Are you curious about how to cut calories from your diet but you’ve struggled with more traditional methods? Are you interested in taking an outside-the-box approach? Intermittent fasting might be the way to go.
Intermittent fasting doesn’t remove food from your diet. It simply structures when you should eat. This inherently cuts calories but also provides windows for you to satisfy your appetite.
There are multiple ways you can start this weight-loss strategy.
16/8 method
Skip breakfast and choose an eight-hour period when you can eat multiple meals. Once that time period ends, you fast until the next day when the eight-hour period begins.
5/2 diet method
This way is a little easier to adopt because you don’t fast much at all. You eat normally for five days of the week and then eat 500 to 600 calories on the other two days of the week.
Eat-stop-eat method
This is almost identical to the 5/2 method; however, you don’t eat anything on the two days you choose during the week. Water, coffee, and other non-alcoholic drinks are allowed on the fasting days.
Alternating days
This is a more extreme version of the eat-stop-eat method. You’ll alternate normal days with fasting days throughout the week. You can ease into the fasting periods by eating a few hundred calories on those days.
Warrior diet
Your mornings will be filled with small meals that include fruits and vegetables, and then your evening meal will be much larger.
Spontaneous meal skipping
This isn’t a true method of intermittent fasting, but it can produce some of the benefits. You can skip meals whenever you don’t have time to eat or you don’t feel hungry.
By choosing one of these intermittent fasting strategies, you may notice some of the following positive changes:
- Weight loss
- Reduced inflammation
- Lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides
- Lower insulin levels, which can allow your body to more readily use body fat as energy
- Increased levels of human growth hormone, which can help decrease fat and increase muscle
Although intermittent fasting can help you achieve your weight-loss goals, fasting without a strategy can be harmful. You may notice some immediate weight loss by doing this, but it’s hard to maintain over time.
When you completely stop eating, your body slows its metabolism to account for the missing calories. Then when you resume a normal diet, your body won’t be able to burn calories as efficiently so you may gain back the weight you lost during your fast.
Fasting can cause headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. If you choose to deprive your body of nutrients for a longer period of time, you may develop liver and kidney problems, and your immune system may become less effective.
Committing to an intermittent fasting routine can help focus your meal times so that you can thrive during the times you’re eating and during the times you’re not.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition. If you have any concerns, please speak with your doctor.
Sinclair Broadcast Group is committed to the health and well-being of our viewers, which is why we initiated Sinclair Cares. Every month we’ll bring you information about the “Cause of the Month,” including topical information, education, awareness, and prevention. March is National Nutrition Month.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
