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How To Do Intermittent Fasting Correctly

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How Much Weight Can You Lose On 1: 8 Diet

How To Do Intermittent Fasting Correctly To Lose Weight?

To lose weight on the 16:8 diet, its important to match the fasting with healthy eating and exercise. If done so correctly, theres a typical weight loss of around seven to 11 pounds over a ten week period. This is according to a review of 40 different studies published in Molecular and Cellular Endocrincology who found that on average, someone weighing just over 90kg would lose 5% of their total body weight in the ten week period.

A 2018 study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Healthy Eating revealed that the 16:8 diet plan can help people lose weight, without having to count calories as the 8-hour fast produces the same kind of calorific restriction and weight loss.

However, whether theres a distinct weight loss advantage achieved on the 16:8 diet compared to other diets remains to be seen. Some studies have demonstrated that theres almost no difference between people who do intermittent fasting compared those who count calories and cut back on unhealthy food.

What The Studies Show

Intermittent fasting has been shown, in many short-term research studies, that it can help you lose weight, improve your health and potentially protect you from developing certain diseases. And whats most appealing, is that it doesnt restrict you daily, like conversional dieting.

Studies have also shown that intermittent fasting may help prevent or even reverse diabetes. This is because it helps to control and reduce insulin and glucose concentrations in your blood.

Intermittent fasting may improve your sleep and gut health. It can also improve measures associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer, and possibly reduce inflammation.

However, theres still not enough studies to show how safe intermittent fasting is if you do it for a long time. But in general, most research highlights that its safe in otherwise healthy adults.

Keep Fasting Periods Short

There is no single way to fast, meaning that the duration of your fast is up to you.

Popular regimens include:

  • The 5:2 Pattern: Restrict your calorie intake for two days per week .
  • The 6:1 Pattern: This pattern is similar to the 5:2, but theres only one day of reduced calorie intake instead of two.
  • Eat Stop Eat: A 24-hour complete fast 12 times per week.
  • The 16:8 Pattern: This pattern involves only consuming food in an eight-hour window and fasting for 16 hours a day, every day of the week.

Most of these regimens advise short fast periods of 824 hours. However, some people choose to undertake much longer fasts of 48 and even up to 72 hours.

Longer fast periods increase your risk of problems associated with fasting. This includes dehydration, irritability, mood changes, fainting, hunger, a lack of energy and being unable to focus .

The best way to avoid these side effects is to stick to shorter fasting periods of up to 24 hours especially when youre just starting out.

If you want to increase your fasting period to more than 72 hours, you should seek medical supervision.

Summary Longer periods of fasting increase your risk of side effects, such as dehydration, dizziness and fainting. To reduce your risk, keep your fasting periods short.

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Should I Eat 6 Small Meals A Day

There are a few main reasons why diet books recommend six small meals:

1) When you eat a meal, your body does have to burn extra calories just to process that meal. So, the theory is that if you eat all day long with small meals, your body is constantly burning extra calories and your metabolism is firing at optimal capacity, right? Well, thats not true.

Whether you eat 2000 calories spread out throughout the day, or 2000 calories in a small window, your body will burn the same number of calories processing the food .

So, the whole keep your metabolism firing at optimum capacity by always eating sounds good in principle, but reality tells a different story.

2) When you eat smaller meals, you might be less likely to overeat during your regular meals. I can definitely see some truth here, especially for people who struggle with portion control or dont know how much food they should be eating.

However, once you educate yourself and take control of your eating, some might find that eating six times a day is very prohibitive and requires a lot of effort. I know I do.

Also, because youre eating six small meals, Id argue that you probably never feel full, and you might be MORE likely to eat extra calories during each snack.

Although grounded in seemingly logical principles, the six meals a day doesnt work for the reason you think it would , and generally only works for people who struggle with portion control .

Thats why we made this:

Is Intermittent Fasting The Best Fat

The Intermittent Fasting Trend: What Is the Best Way to Do It?

In any case, IF appears to work mostly because people find it fairly easy to adhere to. They say it helps them naturally limit calories and make better food choices by reducing eating windows. Some studies suggest that IF is better than only cutting calories, carbs, or fat because it appears to promote fat loss while sparing lean muscle mass.

Of course, most people use IF with another weight-loss plan. For instance, you might decide to eat 1,200 calories a day to lose weight. You may find it much easier to spread out 1,200 calories within 2 meals and 2 snacks than in 3 meals and 3 snacks. If youve struggled with weight loss because your diet either didnt work or was simply too hard to stick to, you might try intermittent fasting for quicker results.

In Prime Womens recently launched PLATE an intermittent fasting program, Dr. Kathryn Waldrep recommends eating within an eight-hour window and choosing that time frame based on your bodys circadian rhythms. Early risers might eat between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Night owls would eat their first meal at noon and finish their last meal at 8:00 in the evening. As more and more research has been done around IF and circadian rhythms, there seems to be credible evidence on the soundness of this approach to eating for weight management.

Want to give intermittent fasting a try? Take a look at Prime Womens PLATE program. Now available in an app on Apple or Android with reminders to keep you on track.

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When Can I Eat On The 1: 8 Diet

You can pick an 8 hour window to suit your day. So, for example it could be between 10am 6pm or 11am 8pm and so on. Plus, you can still drink tea and coffee outside of those hours too, although because of the benefits of drinking water you are also encouraged to stay as hydrated as possible.

Most people choose to fast through the night, and opt to eat their first meal at about 11am or in the middle of the day.

Tom says, The most common hours adopted for the eating period is 12 till 8pm. The reason for this is because people arent normally that hungry in the morning, you dont want to be consuming too many calories during the evening and this allows us to eat our lunch and dinner as well as a healthy snack.

Use The Rhythms Of Fasting To Schedule Lunch And Dinner

Youve heard enough youre ready to dive head-first into the wonderful world of intermittent fasting. So when, exactly, can you eat?

The simplest approachis skipping breakfast, having coffee or tea, Zane outlines. If your goal is weight loss, eat a low-carb lunch and dinner.

Your first meal of the day takes place after your fasting window ends, which means all of your eating occurs in a compressed window of about six to eight hours.

Thats give or take. Make it work with your schedule. If its six hours, great. If it has to be nine one day, dont beat yourself up, Zane emphasizes.

Thats the beauty of intermittent fasting: theres no right or wrong. Its one tool to improve your health in whatever way makes sense with your routine.

If Zane could recommend an ideal intermittent fasting schedule, heres what hed suggest:

  • Stop eating after dinner
  • Skip breakfast, enjoy your black coffee or tea, and fast until noon
  • Break your fast with a low-carb lunch
  • If you need a snack, make it light
  • Enjoy a healthy dinner, then start the fast again

Once you feel comfortable with the rhythm of intermittent fasting, you can experiment with extending your fast until 1:00, 2:00, or 3:00 instead.

Recommended Reading: Does Fasting Help You Lose Weight Quickly

Want To Know How To Do Intermittent Fasting Properly

The first thing you need to do if you wanna know how to do intermittent fasting properly is you dont start with intermittent fasting.

There are levels to this.

What I mean by that is if youre someone whos got really bad eating habits, if your diet is complete trash, then you need to fix that first.

And this isnt even about whether you should do paleo, zone, keto, should you do if If It Fits Your Macros or IIFYM, or should you go vegan? No. You need to stop eating like an asshole first.

If your idea of a daily diet is you start the day by eating breakfast cereal or stopping by your closest drive thru. Then you eat out for lunch. And then you order take out on your way home. Then you need to start with that.

Youre not a light switch. Youre more like a radio knob. What I mean by that is if youre at a 10, you need to work your way down to a 9. Then an 8, and so on.

Like I said, there are levels to this.

In terms of what that looks like, if youre someone who eats chips, cookies, candy, then you need to replace that with healthier alternatives. Nuts, cheese, and even some seasonal fruit are perfect examples of this.

If you have no choice but to eat out then you need to start making better decisions. Maybe skip the fries and order a side salad. Skip the bun. And do you really need to supersize your meal?

If youre somebody who snacks all day, you eat 6 meals a day or more, you need to cut that down to 5. Then 4, and then 3, and just eat like a normal human being.

Picking A Fasting Schedule That Fits Your Lifestyle

How To Do Intermittent Fasting Correctly

Look at your schedule.

Do you have kids? Do you make food for your kids? Are you single? Do you need to have to have a sit down meal with your family? Do you work during the day or you work at night? Are you on shift work? Do you not work at all? What kind of work do you do? Do you do physical labour? Are you the type of person who loves to go out on weekends?

Once you evaluate those things, then you need to look at where you can fit intermittent fasting to your schedule. This is important because you want to schedule your fast around your life, not the other way around. You want to turn this into a lifestyle. This isnt something that you do temporarily. That is a very important concept you need to grasp if you want to know how to do intermittent fasting properly.

For a lot of people with a 9-5 job, skipping breakfast is usually pretty easy. So if you do that, youll just have lunch and dinner. And if you eat those two meals within an 8 hour eating window, then theres your 16 hour fast.

Speaking of a 16 hour fast. In my personal honest opinion, the 16 hour fast is the bare minimum if you want to know how to do intermittent fasting properly.

Some people might say that a 14 hour fast also works. Yeah, maybe. But youll most likely get slower results.

But again, there are levels to this. Its better than nothing. But if you want to see results, the 16 hour fast is your bare minimum. And ideally, youre only eating two meals within your 8 hour eating window.

Also Check: How Long To Lose 10 Pounds Intermittent Fasting

Who Should Avoid The : 2 Diet Or Intermittent Fasting Overall

Although intermittent fasting is very safe for healthy, well-nourished people, it does not suit everyone.

Some people should avoid dietary restrictions and fasting completely. These include:

  • Individuals with a history of eating disorders.
  • Individuals who often experience drops in blood sugar levels.
  • Pregnant women, nursing mothers, teenagers, children and individuals with type 1 diabetes.
  • People who are malnourished, underweight or have known nutrient deficiencies.
  • Women who are trying to conceive or have fertility issues.

Furthermore, intermittent fasting may not be as beneficial for some women as it is for men .

Some women have reported that their menstrual period stopped while they were following this type of eating pattern. However, things went back to normal when they returned to a regular diet.

Therefore, women should be careful when starting any form of intermittent fasting, and stop doing it immediately if any adverse effects occur.

Find The Best Time To Workout

Many people make the mistake of thinking they cant workout while theyre fasting, but the opposite is true. The morning is the best time for a vigorous workout! Youre fresh and have hormonal optimization on your side.

Afternoon and evening workouts arent always as effective as they could be youre fatigued from the day, consumed with whatever new stressors landed in your lap at work, and are fighting the urge to slip off your shoes and unwind.

I was loyal to my afternoon workout routine for more than a decade, but switching to an early morning gym schedule has been a game-changer. If I dont workout first thing in the morning, I can practically see the sliding scale as I lose my opportunity throughout the day for a quality workout. Life gets busy, and the body gets drained!

Read Also: What Is The Range For Non Fasting Glucose

The Common Mistakes In Intermittent Fasting

Mistake 1: Not eating enough fat

Fat helps sustain your blood sugar and its going to prevent the ups and downs of whats called reactive hypoglycemia. Its like your pancreas pulls one way while your cortisol pulls the other way which is not the best thing for your hormones. So again, blood sugar comes up, insulin comes up. Then blood sugar goes down, and adrenals come and pushes it back up. Definitely not the best combo. Thats why healthy fats are good. So one of the things that you get with the fast is youre not eating. And when youre not eating, youre not pumping out insulin.

So insulin comes out most with carbohydrate, it comes out a little bit with protein, but very little with fats. So when you see people saying fats are bad for diabetes, they are typically talking about fettuccine alfredo a whole bunch of fat with a whole bunch of carbs, right. But if were focusing on fat by itself, healthy good sources of fat like coconut oil or avocado, then youre okay as long as youre not adding a whole bunch of sugar and carbs with it.

Mistake 2: Not eating enough calories

Mistake 3: Having hormonal issues

So again, get your hormones dialled in. If you have an active gut issue, autoimmune issue, adrenal issue or male or female hormone issue, you want to get that fixed first. So if you need help with that, to schedule a consultation with myself.

So this is Dr. J signing off. I hope you enjoyed this post!

Try Sticking To The Following Foods On The 1: 8 Diet:

6 Types Of Intermittent Fasting
  • Whole grains: Ones like rice, oats, barley, wholegrain pasta and quinoa will keep you fuller for longer.
  • Protein: Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds will keep you full.
  • Fruit: Apples, bananas, berries, oranges and pears will offer good vitamin sustenance.
  • Vegetables: Broccoli and leafy greens are especially good for making sure youre eating enough fibre.
  • Healthy fats: Olive oil, coconut oil, avocados.

Also Check: How Do I Do Intermittent Fasting

Will I Lose Weight

Most likely.64 If you have weight to lose, it is extremely likely that you will lose weight if you do not eat.

In theory, its possible to eat more after fasting, of course, cancelling out the weight lost. But studies generally show that most people tend to eat significantly less overall.65

I call intermittent fasting the ancient secret of weight loss because it might be one of the most powerful dietary interventions for weight loss, yet it has been mostly ignored by doctors and dietitians for a long time.66

What Are The Goals Of Intermittent Fasting

The first goal is were trying to increase lipolysis which will increase fat burning. The benefits that you get from intermittent fasting comes from that last meal lets say its at 8PM all the way to the next day, now its twelve hours weve gotten so far. Then well have, lets say, until 2PM in the afternoon. Weve added another four plus six, so we have eighteen hours of no food. So a lot of that benefit happens in that eighteen-hour time where we start increasing lipolysis.

The next goal is to increase cellular autophagy where our body starts recycling proteins. This also comes with the benefit of lengthening the telomeres.

And the third goal is to and were making our body more sensitive to insulin.

Again, insulin and fat burning are inversely correlated. When our insulin is high, we cant burn fat but when our insulin is low, we burn a whole bunch of fat. So the goal is to make ourselves more sensitive to insulin. So its like, the more sensitive your hearing is, people dont have to yell or raise their voices for them to get your attention i.e. the pancreas doesnt have to raise your insulin levels so the body can understand where to pull the sugar in and how to store the nutrients. When growth hormone goes up, that will help you put on muscle mass and we can combine this with good exercise allowing us to put on more muscle, which is great.

So the goals are all of these really good benefits above.

Also Check: How To Make Electrolyte Water For Fasting

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