So, how are those resolutions going? You know, the ones where you were going to lose the weight, eat right, and stay on track?

I hope you are knocking it out of the park, folks!!

But if you’re struggling, and losing the battle of the bulge, I’ve got a secret weapon for you…INTERMITTENT FASTING to the rescue!!!

Intermittent fasting means limiting your food intake to a six/eight hour window every day.  Researchers suggest intermittent fasting works because it mimics the diet of our ancestors (hunters and gatherers were not just sitting around chowing down whenever they wanted.  They were, you know…hunting and gathering and trying not to starve!).  The easy access we now have to food has completely eliminated this normal “feast and famine” cycle the body needs for proper cell regeneration and replacement.

As noted by Fitness and Power:

“An increasing number of researchers are saying that the intermittent fasting method is a sure-fire way for people to shed the excess fat.  A study published in 2015 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that intermittent fasting gives a safe rate weight loss of 0.5 to 1.7 lbs/week, along with decreasing the overall body fat percentage.”

During this time of fasting, the body cleans house, and removes toxins (which cannot occur when you’re grazing all day!), and transitions into burning fat, instead of carbs, as fuel (hence the weight loss).

Health Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting:

• Shifts Body To Burn Fat For Fuel – Limiting your food intake forces your body to burn fat instead of glucose/carbs for energy.  Fat burning means weight loss!
• Stops Sugar Cravings, And Halts Diabetes – This is because limiting food intake normalizes insulin and leptin sensitivity.  Insulin and leptin resistance cause numerous chronic diseases, including diabetes.  Fasting shifts your body’s dependence on glucose, which stops that constant craving for sugar.
• Speeds And Promotes Cellular Regeneration – By triggering autophagy, the natural process needed to renew damaged cells.  It also inhibits cancerous growths, and chronic disease development.
• Boosts Cognitive Function – Because it provides the brain with fat, instead of glucose.  Studies show that intermittent fasting helps in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease because it boosts brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), a protein that is neuroprotective and brain-stimulating.

Things To Remember To Help You Be Successful With Intermittent Fasting:

• Drink Plenty Of Fluids – Drink, drink, drink!  You need to drink enough liquids to keep you feeling full, and keep your body flushing out those toxins.  This will help you curb cravings at the beginning of your fasting.
• Eliminate All Processed Foods From Your Diet – You need the food you are eating during your six to eight hour window to be as nutrient rich, and as healthy as possible.  Eating a bunch of processed crap will leave you nutrient deficient, and hinder your body’s detoxification  process. I suggest adopting a Paleo, or Keto, diet.
• Foods To Eat – Green vegetables, coconut oil, avocado, whey protein isolate, butter, free range meats, nuts, and occasionally, fruit (all organic is best…your body is trying to detoxify, so you don’t want to fill it with more chemicals if possible).
• Foods To Avoid – Rice, pasta, bread, and potatoes.

How To Intermittent Fast:

• Peak Fasting – Simply skip one meal per day.  The easiest way is to gradually push back the time you eat breakfast until you completely eliminate it.  Or, eat breakfast soon after getting up, and then eat lunch, and skip the dinnertime meal.  Just stick to the six, to eight, hour eating rule.  When I intermittent fast, I eat my first meal around noon, and then I eat dinner around 6, and then I am done for the day.   Or you could eat breakfast at 7, and lunch at 12 and be done for the day.  Find what works best for your body, and your schedule.
• Water Fast – Drink only water during fasting hours.
• Water Plus Noncaloric Beverages – Water, herbal tea, coffee (all plain) during fasting hours.
• Bone Broth – Drink all of the above plus bone broth during fasting hours
• Fat Fasting – Allow healthy fats during fasting hours in addition to water and noncaloric beverages. Some ideas are bulletproof coffee (black coffee with butter, coconut oil, or MCT oil).

Well, there you have it folks, my quick guide to intermittent fasting.  I hope you found this post helpful, and I hope it helps you achieve your health goals!  Please like my page, Naturally Liz, on Facebook for more great information, and to join upcoming groups (hint, hint…the next one will involve a fasting support group!).  

Drop me some comments and let me know if you’ve ever tried intermittent fasting?  If so, how did it go?

In Health,

Liz

*Please employ common sense and do not fast if you are pregnant, breast-feeding, underweight, malnourished, or under the age of 18, unless you are under the supervision of a doctor.