HOW ABOUT eating all you want for six mornings and on the seventh day - any day you choose - fasting for at least half the day?
Do this, says Dr. Robert Robinson, and watch the pounds peel away.
Dr. Robinson, who has a medical practice in Kingston and May Pen, Clarendon, said that he has been testing this diet with his patients since April 2003 and has a track record to prove that it works.
Dr. Robinson, a specialist in internal medicine and a Baptist, takes no credit for developing this diet. Instead, he points to the Bible (Exodus chapter 16) as the salvation for those burdened with extra flesh.
One patient lost more than 100 pounds in a year on the sabbatical diet, he said. Another lost 20 pounds in two months.
One can speed up the fat burning process by fasting for the entire seventh day and exercising. He noted that fasting (half or full day) should be done on the day that one is least active.
The sabbatical diet can help to control lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Dr. Robinson has also written a book, Sabbatical Diet, which is expected to be on bookshelves by September.
WHY SABBATICAL DIET WORKS?
The body has two modes of operation, says Dr. Robinson - spendthrift and conservative modes. Spendthrift mode uses up fat and builds muscles, while the conservative mode stores fat and breaks down muscles and cuts demands.
Your morning intake acts as a guide as to whether the body goes into a spendthrift or conservative mode.
Hence, if you eat heavily in the morning, the body will go into the spendthrift mode, thinking that there is a lot to have. Therefore the time when you eat (have your heaviest meal) is important as the brain makes the decision to go into spendthrift mode in the morning.
However, every system has to have a balance, therefore one day you need to allow the system to rest by going into the conservative mode.
The result is, six-seventh of the body is going to be lean body mass and one-seventh fat - about 15 per cent. This is the ideal body structure.
