Micro Meals

In my last blogpost, I discussed micro-workouts. These are teeny tiny workouts you can easily insert into your day. I continue to do them, in addition to my regular gym workouts and classes. Now I am also adding micro-meals to my routine.

A micro-meal is (of course) a teeny tiny meal. It might consist of just a couple of spoonfuls of cottage cheese. (This was my breakfast on Monday.) I had a student who always ate a single date for breakfast. (It worked for her.) It could be a few almonds. I guess you could also call it a "snack" but the idea is that this takes the place of a regular meal.

Micro-meals are a way to make fasting more doable for those who get crazy hungry or struggle with low blood sugar issues when trying to fast.

The Fast Diet, written by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer, recommends 2 days per week of fasting and 5 days of normal (but not excessive) eating. However, on the "fasting" days, you are allowed to eat up to 500 calories. 2 meals of about 250 calories each are recommended. Because the calories are kept very low on these 2 days, you receive all the benefits of fasting. In other words, you eat 2 micro-meals during your 36 hour "fast".

If the 36 hour stretch sounds like too much, another option is OMAD--one meal a day. If you choose to do OMAD, you might have just coffee for breakfast (this is the norm for me) and maybe a micro-meal for lunch. (I usually have 5-10 almonds.) Then you eat a normal dinner with plenty of veggies, enough protein, and maybe some complex carbs like potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole grains, lentils, etc. If you find that you are not losing weight on this plan, just cut back on the carbs.

If you decide to do some version of fasting--intermittent or longer term--micro meals might help you make it happen. Don't beat yourself up if fasting seems impossible! Try adding a micro meal whenever you really need it. You will get all the benefits of fasting.