Hi. I am 21 and I’ve just decided to start fasting, but I want to be sure I am doing it right and I’m not actually hurting myself, instead of getting the benefits I should.

I am 8’6 stone and my height is 5’6, my BMI is 20.3, but it used to be 18 last year before I let myself go. My BMR is 1332.

I have read that people have breakfast and tea (500kcal all together) usually on their fast days, however i find it easier to have something in the middle of the day.

For example, yesterday was my normal eating day and I didn’t exercise and I had 1350 calories;
– Two poached eggs on two slices of wholerain bread with 20g of avocado for breakfast
– Chicken breast with 150g of veg for dinner
– 100g of pulled chicken and some more veg for tea
– 150 g cottage cheese, 1 apple, one nakd bar, 4 mixed grain crackers, 50g frozen pineapple inbetween meals as snacks throughout the day.

Last night I had my last food (pineapple) at 9pm. Today is fast day therefore I haven’t eaten all morning until I broke my fast at 2pm. I have fasted 9pm – 2pm, so that is 17 hours. I broke it with 150g cottage cheese and 25g nuts, and that will be it for the rest of the day. I will have breakfast as normal tomorrow morning and I will probably have another fast day in two days.

I wanted to get people’s opinions and see whether that is a healthy way of doing it and whether I will be getting benefits of it, mainly losing some weight and speeding my metabolism up. On fast days I drink 2L+ of water and a cup or two of decaf green tea.

Also, do people work out on their fast days? I want to make sure I do not lose my muscle. This morning I actually did some cardio, just 20mins and my polar watch said I burned 175 calories, but although I haven’t eaten before or after, I take CLA + Green tea supplememt capsules, therefore I believe that CLA will help me keep my muscles whilst burning fat.

I am not going to often work out on my fast days, I will make sure that fast days are my days off gym, however, I know there will be odd days when I will want to get some cardio in first thing in the morning.

Finally, I want to make sure I eat enough on my normal days to make sure my body does not go into starvation mode after a while, I use polar watch when I work out and therefore it is pretty accurate with the calories burned, on normal days when I work out, apart from eating my usual 1330 BMR, should I also be eating back the calories Ihave burned at the gym? Ps. I have slim protein shake to drink after all my workouts.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions, tips and stories.

Thank you, K X