Intermittent fasting is a weight loss health trend that is gaining a lot of popularity lately. People use intermittent fasting to lose weight, simplify their lifestyles, and improve their health. You may have heard of all the benefits of intermittent fasting already but you’re not sure if fasting is the right fit for you. The short answer is, it depends – your lifestyle and your approach to food will affect on how well you can actually commit to intermittent fasting. Keep reading to learn some of the ins and outs of intermittent fasting and how to achieve it for yourself.
Intermittent Fasting Methods
There are several ways that you can do intermittent fasting:
- 16/8 method
This method requires you to skip breakfast and restrict your eating period to an 8 hour window. You fast for the remaining 16 hours. - Eat-Stop-Eat
This method requires you to fast for 24 hour periods one or two times a week. A simple example will be abstaining from eating every 2 days. - 5:2 Diet
This method requires you to consume between 500-600 calories on two non-consecutive days of the week. You eat normally the remaining 5 other days of the week.
Simplifies Your Lifestyle
One of the biggest challenges to eating healthy is having the time to prepare healthy meals. When you fast, you can spend more time making sure the meals you do eat are healthy since you eat less over all.
Health Benefits
The health benefits of intermittent fasting make it worth it.
- Weight Loss
Intermittent fasting has been proven to help people lose weight and belly fat without having to actively restrict your caloric intake. - Insulin Resistance
Intermittent fasting can also lower your insulin resistance, which can improve chronic diseases like diabetes. - Inflammation
Some studies have shown a correlation between intermittent fasting and a reduction in inflammation. This is important because inflammation is the basis of most chronic diseases.
