Intermittent Fasting: How It Can Help You Lose Weight And Even Save Money
My experience with fasting revealed some surprising benefits, including fewer potentially risky trips to the grocery store.
Is it time to eat yet?
By now you’ve probably heard of intermittent fasting, arguably the hottest health trend of the last couple years. It’s been heralded as not only a foolproof weight-loss method, but also a potential cure for things like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, poor sleep, insulin resistance, even cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. A 2019 study in The New England Journal of Medicine links fasting to “increased stress resistance, increased longevity and a decreased incidence of diseases, including cancer and obesity.”
Want to learn more? And maybe try it yourself? Here’s everything you need to know about intermittent fasting , including some of my own experiences with it.
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Editors’ note: You should always consult with a doctor before making changes to your diet or eating behaviors.
Read more: The health risks of intermittent fasting: It’s not for everyone
Intermittent Fasting Rule #: High Fat And Hight Protein On Rest Days
You cant be afraid of eating fat. No, Im not telling you to turn keto overnight. I want you to get comfortable with adding fats to your life. I want you to see that you can survive on low-carbs if needed.
I naturally want you to save the carbs for cheat days and for after an intense training session. You can reward yourself for a heavy session with carbs.
Is Intermittent Fasting A Sustainable Way To Lose Weight
There are also downsides to intermittent fasting. Not all fasting regimes are beneficial and for some, it may lead to headaches, problems concentrating, irritability and feeling faint and tired. It can also be easy to overeat during non-fasting periods too. This is because the hormones linked to appetite and hunger can go into overdrive when you are deprived of food.
It may also be more beneficial to concentrate on eating a balanced diet with plenty of fibre, fruit and vegetables, rather than fasting. “One diet is not right for everyone and the diet may not be sustainable,” says Hall. “There is a lack of long-term studies at present and smaller healthy changes may be more sustainable than a restricted diet.”
Additionally, recent research has suggested that the time in which you eat may be more important than the time spent fasting. Earlier this year, researchers at Northwestern University discovered those who started eating before 8:30 am had lower blood sugar levels and less insulin resistance, which could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
It’s also important to note that intermittent fasting can lead to an unhealthy focus on diet and eating habits too. It can be easy for diet regimes to become all-encompassing, which can lead to disordered eating and anxiety. “For those who have a history of eating disorders, any restrictive diet may be triggering for an eating disorder recurrence,” says Hall.
Read Also: What Is Intermittent Fasting Weight Loss
How Much You Exercise
Some people lose weight through diet alone, but a combination of healthy eating and exercise can lead to more weight loss. Wed recommend exercising during your non-fasting periods, at least at first. Then you might try fasted cardio or other fasted exercise.
The jury is still out on whether your body burns more fat when you exercise on an empty stomach, but some experts believe that you do. The Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism in a 2016 report writes about a group of participants that fasted for 8 to 12 hours and then exercised. The study suggests that you could burn fat at a high rate of 20 percent.
Even if you dont burn more fat, you do torch calories by exercising, and that will help in your weight loss efforts.
Where Do You See The Potential Dangers Of Fasting
As always: the dose makes the poison. Any hype and misunderstood ambition takes away the joy and can cause harm by possibly becoming a eating disorder can develop. Shorter but regular breaks are more effective in the long term than frequent starvation diets lasting several days without therapeutic guidance.
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Lessons Learned From 1 Year Of Intermittent Fasting
1. The biggest barrier is your own mind.
Implementing this diet is pretty simple, you just don’t eat when you wake up. Then you eat and lunch and go about your day. At least, that’s how I do it.
But there is a mental barrier to get over. If I don’t eat will I not be able to think? Will I faint? Will I feel sick? What will it be like? These are all thoughts that went through my mind before I started.
What ended up happening? Nothing. Life went on just fine.
Thinking you need to eat every 3 hours or six meals a day or always have breakfast or whatever it is that youre convinced you have to do to survive is all mental. You believe it because you were told it, not because you actually tried it.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed that separates successful people from unsuccessful ones in life it’s not just the ability to think differently, but the ability to act differently as well.
2. Losing weight is easy.
When you eat less frequently you tend to eat less overall. As a result, most people who try intermittent fasting end up cutting weight. You might plan big meals, but consistently eating them is difficult in practice.
Most people lose weight while intermittent fasting because when they cut out meals, they don’t make up for it with bigger meal sizes.
3. Building muscle is quite possible .
I have managed to gain weight while intermittent fasting , but only because I have focused on eating a lot during my feeding period.
5. For best results, cycle what you eat.
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How To Stay Focused
With so many resources pertaining to intermittent fasting, not all the information you find online can be trusted. Poorly informed or false sources can give IF a bad rep, which Krystal felt firsthand.
The biggest challenge is probably other peoples perceptions of fasting and overcoming the idea that not eating is dangerous or an eating disorder, said Krystal. Ive found that having information about why I do what I do helps me stay focused.
So If Im *not* Losing Weight With If Whats The Problem
There could be a few reasons. Here are 12 intermittent fasting mistakes that you might be making, and how to fix them.
1. Youre eating too much during your eating window.
As mentioned, in general, Weight loss essentially boils down to calories in versus calories out, reminds Martin. If you end up consuming the same number of calories during your eating windows as before you started intermittent fasting, then you wont lose weight.
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In other words, if you just pack all of the calories you’d normally eat into your eating window, you’re not really changing your diet at all.
How to fix it: Try a calorie-counting app. “Although I dont typically recommend calorie counting, it may help to track your caloric intake for a few days using a calorie-tracking app,” says Martin. “These apps will usually tell you the approximate daily calorie amount you need to be at in order to lose weight. Although these estimations are usually off, they can be used as a good starting point.” The app can also reveal meals or specific foods that have more calories than you’d expect, and you can adjust your diet accordingly.
2. You are not consuming enough calories on non-fasting days.
When you dont consume an adequate amount of calories on non-fasting days, your body may conserve the energy you consume, rather than burning it, says Smith.
3. Youre eating less-nutritious foods.
Read Also: What To Expect When You Start Intermittent Fasting
Keep Your Meal Nourishing
Include a lot of healthy fats, protein and fresh vegetables in your meals while following intermittent fasting. You can also include healthy carbs from foods like brown rice, sweet potatoes etc. Carbs are good for your body and will provide you with the energy to tide over the calorie-deficit you are going to create for the rest of the day.
How To Lose Weight Fast With Exercise Running
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How Fasting Accelerates Fat Loss
Intermittent fasting almost invariably produces a calorie deficit, but it also creates ideal circumstances for fat burningbecause it increases your insulin sensitivity. When you fast, your insulin levels drop, which makes it easier for your body to access your stored fat. Thats how your body opts to use fat for energy, instead of muscle.
You might be familiar with this concept, because its the same reason why people adopt low-carb diets to shed fat. Eating low-carb will indeed lower your insulin levels, but the fact is that fasting will drop them even lower. This makes fasting more powerful for fat loss.
Another way fasting boosts fat loss is by increasing the amount of growth hormone your body produces. Studies have shown that production of GH can decrease your amount of body fat.
Finally, fasting has also been shown to increase production of norepinephrinethe fat burning hormone. The only catch? The study that showed this result was done on mice. Science hasnt determined yet if its also the case with humans.
Intermittent Fasting Can Help Women Lose Weight Fast
Intermittent fasting weight loss can occur rapidly when a woman first begins dieting. This is especially true for females who are extremely overweight and have at least 30 pounds to lose. The reason that this works so well is simple: girls are eating fewer calories when on an intermittent fasting plan. The key to ensuring that the plan works is to not overeat on days or windows of regular eating.
In essence, the fasting plans work just like a diet where you cut calories each day. The biggest difference with intermittent fasting plans is that these plans make it easier to cut the calories . The dieter doesnt have to count calories, figure out which food is good and which is bad, or figure out anything for that matter. They simply eat regularly and then dont eat. Simplicity is what makes this diet method effective.
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How Much Weight You Might Lose On Keto
First, lets delve into your weight loss potential on keto. The journal Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy in a 2014 publication reported that of 349 participants, the average amount of weight loss for keto dieters was 26.2 pounds in two years.
The participants all had type 2 diabetes, which can make it more difficult to lose weight. Thus, a keto dieter whos not a diabetic might lose weight at a greater rate in the same amount of time. After all, within the first week of keto, some dieters report shedding as much as 10 pounds. This is all water weight though and the weight loss doesnt continue at such a rate further into the diet.
In 2013, the British Journal of Nutrition studied the effects of keto dieting on weight loss. One group of participants in their study consumed no more than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. The other group was on a low-fat diet. The weight loss potential was greater for keto dieters by 2 pounds.
Thats about as much weight as you should lose on the keto diet per week. Some dieters might drop a pound a week on keto as well, which is normal.
Benefits Of A Whole Food Diet
In a 2014 analysis by Yale University, they concluded that a diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants, is decisively associated with health promotion and disease prevention.
A diet rich in fruit and vegetables or other high-fiber foods like whole grains and nuts is really important in maintaining good long-term health and preventing health problems like diabetes and cancers. These kinds of foods also help our bodies to cope and control the effects of inflammation.
In fact, one review from 2019 stated that diets high in plant foods could potentially prevent several million premature deaths each year if adopted globally. This is a big endorsement for a whole food diet.
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Intermittent Fasting Can Be Hard But Maybe It Doesnt Have To Be
Initial human studies that compared fasting every other day to eating less every day showed that both worked about equally for weight loss, though people struggled with the fasting days. So, I had written off IF as no better or worse than simply eating less, only far more uncomfortable. My advice was to just stick with the sensible, , diet.
New research is suggesting that not all IF approaches are the same, and some are actually very reasonable, effective, and sustainable, especially when combined with a nutritious plant-based diet. So Im prepared to take my lumps on this one .
We have evolved to be in sync with the day/night cycle, i.e., a circadian rhythm. Our metabolism has adapted to daytime food, nighttime sleep. Nighttime eating is well associated with a higher risk of obesity, as well as .
Based on this, researchers from the University of Alabama conducted a study with a small group of obese men with prediabetes. They compared a form of intermittent fasting called “early time-restricted feeding,” where all meals were fit into an early eight-hour period of the day ,or spread out over 12 hours . Both groups maintained their weight but after five weeks, the eight-hours group had dramatically lower insulin levels and significantly improved insulin sensitivity, as well as significantly lower blood pressure. The best part? The eight-hours group also had significantly decreased appetite. They werent starving.
Intermittent Fasting Rule #: High Protein And Carbs On Training Days
This is where I indulge a little. After an intense training session, I dont mind treating myself. I enjoy carbs after a solid lift. This is also how I justify pushing through those extra rounds on the mats and reps in the weight room. I know that a snack is coming. I know that I get to feast and not feel too guilty about it.
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