An Introduction to Intermittent Fastingsubmitted on 26 February 2015
The following article was kindly contributed to us by Katherine Swift of NatuRem Ltd
Intermittent fasting has now been proven time and time again not only to work to help you lose weight but also fasting done correctly has amazing health benefits too, staving of degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, the list goes on. This is a real paradigm shift (change is basic assumptions and beliefs) so understandably lot of people have lots of questions.
I am going to focus on the 8-hour intermittent fasting diet which I believe to be the easiest way to diet ever.
In this blog I have tried to answer the most common questions asked about this diet and more importantly why it works so well. I have also explained what magical change happens to your body when you follow the 8-hour diet.In a nutshellIntermittent Fasting Shifts Your Body from Burning Sugar to Burning Fat
Intermittent fasting is one of the most powerful and healthy diets that will move your body into fat burning mode.
One of the reasons that fasting is effective for fat loss is because it encourages the secretion of human growth hormone (HGH), which is a fat-burning hormone. In addition to this fasting also increases catecholamines, this increases resting energy expenditure while decreasing insulin levels, allowing stored fat to be burned as fuel.
Together, these and other factors will turn you into an effective fat-burning machine.
The type of fast you choose appears to be less important, so pick whichever one fits your lifestyle, schedule, and temperament the best. The 8-hour diet is do-able and convenient for most people.
During the 8 hours you eat, eat healthy protein, as much salads and vegetables as you can and minimize carbohydrates like pasta, bread and potatoes, swapping them, wherever possible, for healthful fats like butter, eggs, avocado, coconut oil, and nuts and seeds.
Doing this will shift your body from sugar-burning mode to fat-burning mode. Be mindful that is will take a few weeks to make the transition so do not expect immediate results. Once switch to fat burning mode, you will start to really notice the difference to your weight and well-being. On top of this you will find it easy to fast for 16 hours and still not feel hungry. Your sugar cravings will disappear making it even easier to achieve your ideal weight.
Last and not least for those of you who struggle with cellulite, it’s the most effective diet yet at eliminating cellulite as the shift from burning sugar to efficiently burning fat for fuel will get rid of excess fat deposits, bye bye cellulite!!!
Do I have to eat for the same 8-hours every day?
No, this diet can be adapted to your schedule, so long as you alternate an 8 hour period of eating (not eating constantly by the way!) with 16 hours of fasting you will see all the benefits.
So, for example, you could break your fast at 11am and start your fast again by 7pm. However, if you have a dinner date or party planned you could move your feasting hours from 2pm until 10pm. Fortunately for shift workers who may need to eat their first meal at noon on one day and at 5 pm on another, the plan still works, just so long as you always stick to the 8-hour eating pattern.
Can I eat as often as I want during the 8 hours?
Yes! You’re free to eat when you like. You could stick to 2 big meals one at lunch and one at dinner or graze for the whole 8 hours. Try to keep the carbohydrate content lower and protein content higher making sure you include salad and vegetables as much as possible.
Am I allowed to eat as much as I want during the 8 hours?
Yes and no. You need to enjoy your food but if you expect to have results on this diet plan by overindulging during your 8 hours you will likely be disappointed. Eat slowly and don’t eat until you feel totally stuffed. However, unless you increase the amount of food you’re eating on a daily basis, which I would suggest is hard to do if you’re eating within the prescribed time period—you’re going to see results.
I only want to follow the diet 3 days a week. Do I need to do 3 days in a row, or can I alternate them?
Whatever works best for you. Some people find it easier to steer clear of the weekends when following the diet whereas others who have the luxury of being able to lie in (not if you’re part of the kids’ brigade!!) like to wake up late on Saturday and Sunday and wait to eat a mouth-watering brunch around lunchtime. If that works for you just finding one more day in the week could be a no brainer! Again, as long as you stick to the 8 hours, you’ll change not only your body but your life too.
Can I have a day off each week?
If you want you can have 4 days a week off and following the 8-Hour Diet 7 days a week can be hard to do, maybe try it 3 to 5 days each week to begin with. Four days off will still work but that doesn’t mean you can strap yourself the food cupboard and eat until you pass out on such days!!! Make sure you still eat sensibly even on days when you’re not fasting.
I have heard that our bodies store fat during periods of hunger?
This is not the case, but they do store fat in response to traditional dieting. This is why - When you go on a standard diet, you may lose weight at first but when your body senses that food is scarce all the time as you continually take in less calories than your body needs, deprivation sets off a hormonal panic and your body starts to reduce its production of leptin, the hormone responsible for supressing appetite, and boost levels of ghrelin, the hormone responsible for encouraging hunger.
So now you’ve got huge signals of hunger, thanks to your hormonal system. Plus, when you do give in and hit the high carb high fat foods your body is now primed to store those calories as fat, because it believes food is scarce, and it might be a long time before you eat again, so it packs on some easy-to-store, slow-to-burn fat.
Intermittent fasting isn’t based on this kind of food deprivation. It’s purely a pattern of eating, not total purgatory. Your body knows that it will get plenty of healthy calories every day so there’s no need to store fat, it can, in fact, start burning fat for energy. Studies show that it also causes a surge in the hunger suppressing hormone leptin. So if you really want to lose weight, loose the traditional diet and change your eating schedule instead!
Does fasting slow your metabolism?
No, it actually accelerates your metabolic rate. If you think about it, if fasting did slow down the metabolism we (and other carnivores like us) would not have survived throughout the ages. Thousands of years ago we didn’t have the convenience of fridge-freezers, cookers and supermarkets not to mention fast food and restaurants our ancient ancestors would have had to hunt for their food and it wasn’t guaranteed, so during times of food shortage and in real need of a meal if their metabolisms had slowed down they wouldn’t have been able to hunt and chase down food. They were up for the chase because their bodies were metabolically primed for the hunt. They would have been burning stored fat in the absence of food, just like ours is on the 8-Hour Diet. Their pattern of feasting and fasting, maintained muscle mass enabling the hunt.
Clearly if you try to live on rice cakes, cottage cheese and grapefruit for days on end, your metabolism will slow down, herein the fatal flaw of traditional diets. Not on the 8-hour diet though which allows you to eat good food, and plenty of it—but just within the allotted 8 hours.
Isn’t breakfast that most important meal of the day? So how can fasting in the morning be good for you?
Eating a good high-protein breakfast is one way of losing weight on a controlled diet, but maybe not as healthy as it could be.
Studies show that 8-Hour Diet will help you lose weight effectively and that’s regardless of when your 8 hours begins and ends. Skipping breakfast is how most prefer to manage their own weight, but you can schedule your times yourself. It might be easier for you to break your fast at 8am and start again at 4pm and if so, do it. For me fasting in the morning is easier as I find dinner the most sociable meal of the day and I like to get my family around the table.
I get dizzy when I don’t eat. Will I pass out from fasting?
Before you undertake any major change to your diet and health regime it makes sense to talk to your doctor first, particularly if you are either diabetic or pre-diabetic.
For most however, there is always enough glycogen stored in the liver to meet immediate energy needs, once you burn through this the body switches to burning fat.
Can I drink coffee or tea during the fasting period? What about adding milk and sugar, or is that cheating?
Coffee and tea are fine and actually absolutely encouraged as caffeine is an appetite suppressant. Bear in mind though that it is also a mild diuretic, so you need to match every drink of caffeine with a glass of water. The milk and sugar is cheating, but if it makes the drink more enjoyable a small amount of either once or twice during your fasting hours will do little harm. Just try to keep them to a minimum.
Can I have milk, juice, sweetened coffee drinks, or bottled iced teas during the fasting period?
Absolutely not!!! The only way to ruin your diet is to drink lots of extra calories during your fasting hours. For the maximum benefit, stick with calorie-free drinks.
What if I desperately need a snack?
The hypothalamus is the area of the brain which registers food intake, both hunger and thirst are registered there, so when you’re really tempted to eat, have a drink instead. Pick your favourite no-calorie beverage and drink up. Your stomach will feel fuller and the hunger will pass.
Could I have a small snack before my morning workout?
Yes if you have to, but you would be breaking the fast. All the scientific research identifies a strict fast as the best way to achieve maximum results. So the best option is obviously to keep the fast and the second best is to live your life as you need to and be as careful as you can with your 8/16 timings.
I’m a competitive sportsman. Is this diet suitable for athletes and people who work out regularly?
Not only is it suitable, it’s actually encouraged. This is because the fat-burning effects of your fasting will be multiplied by strong workouts.
Don’t you have to eat frequently to retain muscle mass in which case if I fast won’t I lose muscle?
No, actually quite the opposite. One of the most remarkable facts about intermittent fasting is that it forces your body to burn fat in preference to muscle. This is what makes it so much better than your traditional crash diet that just works on reducing the amount of calories you consume each day – these are still the most popular diets but they are the types of diets that cause the body to burn muscle, not fat for energy. This will slow your metabolism down and once you stop dieting you put weight on quicker than ever.
The anecdotal evidence that researchers noticed was how popular fasting was in the body-building world. Body-builders use it to achieve the cut, muscular look that wins competitions because it doesn’t erode muscle quality or size. The fact is that both athletic performance and muscle strength seem to improve. In addition to this intermittent fasting increases our natural levels of human growth hormone (HGH) —this is the stuff that ageing athletes illegally inject to help them stay young and strong, it is also a fat burning hormone.
FACT: Limiting your food consumption to 8 hours a day triggers your body to burn fat not sugar for energy whilst standard dieting leads you to burn muscle – I know which I chose!
Any good idea for curbing cravings during my fast?
The most effective way of sticking to the fast is to keep busy. If you sit still thinking about it you can end up obsessing about food. So try the following:
• Go for a quick walk
• Make a business call or two
• Set yourself some tasks to achieve before you break your fast
• Watch something funny
• Go for a workout
• Meditate
Hunger pangs generally last 10 minutes at most, so if you can occupy your body and mind for that length of time, you will find that the hunger should pass.
It’s important to remember it gets easier the more you do it, so stick with it!!!!
Is it ok to take vitamins while I’m fasting?
Yes no problem at all.
What if I need to skip a week or two?
This diet is all about the real world. Life has to be lived to the full so if you need a break from it for holidays overseas or whatever the reason might be, do it. It would be great if during your time off you could try to keep to it on a moderate basis so you eat for maybe 10 hours and fast for 14.
Try to do your best while you’re off the wagon, and then get back on it as soon as you can.
FACT: the 8-hour diet is very flexible and if you stick to it most of the time you will see the benefits. The closer to the 8hrs off 16 hrs on you are the better it’ll work. But you won’t fail if you aren’t quite up to that mark.
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