly, and there is time for the next meal, in this way the body doesn’t get rest, which is sometimes a little harmful to our digestive system.
So, one needs to give rest to the body for its proper functioning and healthy body. Therefore, fasting is very important for our body irrelevant of any religious practice.
Different Types of Intermittent Fasting
1. Monthly Fasting: In this one has to fast for 24 hours once a month.
2. Weekly Fasting: In this one can have a normal diet for a week. Just once or twice a week fasting for the full day is required.
3. Alternate-day Fasting: As the name suggests, one has to do fasting on an alternative day. One can have a proper meal for 1 day, then on the next day only 1 meal is allowed or 24 hours of fasting is required.
4. Daily Fasting: This type of fasting is done on daily basis. In this one can take a meal for 8 hours which means feasting for 8 hours and 16 hours of fasting is required. (Recommended for Best Results)
Indian Diet Chart (Meal Plan) for Intermittent Fasting
Day 1
| Days/Timings | Diet |
| Sunday | Finish Dinner by 6 pm |
| Sunday night | Fasting (Most of the fasting is covered while sleeping) |
| Monday morning | Fasting till 10 am |
| 10:00am | 1 plate mix fruits (preferably seasonal fruits, no banana & mango for sugar patients) |
| 12:00pm | 1 Glass of Tender coconut water |
| 2:00pm | 1 plate Salad |
| 3:00pm | 1 multigrain atta paratha stuffed with veggies + 1-2 bowls of vegetables (seasonal vegetables) |
| 5:00pm | 1 bowl of soup (fresh soup, not packaged) |
| 6:00 pm (Dinner) | Tofu burji with lots of veggies + 2 missi atta chapatti + 1 plate salad |
Day 2
| Days/Timings | Diet | |
| Monday | Finish Dinner by 6 pm | |
| Monday night | Fasting (Most of the fasting is covered while sleeping) | |
| Tuesday morning | Fasting till 10 am | |
| 10:00am | Zeera water (soak jeera overnight in 1 glass of water, have it in the morning) | |
| 10:30 am | 1 plate poha mix with lots of veggies | |
| 12:00pm | 1 seasonal fruit | |
| 3:00pm | 1 plate Salad + Brown rice pulao (add lots of veggies) + Paneer curry | |
| 5:00pm | Handful of nuts | |
| 6:00 pm (Dinner) | 1 plate Salad + 2 multigrain atta chapatti + 1-2 bowl vegetable (seasonal vegetable) | |
Day 3
| Days/Timings | Diet |
| Tuesday | Finish Dinner by 6 pm |
| Tuesday night | Fasting (Most of the fasting is covered while sleeping) |
| Wednesday morning | Fasting till 10 am |
| 10:00am | 1 bowl mix fruits with yogurt (preferably seasonal fruits, no banana & mango for sugar patients) |
| 11:00am | Soaked almonds |
| 12:00pm | 1 Glass of Tender coconut water |
| 3:00pm | 1 plate salad + 1 multigrain atta chapatti + 1-2 bowl vegetable (seasonal vegetable) |
| 5:00pm | A handful of roasted peanuts |
| 6:00 pm (Dinner) | 1 plate Salad + 2 missi atta chapatti + 1-2 bowl curry vegetable (seasonal vegetable) |
Day 4
| Days/Timings | Diet |
| Wednesday | Finish Dinner by 6 pm |
| Wednesday night | Fasting (Most of the fasting is covered while sleeping) |
| Thursday morning | Fasting till 10 am |
| 10:00am | Saunf water (soak saunf overnight in 1 glass of water, have it in the morning) |
| 10:30 am | Oats cheela stuffed with lots of veggies with green chutney |
| 12:00pm | A handful of roasted makhana |
| 3:00pm | 1 plate Salad + 1 multigrain atta chapatti + 1-2 bowl vegetable (seasonal vegetable) |
| 5:00pm | Handful of nuts |
| 6:00 pm (Dinner) | 1 plate Salad + Brown rice + chicken curry |
Day 5
| Days/Timings | Diet |
| Thursday | Finish Dinner by 6 pm |
| Thursday night | Fasting (Most of the fasting is covered while sleeping) |
| Friday morning | Fasting till 10 am |
| 10:00am | 1 bowl suji upma with lots of veggies |
| 12:00pm | 1 plate mix fruits (preferably seasonal fruits, no banana & mango for sugar patients) |
| 3:00pm | Kabuli channa salad + 1 bowl of soup (fresh soup, not packaged) |
| 5:00pm | A handful of roasted chiwda or rice flakes (not packaged) |
| 6:00 pm (Dinner) | 1 plate Salad + 2 multigrain atta chapatti + 1-2 bowl vegetable (seasonal vegetable) |
Day 6
| Days/Timings | Diet |
| Friday | Finish Dinner by 6 pm |
| Friday night | Fasting (Most of the fasting is covered while sleeping) |
| Saturday morning | Fasting till 10 am |
| 10:00am | Ajwain water (soak ajwain overnight in 1 glass of water, and have it in the morning) |
| 10:30 am | 2 multigrain atta stuffed paratha |
| 12:00pm | 1 seasonal fruit |
| 2:00pm | 1 plate Salad |
| 3:00pm | 1 multigrain atta chapatti + 1-2 bowl vegetable (seasonal vegetable) |
| 5:00pm | A handful of roasted makhana |
| 6:00 pm (Dinner) | 1 plate salad + 2-3 millet dosa stuffed with lots of veggies |
Day 7
| Days/Timings | Diet |
| Saturday | Finish Dinner by 6 pm |
| Saturday night | Fasting (Most of the fasting is covered while sleeping) |
| Sunday morning | Fasting till 10 am |
| 10:00am | Zeera water (soak jeera overnight in 1 glass of water, and have it in the morning) |
| 10:30 am | Atta bread sandwich stuffed with veggies |
| 12:00pm | 1 seasonal fruit |
| 3:00pm | 1 plate Salad + 1 multigrain atta chapatti + 1-2 bowl vegetable (seasonal vegetable) |
| 5:00pm | Peanuts chaat with lots of veggies |
| 6:00 pm (Dinner) | 1-2 bowls of soup (fresh soup, not packaged) + 1 plate of Quinoa salad (add lots of veggies) |
Is Intermittent Fasting Safe?
Some people try intermittent fasting for the management of weight, and some people try it for treating certain health conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar levels. But intermittent fasting is not for everyone.
Before trying intermittent fasting, one should check with their health expert. Following is the list of people who should avoid or especially do under expert guidance:
- Children under the age of 18 years.
- Pregnant women or lactating mothers.
- Diabetic people.
- People with a history of eating disorders.
Advantages of Intermittent Fasting
1. Helps in reducing weight:
It helps in reducing weight and belly fat, as calorie intake is reduced. The food consumed by us is broken down by enzymes into small molecules in our gut.
Carbohydrates are broken down into sugars, which our body uses for energy, if this energy is not used by the body, it will deposit as fat in our cells.
If we fast, our bodies will use this stored energy for work. Thus, it helps in reducing weight.
2. Helps to control diabetes:
Though it is not proven yet that an intermittent fasting diet will help to control blood sugars or diabetes, but there are some studies that state that as the food we eat break down into sugars, our body uses it for energy.
Sugar can enter our cells with insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin brings the sugar into the fat cells and keeps it there.
Between meals, if one doesn’t snack, insulin levels will go down and our fat cells can then release their stored sugar, to be used as energy.
There are also studies that state that with the help of an intermittent fasting diet, a reduction of weight can be seen which reduces the risk of diabetes and its complications.
3. Helps to improve heart health:
Studies show that fasting can help to lower the factors that affect the heart like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, etc.
4. Helps in improving immunity:
Fasting helps to trigger the regeneration of cells. By regeneration of old cells, they become stronger and have a better ability to fight against diseases. Thus, it helps in improving immunity.
Disadvantages of Intermittent Fasting
1. Eating disorders:
During feasting hours or days, some people tend to overeat, as there is no restriction on feasting time, whereas, after a long fasting time, some people don’t feel hungry at all.
This can lead to eating disorders of overeating and not eating adequately according to one’s body’s needs.
2. May reduce physical activity:
Heavy exercises are not recommended in intermittent fasting, as calories are reduced, and one can feel lethargic with heavy exercises. So this can lead to a reduction in physical activity.
3. Tired and moody:
Intermittent fasting may cause stress situation, as one is not getting enough food. One can face mood swings, low energy levels, and feeling tired and lethargic.
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Conclusion:
Intermittent fasting has lots of health benefits. If one considers all the pros and cons of fasting, suggestions of experts, and under the supervision of experts, one can achieve the desired goal without compromising on health, as well as one can improve his/ her health condition also.
In the end, I would like to give my expert advice. Please don’t follow any trendy diet. Firstly, know your body’s needs, and try to do diets under the supervision of experts.
So that you don’t face any difficulty in the following diet, you can achieve your goals in a healthy way, also you will get motivated.
