If you’re on a quest to boost your health, one woman claims she holds the secret – and it’s all about when you start eating.
Gracie Fontaine, who shares her content on TikTok under the handle @gracizzlefontizzle, revealed her daily diet “as someone who intermittently fasts for weight loss”.
Bupa defines intermittent fasting as “when you go for extended periods of time without eating. This is followed by a period of eating normally.
“Intermittent fasting is a way of mimicking more traditional eating patterns.” According to the website, our “ancestors would have eaten like this, not because of choice, but because of food availability.”
Gracie shared she “kicked off with two slices of sourdough bread, two scrambled eggs on top, and then some Trader Joe’s hot sauce”. She claimed this “hits the spot” – but her trick is she doesn’t commence eating until after midday.
When she consumed the egg on toast, it was 12.35pm, and her last meal of the day was roughly at 7pm.
This aligns with the 16:8 method of intermittent fasting, where you consume food “during an eight-hour window and fast for 16 hours”.
However, you can “drink water, milk, tea or coffee during the remaining time”.
But what makes fasting effective?
It provides your “body a break from digesting food” and can also “have positive impacts on your blood sugar levels, which could be beneficial if you have pre-diabetes or type-2 diabetes”.
For lunch, Gracie opted for a “strawberry and banana protein smoothie” at 3.50pm, which proved sufficient as she wasn’t particularly hungry.
As the British Heart Foundation explains, proteins are known as the building blocks of life as they break down into amino acids that help the body grow and repair. Our hair, skin and muscle are all made from the protein we eat.
Gracie then prepared dinner, consisting of a quarter cup of white rice and half a cup of grilled chicken cooked in a pan, mixed together then accompanied by protein chips for added crunch.
To round off the evening, Gracie indulged in a sweet treat – a single candy cluster from Trader Joe’s, which she described as “so good”. With that, her eating for the day came to a close, and wouldn’t munch again until the same time the following day.
In the comments section, one person wrote: “You inspired me to start doing this, and I’ve been doing it for a week straight.” Gracie responded: “Yay, I’m proud of you.”
However, another commenter expressed concerns about the portion sizes, saying: “I feel like I would be starving with that little bit of rice and chicken. Omg.”