Diet Myth Or Truth: Fasting Is Effective For Weight Loss
Fasting is an age-old practice, often done for religious reasons, but fasting for weight loss is still capturing the public imagination. You can find dozens of do-it-yourself plans touting the unproven benefits of fasting, ranging from flushing “poisons” from the body to purging 30 pounds of fat in 30 days.
It’s true that fasting — that is, eating little to no food — will result in weight loss, at least in the short term. But the risks far outweigh any benefits, and ultimately, fasting can cause more harm than good.
Your Fasting Window Is Too Short
If you want to notice a difference in your body weight, your eating window during your intermittent fasting diet should be significantly less than normal.
If the difference between your eating window before and during intermittent fasting is only an hour or two, you might barely notice significant weight loss.
A 14-hour fasting window with a 10-hour eating window seems like a great place to start. However, if you find the 14 hours to be too long, you could start with a shorter fasting duration and work your way up.
Keep Fat Intake Moderate
When youre trying to drop pounds or kilos quickly, eating less fat may seem to make sense.
However, its not a good idea to eat a diet thats low in both carbs and fat. Youll likely end up feeling deprived within a few days or weeks and it certainly isnt sustainable long term.20Theres no need to fear fat.
That said, eating excessive amounts of fat isnt a good strategy for quick weight loss either. Even on a very-low-carb diet, eating more fat than your body needs can slow down rather than speed up weight loss.21
So dont add large amounts of butter, heavy cream, or other fat to your food. Also, avoid or minimize your intake of fat bombs and similar treats that provide very little protein or other nutrients.22
Instead, eat enough fat to add flavor and richness to your food but not so much that you feel stuffed. Let your body burn its stored fat rather than the fat you are eating.
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How To Start Your 30
There are no special and strict rules. You can create your own dietary pattern. For instance, you can start your fasting by sticking to the approach which is simpler for you. You can follow the 16/8 method for the first two weeks of your diet and change it to 5:2 for the last two weeks. Maybe for you it will be easier to make it vice versa, everything is up to you.
If you feel you have enough energy, you can include some light training sessions to your schedule even on fasting days. As it was mentioned above, it is important to break the fast correctly. You can choose some healthy meals and start from smaller portions. Meals high in protein and healthy fats will be perfect . Eggs, nuts, or oatmeal will be perfect in this case.
Remember that when it comes to dieting and weight loss, everything is quite individual. Listen to your body and choose methods and tools that are more effective and suitable for you.
Dont Pay Attention To Other Peoples Opinions
Your motivation, enthusiasm and desire to stick to this diet may be ruined by people around you. Your family members, colleagues, and friends, who take care for you, may try to stop you from sticking to such a diet. They are most likely afraid of possible consequences to your health. But if you are closely monitored by your doctor or dietitian everything should be fine. You can stick to your own opinion. Just remember to listen to your body and make your health the number one priority.
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Cut Your Carb Consumption
Refined carbs have been stripped of their nutrient and fiber content during processing, resulting in a final product that is nutrient-poor.
Whats more, they typically have a high glycemic index, which means that they are digested and absorbed quickly. Rapid digestion leads to spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels, followed by increased hunger .
Consuming high numbers of refined carbs has also been linked to increased body fat and weight gain.
For instance, one study in 2,834 people found that a higher intake of refined carbohydrates was associated with increased belly fat while a greater intake of whole grains was associated with less belly fat .
Another small study had similar findings, reporting that a diet rich in whole grains decreased both body weight and calorie intake compared to a diet focused on refined grains .
To get started, simply swap out refined grains in pastas, white breads, cereals and pre-packaged products for healthy, whole-grain alternatives such as couscous, quinoa, brown rice or barley.
Summary Refined carbs can increase hunger levels andmay be associated with increased belly fat and weight gain compared to wholegrains.
Chow Down In Sync With Your Circadian Clock
This is not the first research to show that the timing of meals can make a difference to our waistlines. As we’ve reported, a study several years back found that dieters who ate their main meal of the day before 3 p.m. lost about 5 pounds more than people who ate a dinner meal late in the evening.
And as scientists learn more, it’s clear that our bodies are timekeeping machines. Not only do we have a master clock in our brains, but there are also clocks in all the organs of our body from the pancreas to the stomach and liver.
Daylight is a main cue to reset our master clock each day, but it’s the first bite of food we take in the morning that may be an important cue to reset other clocks in our organs.
“When the timing of meals does not match with the sleep-wake cycle well, there’s a disconnect between the different clocks that we have in basically all the cells of our body,” Frank Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told us several years back.
“When the clocks in our body are out of sync,” our bodies don’t work as efficiently, and this may lead us to store more fat, explains Panda. “And over a long period of time, that can lead to Type 2 diabetes, obesity and increased risk for heart diseases,” Panda says.
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How Long Does Intermittent Fasting Take To Work
Updated on Medically reviewed byKimberly Langdon, MD
Picture this, you are new to intermittent fasting. Each day you climb the scale, looking for a difference in your body weight, yet the figures remain relatively the same.
Now, you are probably worrying. You might be wondering if you are doing it right. Knowing how soon to expect results with intermittent fasting might help you become more patient with this diet.
So, how long does it take?
Weightlifting To Burn Calories Quickly
Resistance training by lifting weights burns a lot of calories and helps to shed a lot of pounds very fast.
One of the reasons that weightlifting such as kettlebell or dumbbell workouts produces such quick results when losing weight is that they build muscle mass which increases metabolism and burns even more calories.
Research into the effects of weightlifting on quick weight loss found that intense workouts significantly increases muscle metabolism. The increase in your resting metabolic rate may actually help to burn more calories even when resting.
Please remember that before starting a weightlifting program of intense exercising, you should speak to your doctor to get advice on what type of exercise regime would be suitable for you.
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How Much Weight Can You Lose From Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is not a quick weight loss fix. It might take your body a few weeks to start shedding the extra pounds.
Do not expect to drop up to 20 pounds within your first week of intermittent fasting.
Like many diets, you need to remain consistent and make lifestyle changes to get results.
It might take a few weeks for you to drop your first pound from intermittent fasting. However, once you start, you can expect to lose about a pound each week. Some people can lose up to 10 pounds each month.
Therefore, your body type will determine your results.
Sleep To Drop Pounds Faster
Believe it or not, you can actually lose more weight by getting enough sleep at nighttime.
According to Dr. Melina Ratini on WebMD, sleep deprivation is connected with higher levels of obesity and weight gain. For example, individuals who are well-rested tend to crave less carb-laden snacks. Also, sleep helps to balance your hormones and this reduces fat by boosting your metabolism.16
Of course, daily anxieties and stress can make it difficult to fall asleep. However, there are many natural ways to help get to sleep and enjoy the health benefits of a good nights sleep. Here are some helpful tips to lose up to 10, 20, or even 30 pounds in a matter of weeks:
- Stop working at a computer or watching TV for at least an hour before going to bed.
- Wake up and go to bed at the same time every day, including on your days off.
- Avoid taking caffeinated drinks, chocolate, or alcohol before going to bed.
- Sleep in a dark room to help improve your sleep patterns.
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You Are Eating The Wrong Type Of Food
Many other diets come with a list of foods that you can and cannot eat. However, that is not how intermittent fasting works.
Intermittent fasting lets you eat anything you would like within a specific eating window.
Because intermittent fasting does not restrict your diet, it is easy to slip right into unhealthy feeding habits. Binging on unhealthy processed foods even if it is only in your eating window could be responsible for your slow results.
Stuffing too many calories during your eating periods is also counterproductive.
During your intermittent fast, consider changing your meal plan. Toss out the unhealthy processed food and switch to healthier options. Think of foods like whole grains that are rich in dietary fiber.
Furthermore, sugary foods could send your blood sugar levels through the roof and contribute to reduced insulin sensitivity.
Staying away from sugary foods protects you from sugar highs and the sugar crash that results after. It also helps keep your blood sugar within the normal range.
How Can I Suppress Hunger During Intermittent Fasting
Eat high-fiber foods, such as nuts, beans, fruits and vegetables, and high protein foods, including meat, fish, tofu, or nuts, during your eating window, Varady advised. Chewing high-fiber gummies can also help.
Drink lots of water. People tend to think they’re hungry, when they are really just thirsty, she said.
Go for black coffee or tea, or cinnamon or licorice herbal teas. These beverages may have appetite-suppressing effects, Varady noted.
Watch less TV: I know this sounds strange, but while you are watching TV, you are bombarded with dozens of ads for food. This can make you feel hungry, when in actuality, you are not hungry at all, she said.
Remember, being “a little hungry” is the best thing that can happen to you, wrote Madelyn Fernstrom, health and nutrition editor at NBC News, calling it a “true mind-body connection” that helps you recognize fullness.
Read Also: How Much Weight Can I Lose From Water Fasting
What Is Rapid Weight Loss
Theres no magic number that qualifies as rapid weight loss. Your weight, age and activity level determine what that term means for you.
Dont worry too much about the number of pounds you should lose. Instead, look at the diet plan youre following to lose weight. Extreme diets with lofty promises usually fall under the rapid weight loss category.
Avoid super restrictive diet plans because theyre difficult if not impossible to keep up over the long term, says Dr. Griebeler. If the diet plan isnt something you can stick to for months or years, its probably a fast weight loss plan. And those plans and gimmicks arent a healthy, sustainable way to lose weight.
A more moderate goal of losing 1 to 2 pounds per week tends to be more successful over the long haul.
How He Did Ithow One Man Lost 50 Pounds With : 2 Intermittent Fasting
She also fasted for 48 to 72 hours every week for about two months. Im not a medical doctor. I do have a Ph.D. in epidemiology, but I wouldnt recommend anybody do that without speaking to your doctor and doing your own research, she says.
She planned her daily meal for dinnertime so she and her family could all eat together, and she didnt restrict what she ate. Im Haitian and my husband is Nigerian, and we eat everything. I wasnt going to restrict my traditional foods, she says.
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Increase Daily Walking To Lose Weight Quicker
Walking more every day is a great way to shed as much as 20 pounds in two weeks.
According to research published in the International Journey of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, brisk walking for at least 30 minutes daily can help boost the effectiveness of a weight-loss plan.19
If you want to see quick result from your 30-day rapid weight loss program, you should ideally increase your walking to 10,000 steps a day. Here are some ideas how to increase walking to lose weight:
- Get off the bus or train a few stops earlier and walk the rest of the distance.
- Take the stairs rather than the elevator.
- Take a brisk walk at lunchtime to burn off lots of calories and clear your mind.
Your Metabolism Shifts To Low Gear
Your metabolism is your bodys calorie-burning process. And a metabolism thats out of whack can damage your bodys ability to keep the weight off.
When you lose weight too quickly, your body slows down its calorie-burning process, explains Dr. Griebeler. That is your bodys way of trying to ensure you dont starve. You might lose a good amount of weight right away, but your metabolism quickly goes into survival mode.
The change in your metabolism is a key reason why people regain weight after trying rapid weight loss plans. When you go back to eating a regular diet, your metabolism isnt used to that many calories and the pounds come back.
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How To Lose 30 Pounds In A Month: 30 Day Diet Plan For Fast Weight Loss
Jenny Hills, Nutritionist and Medical Writer Food & Nutrition
Many people who need to lose a lot of weight in a short space of time want to know how to lose 30 pounds in a month. The most effective 30 days diet plan can certainly help you lose weight rapidly in the first month. Trying to lose weight quickly in a month can be a great kick-start to keeping to a long-term diet plan that will keep weight off for good.
Although losing 20 or 30 lbs in 30 days sounds like a great idea, the reality is that an effective diet plan should help shed pounds safely in a controlled way. That is why the most effective 30 day diet plans for rapid weight loss include lifestyle changes, regular exercising, and staying physically active. You should also avoid unsafe methods that promise to lose 30lbs in a month without much effort.
If you are overweight or have health-related issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart problems, then trying to lose up to 30 pounds in 4 weeks is a great goal to have. However, its not always good to lose so much weight in such a short time. Sometimes, losing weight very quickly in the space of a few weeks can even create more health complications than it solves. Therefore, you should always speak to a qualified medical professional if you need to lose a lot of weight in a month.
Why You Dont Need A Detox Diet
It sounds logical that fasting could cleanse your body of harmful substances that could cause a host of ailments like obesity, fatigue, and headaches. But there is no scientific evidence that you need to fast to “cleanse” your body or remove toxins.
Your body – specifically, the kidneys, liver, lungs, colon, and skin — is perfectly capable of removing toxins itself.
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My Experience With Intermittent Fasting
I started IF in August 2018. At the time I weighed around 181, which is acceptable for a 6-foot male. But I’d been 175 for years, and suddenly it seemed I couldn’t control my eating. I didn’t like where my belly was headed.
After about two months, during which my fasting windows varied , I’d lost 10 pounds. Needless to say, I was pleased with that result and became pretty evangelical about IF. My excitement stemmed from not only the weight loss, but also the total lack of hardship. This didn’t feel like a diet it felt like a smart way to live.
In fact, I discovered that I really liked this WOE. When I was feeling a little hungry in the late morning? Just wait a bit longer, I told myself, your window opens soon. Then I’d busy myself with something and forget about it. And if I wanted a snack after 7 p.m.? Too bad, window’s closed for the day — but you can have it tomorrow.
I stuck with it for about 10 months, though I’ll admit I got frustrated at times. For one thing, I’d been hoping to lose another 5-10 pounds, and assuming they’d come off as easily as the first 10, but the scale held firm at 171.
Result: After four months , the scale shows 171. In the interim, I’ve eaten an almost embarrassing amount of food while my window was open. I don’t have a sugar monkey on my back I have a sugar gorilla. Nevertheless: I’m thinner. And I’m going to see if I can hit 165. This lifestyle — not diet, mind you — is a piece of cake. Speaking of which, think I’ll go have one of those.
