Intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating that prescribes when food should be eaten, not which ones. Put simply, it means skipping a meal once in a while.
\nWe all go for periods in every day in which we don’t eat\u2014we call it sleeping\u2014and the first meal after the long sleep breaks the fast.
\nBut IF is a conscious decision to avoid eating for certain periods of time, ranging anywhere from 12 to 36 hours.
\nPeople have been skipping meals for as long as we’ve been people, but science started to study the act of skipping meals in the 1930s, when it was noticed that skipping meals led to longer, healthier lives in mice. Studies have since shown that lowering our calorie consumption by 30 to 40 percent can significantly extend one’s life expectancy. Limiting food intake may reduce the risk of many common diseases, and fasting may also increase the body\u2019s insulin response, regulating blood sugar and helping to control hunger and cravings.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Start easy. For women, the basic prescription is to feed for 10 hours a day, and fast for the remaining 14. Ensure you get protein at every meal and eat whole foods, not processed ones.
\n\u2022 Make sure the meals you eat are in the right portions for you.
\n\u2022 Once you’ve mastered the basics and are starting to feel health benefits, start to fast once or twice a week for 24 hours. If you can’t go for 24 hours, go as long as you can and work up to a 24-hour period. One can experience hunger, nausea and cravings, and the temptation to give into them can be strong. This is not the time to cave into cravings for cake and ice cream.
\n\u2022 Drink plenty of water, staying hydrated is critical during periods of low-calorie consumption.
\n\u2022 Think of it as taking a break from eating; don’t think about it, think about other things.
\n\u2022 Don’t give up mid-fast and eat junk food. That’s worse than not fasting.
\n\u2022 Do continue to work out. Exercising will help you get better results, especially if it involves weight-bearing or body-weight exercises.
\n\u2022 Find what works best for you: when do you get hungry, how often do you work out, and can you work this in to your lifestyle, not just once or twice, but for the long haul?
\nWe’d love to hear of your experiences, successes and frustrations with fasting. Intermittent fasting just might be the antidote to the effects of an ever-present food supply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Is fasting right for you? Intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating that prescribes when food should be eaten, not which ones. Put simply, it means skipping a meal once in a while. We all go for periods in every day in which we don’t eat\u2014we call it sleeping\u2014and the first meal after the long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[620,618,760],"tags":[3714,3718,3720,3235,3712,3710,3716],"class_list":["post-10699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthy-eating","category-healthy-living","category-portion-control","tag-bodys-insulin-response","tag-control-hunger-and-cravings","tag-fasting-en","tag-healthy-eating","tag-healthy-living","tag-hunger-control","tag-regulating-blood-sugar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t