The 7 Different Types Of Fasting
There are 7 different types of fasting that I work on with my clients and teach in my Reset Academy. Each of the 7 different types of fasts have slightly different benefits and parameters on how they work. So if youre wondering how long you should fast, the answer is it will depend on what benefit you are trying to achieve and which fast you pick.
A Beginners Guide To Fasting: Everything You Need To Know About Fasting
Fasting refers to the deliberate abstention from food and/or fluids for a period of time, for therapeutic purposes. Many people dont know that fasting has been used for thousands of years in various religious and spiritual practices throughout human history, and in a sense, fasting is part of everyday life. The term breakfast is the meal that breaks the fast, which is done daily.
The recent increase in scientific research around fasting has allowed us to understand just how fasting positively affects our physiology, cells, aging, disease and overall health. What has been incredible for me to watch in my own clinic and coaching is how many people, regardless of symptoms or condition, have benefited from this completely free and simple biohack!
In 2016 Dr. Ohsumi changed the fasting landscape dramatically when he won a Nobel prize for his work on autophagy. Autophagy means self-eating and is the bodys way of cleaning out damaged cells in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. Autophagy is like the fast track to healing and slowing the aging process. What does autophagy have to do with fasting? Well, fasting triggers this magical autophagy process. Essentially, fasting helps accelerate healing and gets your body to naturally repair itself!
How Does The 12/12 Method Work
There are many types of intermittent fasting. For example, in 16:8 method , you are allowed to eat 8 hours a day and eat 16 hours fast.
If you decide to follow 5:2 intermittent fasting, you eat five days a week normally and then fast for two days.
The 12/12 method is a bit easier to implement. As the name suggests, you are allowed to eat 12 hours and then start 12 hours fasting phase, seven days a week. So if you have breakfast at 8am in the morning, you are allowed to have dinner until 8pm in the evening. After that, the food is discontinued, only water and unsweetened tea are allowed.
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Hour Intermittent Fasting: A Guide On 12 Hour Fast
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What is 12:12 Fasting | How does it work | Benefits | Guidelines of 12-hour Fasting | What to Eat While 12-Hour Fasting
Time-restricted eating is the emerging diet trend that many are following. Intermittent fasting is considered an effective weight loss strategy that can reduce your belly fat and improve your health in many ways.
There are different types of intermittent fasting like 16/8 fasting, OMAD fasting, alternate-day fasting, etc. But, if you are a beginner and want to try intermittent fasting, these methods may feel too restrictive. Hence, here is the best intermittent fasting method for beginners 12/12 intermittent fasting. It is an overnight fasting method believed to bring promising weight loss and metabolic benefits by allowing your body to enter ketosis.
Lets understand more about 12/12 fasting, how it works, its benefits, and how to follow this fasting method.
How Often Should You Do The 16 8 Intermittent Fasting
Since 16:8 fasting diet plans arent as extreme as diets that require full 24-hour fasting windows, you can repeat this cycle as much as you want. Some practice the diet once or twice a week while others practice it every day. How often you do it can be personal preference. You can also ease your way into the diet as you see fit.
It cant be stressed enough that you should consult with your doctor before beginning any diet, especially a diet that involves fasting. If at any point during the fast you begin to feel nauseous, light-headed, or dizzy, you should stop the fast and eat something, preferably something nutritious, as soon as possible. These are signs from your body that you are in desperate need of nutrients for energy.
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Tips To Boost Your Results
Although you can technically eat whatever food you want and in whatever quantities, lets be realistic, even IF wont help you if all you eat is tons of junk food and sweets. If you want to successfully slim down with the help of this dietary approach, you need to lead an overall healthy lifestyle. Here some tips to improve your IF results:
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Make sure your meals are balanced
A well-balanced diet is one of the staples of sound health and safe weight loss. You need to make sure that you get all the vital nutrients from your food. That is why your menu should include plenty of fruits and vegetables, which are rich in fiber, water, and various micronutrients lean meats, eggs, and dairy, which will provide you with protein, and numerous vitamins and minerals fatty fish, rich in healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats, proteins and other essential nutrients beans and legumes, which are a great plant source of protein and fiber whole grains which offer you a great plethora of various nutrients, including complex carbs nuts and seeds which are rich in healthy fats, and others.
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Avoid unhealthy foods
Even eating a balanced diet wont help you if you also eat up on unhealthy foods. If your goal is to not only slim down but also improve your health, keep away from such unhealthy foods and components as refined carbs, added sugars, trans and saturated fats, alcohol, and others.
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Exercise more
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Stay hydrated
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Reduce stress levels
Who Should Not Try Intermittent Fasting
Not everyone should try IF. A few groups who shouldnt: women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant , those taking diabetes medication , or anyone who takes multiple medications , Kumar says. Also, if you have a history of eating disorders, introducing periods where youre not allowed to eat can put you on a dangerous path toward a relapse.
Know that IF has some side effects. You may be cranky hanger is real during fasting periods because low blood sugar can mess with your mood. You also still need to have a healthy diet when you do eat. One thought is that it would be difficult to make up a calorie deficit if you fasted for two days, but in our society with access to calorie-dense items, you could probably do it, Kumar says. Focus on balanced, nutrient-packed choices, like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, legumes, and whole grains . Expect that for the first couple of weeks you may deal with lower energy, bloating, and cravings until your body adjusts, Shemek says.
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A Brief Guide To Fasting
Fasting is fairly simple. You just have to follow three rules:
- Choose a fasting window. As you read, the stages of intermittent fasting each come with different benefits. Pick a window of time fast and stick to it. for example, if youre doing an 18-hour fast, maybe you stop eating at 8 PM today and dont break your fast until 2 PM tomorrow.
- No calories. A true fast includes zero calories during the fasting period. Water, coffee, tea, and other zero-calorie beverages are fine during water fasting, but anything with calories will break your fast.
- Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water during your fast. make sure you also get your electrolytes by adding sea salt to the water and/or taking an electrolyte supplement.
For more details about different fasting schedules and how to use fasting as part of a healthy lifestyle, you may want to take a more in-depth look at fasting.
Examples Of Different Intermittent Fasting Schedules
If youre considering giving fasting a shot, there are a few different options for working it into your lifestyle.
Daily Intermittent Fasting
Most of the time, I follow the Leangains model of intermittent fasting, which uses a 16hour fast followed by an 8hour eating period. This model of daily intermittent fasting was popularized by Martin Berkhan of Leangains.com, which is where the name originated.
It doesn’t matter when you start your 8hour eating period. You can start at 8am and stop at 4pm. Or you start at 2pm and stop at 10pm. Do whatever works for you. I tend to find that eating around 1pm and 8pm works well because those times allow me to eat lunch and dinner with friends and family. Breakfast is typically a meal that I eat on my own, so skipping it isn’t a big deal.
Because daily intermittent fasting is done every day it becomes very easy to get into the habit of eating on this schedule. Right now, you’re probably eating around the same time every day without thinking about it. Well, with daily intermittent fasting it’s the same thing, you just learn to not eat at certain times, which is remarkably easy.
Weekly Intermittent Fasting
One of the best ways to get started with intermittent fasting is to do it once per week or once per month. The occasional fast has been shown to lead to many of the benefits of fasting we’ve already talked about, so even if you don’t use it to cut down on calories consistently there are still many other health benefits of fasting.
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How Long To Fast For To See Weight Loss Results
Safe weight loss generally results in one to two pounds per week, and many dieters see results within a month and a half. At that rate, six weeks equates to around ten pounds of fat loss, which is an entire wardrobe size down!
Of course, fast initial changes are primarily water weight, but once the fat burning kicks in, you will notice inches disappearing from your waistline.
Might Go Against Your Intuition
Intermittent fasting requires discipline, restraint, and planning ahead.
For some people, using those tactics to keep your calorie intake within a designated time frame is no problem, but for others, it might feel unnatural at first. This may be especially true if youre used to relying on your intuition to decide when to eat.
Further, if you prefer not to follow a strict schedule, you might find intermittent fasting frustrating.
Whats more, if your schedule tends to vary from day to day because of work, family, or other obligations, keeping your calorie intake to a designated time frame could be challenging.
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Im Trying To Fast But I Feel Like Its Reducing My Energy Levels Is This Normal
It is very normal to feel tired or to have low energy levels when you first start fasting. This can also happen when you first start a new fasting schedule. But if you stick with a set intermittent fasting schedule or fasting duration for 2-3 weeks, you should adapt and have similar energy levels during your fasting windows or days as during your eating windows or days.
However, if you continue to feel tired or to have low energy levels while fasting, you may be overdoing it. You may fasting for too long too often, or not getting enough calories in during your eating windows. If you are already at a healthy BMI, reduce your fast durations or spread your fasts further apart.
To boost your fasting energy levels, you should also:
What Is Allowed During Intermittent Fasting
As you may imagine, there is no food allowed during the fasting period. However, you can drink water, coffee, tea, and other non-caloric beverages during the fast. Depending on the diet, you may be allowed to eat low-calorie foods, but on diets such as the 16:8 and 12:12 diet, there are no snacks during the fasting period.
You can take supplements during fasting as long as there are no calories inside of the supplements. In fact, many doctors may recommend taking supplements in order to get your body the nutrients it needs during the fasting period. Supplements allow you to get the benefits of a fast while still getting the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals you need to stay healthy.
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Intermittent Fasting For Beginners: The 12/12 Method
Intermittent fasting has been on everyones lips for months. If other intermittent fasting diet types are too difficult for you to apply, you can now start with the intermittent fasting for beginners, the 12/12 method.
If you are already screwing up your good intentions for the New Year and maybe want to lose a few kilos, we now have exactly the right diet for you.
The 12/12 method works according to the principle of intermittent fasting, but this fasting program is more intended for beginners. Because you dont have to give up anything and you can even treat yourself to a glass of wine from time to time. How does this work? We are clearing up!
Hours Fasting 1 Month Results: Interpretation
These results are kinda shocking, but not really.
You really have to look at the big picture before jumping to a conclusion.
Just looking at the numbers its easy to conclude intermittent fasting 12 hours is better.
But the real story is that along the way I had a mental shift that put me in serious control of my diet.
It still does and always will boil down to controlling what youre eating.
You cant get away from that.
Intermittent fasting works because it restricts the number of calories you take in.
Yes, there are also some scientific reasons why fasting works beyond calorie restriction.
I know, for example, it catapults your body into ketosis a lot faster (for those who like the keto diet.
But fasting for just 12 hours wont give you ketosis.
At that short of an interval, its just about calories in, calories out.
So, Im going to say this in big, bold letters:
I LOST 12 POUNDS IN ONE MONTH ON INTERMITTENT FASTING BECAUSE I CONTROLLED MY DIET
Its just a fact that cant be ignored.
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you must control what youre putting into your mouth.
The end.
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Isnt Intermittent Fasting Just Another Fad Diet
Proponents of IF say its a lifestyle and not a diet. It doesnt restrict what you eat, and in a sense, isnt considered conventional dieting because of the eating patterns.
Yet, fasting and dieting follow a similar path in why people want to watch what they eat from losing weight to managing chronic conditions.
The connection between them is similar: people want to live a healthier, more well-balanced life, and in search of that, may resort to whatever the newest trends are. The problem is that the weight gain usually occurs once it’s over because of nutritional deficiencies in the diet itself.
The other problem: the choice of foods we eat. In fact,90% of the population eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet, and most adults consume an average of 3,400 mg/day of sodium, which is above the guideline of 2,300 mg or less daily.
The Department of Health also says that 86% of fad dieters are looking to cut down on foods that are high in sugar, and another 85% are looking for help in eating smaller portions of their favorite foods.
That’s why, across the spectrum, many are turning to IF for results. Intermittent fasting doesnt deprive you of food or nutrients, and fasting can become a life-long practice. This kind of fasting does three things:
The Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
Fat loss is great, but it isn’t the only benefit of fasting.
1. Intermittent fasting makes your day simpler.
I’m big on behavior change, simplicity, and reducing stress. Intermittent fasting provides additional simplicity to my life that I really enjoy. When I wake up, I don’t worry about breakfast. I just grab a glass of water and start my day.
I enjoy eating and I don’t mind cooking, so eating three meals a day was never a hassle for me. However, intermittent fasting allows me to eat one less meal, which also means planning one less meal, cooking one less meal, and stressing about one less meal. It makes life a bit simpler and I like that.
2. Intermittent fasting helps you live longer.
Scientists have long known that restricting calories is a way of lengthening life. From a logical standpoint, this makes sense. When youre starving, your body finds ways to extend your life.
Theres just one problem: who wants to starve themselves in the name of living longer?
I dont know about you, but Im interested in enjoying a long life. Starving myself doesnt sound that appetizing.
The good news is that intermittent fasting activates many of the same mechanisms for extending life as calorie restriction. In other words, you get the benefits of a longer life without the hassle of starving.
Way back in 1945 it was discovered that intermittent fasting extended life in mice. More recently, this study found that alternate day intermittent fasting led to longer lifespans.
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