Book Review: The Fast Diet

I am on a two-pronged mission: to lose the 15 pounds I picked up over the past few years and to strengthen my brain health hoping to stave off dementia. The first prong is easy to assess. I'm down 11 pounds and hope to lose possibly 9 more. The second prong seems more a toss-up. I cannot say that I feel more mentally alert or that I no longer forget things or people. But, I definitely believe I am healthier today than I was when I began this experiment, 3 months ago. I revamped what and when I eat.

Ever since I read The End of Alzheimer's and The Circadian Code, I've hoped to attempt their suggested protocols. Indeed, I am fascinated with the ideas of intermittent fasting. To clarify, this fasting is not a spiritual discipline. It would be great if I incorporated such a focus, but I haven't. Mostly, I avoid carbs and sugars (although I'm not strict about it - I allow dark chocolate and even made a pan of spinach-mushroom lasagna to share with my husband). I try to fill my meal plans with plentiful amounts of eggs, chicken, salmon, shrimp, nuts, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, avocados, strawberries, blueberries, and salad. In addition, most days I limit my eating window to 10 to 12 hours (fasting between 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. or 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.).

Wanting even more evidence to support the efficacy of intermittent fasting, I picked up this book by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer. The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting is a quick and easy read. The authors suggest a 5:2 plan - 5 days of normal eating and 2 days of restricting calories to 500 for women and 600 for men. Although it was great to read the many testimonials at the end of this book, I doubt I will begin to count calories. I prefer to think of what I'm doing as time-restricted eating and a roughly ketogenic diet. My only complaint about the book is that it could have been a brief e-book (or perhaps I would have preferred to watch the show that triggered this book - a British Horizon program called Eat, Fast, and Live Longer). I agree with everything touted in this book and plan to continue with intermittent fasting. If I lose the further 10 pounds, I will maintain the weight loss by restricting my eating selections and time-frames. At this point, I'd have to say "try fasting - it helps!" I still recommend the previous two mentioned books, over this one.
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I did not copy down any recipes from this book, but copied down quite a few from two other books I skimmed. In The Keto Reset Diet, by Mark Sisson, I obtained recipes for Burger Skillet, Egg Muffins in Ham Cups, Chicken/Broccoli Casserole, and Pizza Bites. From The Beginner's Guide to Intermittent Keto, I secured recipes for Blueberry Almond Pancakes, Almond Crusted Salmon Patties, Keto Bread, and Zucchini Fries. Can't wait to try these ketogenic recipes. Heck, I even made up a recipe of my own one night, zapping some zucchini noodles in the microwave while heating jarred alfredo sauce with diced chicken and frozen spinach on the stove, then combining them.