Martin Clunes' easy diet plan that helped him lose three stone in just three months
Martin Clunes, the cherished 63-year -ld star known for his role in 'Doc Martin', has astounded admirers with a staggering three-stone weight loss in just three months. The secret behind this impressive transformation?
It's the '5:2 diet', which Clunes highlighted during an open discussion.
The actor got real about his past issues concerning weight, confessing, "I was fat – and while I was getting heavy, I had tired knees and stuff," before divulging his successful diet switch-up, "So I thought I'd try that diet and the weight came off."
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The '5:2 diet' or 'The Fast Diet', introduced by the esteemed and late television doctor Michael Mosley, is a straightforward routine of eating normally for five days and cutting back on calories for two, sometimes known as 'fasting days'. According to Healthline experts, this diet is flexible: "You can choose whichever two days of the week you prefer, as long as there is at least one non-fasting day in between them."
On fasting days, the recommendation for women is 500 calories, whereas men are advised to consume 600. A typical example would be fasting on Mondays and Thursdays with small meals, then eating regular meals the rest of the week, reports the Mirror.
Yet, Clunes took his regimen a notch higher by introducing what he calls 6:1 fasting days, all whilst reaping substantial health improvements, including reduced cholesterol levels.
Fasting diets have also gained popularity among celebrities like Benedict Cumberbatch and Jennifer Aniston. "It's easy and seems to keep the weight off me," Martin revealed in a candid conversation from 2017.
This approach is not just limited to the stars, as even the residents of the world's enigmatic 'Blue Zones' - areas known for their high percentage of long-lived residents - practice a form of calorie restriction. They follow the '80% trick', where they eat a modest meal later in the day and deliberately stop when they're 80% full, hence the name.
Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Pharmacy previously shared her expertise with the Mirror, advising: "Imagine what 80% of your meal would look like, and aim to leave 20% behind."
She explained the potential benefits of cutting calories, stating: "Calorie restriction is believed to slow the ageing process. Eating less lowers the metabolic rate. With less metabolic processes underway, less oxidation is taking place. Oxidative stress probably underpins the development of many of the chronic diseases we see today – heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes and dementia."
(Image: BBC)
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