Intermittent fasting is a popular way to achieve fitness goals, that has got popular with health experts and fitness practitioners alike. It has proven beneficial for most people. However, this is unsuitable for people who suffer from eating disorders.
What is Intermittent Fasting
It is a continuous cycle of eating healthily and fasting in-between. Intermittent fasting is not about the choice of food, it is more about the timings of the food.
There are multiple ways to practice intermittent fasting. A routine including meals and fasting periods at regular intervals of time is followed. Though it is believed to be difficult, it is quite easy. While the body is adapting to long periods of fasting, hunger might be an issue, in the beginning, however, the body adjusts to the newly imposed conditions very fast.
Some basic rules need to be followed during intermittent fasting. There should be no intake of food during the fasting period, except in those forms of intermittent fasting where some low-calorie food is allowed while fasting. Beverages such as tea, non-carbolic drinks, etc. may be consumed during this time. One may take supplements during fasting but only if the supplement is free of calories.
There are several methods to follow.
1. 16:8 Fasting
The 16:8 method is also known as the Leangain’s protocol which was popularized amongst the general masses by Martin Berkhan, a fitness expert. This method involves fasting for sixteen hours straight and planning the meals during the rest of the eight hours in a day. This may sound very difficult to achieve, but it is the easiest to adapt to.
A human body is used to fasting during sleeping, which makes it about ten to twelve hours daily on average. If this period is extended a little longer, which is easily possible, it is easy to follow this method of fasting.
This method leaves one with eight hours to plan their meals and one can easily fit in two to three square meals in this period. This method may be difficult for people who wake up hungry and can’t do without breakfast.
During fasting, the consumption of beverages such as tea and coffee helps to reduce the cravings for food. One should make healthy food choices and try to avoid junk. Too much junk food will hinder the process by adding calories more than the exercise process can handle.
2.The 5:2
This method includes eating a normal diet for five days of the week and fasting for the rest of the two days. A British journalist by the name of Michael Mosley brought this method to public notice, and ever since then, it has been successfully adopted by many.
It is usually advised to have 500 to 600 calories during the two days of fasting. During this period, to meet the hunger pangs, one may have multiple meals, as long as the total calorie intake doesn’t exceed the limit. For example, one can have 500-600 calories in three meals whereas someone else might have 500-600 calories in four to five meals. This is also called the ‘Fast dieting’ method.
3. Eat Stop Eat
This is a twenty-four hours cycle of eating and fasting. This method has been practiced for quite a long time, ever since it was popularized by fitness coach Brad Pilon. It completes a full twenty-four hours cycle.
One may fast from dinner to next dinner, lunch to lunch, or breakfast to breakfast, as it may suit them. It must be kept in mind; a normal diet must be followed during the days when one is not fasting.
Overeating will nullify the results of fasting and render efforts useless. Under-eating is also not advised, the body should be given the nutrients and energy it needs to sustain the fasting process.
This process is very much difficult to follow since the fasting hours are long and the human body is not accustomed to staying without food for twenty-four hours.
4. Alternate-day fasting
In alternate-day fasting, every other day is a fasting day. This method has different ways of being practiced. Usually, the methods allow 500 calories of food on the fasting day. This is one of the most popular methods and has often been devised for the scientific study of intermittent fasting.
This method may turn out to be exhausting for the body and is not all recommended for beginners. If one has already been successful with other methods such as the 16:8 method or 5:2 method and wishes to move a step ahead, they may adopt this method of fasting.
5. The Warrior Diet
Ori Hofmekler, a fitness expert is responsible for popularizing this method. This process involves the consumption of organic healthy food during the day and consuming a gigantic meal at night.
This was one of the first forms of intermittent dieting, this method of dieting is also called ‘The Warrior Diet’ and is the first instance of a diet that had intermittent fasting included in it. During the day, no processed food should be taken. One must eat only raw fruits and vegetables.
6. Spontaneous meal skipping
This method doesn’t follow a particular diet or pattern. It doesn’t follow any particular rules. It involves skipping meals until and unless the body feels hungry.
It simply requires a person to fast when they don’t feel hungry. The human body indicates hunger as per its needs and as long as the stomach doesn’t demand food, the body will sustain itself. This is one of the easiest methods of fasting since the fasting routine is absolutely in compliance with the demands of the stomach. The fasting doesn’t seem a task and feels like a cakewalk often. However, it is recommended that one chooses healthy meals when the body demands food.
Intermittent fasting is a widely studied topic, often debated by fitness and health experts. Intermittent fasting not only helps reduce weight by also promotes healthy living, protects against illnesses, increases body immunity, and increases life span too. It is a boost to health.
