Forget about a regular diet when you think about WHAT to consume. Intermittent fasting breaks the mold of any diet and is all about WHEN to eat, or WHEN to take a break. Basically, this type of diet is an eating pattern, when you consume food only at a certain time and refrain from it at a particular time.
What is it for? You see, people by their nature fasted all the time. Hundred of years ago, there were no computers, TVs, and jobs that require sitting 12 hours a day. People had to work hard physically to have food, got more exercise, portions were significantly smaller, and life was more active, in general. Now, we can get any food at any time we want at a snap of a finger. This, in turn, results in extra calories, risk of obesity, different illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
Intermittent fasting aids in avoiding it and helps reverse the old trends.
There are a few kinds of fasting, all of which have the same rules: you have to follow the regular periods when to fast and when to devour. The thing is that after hours of fasting, our body uses all its sugar stores and begins burning excess fat. It literally lengthens the period when our body burns the calories eaten during the last meal and when it begins burning fat.
Top 3 intermittent fasting types:
The 16/8 method: The idea here is to miss breakfast and have an 8-hour eating period from 1 to 9 pm. In such a case, you don't eat for 18 hours.
Eat-Stop-Eat: Here, you have to fast for 24 hours once or twice a week. For instance, you have dinner today and then have dinner only tomorrow.
The 5:2 diet: This method tells you to restrict yourself to 500-600 calories intake two times a week. The other 5 days you consume your usual food with no restriction.
Which is the best? It’s hard to say -- everything depends on your body. You might give a shot to each of them, listen to what your body tells you, and choose your favorite one. it may be complicated at first, as it’s something new. The stress. The shock. But it’s worth it -- your body will thank you down the road for sure!
