Amanda Hamilton - Eat, Fast, Slim: The Life-Changing Fasting Diet for Amazing Weight Loss and Optimum Health

EAT,
FAST,
SLIM

The Life-Changing Fasting Diet
for Amazing Weight Loss and Optimum Health

AMANDA HAMILTON

FOREWORD

We are all consuming more and doing less. The food we eat is higher in energy than ever, and we are eating more of it, more often. On average we are each taking in over 500 more calories a day than we did 30 years ago. Combine this with our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and we have a recipe for weight gain and ill health.

In my practice I am already seeing the impact of this on my patients and dont be lulled into thinking that this is just about the few unfortunate individuals at the extreme end of the scale who are the focus of various provocative TV documentaries on obesity. This is about the majority of the population. People with a normal body weight are now in the minority in the UK, with nearly two-thirds of us overweight or obese. And the implications for our health are enormous. Being overweight is not just about what dress size you take or being a bit out of shape excess weight is a major risk factor for serious and even life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

But even these significant physical consequences underestimate the full impact that the rising tide of obesity is having. In my experience the damage done beneath the surface shrinking self-esteem, ruined relationships and thwarted ambition is equally destructive. The resulting mental health problems then perpetuate unhealthy habits in a vicious spiral that often feels impossible to break. The cost of obesity to the NHS is a staggering 5bn each year but the true financial impact of this epidemic in terms of the countrys economic development is likely to be significantly higher. And, unlike most other outbreaks of disease, this tidal wave shows little sign of subsiding.

So, what is the solution? Well, contrary to popular belief the answer does not lie with the health service, government ministers or even the food industry although of course they all play their part. It sits with each and every one of us. This is a collective problem with an individual solution. But where do we start? Almost every day we hear of some new diet plan or exercise regime all making dramatic claims about how they will change our lives. Whilst each one may have some validity, the sheer volume of options feels bewildering, and with many of them giving conflicting advice who are we to believe? The resulting confusion fuels our apathy we spend our time window shopping, absorbed in the theory of weight loss, perhaps trying a couple of dieting methods on for size and then, when nothing seems to happen immediately, we lose confidence in our own ability to change.

In Eat, Fast, Slim Amanda offers an antidote to our ambivalence. Through intermittent and juice fasting she has identified a method by which we can all reconnect with our bodies, moderate our food intake, increase our energy levels and become more active, healthy and happy as a result. By using this tried- and increasingly well-tested approach Amanda has seen significant changes in her own life and that of her clients. But, like all good scientists, Amanda also understands that her experience alone is not enough. Unlike so many other new health trends, Amanda makes no over-inflated claims regarding fasting, her approach is pragmatic and balanced just like the diets she recommends. Throughout the book she draws upon the latest scientific evidence on fasting giving her conclusions real credibility and allowing us all to be confident in the approach she recommends and the results it offers.

Amanda brings to the pages of this book an absolute wealth of knowledge and experience. She is not evangelical, there is no attempt to convince us or convert us rather she is simply sharing with us what she has learned, empowering us with the information we need to make up our own minds, and offering us the tools we need to apply this approach to our lives should we wish to do so.

This book is an authentic account of many years of personal experience written by an inquisitive, rigorous healthcare practitioner with a clear understanding of the real world and the challenges we all face in our daily lives. It is incredibly timely, we all need to do something to rebalance the excesses of modern life and I, for one, am looking forward to giving it a go.

Dr Jonty Heaversedge
GP, author and broadcaster

LESS IS MORE

This is a book that I had to write. When I learned to fast, and how to harness the power of fasting, it challenged everything Id ever read about how to eat, how to preserve health and how to stay in shape.

Fasting makes things really simple. It is scientifically proven to slow ageing and boost health and is something that every human being does instinctively, only most of us have forgotten how. Another plus is that fasting wont cost you anything its time rather than money thats needed. The techniques that inspired modern day fasting might well date back millennia but fasting has never been more needed than right here, right now.

In this book I will be providing persuasive arguments in favour of fasting, backed up by scientific research, and plenty of practical advice. Dont worry, though Im not a finger-wagging, matron type. I know that healthy habits must be fun in order to be achievable in the long term so all the science is presented alongside a hefty dose of real life.

When you first get into fasting, it can be hard to figure out which technique will suit you best so Ill help you to navigate your way through the fasting world. Broadly speaking, there are the intermittent fasts (what I calllifestylefasts) and juice fasts although, increasingly, fasts are becoming known according to their duration in hours or days 16/8, 5/2, alternate day and so on. Most are do-able even for someone with only a faint whiff of interest in healthy living, but some require caution. In this book I only feature the techniques that make the grade in terms of scientifically referenced benefits and practical application.

I will also explain why men and women should approach fasting differently, and how best to use fasting for fat loss. Ill tell you how to use fasting to enhance mental and physical performance, and explain how even subtle changes in eating habits can prolong your life.

But before we begin, let me share a little story with you after all, the idea of learning not to eat, rather than advice on what to eat, might sound a bit ridiculous coming from someone who has made a career as a nutritionist!

When I first started working with fasting after learning the technique during a trip to India (more about that later), I couldnt explain the dramatic results I was experiencing it all seemed like a happy accident. News of my success with fasting spread by word of mouth and soon there was a steady stream of customers in my nutrition clinic. I knew I was onto something really special and that when Id acted on gut feelings in the past, things had turned out well and so I ended up following my dream by moving to Spain to set up a juice detox retreat based on fasting. I quite literally moved my entire life and worldly belongings to a one-donkey town in the mountains of Andalusia.

Indeed, most of my friends thought it was either an early mid-life crisis (I was only 27 years old) or there was a man involved. Neither was true. I simply believe that fortune favours the brave and I felt utterly compelled to follow the idea through to fruition. One year later, my fasting retreat became the subject of a reality television show that documented the incredible results. It ended up being shown in 22 countries around the world and the rest, as they say, is history. If that isnt incredible enough, listen to what happened next