Losing weight and staying in shape are two of the biggest challenges people face as they struggle to meet their set goals in mind. People have tried so may programs out there that the market for losing weight and staying in shape are in the billions of dollars a year. Yet, many people failed miserably after trying programs after programs, throwing their money away. I don’t think you can blame people for failing after going through the programs. I really think it has to do with the programs themselves. Intermittent fasting is one proving way to lose weight and stay in shape.
Can anyone do intermittent fasting?
That is the right question to ask. Intermittent fasting can be beneficial to healthy people or people who are overweight and are trying to lose the extra pounds. But it may not be suitable for people with diabetes. The reason for this is that intermittent fasting requires a pause between 8-10 hours of no food. With diabetes subjects, this can lower their blood sugar level and can cause weaknesses or fainting conditions. It is best for people with diabetes to talk to their doctors to get a better understanding before trying intermittent fasting.
Steps to intermittent fasting
For people with no diabetes, this can be very useful to them. When ever you are trying something new involving your health, you need to start by going at it slow. I always put time into perspective. Timing is everything. It can benefit you to get the most of your set goal. Let’s say that you eat every 3 or 4 hours on a regular basis. To start the steps to intermittent fasting, you will need to go 3.5 to 4.5 hours without eating. The next challenge is to go 4 to 5 hours without eating. Then on to 4.5 to 5.5 hours, then 5 to 6 hours, then 5.5 to 6.6 hours, then you would continue to do so until you reach about 8 to 10 hours without consuming anything. It’s all about training your stomach and our entire body to recognize your eating habits. But you must have a discipline mind to do that. The coolest thing about this is that once you reach the last step, your discipline will kick in automatically.
Intermittent fasting benefits
If you are questioning why Intermittent fast should be considered, you might want to take a look at these benefits. Intermittent fasting is a committing choice. This means that you don’t have to an exact time of day to do it but it must be with time spacing. It doesn’t require a specific kind of diet, although it would help to do so, if you want to lose weight and see faster results. Intermittent fasting can help with brain health, fat burning of the stomach, losing weight, increasing energy, cellular repair, gene expression, etc. Some sources claim that it can help drop insulin level which may reverse people with type2 diabetes. I would think that it would be wise to talk to your doctor if you have type 2 diabetes before trying intermittent fasting as a caution as noted above. But most of the other benefits are claims of animals studies
My personal results with intermittent fasting
Two years ago, when I first started intermittent fasting, I did not find it that hard for me to master. This is because I have a strong mind to do things that would benefit me, especially when it has to do with my health. Intermittent fasting was an experimental task for me. I was not interested in losing weight. I was trying to gain the other health benefits like leaner muscles, increasing my growth hormones, and increasing my brain health. I am a natural body builder and doing this experiment did do something drastically to me. I lost 25lbs of muscle which wasn’t my intention. I felt really bad about it. I worked so hard for many years. I re-adjusted myself to eating no more than passing 4-6 hrs time.
I think this fast reduction of muscle happens to someone like me, because I don’t eat junk foods. I always cook and prepare my own foods. I also don’t do a lot of calories intake. So, with no foods between a period of 8-10hrs and just exercising, my muscle was actually eating itself. Having lost those 25lbs over a two months period, made me realized that intermittent fasting does work. It all depends on what you are eating to see faster results. As with looking leaner, I didn’t see much. I was already dense in muscle. My energy level was definitely higher than ever but at the same time, my strength was dropping when lifting weights. I didn’t find anything different with my cognitive functioning. I did look like someone locked me up in a dungeon without food. My face showed like I was starving. I did look a little younger as my face shrunk with hardly any cheeks. LOL!
As with the unpleasant personal results gained by doing intermittent fasting, I proceeded to not do it anymore. I am now struggling to gain back my solid 25lbs of muscle, which I have lost through intermittent fasting. The truth is, on my relaxing days, I do have some lingering habits to not eat anything within 8hrs from my first meal. That is because I am busy doing things and food is my last choice in mind. I do feel that I have an uphill battle to eat like I used to before. So far, I only gained back 11lbs of muscle. What can I say? I am a hard gainer when it comes to pack on muscle mass.
My thoughts on intermittent fasting
I think that intermittent fasting is a good choice for anyone who wants to lose their belly fat and their overall weight issues. It is a discipline measure to follow and keep. One must know what he/she really wants and then make up his/her mind to take on this new approach. By doing intermittent fasting, you have total control of it. You can adjust your meal at anytime of the day as long you follow the lengthy interval of eating(8hrs or so). Is it for everyone? Personally, I don’t think it is for everyone. But the three positives are losing fat, weight, and gaining energy. If these three combinations fits your goal, then by all means go for it. These are definitely real results. I am proof of it. But not in a happy sense as explained above. Finally, there’s no actual right way to do intermittent fasting besides the time spacing when eating.
Good luck with intermittent fasting, should you find it interesting. Have a healthy and wealthy outlook on life.
Best wishes,
john@healthy-and-wealthy-lifestyles.com
Good article by all standard. When I started reading, I said to my self how this si going to be possible for someone who has never tried fasting before?
But you did a fantastic job by giving a step by step process even if one has not tried before. Again, I like the way you said about a discipline life to achieve this. your happiness is your health so until you determined you can’t acheive what you want.
Thanks for this revelation
Hello Osei,
I’m glad that you find this article helpful. I appreciate your understanding. My steps can be easily implemented for anyone with no health problems. Thank you for your positive comments. I wish you the best!
I have been reading a lot about intermittent fasting and wondered how it worked. As a type 2 diabetic, I understand that this type of program could be dangerous, but could also be very beneficial to me. I have been looking into an app called Do Fasting. Do you know anything about it?
I have done fasts in the past, but without much success. I feel like this type of fast would be much better and be a lot easier to maintain.
Is this done on a daily basis or is it for specific days? I really am interested in trying it as a way to lose weight and reverse type 2 diabetes!
Thank you.
Hello Karin,
My review on intermittent fasting was based on science and my experience along with it. I’ve read so much about it and going through the process was not a flash thing. You have to build yourself up to it as I’ve explained. That said, you have to watch what you eat. But in your case, you have to be careful. I suggest you talk to your doctor first before doing this due to your health status. I’ve seen people with your condition go through this and reverse their type 2 diabetes, but with monitoring of their doctor. See what your doctor can do to keep you safe when trying this method. I appreciate your interests in intermittent fasting. I wish you you the best.