A Sample Day Of A : 4 Fast
7:00 am Wake and drink 500 mL of water with lemon
9:00 am Eat 1 boiled egg white, a handful of berries or 1 cup of green tea
1:00 pm Drink grapefruit juice, 1 cup of yoghurt or ½ cup of raw vegetables
8:00 pm Eat dinner containing protein, healthy fats and complex carbs
9:00 pm Drink 1 cup of warm milk with turmeric
10:00 pm Eat desserts such as dark chocolate or fruit custard
So Should I Do Intermittent Fasting Daily
The answer depends on your routine and schedule. For some people who work Monday-Friday and then have the weekends off, they may prefer to only intermittent fast during the weekdays so they can enjoy their weekend. There is nothing wrong with fasting only 4-5 days out of the week. The problem many people run into during the weekend is that they stay up much later compared to the weekdays, so in order to fast like normal they would have to push their first meal back super late in the day.
For example, say that Monday-Friday you usually stop eating at 8pm and eat at noon the next day , but then on the weekend you stay up late . That means the following day you wouldnt be able to eat until 4pm, which makes it much harder for those who enjoy staying out late during the weekends to continue their normal weekday intermittent fasting routine.
So rather than stress and worry about it, you can simply not practice intermittent fasting on Saturday and/or Sunday, and then continue your normal intermittent fasting routine on Monday.
So should you intermittent fast daily?
How To Start Intermittent Fasting
Heres the bottom line when it comes to intermittent fasting: Theres really no wrong answer here. Just pay attention to how your body responds to what youre doing, and consult a dietitian or doctor with any concerns over potential negative side effects. You might want to:
- Test your glucose and ketone levels and monitor your glucose-ketone index for changes.
- Consider your carb intake. Eating lower carb helps reduce any hunger pangs when starting intermittent fasting.
- Start with the 16/8 window first and make changes from there based on what works for your lifestyle and schedule.
Adjust what youre doing as needed. Also, keep in mind that life changes can happen, so you might find its better to tweak your eating window over time or be a little more lenient at certain periods.
Give yourself time to adjust to the schedule of intermittent fasting too. Some people adjust easily within a few days, while others need a couple of weeks to get used to it.
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The : 2 Intermittent Fasting Diet
Thee 5:2 intermittent fasting diet is one type of popular fasting diets, introduced in Dr. Jason Fungs best-selling book “The Obesity Code” in 2016. The 5:2 diet involves five days of eating the recommended daily caloric intake and two non-consecutive days of eating a reduced-calorie diet. On fasting days, food is not eliminated altogether, rather, the number of calories is reduced.
If you have diabetes and want to try the 5:2 diet, speak to your healthcare provider or diabetic team and get a recommendation for a daily caloric intake guideline for fasting and non-fasting days.
Studies on the 5:2 Diet
Studies have shown that the 5:2 diet may help reduce insulin resistance and promote weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.
The first long-term study of the 5:2 diet, published in 2018, by the Journal of the American Medical Association , discovered that intermittent fasting could be effective for those with diabetes who have trouble sticking to a long-term, daily diet regime. The study observed 137 people with type 2 diabetes half of the study participants followed the 5:2 diet and the other half adhered to a daily calorie-restricted diet . The group that fasted for two non-consecutive days per weekconsumed 500 to 600 calories on the fasting days and ate normally on the other five days of the week.
Safety of the 5:2 Diet for People With Diabetes
Isnt It Important To Have Breakfast Every Morning
Not necessarily. This appears to be an old misconception, based on speculation and statistics, and it does not hold up when its tested.57 Skipping your morning meal gives your body more time to burn fat for energy. Since hunger is lowest in the morning, it may be easiest to skip it and break your fast later in the day.58
Learn more:
Recommended Reading: What Should I Eat When Doing Intermittent Fasting
How Do I Try Intermittent Fasting
There are four popular fasting approaches: periodic fasting, time-restricted feeding, alternate-day fasting and the 5:2 diet. Time-restricted feeding, sometimes called daily intermittent fasting, is perhaps the easiest and most popular fasting method. Daily intermittent fasters restrict eating to certain time periods each day, say 11 in the morning to 7 at night. The fasting period is usually around 12 or more hours that, helpfully, includes time spent sleeping overnight. Periodic fasting will feel most familiar: no food or drinks with calories for 24-hour periods. Another type of fast, alternate-day fasting requires severe calorie reduction every other day. Lastly, the 5:2 method was popularized by author Kate Harrisons book The 5:2 Diet” and requires fasting on two nonconsecutive days a week.
Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is a process that cycles between brief periods of fasting with no food or any significant calorie reduction, this routine does more than help lose weight alone.
Many things happen to the body during intermittent fasting and below are some of the benefits:
- Intermittent fasting prevents diabetes and obesity
- Possibly increased energy
- It may help reduce blood pressure
- Reduces inflammation levels
- It may reduce cancer risk
- Intermittent fasting reduces tissue damage in surgery and improved results.
Also Check: What Can You Eat On Intermediate Fasting
How To Start Using If
Is there only one set way in which to use intermittent fasting?
No, of course not.
I could easily come up with several different IF protocols based on peoples individualistic needs, lifestyle, exercise, goal, macronutrient ratios, and so forth. However I am going to keep it simple and give the 2 most frequent intermittent fasting options seen.
- Longer IF 1-2x a week: This is taking a longer fasting period of say for up to 24 hours and repeating 1-2x a week. Note that 24 hours is not skipping a whole day, as stopping to eat on 6pm Tues and then having your next meal at 6pm Wed is 24 hours. I usually dont talk about anything longer than 24-32 hours for using IF, as most research is usually based on that fasting window .
- Shorter Daily IF: This means that it is done more than a couple times a week with a condensed eating window and less fasting than seen above. I also like to call this Intermittent Feedinginstead of fasting. For example someone could be eating their calories in a 6-8 hour window daily .
With those approaches there are still many variables to include such as calories, activity/exercise, recovery needs, food choices, etc.
In the end it is still about finding a way that does work for you. Picking the approach you think fits around your lifestyle best is going to lead to better results.
Here are some of the pros and cons of each approach for you to consider.
Should You Do Intermittentfasting Every Day
You dont have to be inherently hungry to reap the benefits of fasting. However, ghrelin the hunger hormone plays a part in stimulating some of the benefits of fasting such as increased growth hormone, neurogenesis, gastric emptying, and autophagy. It also stimulates AMPK and sirtuins, which are fuel sensors that promote mitochondrial biogenesis.
It is true that if you do intermittent fasting every day, it begins tocause less stress on the body. This is great because youll experience less ofthe side effects like hunger and tiredness.
Becoming less adapted to fasting every once in a while can be a good thingto reset your sensitivity to the stimulus. If you take a sauna everyday you get used to the heat and have to constantly increase the dose but thatsnot that clever nor good. It is definitely a sign of greater robustness and bodyhormesis but youll also have to expend more effort to get less results.
Therefore, intermittent fasting every day is fine as long as youre still making progress with it. If its not broken, dont try to fix it but if youre stuck at a plateau you should try to change something.
You can also overcome metabolic adaptation by just eating more calories during your eating window. A slow metabolism happens because of eating fewer calories. If you eat a bit more on some days you can still keep your metabolic rate high.
Read Also: Can Fasting Help Me Lose Weight
Time Restrictedeating And Fasting
However, changing your intermittent fasting schedule doesnt necessarilyhave to mean you start eating all the time. Research on the eating patterns ofAmericans show that they spend nearly 16 hours a day in a fed state by startingto eat right after waking up and snacking before bed.
Time-restricted eating is a form of intermittent fasting that coincides with the human circadian rhythm. There are many ways you can practice this but in general, it means you eat all your calories during the daytime. Instead of eating right after waking up you wait at least a few hours and stop eating at least 4 hours before bed.
Even if you stop following a longer IF schedule like 16/8 or one meal a day, you should still do some form of time-restricted eating and ideally eat your food within 10 hours or less. You definitely dont need to eat over the course of 12 hours.
In conclusion, your body does get used to intermittent fasting and itllbegin to cause less stress. That can be a good thing for longevity but not tothe point of extreme. I would say that 90% of the time you can do yourpreferred method of IF and the remaining 10% you extend your eating window by afew hours by having an extra meal.
If you want to know how to optimize intermittent fasting, time restricted eating, meal timing, and food combining, then check out my Metabolic Autophagy Master Class.
Seven Ways To Do Intermittent Fasting
There are many different ways of intermittent fasting. The methods vary in the number of fast days and the calorie allowances.
Intermittent fasting involves entirely or partially abstaining from eating for a set amount of time, before eating regularly again.
Some studies suggest that this way of eating may offer benefits such as fat loss, better health, and increased longevity. Proponents claim that an intermittent fasting program is easier to maintain than traditional, calorie-controlled diets.
Each persons experience of intermittent fasting is individual, and different styles will suit different people.
In this article, we discuss the research behind the most popular types of intermittent fasting and provide tips on how to maintain this type of diet.
There are various methods of intermittent fasting, and people will prefer different styles. Read on to find out about seven different ways to do intermittent fasting.
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Calorie Restriction And Fasting Diets: What Do We Know
You may have heard about calorie restriction and fasting diets and wondered why they’re getting so much attention in the news. Aren’t they just other terms for dieting to lose weight?
No, they’re not. Calorie restriction means reducing average daily caloric intake below what is typical or habitual, without malnutrition or deprivation of essential nutrients. In a fasting diet, a person does not eat at all or severely limits intake during certain times of the day, week, or month. A practical effect of a fasting diet may be fewer calories because there is less time for regular eating.
These eating patterns are being studied as possible ways to maintain good health and live longer. They are not temporary weight-loss plans. Interest in their potential health and aging benefits stems from decades of research with a variety of animals, including worms, crabs, snails, fruit flies, and rodents. In many experiments, calorie-restricted feeding delayed the onset of age-related disorders and, in some studies, extended lifespan.
Intermittent Fasting Plus High Intensity Interval Training Equals Rapid Fat Loss
If you want to lose fat as quickly as possible, Id recommend you introduce any form of training that has high intensity.
For example, when I first started out with intermittent fasting, I introduced 10 minutes of sprinting 3x a week, plus weekly football matches.
You could pick anything you enjoy doing, i.e. Swimming, skipping, jogging, then raise the intensity till youre gassed out after every workout.
In addition, training like this on an empty stomach also helped to improve my results.
Im not exactly sure about the science behind why training on a fasted state could aid fat loss, but, Id recommend you experiment with this as well.
Intuitively, it makes sense why this works. Fasting helps to reduce the amount of calories you consume, whilst the high intensity training burns more calories.
Your daily calorie intake drops significantly and over time you lose more fat. Simple.
Recommended Reading: Does Intermittent Fasting Really Work To Lose Weight
Dairy And Fermented Food
You can boost your weight loss and overall health if your diet includes plenty of probiotics. They are highly effective when it comes to improving your metabolism and play a prominent role in the healthy balance of bacteria in your gut. They can reduce inflammation and aid in digestion. The most probiotic-rich foods include yogurt, kefir, aged cheese , non-dairy yogurts, sauerkraut, sour dill pickles, kimchi, miso, natto, kombucha, tempeh and others .
If You Prefer An Early Dinner This Intermittent Fasting Method Is The One For You
By now, you’ve probably heard about the benefits of intermittent fasting some people experience, such as weight loss, more energy, improved digestion, decreased sugar cravings, and better sleep. There are so many ways to fit intermittent fasting into your life, so if you’ve been thinking about it, there’s bound to be one that’s right for you.
Of course, before starting any new diet plan, including intermittent fasting, be sure to check in with your doctor first. Once you get the OK, doing 14:10 fasting is a great place to start, where you fast daily for 14 hours and have a 10-hour eating window. If you’re ready to do longer fasts, the 16:8 protocol is the perfect next step. It extends your fasting window by two hours for example: eating from noon until 8 p.m. If you find that you eat dinner earlier, though, you might be interested in trying 18:6.
Read Also: Does Fasting Cause Weight Loss
Can Intermittent Fasting Help You Lose Weight
The short answer: probably. IF gets a lot of press as a weight loss tool, and I recommend it in my practice for weight loss and weight management, Dr. Gottfried says. Its linked to weight loss because not eating between meals forces the body to turn to the fat stored in cells for energy, according to Harvard Health. Insulin levels decline through this process as the body burns fat.
Lowden believes what it really comes down to, though, is calorie restriction. Overall, people tend to consume fewer calories in a smaller window of time compared with eating all day, and that’s what leads to weight loss, she says. A study published in June 2018 in Nutrition and Healthy Aging involving 23 obese adults found the study participants took in about 300 fewer calories per day when participating in the 16:8 approach to IF.
Versions of IF that restrict eating after a certain time, say 7 p.m., also help eliminate nighttime eating, which has been shown to contribute to metabolic syndrome and obesity, according to a study published in December 2018 in BMC Public Health.
What To Eat During Intermittent Fasting
A popular misconception is that you can allow yourself to eat anything while doing Intermittent Fasting, including fast food, sugary and highly processed dishes. If your goal is to lose weight, improve productivity and simply get healthier, it is essential to stick to healthy meals.
This means eating whole foods and avoiding the usual suspects such as sugar, processed foods, empty carbs, etc.
The type of diet you choose is up to you as long it is balanced and fits your lifestyle. For many, Keto Diet has proven to be a great supplement to Intermittent Fasting, as it may help you burn more fat.
If you are still not sure how to implement a new healthier diet to support your Intermittent Fasting goals and make your Intermittent Fasting journey easier?
Great news together with a professional dietitian, we have prepared a balanced 21-Day Intermittent Fasting meal plan . You can choose meal plans based on your gender, age, physical activity and diet .
Recommended Reading: What Are The Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
How Many Calories Should I Be Eating
Think of weight loss as achieving some calorie deficit in the bigger long term picture than day to day. So there is no special amount to worry about each and every day, but should keep it in check.
Focus on eating mostly real foods and that is a good start.
If you achieve a small deficit on most condensed eating days and still eat out once a week higher in calories, weight loss can happen. If you eat at maintenance daily and do a longer fast couple times a week , weight loss can happen.
I would suggest against going too low in calories though as you may just head down a road of severe and chronic calorie restriction .
Plan your simple lifestyle of eating how you enjoy first, then start to worry about the calories .
