I want to share with you guys a super simple way to reduce weight, gain energy and increase your overall health while eating relatively the same foods you have been for years. It's not a fancy named in vogue diet and because there's no way to make money from it, it's not advertised. It's called intermittent fasting. Keep reading cause it's not what you think and is quite easy...
Search the web for in depth info but the short version is you allot a certain period of time that you refrain from eating/drinking anything. The most basic is called the 16:8, which is fasting for 16 hrs and your eating window is the next 8 hrs. For example, you last meal is dinner and you finish by 7pm. You would then not eat anything (absolutely nothing, no calories whatsoever) until 11am the next day. So in essence you show some self control from after dinner until bedtime and then in the morning you skip breakfast and go about your day until 11am at which time you can resume eating. During the "fasting" period you can drink water, green tea or black coffee but DO NOT add any sugars, creams, or sweeteners or you have ruined the fasting period.
Let me give you some background info...
It takes approximately 12 hrs for your body to digest what's in your stomach. After that your body will begin to tap into your fat stores for energy. So with a 16 hr fast in those 4 remaining hours your body becomes a fat burning machine! A great way to increase the fat burning rate is to exercise during that time. That's why it's important not to take in any calories while you are in a fasting (non eating) phase. We have been taught it's better to eat 5 -6 small meals throughout the day when in reality that's doing more harm than good because once the body's caloric energy requirements are met any excess will be stored as fat! And by frequent eating you are never allowing your body to reach a "fasting state" and use stored fat for energy.
At the onset you may think it difficult and you will feel like you are starving but the reality is you're not. You have trained yourself that "I just woke up I need to eat breakfast" so it has become a habit but if you think about it logically for a minute you'll see that's not true at all. How much energy did you expend from the time you finished dinner until the time you woke up? Very little at all is the answer so why is there a need to eat again if the calories from dinner haven't been completely used up? Makes sense doesn't it? If you get hunger pangs drink water and busy yourself with something to occupy your mind. Those feelings of hunger will go away.
There are other variations like 20:4 and a full 24hr fast. Sounds difficult but over time it becomes second nature and I find myself extending the fasting period just because, it's like playing a game with the clock. The longest I've gone without eating is 36hrs and I'm still alive to talk about it, lol. And just so you I know I stand 5'10 and 165lbs so there's not much fat reserves on me to begin with!
And weight loss will happen without changing your diet but if you want to maximize the effects then I would suggest staying away from carbs as much as you can, especially sugars and sweet products like juices. All carbs are broken down into simple sugars which the body readily uses for energy and easily stores the excess as fats.
There is a reason more and more people are becoming diabetic and obese, the damn food pyramid has us eating 6 - 11 servings of breads, cereal, rice and pasta! Eating this amount of carbs wreaks havoc on the bodies insulin levels. I won't get into the details but please research the effects sugars have in relation to insulin suppression/sensitivity in the body. The AMA is ensuring doctors have a steady supply of patients to treat and prescribe drugs but that is another conversation.
I hope this helps someone here and I wish all of you success!
