Intermittent fasting is a method used to help the body burn fat as fuel. It is based on the thought that the human body has not changed that much since caveman times and periods of large feeds were often followed by fasting states.
In general there are three ways to approach intermittent fasting.
- Close the window of time in which you eat so that the remaining 12-16 hours become a fast. This means that you can eat a normal healthy diet but the window in which you eat food should be limited to, say, 10am to 6pm.
- Alternate 600 calorie fasting days with regular calorie days
- Include one 24-hour fasting period in a 7-Day cycle
After researching this a few years back I decided the only one that fits my lifestyle is to close the window of time in which I eat. For over a year now I have done this two to three times a week and I really think it helps bump up my metabolism and burn fat. When I do it, I try to end my calorie consumption at 5 p.m. and don’t start again until 9 a.m. The only things allowed in that time are water, herbal tea, and black coffee (or black coffee blended with coconut oil- a known natural fat burner). I like to “fast” Sunday night into Monday morning, Monday into Tuesday, and Tuesday into Wednesday if at all possible. I have heard that incorporating this even once per week can be beneficial. Please keep in mind this does not excuse you from making good food choices, it only helps to drive the body into more of a fat burning mode.
If you would like to read more about intermittent fasting please follow the following link: https://draxe.com/benefits-fasting/