Fasting is more about when you eat than it is about what you eat.
There are of course guidelines on what to eat on IF, but it does depend on what your goals are.
The basic premise is that in 24 hours you have a time window in which you eat.
It is during this time window only that you eat all your meals and then you fast for the rest of those 24 hours.
Fasting might sound jarring to you because it seems very restrictive. A common point often brought up is that most of human history eating patterns were like this. All your hunter-gatherer ancestors had to eat like this. Think about it, back then you ate when you caught something.
Are we spoiled today, or what?
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Why Consider Intermittent Fasting?
Let’s have a rundown of the pros and cons. Because I can hear you saying, “Why on earth would I eat in such a strange restrictive way? What is in it for me?
Intermittent Fasting Enhances Your Bodies Fat Burning Ability
It’s important to understand that fasting is an eating discipline. The general trend if you stick to fasting is that you will end up eating less.
Research has shown that intermittent fasting helps boost your metabolism. That nifty little benefit means you burn more calories and body fat.
Intermittent Fasting Can Help Prevent Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes has become a major problem in recent times. Type 2 diabetes is when your body does not use insulin to keep your blood sugar levels at a normal level.
If your body has developed a resistance to insulin, then you are at risk for type 2 diabetes.
Intermittent Fasting Helps Regulate Your Body’s Cell Repair Processes
Fasting is a cleansing practice for the body. In recent decades we learned that at the cellular level what really goes on and it’s fascinating.
When you fast, your bodies cells start to engage in a process known as autophagy.
Autophagy is cells in your body breaking down and getting rid of defunct proteins and parts. Your body does this to incease your cells metabolism efficiency.
This process can protect you from various diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer.
Intermittent Fasting May Improve Your Heart Health
Heart disease still stands as the number one killer of humans. Fasting might help you fight off this killer.
There are several tell-tale signs that your heart may be at risk for disease. Fasting fights them off.
It improves:
Few people can argue against great improvements like that!
The Drawbacks to Intermittent Fasting
There are of course some cons. Conducted right there aren’t any significant risk factors associated with fasting.
What follows are potential pitfalls that you should be aware of if you are going to set out on this kind of an eating plan.
Intermittent Fasting Might Be Tough for You to Sustain
Restricting your eating window could be a significant mountain to climb. Most people find that they can adjust to the eating patterns on fasting. Some folks feel the hunger pangs are too harsh to continue with the fast.
Note: For help combating hunger pains check out our post, 19 Practical Ways to Control Hunger Cravings Now
After you start seeing results, it gets easier and easier.
Beware of The Binge on Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting teaches self-restraint. Binge eating is not supposed to be of the essence when you start eating in your window.
Keep control of your mind if you are going to set on this path. You don’t want it to turn into a constant binge fest because that could destroy the whole purpose.
How to Lose Weight With Intermittent Fasting
As I mentioned, earlier fasting can help you lose weight.
No surprise there. 🙂
Another benefet you get from fasting is it will increases your metabolism.
Why is this a good for your body?
You burn more calories without having to do anything.
It makes you lean toward eating fewer calories. Your eating window trains you to restrain your eating habits.
That said here are some tips to keep in mind.
Remember to Break Your Fast in Stages
Don’t make the mistake of diving head first with a huge meal every time you enter your eating window.
If you find yourself doing that, make a habit of having a very modest snack to break the fast.
Enter your eating window with something like a meal replacement bar, or a piece of fruit with some yogurt.
Even a small bit of meat with some veggies.
Eating something light this will keep you from binge eating when you are breaking your fast.
16:8
This kind of regimen is the most common. Most people find it to be the easiest one to stick to and the one that they can commit to the most in the long run.
In this regimen, you fast for 16 hours and have an 8-hour eating window.
Now the eating window can be at any time during your waking hours.\
Most people find it most comfortable to skip breakfast. That way they have an eating window that starts sometime in the early afternoon.
Which gives the time to eat something at around bedtime and feel full falling to sleep.
20:4
In this intermittent fasting regime, you fast for 20 hours and have a 4-hour eating window.
You might eat between 3 pm and 7 pm.
This technique is more robust to sustain but is achievable with practice.
24-Hour Fast
In this fast, you go 24 full hours without eating.
If you eat dinner at 7 pm, you would skip breakfast and lunch the next day and not eat until 7 pm again. Usually this fast is not done all that often.
It’s quite harrowing to be going 24 hours without eating every other day. Most practitioners only fast once or twice a week at the most.
