Do fasting days help you lose weight and how does it work?

Fasting days do not help to lose 10-15 kg in a month before summer. They are more suitable for those who need to keep in shape without much effort, or who need to get back "in line" after the winter. Weight loss unloading days do not bring as impressive results as we would like, but if you do them regularly and do not skip food, then you will definitely like the effect.

What are fasting days for?

It seems that what can happen after a day of fasting, but this is only at first glance. The benefits of fasting days have long been proven, tested and double-checked. And it consists of:

• After a short hunger strike, a feeling of lightness appears due to bowel cleansing;
• Stress tones the body;
• It helps to overcome the well-known "plateau effect". In other words, it is stagnation during the diet. The weight drops to a certain point, then stops, does not want to move. A hunger strike can serve as a mild stress for the body and serve as a kind of catalyst forfor fat burning processes.
• And of course, we should not mention the "test of strength" and the development of willpower.

Types and characteristics of food unloading

Unloading days are conditionally divided into two types:

• "hungry"
• "saturated".

These two options are distinguished by the calorie content of the daily menu and the number of ingredients that can be used.

The essence and basic principles of "hungry" days

The simplest and most rigorous option is a day on the water. Unloading, in which proteins, fats and easily digestible carbohydrates are excluded, is also called "cleansing". In other cases, in addition to liquid, a product is included in the diet. The maximum daily calorie content is 500 calories. Considering that you can eat low-fat kefir, cucumbers, apples, cabbage or citrus fruits, generally low-calorie foods, it will be easy not to exceed the allowed amount. For example, the calorie content of 100 grams of normal cucumbers is 15. 5 calories. With these restrictions, you can eat 3. 2 kg of fresh green cucumbers per day.

Important!Regardless of the type of food you eat, you should drink 2 or more liters of water. Add green tea or herbal decoction to ordinary still water.

"Full" unloading: types and rules

A more benign option. 2-3 combinable products are allowed: meat, vegetables, eggs, legumes, fruits, dairy products. The calorie content varies slightly, it cannot exceed the limit of 800 calories. Depending on the type of products used, "full" fasting days for weight loss are protein and carbohydrates.

• Protein depletion is the best solution if a stricter diet causes weakness, dizziness, or is not suitable for health reasons. You can eat: lean meat; shellfish, crustaceans and fish; vegetable proteins. If desired, the menu can be diversified with low-calorie vegetables. Chinese cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, greens can be successfully combined with proteins. According to the method of preparation, it is better to prefer boiling or steaming. There is no strong feeling of hunger during the day.
• Carb loading - sounds tempting, but it has nothing to do with sweets. In this case, we are talking about foods rich in slow carbohydrates. Usually buckwheat, rice, dried fruits.

When compiling the menu for the "full" fasting day, it is important to consider the compatibility of the products.

Product group name		Meat, fish, poultry	They are legumes	Vegetable oil	cereals	Sour	oblivion	Sweet and dried fruits	Vegetables	Dairy products	Egg
							Fruit
Meat, fish, poultry		/	-	-	-	-	-	-	+	-	-
They are legumes		-	/	+	0	-	-	-	+	-	-
Vegetable oil		-	+	/	+	+	0	0	+	-	-
cereals		0	-	+	/	-	-	-	+	-	-
	Sour	-	-	+	-	/	+	0	+	0	-
Fruit	oblivion	-	-	0	-	+	/	+	+	+	-
	Sweet and dried fruits	-	-	0	-	0	+	/	+	+	-
Vegetables		+	+	+	+	+	+	+	/	+	+
Dairy products		-	-	-	-	0	+	+	+	/	-
Egg		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+	-	/

Advantages and contraindications

Fasting days help in the uneven fight against excess weight. They help to get rid of heaviness after busy holidays, contributing to the gentle cleansing of the intestines from toxins. It is indicated for certain diseases. For example, in case of kidney diseases, it is recommended to spend "watermelon" days, "potatoes" for the heart and blood vessels, and "cucumbers" for joint problems. Only without initiative, after medical consultation. Unloading must be done by those who constantly follow various fitness diets, love protein foods, artificial proteins and other "heavy foods".

It is impossible to unload diabetics, pregnant and lactating women. People who are exhausted by a long illness and suffer from gastrointestinal diseases (after consulting a gastroenterologist, only "full" secretions are visible). It is undesirable to organize unloading during menstruation.

Advice!You should not get carried away with "hungry" unloading, at most once a week, while "full" can be done 2-3 times.

5 unloading rules

In order for fasting days to bring the expected results, five simple rules must be followed.

Rule #1: Follow the terms

Most fasting days are built on the principle of a mono-diet, that is, you can eat one product, but you must do it as often as possible. In small doses, of course. In addition, the selected product should be liked, this will help relieve the already stressful situation of the body. The total energy value of the products must not exceed 800 cal.

Rule 2: choosing the optimal product

As a rule, unloading is carried out on low-calorie foods with minimal fat and carbohydrate content (fruits, vegetables, kefir). In the case of a carbohydrate diet, you can stop at cereals with a low glycemic index (buckwheat, rice, oatmeal). Low-fat meat and lean fish are allowed in the protein dump. The most effective are "liquid" fasting days, when the teeth rest, but you can only drink.

Rule 3: the right day

Many people do not attach importance to this moment, but the choice of the day is no less important. Nutritionists advise not to take legal days off, but to choose Monday instead. This option is not suitable if the job requires physical work. It is best to arrange unloading on the same day every week.

Rule 4: rest

On the day of unloading, not only the digestive system must rest, but the whole body as a whole. It is important to exclude all physical activity, especially training. Alcohol is excluded daily. And for those who do not tolerate alcohol well, within 2 or even 3 days. In the list of recommended activities: bath or sauna visit. Sauna procedures calm the body, help to cope with stress, improve lung ventilation and promote the removal of toxins. You can also see pleasant walks in the park.

A lot of time to sleep. Ideally: at least 9 hours. Don't miss the opportunity to relax instead of lunch. Long-lasting sleep strengthens the body and also helps to ease the feeling of hunger.

Rule 5: no contrast

It is very important to enter the fasting day smoothly, survive calmly and exit it smoothly.

Smooth entry and exit: why is it important?

Any diet, even a one-day one, is a strong stress for the body. Once, without explaining the reason, they suddenly stopped feeding. When will it end, or will it end at all? Just as suddenly, he finally gets a portion of high-calorie food and assimilates it to the maximum. Therefore, after long diets, the lost weight returns quickly.

How to start a fasting day

Proper preparation of the body helps to achieve the maximum effect of unloading. On the eve of lunch, heavy food is rejected. Dinner is replaced by a light salad, fruit, kefir. It is recommended to perform a cleansing enema before going to bed. You can drink medicinal tea, which has a laxative effect, but without fanaticism.

How to complete unloading smoothly

Of course, you shouldn't start the next morning with fried potatoes. It is advisable to drink 200 ml of water on an empty stomach, eat steamed vegetables or a spoonful of rice, and then refrain from eating for 2-3 hours. Cereals, vegetables and fruits help the body to transition to stable work. It is better to give up meat, legumes, eggs or fish. Due to cortisol (stress hormone) production, the appetite increases and food is maximally absorbed.

The most efficient way to unload

The effectiveness of a particular diet is a relative concept. Each organism is individual, reacts differently to stress, perceives and assimilates products. Therefore, the best solution can only be chosen through experience. Based on the opinions of "users" and listening to the opinions of nutritionists, the most noticeable results can be achieved by following the diets described below. You can stop at one type of unloading or switch between others. So we recommend the most effective fasting days for weight loss.

Unloading day on the water

The most difficult and effective is "liquid" unloading, if it is performed correctly. Many people start "unloading" on the day after the holiday or right after the holidays, but nutritionists recommend that at least one day before "X" day, they exclude lactic acid, meat, flour and switch to light meals. Of course, everything is fatty, fried, salted and smoked. It is better to prepare the water in advance. It can be non-carbonated mineral or ordinary purified, but not boiled.

Really effective weight loss fast days are as strict as possible. Remove food completely. You have to drink every hour to get at least 3 liters a day. Due to the fact that the stomach is constantly filled with liquid, the feeling of hunger should not be too strong. According to the strictest version of unloading, you cannot drink tea, coffee or fruit juices on this day, only water.

Advice!It's very difficult, but you have to keep a positive attitude and stick to the end. Of course, listening to your well-being. If weakness, dizziness or other bad symptoms appear, the experiment should be stopped.

You have to be very careful when you get out of the water. In the morning after fasting, they drink a glass of water and eat steamed or stewed vegetables. The next day you can only eat cereals, vegetables and fruits.

Unloading day on the cucumber

The vegetable, which consists of 95% water, is loved by nutritionists, and the cucumber fasting day for weight loss is so popular that it does not need to be advertised. Cucumber is a negative calorie product (the body spends more on digesting it than it receives), and it is much easier (albeit for a short time) to get enough of it than water.

Anyone who has not yet come face to face with a cucumber diet should know that this vegetable is a strong diuretic.

So during the day it is better to be close to the toilet. Active social life should be postponed, weakness may appear after dinner, especially in the legs. Some have increased stools. One-day cucumber unloading is recommended for uric acid diathesis, obesity, high blood pressure, gout, arthrosis and arteriosclerosis.

For "green" unloading, you will need 1. 5-2 kg of fresh cucumbers. This amount is divided into 5-6 portions. Unlimited drinking. For a change, you can make a cucumber salad with herbs, which you can fill with a spoonful of vegetable oil. Salt, of course, is not allowed. Cucumber removes excess water and this interferes with this process, but you can add lemon juice to the salad. At lunch time, the diet can be supplemented with boiled eggs. It's just too bad he didn't save me from starvation.

Kefir unloading day

Kefir can compete with cucumbers in popularity. Much has been written about the product's beneficial properties, the most important of which is that it is available all year round, helps normalize blood pressure, is effective in preventing atherosclerosis and, of course, normalizes the digestive system.

The fat-free kefir monodiet will be the most effective. The unloading method is extremely simple: drink 1-2 glasses of kefir every 2-3 hours. By the middle of the day, the product has had enough of the order. For taste, you can crumble dill or parsley, for the sake of variety, don't drink it, but eat it with a spoon. If you want to eat between meals (you definitely want to), you can drink a glass of water. And if the feeling of hunger is very strong, a tablespoon of wheat bran, an unsweetened vegetable or fruit will help to kill it.

There are many options for unloading kefir. Kefir is often combined with vegetables, lean meats or honey. "Full" unloading days for kefir weight loss are perfect for people with weak willpower and those with certain health conditions.

Apple unloading day

Apple is a slowly digestible, low-calorie fruit. It contains 85% water, and the remaining 15% is a storehouse of valuable vitamins and minerals, and it is not for nothing that they are called "rejuvenating". Apples are affordable and healthy, increase immunity, contain antioxidants, regulate the intestinal microflora and promote fat burning. The one-day apple dietit is also called a fasting day for abdominal slimming. But there are two sides to every coin. Apples cause swelling, and a strict apple diet is absolutely contraindicated in diseases of the digestive system (gastritis, ulcers, excessive acidity, dyskinesia of the biliary tract). In these cases, the use of baked apples is allowed.

Let's start by explaining the simplest version of apple loading, which will require a few kilograms of apples.

The procedure is as follows: 2 kg of green, unsweetened apples are divided into 5-6 portions or eaten one at a time approximately every hour.

You can eat the fruits fresh or fried, or you can combine them. It is worth using sour apples, but it can increase your appetite.

If it's hard to stick with just apples, try malolactic unloading. You may eat 1. 5 kg of apples and 500 g of fat-free cottage cheese or drink 1. 5 liters of kefir per day.

Unloading day on buckwheat

It probably goes without saying that buckwheat is incredibly healthy, containing trace elements, vitamins and amino acids. In this case, it is more important that the cereals are rich in dietary fiber, which improves digestion, helps restore normal functioning and cleans the intestines. Like many other grains, buckwheat belongs to foods with a low glycemic index, so it suppresses the feeling of hunger for a long time.

It is worth preparing for unloading the buckwheat the day before. A cup of grain (about 250 g) is poured into a small pan, poured with boiling water (0. 5 liters), covered with a lid and left overnight. Of course, without salt, but we can add greens as a spice. In the morning, the porridge is divided into 4-5 portions. By the way, it is better to use green buckwheat, not roasted brown. In this, according to experts, all nutrients are preserved. If the feeling of hunger has worsened, you can have a snack with a green apple, but it is better to drink water.

Unloading day for rice

One of the most effective is the rice fasting day. It is good because it has practically no contraindications. The main problem is the likelihood of constipation. Therefore, it is better not to lay out the rice for those who suffer from hemorrhoids or irregular stools. It is worth drinking laxative teas after meals, and starting the next morning with kefir and fresh vegetables. In the intestines, grains act as sorbents, absorbing water and toxins, which are then removed from the body.

To prepare the right rice porridge, take 350-400 grams of low-calorie brown rice and 0. 5 liters of water. First, the grain must be soaked in water for several hours. The grains are half cooked. All porridge (up to 1 kg) is divided into portions. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids, maybe water, green tea, herbal teas.

A comparative overview of popular fasting days

The table shows an exemplary menu for each of the fasting days described above ("full" option).

Type of unloading day		cucumber	Apple	Kefir	Buckwheat	Rice
8-00	Breakfast	2 cucumbers + 50 gr. cooked meat	2-3 apples + a glass of kefir	1-2 cups of kefir	100 g of steamed buckwheat + cucumber or tomato	200 g of rice + a cup of green tea
11-00	Snack	2 cucumbers + green tea or fruit juice	2-3 apples + 100 g of any porridge	200 g of any vegetable	100 g of steamed buckwheat	200 g of rice + 50 g of fish or meat
14-00	Dinner	2 cucumbers + boiled eggs or 100 g of rice porridge	2 baked apples + fresh cucumber salad with a spoonful of stir-fry. oils	1-2 cups of kefir + 50 g of lean meat	100 g buckwheat + 50 g meat	200 g of rice + 1 fresh carrot
17-00	Snack	Cucumber and apple smoothie with lemon juice	2-3 apples + 1 banana	1 glass of kefir + banana	100 g buckwheat + apple or ½ grapefruit	200 g of rice + a glass of fruit juice
20-00	Dinner	2 cucumbers + a glass of kefir	2-3 apples + 100 g cottage cheese	1-2 cups of kefir	100 g of steamed buckwheat	200 g of rice + 1 glass of kefir

Coffee on fasting days

Coffee lovers are probably concerned with the question: is it possible to drink coffee these days, or to organize a "coffee break" at all. According to nutritionists, 1-2 cups of the drink is only good. In this case, the cup of coffee should not be equal to the bowl of soup. The recommended volume is 90-120 ml Of course, the coffee must be natural without sugar or cream, but you can add sweetener or skimmed milk.

Coffee lovers did not want to limit themselves in any way and developed their own version of the diet. The daily fasting menu for weight loss is extremely simple - 5-6 cups of coffee at regular intervals. You can also eat fresh fruits and vegetables. The amount of other liquids should be limited. Many reviews say that they lost up to 3 kg after such a day. The only pity is that this "weight loss" is deceptive. Coffee is a diuretic. During the day, instead of the prescribed 2 liters, they drink about one liter, and much more is excreted from the body. The scales basically only show the weight of the lost water. But the big problem is that an already stressful situation for the body is aggravated by the heavy load on the heart and kidneys.

The conclusion is simple: it is not desirable, and even dangerous, to organize coffee fasting days, but it will be useful to supplement the unloading with 1-2 cups of natural coffee. The point is to drink plenty of fluids.

Useful tips

Tips compiled based on many opinions, but they can be used just as well for any type of unloading.

• The days of the hunger strike will be much easier if you spend them on your favorite foods (but not on cookies and sweets).
• On fasting days, it is recommended to supplement the diet with herbal decoctions. We can use ready-made herbal teas for weight loss. They usually have a complex effect, they have a laxative, fat-burning, cleansing, appetite-reducing, diuretic and choleretic effect.
• You don't have to do everything at once and combine diet with physical activity in one day. But the breathing exercises will be just like that.
• If it is difficult to maintain five meals a day, the daily dose can be divided into several meals.
• Avoid sugar, salt and spices completely.

Dump days for weight loss produce different results. In the reviews, it is often written that they lose up to 2 kg per day. Anyone who is attracted to this number should understand that it is not 2 kg of body fat that is being lost! Excess fluid with toxins and "food debris", half-digested food that accumulates on the intestinal wall, leaves. You can't even lose 1 kg a day. With the strictest water release, you can get rid of a maximum of 100-200 grams of fat.