There are a lot of ways on how to lose weight. Many people are looking for the easiest and fastest way to keep slim and maintain their weight. I’m going to talk about what we call Intermittent Fasting.
Intermittent Fasting has been gaining its popularity for the past years. A lot of people are trying it because of its convenience. It has significant benefits and will help you lose weight that can save time and money.
In this article, let us find out why Intermittent Fasting is a real deal when it comes to losing weight. It will serve as a beginner’s guide if you want to know everything about Intermittent Fasting.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent Fasting is an eating pattern where you schedule your meals. It is not about the amount of food that you need to cut off. It will manage when you eat to help you lose weight.
The amount of calories that you take doesn’t matter if you want to get lean and slim. What is essential is when you eat your meals. It is a simple strategy that you can do easily compared to other weight-loss diets that won’t make a difference.
Intermittent Fasting is not starvation because you need to control when you eat. As you know, starvation can lead to death because of the absence of food for a long time, but with Intermittent Fasting does otherwise. It would help you get lean and lose weight but with adequate amounts of energy that you got from food that you ate a few hours or days ago.
Why Use Intermittent Fasting?
People can survive with just a small amount of food every day but will not get the same nutrients if you do this for a long time. Our body still needs enough food to make nutrients and sustain our energy.
Intermittent Fasting is a beneficial strategy for people who want to keep it simple. You don’t need to punish yourself by not eating the food you love. Sometimes, you are doing it unconsciously too when you eat once a day when you’re too busy with work. Intermittent Fasting is a healthy way to lose weight because you still get to eat what you want but just in a controlled manner. You also don’t need to stress about the number of calories you take in every meal because these calories will burn whenever you fast.
Intermittent Fasting is the oldest and powerful way when it comes to dietary intervention. It is an effective way to lose weight. Not only that, it comes with benefits that I will discuss to you further in this article.
How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?
Before you get into Intermittent Fasting you first need to understand how it works. It would be best if you know the difference between what you’ve eaten called fed state and when you’ve fasted the fasted state.
Fed state is when your body is digesting and absorbing food. It could last from three to five hours for your food to be digested and absorbed by your body. Your body won’t be able to burn fat because of the level of insulin, which is high.
Your body will enter a postabsorptive state where your body isn’t processing any food because you’re not eating anything. It will last for eight to twelve hours after your last meal, and then your body will enter the fasted state. Your body will be able to burn fat this time because of the low level of your insulin.
We usually eat three times a day, and sometimes we even have snacks in between. It is rare for us to go through a fasted state because our body keeps absorbing the food whenever we eat, which is all the time. If you start with Intermittent Fasting, you don’t need to change the way you eat and how much you eat. You need to put your body in a fat-burning state so you can lose weight.
How Effective Is It For Weight Loss?
There is a study in 2017 that suggests Intermittent Fasting leads to weight loss in men who are obese compared to being in a calorie restriction diet.
Other research also suggests that people who followed the 16:8 approach of intermittent Fasting for 8 weeks showed decreased fat mass but maintained their muscles. However, not all of the research has a good result because another study proves a little difference with weight loss from people who participated in the alternate-day fasting.
So in conclusion, not all of the approach in Intermittent Fasting is effective.
Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
Aside from weight loss, there are more benefits to your body when you go with the Intermittent Fasting.
Here are the following:
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It can increase fat burning
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It can lower blood insulin and sugar levels
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It may improve mental clarity and concentration
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It may increase energy
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It may improve your blood cholesterol profile
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It may reduce inflammation
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It may prolong life
How To Do Intermittent Fasting?
There are different ways to do intermittent Fasting. It is up to you which one would best suit your lifestyle.
16:8 Method
16:8 intermittent fasting method requires you to have a daily fast of 16 hours. You need to eat all your meals within the 8 hours. You can do it daily.
20:4 Method
The 20:4 method only has a 4-hour eating window, and you need to have a 20 hour fast. In able to do this, it would be advisable to have one large meal or maybe two smaller meals because it involves much longer fasting.
24-hour Fast
The 24-hour intermittent fasting means you get to eat one dinner or lunch a day. It is called “one meal a day”. You may do it two to three times a week.
5:2 Fast
In the 5:2 intermittent Fasting you can eat regularly for five days and go into Fasting for two days. You are only allowed to eat about 500 calories of food every day.
36-hour Fasts
The 36-hour intermittent fasting involves eating one meal on day 1 and won’t eat until day three to make up a 36-hour fasting.
It is not advisable to fast for more than 14 days because it can cause a lot of concern with your body. It would be best if you still had the right nutrients and eating food or drinking fluids and minerals to keep your energy level up.
Final Thoughts
When you think of fasting, the first thought that comes out of your head is starving yourself. Intermittent Fasting isn’t like that. If you made it to the end of this article, I’m sure you will know that it isn’t starvation.
I have tried Intermittent Fasting myself, and I usually do it if I feel that my tummy is getting bloated from all the eating I’ve been doing. If you want to go ahead with this kind of diet to lose some undesirable fats and weight, then I suggest you should look into what sort of Intermittent Fasting will fit and doable to the lifestyle that you have.
