Portion Control : Dont Pig Out
- How many times has this thought run through our heads?
- Intermittent fasting is controlling when you eat, not controlling WHAT you eat, so Im going to eat as much as I can in my feeding window
It is important to stay on track and be mindful about what goes into your body.
- Eating only when you are hungry is important. It is crucial to keep yourself hydrated since we confuse thirst for hunger and keep dumping food into our system without being mindful.
- Fasting and mindful eating a strong couple.
Use All Those Beans You Bought
Beans are packed with filling fiber and protein, and as they travel through your digestive system, their roughage and resistant starch feeds the good bacteria in your gut, says Tucker. These bacteria in turn create short-chain fatty acids, which are helpful in protecting your metabolism. A study review from Canada shows that people who ate a serving of legumes every day as part of a weight-loss effort lost a couple pounds in just an average of six weeks. Try making beans or lentils in an Instant Pot, which allows you to stew legumes with vegetables and other flavorful components and make enough for the whole family. Expand your repertoire by trying new types of beansdiscover your healthiest choices here.
Mistake #: Youre Not Sure What Counts
The one greatest thing about intermittent fasting is it allows a lot of wiggle room in your daily diet. Thats why people love it so much and what actually makes it an effective weight-loss tool your favorite treats lose their gorge appeal because they arent ever off-limits.
But thats also where it becomes a little tricky when you do it on your own. Because its easy to take it too far.
You can definitely have your favorite treats without destroying any progress. But whats key is finding that happy medium between eating what you love and a healthy, well-rounded diet.
And that becomes especially important when you hit your 60s. Why?
As you age, your metabolism starts to slow. Your body needs a certain amount of nutrients, including carbs, protein, and fat, plus the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that come with those foods to keep it going, says nutritionist Christine Ellis.
If it doesnt get enough, it simply wont be able to burn calories efficiently and will end up storing them as fat. That doesnt mean you have to change your whole diet drastically just vary your foods a little.
Pro Tip #2: YES! Eating the foods you love and losing weight is possible. But you will need to balance out carbs, fiber, fats, and protein-based on your age, physical shape, and medical conditions if you want to achieve sustainable results. The easiest way to do that is to find a personalized fasting program that offers a custom meal plan based on your needs and preferences.
Recommended Reading: How To Burn Fat While Fasting
Do Bcaas Or Eaas Break Intermittent Fasting
Yes, they do! Everything with calories breaks your fast. If you look at your container of BCAA and see 0 calories, its a lie. Supplement manufacturers get away with it because of an old loophole in FDA regulations which states protein shall not be declared on labels of products that contain only individual amino acids.57 In the real world, BCAAs give you 4.65 kcals per gram.58
Read more:
> > BCAA vs. EAA: Which Is Better For Your Gains?
Beverages During Intermittent Fasting That Will Change Your Life
- No, were not going to overcomplicate this by giving you recipes and ingredients. STAY HYDRATED. DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Prevent that throbbing headache and those hunger pangs. Most times we confuse thirst for hunger.
- Herbal teas, plain old black coffee, ACV with water, bone broth and vegetable broth are zero calorie beverages that can be consumed during the fasting period and while breaking the fast.
Recommended Reading: Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy For Women
Intermittent Fasting For Seniors
Intermittent fasting is yet another health trend with a lot of claimed benefits. But does it work for seniors? Read on to find out because today we will talk about intermittent fasting for seniors.
Intermittent fasting is both a common health trend and a fad diet just like keto and paleo diets. There are tons of diet programs built around the concept, each claiming to be superior to any other form of eating.
But the reality is much more mundane, as always with diet and exercise. There are no shortcuts and fad diets come and go. There are several ways to reach the same goal and individual preference and reactions to a diet play a huge role in what suits your needs.
While there might be some long term benefits to intermittent fasting, the claims are widely exaggerated in many cases. There is one key take away however that we will talk more about in a moment.
Lets start by looking at what exactly is intermittent fasting.
Hour Fast For Increased Bdnf
BDNF-1, or brain-derived neurotrophic factor, is another important endogenous hormone. While HGH is correlated with increased muscle cell production, BDNF-1 is associated with increased brain cell creation. Neuropsychiatrist John J. Ratey aptly calls it Miracle-Gro for the brain.
Higher levels of BDNF are correlated with faster learning and neural pathway development. Conversely, lower levels of BDNF are correlated with degenerative diseases like Parkinsons and Alzheimers.
Its not yet known why fasting boosts BDNF-1, but the connection makes logical sense from an evolutionary perspective: In ancient times we wouldve needed to think faster in times of caloric scarcity, and it appears BDNF is the neurological ingredient that helps us to rise to the occasion.
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Hour Fast For Improved Insulin Sensitivity
Improving insulin sensitivity is tied to other benefits that go above and beyond weight loss and muscle gain.
Most people on the Standard American Diet suffer from chronically high insulin levels and associated risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and PCOS. Insulin resistance can even lead to problems with cognitive function and memory.
Improving insulin resistance with 20 hour intermittent fasting can result in:
- Clearer, smoother skin
- Clearer thinking and improved mood
Choose An Eating Window You Will Stick To
If you decide to go on a 16hour/8hour fasting/eating schedule every other day, but that 16 hours lapse with your workout schedule, and you find yourself resisting food at an impossible time, you may want to change it up to work with your schedule.
Intermittent fasting is a great strategy for increasing your chances of weight loss, but it won’t help if you don’t stick to the plan.
There are several different ways to use intermittent fasting in a beneficial way:
- Alternate day fasting
- A specific number of days per week
- Daily fasting schedule
- 12 + hours of fasting
To optimize your rate of weight loss, you will need to develop a schedule that works for you.
The fasting schedule you build will need to consider the amount of weight you aim to lose, the number of calories you’re consuming, how much exercise you do, and any other concerns specific to your situation.
Read Also: How Long Should I Fast For Intermittent Fasting
How To 20 Hour Fast
Since then, 20 hour intermittent fasting has evolved. In recent years Hofmeklers Warrior Diet has been reimagined as having a stricter 20-hour fasting period.
The 20 hour fast is also referred to as the 20:4 diet. Its simple: just fast for 20 hours, then eat within 4.
Coffee, and tea are allowed during the fasting period, but no other calorific drinks or snacks are permitted.
If youre a slow eater with high-calorie requirements, then this diet will look very similar to the OMAD diet.
For most people on the 20 hour fast, an ideal eating window will take place within daylight hours. The benefits of eating in alignment with your circadian rhythm are so powerful that theyve given rise to the circadian rhythm fasting approach to IF.
More Reasons To Boost Health With Fasting
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What Can You Drink While Fasting
Lets talk about what you can drink during your fast without breaking it.
Water. Water is calorie-free and does not break your fast. Plain or carbonated, drink as much water as you want. Flavoring it with a slice of lemon or cucumber is likely also fine.
Diet soda. Technically, diet soda contains no calories. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame and acesulfame-k do contain calories. Still, you need so little of them to sweeten a beverage that the calories become non-significant, very close to zero. Also, they dont trigger an insulin response.686970 In other words, drinking diet soda does not break your fast.
Read more:
> > Artificial and Non-sugar Sweeteners: the Good, the Bad, and the Science
Coffee and tea. Black coffee contains very few calories and does not kick you out of a fast. As long as you take it black, of course. Adding sugar, milk, or cream is a no-no during a fast. Animal studies suggest coffee can boost the benefits of fasting.71 As for tea, stick with unsweetened black, white, or green tea, and youre good to add. Adding calories in the form of sugar or milk breaks your fast, just like with coffee.
Read more:
Beverages like milk, milk substitutes, any alcoholic beverage, fruit juice, sugar-sweetened sodas will break your fast. They are all more or less high-calorie drinks. Save them for your eating window.
How If Works For Weight Loss
Fasting allows your body to enter a state of ketosis. When in ketosis, your body switches from burning glucose to using your fat stores as an energy source, which is an efficient way to lose weight.
Also, IF boosts your metabolism, so youll burn more calories overall. Fasting also lowers your insulin levels and reduces insulin resistance, which can get you into ketosis more quickly. Since insulin is one of the main hormones active in fat metabolism, reducing insulin resistance makes your body prone to converting fat into energy instead of storing it.
Also Check: What Is Allowed On Intermittent Fasting
What Is Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting restricts when or how much you eat and sometimes both. There are several approaches.
In alternate-day fasting, you eat normally every other day. On days in between, you eat just 25% of your daily calorie needs, in one meal. So if you consume 1,800 calories on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you’d eat a 450-calorie meal on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
In the 5:2 approach, you eat normally for five days in a row then for two days in a row, you eat just 400 to 500 calories per day.
In the 16:8 approach, each day is the same: you fast 16 hours in a row, and then eat normally within an eight-hour period, like between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Dangers Of Intermittent Fasting
The preliminary clinical studies have shown that short-term intermittent fasting can cause some minor adverse effects like headaches, weakness, hunger and even fainting.
Long term fasting has been associated with eating disorders and malnutrition as well as increased susceptibility to infectious diseases.
Besides those, there is not enough information to know how it affects health in the long term so its a gamble really. There is some evidence that fasting and calorie restriction increases lifespan in other animals but we dont know how it really affects humans.
To make things even more risky for seniors, there are virtually no studies on intermittent fasting performed in senior or elderly age groups.
So its possible that intermittent fasting could increase your lifespan and improve your health or its possible it does the opposite. Its also possible there is a large individual component.
There definitely seems to be huge variability in how people react to fasting. Some people do it naturally without any trouble while other people get hypoglycemic and nauseous very easily if they dont eat regularly.
So if you are thinking about trying intermittent fasting, start very light and talk to your doctor first. Your doctor is the only person who can asses how periodic fasting might affect your possible health issues and medications.
Recommended Reading: How To Start Fasting Safely
Popular Intermittent Fasting Protocols For Men
There are many intermittent fasting styles used for weight loss that share similar benefits. The best protocol is the one that fits your lifestyle and goals.
- 16:8 Method: This style is popular with celebrities Terry Crews and Hugh Jackman who use this pattern of eating to stay in shape. The 16:8 method uses an extended nightly fast of 16 hours and reduces your daily eating window to 8 hours. You can eat two-three meals during your eating window as long as you keep your meals within the eight-hour time frame.
- 5:2 Method: This method allows you to eat as you typically would five days a week, and restrict your calories to 600 the other two days. The 5:2 eating pattern is simplest for you if you dont want to keep track of your eating windows daily, and would rather track calories two days a week.
- Alternate Day or Eat Stop Eat Method: These protocols have you choose one-three days per week to fast, then youd eat as you typically would in between your fast days. The Eat-Stop-Eat method is a more aggressive form of fasting, and you may find it more challenging to stick to over the long haul.
Befriend Your Bathroom Scale
Weigh yourself each morning so you notice right away if the number is trending up instead of down. If you gain weight, and if you focus on it early and its only a few pounds, you can lose it quickly, but if you let it stay, basically it reprograms your body at a higher weight and it makes it hard to lose because you get hungry, Tucker says. Especially if you want to lose weight over 50, it’s useful to jump on any gain right away. Learn more about the benefits of weighing yourself daily.
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How To Get Started
Getting started is simple.
In fact, chances are youve already done many intermittent fasts before. Many people instinctively eat this way, skipping morning or evening meals.
The easiest way to get started is to choose one of the intermittent fasting methods above and give it a go.
However, you dont need to necessarily follow a structured plan.
An alternative is to fast whenever it suits you. Skipping meals from time to time when you dont feel hungry or dont have time to cook can work for some people.
At the end of the day, it doesnt matter which type of fast you choose. The most important thing is to find a method that works best for you and your lifestyle.
Summary
The easy way to get started is to choose one of the methods above and give it a go. Stop immediately if you experience any adverse effects.
Why You Should Choose Intermittent Fasting For Weight Loss
If youve been contemplating how to begin your weight loss journey, intermittent fasting can be a great first step. The IF lifestyle can help you shed unwanted body fat, and it can help you improve your health overall.
Fasting can fight high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and the risk of developing diseases such as diabetes and coronary heart disease, so you can live a full life. It can be frustrating to be overweight, but it doesnt have to be. Intermittent fasting might be the key you need to successfully lose weight, and feel your best.
Recommended Reading: What Prayers To Say While Fasting
Hour Fast For Reduced Inflammation
Chronic inflammation has recently been implicated as the driving force behind virtually all chronic diseases and fasting can be an antidote. Across the globe 3 out of 5 people die from chronic inflammatory diseases including heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, cancer, obesity, and diabetes.
In America alone, 60% of the population has at least one chronic inflammatory condition. 2
Thankfully, 20 hour intermittent fasting can reduce inflammation in a couple of ways: It can help seal up the digestive tract, reducing gut inflammation as well as stopping inflammatory pathogens from entering the bloodstream. And it can trigger your body to recycle damaged cells that would otherwise trigger inflammatory responses.
20 hour intermittent fasting may be a holistic preventative measure for people with rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogrens, MS, and other inflammatory disorders.
