Intermittent Fasting To Lose Weight And Strengthen Health

There are strategies that help to lose weight without affecting health, on the contrary, they contribute to strengthening it. Intermittent fasting is one of these. A simple alternative to apply, whose key is discipline.

The word fasting should not scare us or make us imagine sacrifice, suffering or hunger. Intermittent fasting involves organizing meals in a different way so that the digestive system has more time to rest.

With this method we are able to allow other functions of the body to take place in a better way, such as night rest or weight loss. Discover in this article what intermittent fasting consists of and how we should do it to improve health and lose weight more easily.

Intermittent fasting is not a diet

Nor anything related to what we can imagine by fasting. We must not starve or count calories. Rather, it is a change in the way we eat to do it in a healthier and smarter way, and thus achieve optimal weight and health without obsessing over food.

To begin with, intermittent fasting consists of extending the fasting schedule that we do naturally each night  between dinner and breakfast, in order to enhance our body’s ability to regenerate and lose weight. This consists of having dinner before and having breakfast later than usual or achieving it at the times that suit us best according to our lifestyle, family customs, work, etc.

The important thing is to avoid eating any solid food for at least 12 hours. And the ideal would be to arrive until 6:00 p.m. However, it is not necessary to do it every day, but at least several times a week.

Keep in mind that this dietary protocol has been shown to be effective in promoting weight loss and improving health.

How do we organize ourselves? 

Beginners

First, some nutritionists suggest skipping breakfast or dinner. This option is valid from time to time, as long as it does not make us feel anxious or hungry. As a beginner, we can do an intermittent fast under the following schedule:

• Breakfast: At 9 in the morning.

• Lunch: At 2 in the afternoon.
• Dinner: Before 9 at night.

Some may be surprised to find that they may already be doing a mild intermittent fasting instinctively. However, some make the mistake of dining too late or eating late at night. With this first proposal we would start with a 12-hour fast.

Experts

For those who have already overcome the 12-hour fast without problems, we present the following alternative:

• Breakfast: At 11 in the morning.
• Lunch: At 3 in the afternoon.
• Dinner: Before 7 in the afternoon.

With this proposal, we could test the body’s response to 16 hours of fasting. It may even be that we are less hungry in the morning, the longer the overnight fast is. If we want to extend this recommendation to 18 hours of fasting, we could combine breakfast with lunch or lunch with dinner.

Thanks to this method we will achieve a more efficient control of blood glucose, according to research published in JAMA . This will reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the medium term.

How do we do it?

The key to starting intermittent fasting is to take the opportunity to improve your diet and choose nutritious and filling foods. So we can avoid all those that do not provide us nutritionally.

Recommended foods

• Vegetable oils of first cold pressing, such as coconut, olive, sesame oil, among others.
• Vegetables.
• Eggs.
• Nuts.
• Seeds.
• Avocado.
• Oatmeal.
• Buckwheat.
• Quinoa.

Food not recommended

• Refined flours (pastries, cookies, white bread).
• White sugar.
• Ice cream and other dairy desserts.
• Fried foods.
• Inlay.
• Pre-cooked.
• Soft drinks and packaged juices.
• Snacks and treats.

Practical tips

Finally, do not forget to follow these tips to succeed in your intermittent fasting:

• Drink plenty of water throughout the day, outside of meals and especially on an empty stomach. In addition, on many occasions, although we feel hungry, what we are actually experiencing is severe dehydration.
• Don’t go hungry. Feel full, but choosing healthy foods.
• During the hours of fasting you can take medicinal infusions.
• Chew your food well and enjoy each dish. Be original in recipes and try new things.
• You can start your intermittent fasting on a holiday, in order to lengthen the hours of sleep and make it shorter.
• Avoid fasting for more hours on days when you have to make a significant effort, drive or any activity that requires your full attention.
• Consume coffee only on an empty stomach. There is evidence that this drink is capable of stimulating satiety, so it will help you not starve.

Practice intermittent fasting

From the first intermittent fast you will feel full of energy and vitality, while the body deflates and becomes lighter. The benefits will give you the motivation to continue fasting more regularly without any effort.