March 2023 - #112 - How Intermittent Fasting Works for Weight Loss

Hi Everybody and Welcome Back

Why am I the best Guinea pig to try so many trends and methods to lose weight?

Because I’ve got, what I call, the 20 to 25 pound struggle.

Sure, I put the work in and can lose the weight, but then sometimes I run into periods of time in my life where I let myself go and put it right back on again.

There have been two actions that have helped me from becoming obese. The first one is that I do try to eat healthy foods throughout the day to balance out my “not so healthy” choices.

The second is that I’m always trying many weight loss programs, not only for my own weight loss, but so I can also share the experience.

Now that takes me to intermittent fasting, which so far has been one of my best experiences by far, plus fasting is actually healthy for you if done correctly. I can see this method becoming a lifelong life style change for me.

So just as the name implies intermittent fasting is just that. There are periods in the day and/or night that we simply do not eat.

There are several ways to do this but my choice is the 16/8 method, because for me it is so much easier to do than any of the other suggestions offered. Everyone is different, so hopefully one of these will be appealing for you to try.

16/8 Method Means out of your 24 hour day choose 16 consecutive hours to fast.

This is my method of choice. I simply eat as usually until 5:00 p.m. and then I won’t eat till about 9 the next morning. It seems easier because I am sleeping for the majority of those hours making this routine fairly easy to manage and the least demanding. It works beautifully in helping with weight loss and I love that my stomach feels smaller.

5:2 Diet Method

This method means that during the week you eat normally for 5 days but fast the other 2 days. It is recommended that men can eat 600 calories and women 500 on those fasting days.

Which means, if you choose to fast on Tuesdays and Thursdays you can still have two small snacks that day that total 500 calories (600 for men).

Eat-Stop-Eat Method

This involves doing a 24 hour fast once or twice a week, whichever one you can manage.

You simply avoid eating for 24 hours straight.

Alternate-Day Fasting Method

Basically mean you fast every other day. You are allowed 500 calories during the fasting days.

Warrior Diet Method

This involves fasting during the day and eating one large meal in the evening, even though this method allows you to eat raw fruits and vegetables during the day before that large meal in the evening.

Meal Skipping Method

Try and skip a meal when possible.

What Can you Drink While Fasting?

When fasting, drinking water is your best choice because water helps cleanse the body of toxins. You can also have herbal, green or regular teas or black coffee. All these drinks must be natural and no sugar, sweeteners, cream or milk of any kind is allowed.

Tips while fasting:

Squeezing a little lemon or lime into your water will help curb your cravings.

Avoid artificially flavored or sweetened drinks. Sorry, but that includes diet sodas. Studies have shown that artificially sweetened drinks can stimulate your appetite.

Exercise if you can manage it.

Be diligent about portion size.

Avoid fatty, processed and sugary foods as much as possible.

How Much Weight Will I Lose?

Fasting for 16 – 20 hours a day can help you safely lose 1-4 pounds of fat a week.

Why is there such a gap in numbers?

Well there are lots of factors that can help speed up your weight loss progress.

Fasting alone will help you lose weight safely. But when you eat healthier meals, keep portion sizes moderate and add exercise to your daily routine in addition to the fasting, the pounds come off much faster.

The Truth about Feeling Hungry and Why It’s Good for You

When you are hungry your body is cleansing itself which aids in weight loss.

Do you every get that rumbling hungry feeling in your tummy? That feeling is actually a good thing.

When we have less food in our tummies our bodies are in cleaning mode. Toxins are being eliminated and calories are being burned. It’s always a good thing to be hungry for an hour or two if you can manage it.

Drinking water during this time is perfect. It helps the cleansing process, makes you feel full for a little while and water has no calories.

There have been countless medical studies proving that an animal’s life span is increased when their food intake was decreased.

The reason for this is that your body has a chance to better eliminate toxins when it doesn’t have to work so hard digesting large amounts of food that we eat.

A Little History

Take Dr. Clive McCay for example. He was a professor at Cornell University. He was best known for proving that restricting calorie intake increased the life span of rats. His studies showed that eating less promoted longevity.

In one experiment he took a group of rats and cut their food intake by half. The result was that those rats doubled their life span compared to the group of rats that ate twice as much. Similar studies have proven that this applies to humans as well. Less food intake slows down the aging process.

So what does all this mean? We don’t need to eat a lot; we just need to eat smart. This way our bodies efficiently use the nutrients it needs without long digestion and weight gain.

Who Should Avoid Fasting?

If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant

Children and adolescents who are still growing

People with diabetes

People with medical conditions should check with their doctor before taking part in any fasting program.

The link below is a video by “The Bright Side” to help summarize intermittent fasting techniques.

Intermittent Fasting Video by Bright Side

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