My eat clean plan consists of combining intermittent fasting with a plant-based food plan. I follow the pescatarian food plan which is plant-based with fish. Intermittent fasting tells me when to eat. Pescatarian tells me what to eat.

I have used the 16/8 intermittent fasting program since 2015. It has been the foundation to losing my cravings, planning my food choices, and helping me lose some weight that I have kept off. the 16/8 plan means that I fast for 16 hours and do my eating over a 8 hour period. I generally eat from 11 Am to 7 PM. I have lists for the food I eat of the protein, fiber, carbohydrates, and calories in each food. Because I am 80 years old, I need protein=60 grams , fiber=21+ grams, carbohydrates=215–311 grams, and fat= 43–74 grams. I also keep an eye on the calories I eat but my main focus is that I am eating the daily nutrition needed for my age, and weight.

From What is Intermittent Fasting? Here’s What You Need to Know, According to a Nutritionist:

“Intermittent fasting generally describes a simple concept: You can eat pretty much whatever you want, but only during a specific period of time. There are few common schedules that IF proponents follow, according to the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:

Time-restricted fasting: This schedule, which includes the popular 16:8 method, has you fasting for about 16 hours per day and eating within an eight-hour window. Most people do this by starting their fast at night, skipping breakfast, and eating their first meal around lunchtime. That gives them another seven or so hours to feed themselves until tomorrow.

Modified fasting: This option, commonly known as the 5:2 diet, allows you to eat about 25% of your recommended calorie needs on two fasting days each week and eat without restriction on the other five days.

Alternate fasting: In this less regimented style, you switch between periods of consuming zero-calorie beverages and actual eating. Some fans follow a high-fat or ketogenic diet on their days off from fasting. The fasts can end after less than 12 hours, while others can stretch as long as a full week! The Eat-Stop-Eat method, for example, calls for a 24-hour fast once or twice a week.”

From A Year of Plant-Based Life:

A year ago, my husband and I embarked on a new and exciting adventure with food. We dropped meat and dairy from our diets in an attempt to become as healthy as we could.

Saying it like this makes it sound like it was some big leap of a decision that we made overnight. But for a year before that, we were already dropping foods from our diets and researching how to eat healthy. Because despite there being a thousand weight loss and exercise programs out there, it seems to me that very very few of us really know what eating healthy means.

I struggled with my weight and my health for most of my life. I would always claim, “I eat pretty healthy,” or admit that I just needed to exercise more. By even when I did “eat healthy,” I didn’t see real results. And I sure as heck didn’t feel great. I mostly lost weight from extremely stressful times when I could barely eat anything at all. Or from illness. Even the year of my life that I ran 20–25 miles a week didn’t help me get the results I was looking for. Weight loss and “being healthy” always seemed to be some big secret that I wasn’t privy to…..

Without ever being hungry, we both lost weight and immediately began to feel so much better. Without having to eat bland boring diets (or dangerous fad diets) we both got thinner than we’ve ever been. And unlike all the other times in our lives that we’d lost weight, we did all of this without exercise. And without ever feeling deprived or bored or hungry, because we eat a huge variety of nutrient-rich and filling foods. Real foods. Fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils. Whole foods.