Why Should I Try Intermittent Fasting?

You may have heard about intermittent fasting a lot lately for its countless benefits including lasting weight loss! Is it really possible to lose weight for good with the intermittent fasting diet? How to do intermittent fasting? Have a look at our article if you’re thinking of giving fasting a try.

What is intermittent fasting (IF)?

Intermittent fasting can be defined as a way of nutrition system that limits your calorie intake at certain times of the day or a week. IF doesn’t restrict your food; it only helps you decide when you should have your meals. Learn more about fasting from our Ultimate Guide of Intermittent Fasting.

IF is a nutrition plan that both promotes weight loss and improves health, and it has become more and more popular over the last decade. Some studies even suggest that this system can help you live longer.

The plan is based on the fact that our ancestors evolved to endure hunger for long periods when they were hunter-gatherers.

According to a Harvard Health article, our bodies have evolved to be able to go without food for many hours, or even several days or longer.

Intermittent Fasting Types

There are different ways of doing intermittent fasting. What they all have in common is to divide the day or week into eating and fasting periods.

These are the most popular methods:

• The 16/8 Method: You eat during an 8-hour window each day, then don’t eat anything for the rest of the day (the remaining 16 hours). You skip breakfast and generally start eating at noon, then have your last meal at 8 o’clock in the evening. The 16/8 method is the most popular one.

• Eat-Stop-Eat: Once or twice a week, you fast for 24 hours. For example, if you have dinner at 8 pm on Monday, you have your next meal at 8 pm on Tuesday. This can be done twice a week.

• The 5:2 Method: With this method, you eat food adding up to 500–600 calories on two non-consecutive days of a week and eat normally on the other 5 days of the week. For example, you have 500-600 calories on Monday, then go back to normal eating on Tuesday and Wednesday, have 500-600 calories on Thursday, and eat normally again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

You can find more details about intermittent fasting plans in our Ultimate Guide of Intermittent Fasting, where we cover every subject related to fasting.

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Who shouldn’t try intermittent fasting?

Although intermittent fasting (IF) is a good method for weight loss and improving health for most people, it may not be ideal for everybody’s metabolism.

Those who take medication for blood pressure or heart disease should consult a doctor before switching to an intermittent fasting diet. Intermittent fasting is not recommended for pregnant and lactating women as well.

How does intermittent fasting help with weight loss?

Intermittent fasting promotes weight loss by limiting calorie intake on certain days of the week or during specific hours of the day. The body uses its sugar storage and starts burning fat as fuel. As the body gets used to this nutrition system, blood sugar fluctuations diminish, and controlling the appetite gets easier.

What to eat during intermittent fasting?

While fasting, you can consume water, black coffee, and tea. Apart from that, you don’t eat or drink anything.

During your eating periods, you just eat “normally”. As always, you should avoid too sugary, salty, and fried junk food. You can have leafy greens, beans, fruits, vegetables, whole carbs, and high protein foods including meat, fish, tofu, or nuts, etc.

To learn more about what to eat to break your fast, check out our article.

To sum up

Many people who try Intermittent fasting achieve their weight and health goals, so it’s worth giving this diet a try.