Intermittent Fasting: Does It Work?

A Harvard site posted a diet review on intermittent fasting. A review of 40 studies found that intermittent fasting IS effective for weight loss! The typical amount of weight lost was 7 to 10 pounds over ten weeks. 

Intermittent fasting is also known as ‘restricted eating,’ but for someone sounds less intimidating. Who likes feeling restricted? Especially when it comes to favorite foods. Either way, intermittent fasting has proved to be just as effective a weight-loss technique as complicated diets.

How Intermittent Fasting Works

One of the theories from Dr. Artur Viana is; when we practice time-restricted eating, we typically consume fewer calories. Some of us have stretched our bellies a bit and need time to shrink the stomach back to the average size it should be. 

 

What is intermittent fasting (IF)?

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and fasting. Nothing tells you specific foods to eat, rather when to eat them. It’s not a diet in any conventional sense; it’s more appropriately described as an eating pattern. 

One common intermittent fasting practice involves a 16-hour, daily fast or fasting for 24 hours, twice a week. Fasting isn’t a new practice; in fact, it’s an ancient practice practiced by many people throughout the world.

Intermittent (IT Fasting Methods)

There isn’t one set way of practicing intermittent fasting. There are several methods, each splitting the day or week into fasting and eating patterns.

During a fasting period, you would eat very little or nothing at all.

• The 16/8 Method: The 16/8 is also known as the Leangains protocol; you skip breakfast and restrict a daily eating period to eight hours, for example, 12 to 8 p.m. You fast for 16 hours in the time between.
• The 5:2 Diet: You can only consume 500 to 600 calories two consecutive days a week and normally eat the other five days of the week.
• Eat-Stop-Eat: You fast for 24 hours a couple of times a week. You would avoid eating from dinner one evening until the next day’s dinner.

Reducing our calorie intake can help with weight loss as long as we overeat during the eating periods. Many people feel that the 16/8 method is the easiest to stick to and the most sustainable.

When you practice intermittent fasting and exercise regularly, you can lose weight and improve your overall health and wellness. We often consume too many calories and exert too little. It should be the other way around; we should eat and utilize the nutrients to provide everything we need, including energy.

Consuming too many calories can be extremely easy. We don’t all have the time to count calories, and nutrition doesn’t seem as widely taught as it once was. Being mindful is a part of intermittent fasting, dieting, and general health. To succeed at anything, we must be aware of what we put into our body, how often, and how beneficial it was. It can be faster and easier to make mindless choices. Still, thoughtless decisions can lead to health issues, and prevention is the best medicine.