Think again if you believed abstinence was only for religious reasons. Intermittent Fasting (IF), a relatively new phenomenon in the calorie restriction arena, is quickly becoming a prominent health and fitness fad.
Intermittent Fasting requires you to alternate between eating and fasting times. Fasting “patterns” or “cycles” are terms used to characterise this style of eating.
There are a variety of viable ways to IF, but it all comes down to personal choice.
The 5:2 technique — twice a week
This technique to intermittent fasting focuses on capping your calories to 500 on two days each week. You eat a healthy and typical diet the other five days of the week.
This technique normally comprises a 200-calorie meal and a 300-calorie dinner on fasting days. When fasting, it’s critical to focus on high-fibre and high-protein foods to help fill you up while also keeping calories low.
You may select any two fasting days as long as there is a non-fasting day in between. Consume the same quantity of food that you would on non-fasting days.
Fasting on alternate days
This kind entails “modified” fasting every other day. For example, on fasting days, limit your calories to 500, or around 25% of your regular intake. On non-fasting days, return to your normal, nutritious diet. (There are stringent variants to this technique, such as consuming 0 calories on alternate days rather than 500.)
Timed eating (for example, the 16/8 or 14/10 technique)
You may specify fasting and eating windows with this option. For example, suppose you fast for 16 hours a day and are only able to eat for eight.
This strategy is effective since most individuals already fast when sleeping. It’s beneficial since missing breakfast and not dining until noon allows you to extend your overnight fast. What are some of the most prevalent methods?
Only eat between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. or noon and 8 p.m. using the 16/8 technique.
14/10 method: Eat only between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
This intermittent fasting approach may be performed as many times as you like or even once or twice a week – whichever works best for you.
It may take a few days to figure out the best eating and fasting periods for this strategy, especially if you’re really busy or if you wake up ravenous for breakfast.
The 24-hour fast (also known as the eat:stop:eat technique)
This entails fasting for a full 24 hours. It’s often just done once or twice a week. The majority of people fast from breakfast to breakfast or from lunch to lunch. The adverse effects of this kind of intermittent fasting can be severe, including fatigue, migraines, restlessness, hunger, and poor concentration.
Intermittent fasting is not really an antidote
Whether you’re doing IF, keto, low carb, high protein, vegetarian, the Mediterranean diet — you name it – it all boils down to the quality and quantity of your calories.
What is the bottom line with IF? Although the verdict is yet out and long-term implications are being examined, it is critical to accompany IF with a healthy, well-balanced diet.
You can’t probably lose fat if you eat processed food and consume a lot of calories on non-fasting days.
