Strengthen your health with intermittent fasting
Health FitnessThere is a new trend in how we eat, or should possibly say how often we eat. Its popularity stems from the fact that it helps people lose weight without having to deal with the effects of actual hunger. It also helps reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
What is this new trend? “Intermittent fasting” or SI is the name of this game.
Intermittent fasting is nothing new. In fact, IF dates back to our original ancestors. It is a feeding strategy imprinted in our DNA, because our ancestors practiced a reduced feeding schedule. They literally had no other choice in the matter. They just didn’t have the kind of frequency and ease of access to food that we have now.
Our window to eat –
This new eating strategy isn’t just about skipping meals. It is about spending as much time as possible fasting.
The best way to define any type of fast is to think of it simply as a change in eating patterns. In the case of IF, instead of three full meals in a day, or eating a handful of smaller meals throughout the day, there is a window of time in which we are allowed to eat. This could take the form of a few hours a day, or the fasting window could represent certain days of the week. During that time, we can eat whatever we want, within reason, of course.
Detaching our “eating window” allows our mind to tune into our body so that we can understand what real hunger really feels like.
IF is not about starving. Fasting does not mean starving, but it is not a diet either. The literal definition is:
“Refrain from eating and drinking for a specific period of time.”
IF is about eating two meals in a day instead of three (or multiple) during which you introduce a 16-hour fasting period. You can choose breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner, and it’s proving to be a powerful approach to eating.
The Western world spends little or no time fasting. True hunger is something that we should only experience every 16-24 hours, not every four hours as we are used to. For most, there is constant grazing from dusk to dawn, and even late into the night for some people.
IF won’t work for anyone whose diet focuses on processed foods like French fries. Fasting requires us to follow a largely comprehensive diet, rich in vegetables, lean protein, healthy carbohydrates, and fats in order to experience the best and fastest benefits of IF. The two meals chosen for the day should be nutritionally packed and completely balanced.
It is estimated that one in two people in today’s modern world is obese or overweight, and millions die from complications arising from this truth. IF helps control body weight and is also a powerful tool in the field of life extension.
Unless you’re snacking late into the night, chances are you’re already incorporating a form of IF into your schedule, fasting for about 12 hours a day. However, current research shows that some of the benefits of FI require longer periods of fasting, up to 20-24 hours, depending on activity levels.
The proposed benefits of IF in animals and humans read like a long list of “looking better”, “feeling better” and “living longer” …
Having a limited eating window is much less difficult to achieve than restricting calories. IF is truly one of the simplest strategies for reducing fat weight and maintaining a good weight (muscle tissue) and requires very little change in behavior.
Delaying the aging process, increasing energy levels, and restarting the immune system are all benefits of incorporating IF into your eating schedule.
So, what are you waiting for? Decide which two meals you want to enjoy in the future and choose the richest and most nutrient-dense foods to enjoy during that period. If you follow this protocol and combine it with challenging strength training exercises, I promise you will see positive changes in your body and the way you feel.