There
is more and more discussion happening around intermittent fasting. It’s
something I am curious about but up until now I didn’t know much about
it. I do know the basics. Fasting means you don’t eat. There is more to
it than that. Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles
between periods of fasting and eating. While it is called a form of
dieting by some it’s more of an eating pattern. I don’t think anyone
will be shocked to know that humans can actually survive if a meal or
three are missed. The other big point is that it’s actually good for us
to do that.

 

Digesting food is a resource intensive process. Giving it
a break from time-to-time means that the resources normally used to
break down the food we’ve ingested can be used for other processes, such
as healing an injury. One of the other benefits is that when we fast
our bodies adjust hormones levels to make stored fat more accessible
resulting in weight loss. Also, by fasting we’re eating fewer calories
and that, as we know, contributes to weight loss as well.

 

There are
several methods of fasting. The thing to remember is fasting is meant to
be a pattern of eating. It’s a process that needs to be experimented
with to find the combination that works best for you. Here are three
methods:
• 16/8: This involves consuming food during an eight-hour
period and then fasting for the remaining 16 hours each day. Depending
on when you have breakfast this is kind of like not snacking after
dinner.
• Eat-Stop-Eat: This is a day of fasting once or twice a week for 24 hours.
•
5:2: With this method food intake is minimized to 500-600 calories on
two non-consecutive days of the week, but then eating as you normally
would for the other five days.

 

Those three methods are only
suggestions. If fasting is something that you’re interested in trying,
start slowly and keep a journal on how you are feeling throughout the
fasting period. It is important to be careful when reducing caloric
intake, and it’s not for everyone. If you’re going to try the 24-hour
fast pick a day when your activity is lower than on days when you’re
planning to do a large amount of physical movements. No matter which
method you try you have to hydrate. It’s best to do that with water.
I’ve read that coffee and tea are OK if there’s no sugar added. If I
have coffee without food you will find me on the moon, so personally, I
would avoid that option. Fresh lemon in water sounds good though.

 

There may be side effects caused by fasting that our bodies may adapt to after a month or so. They are:
• Hunger
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Nausea
• Headaches

 

Once
again, don’t do anything that doesn’t feel good to you. There’s nothing
wrong with starting with skipping a meal or two and progressing from
there.
Something to think about.