How Fasting Helps You Lose Weight

Steve Tanner explains how you can change your eating lifestyle in a way that would promote weight loss without restrictive diets.

Those who have kept track of the trends in the dieting world should have seen, over and over again, the different quick-ix diets that hit the media regularly. There is something new each day, and it is on to the next when that proves not to work.

But what if you did not have to diet? What if you could change your eating lifestyle to promote weight loss without restrictive diets? This concept may sound too good to be true, but recent studies have shown that it might not be.

What Is Fasting?

Fasting is refraining from eating for a specific time. The main idea of fasting is to force metabolic adjustments in your body. These metabolic changes do not happen until, on average, three to five hours after eating, and it is not until eight to 12 hours after a meal that a person is considered fasting.

There are different types of fasting based on the amount of time spent in the state of fasting, but each type aims to serve the same primary purpose.

16/18

The 16/8 method involves skipping breakfast and eating only during eight hours of your choosing; the remaining 16 hours are spent fasting. For example, you can eat between 12 and 8 p.m. or any other variation of eight hours.

5:2

The 5:2 diet does restrict calories and, therefore, may not be everyone's favourite. But if counting calories is something you already do, this diet could be the perfect one for you. This diet consumes 500-600 calories twice a week on non-consecutive days. Other than those two days, however, eating remains normal.

Eat-Stop-Eat

Eat-stop-eat requires a more extended fasting period, which is 24 hours. It is done once or twice a week by not eating breakfast one day, for example, and then not eating again until breakfast the next day.

Five-Day Prolonged Fast

Lastly, the five-day prolonged fast is what it sounds like: a fast that lasts for five days. However, there are two different five-day fasts that people have been taking advantage of.

The first version, the original, only allows water consumption during the fasting period. Five days is a long time to fast, especially if you try it out for the first time. That is why the modified version of the five-day fast was introduced.

You can eat plant-based, low-calorie, low-carb, and low-protein foods for the modified five-day fast. This modified fast is supposed to mimic the original five-day water fast results by restricting calorie intake to just 800 calories per day.

During the non-fasting periods, your diet should still be healthier. Fasting does not mean you can eat anything you want in those open periods of eating. When aiming for a healthier lifestyle, there are five food groups you must ensure you are getting enough amounts of. Those five groups are:

Bread, cereals, and potatoes
Dairy Fruits and vegetables
Meat and fish
Fatty/sugary foods

Fasting VS Fad Diets

A key benefit of fasting is that you have a smaller window of time when you are allowed to eat. This small window naturally reduces your calorie intake without leaving you feeling as unfulfilled as most fad diets do.

What is excellent about fasting is that it simplifies dieting. Nothing is worse than trying to begin a new diet and failing because it is too confusing to follow. When fasting using the 16/8 method, for example, it is much easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle within an eight-hour window, wherein you are only eating two meals, than keeping that same lifestyle by eating normally.

It is not to say fasting is easy because no lifestyle change is initially necessary. However, the simplicity of fasting sets you up to succeed in the long run because it is easier to stick with than a more complicated diet.

Many fad diets fail because:

They are short-term, and, therefore, even if the weight does come off, it is gained back rather quickly once the diet ‘ends.’
They leave you feeling hungry because you are cutting back calories drastically.
Because fewer calories are consumed, the dieter often feels tired and lacks the energy to get the required amount of exercise.

Health Benefits Of Fasting

While diet will always be important when trying to lose weight, fasting has effects on the body that aid in weight loss, more than merely cutting out sugary foods or eating more vegetables. Some of these effects include:

Higher human growth hormone (HGH) levels

When fasting, cells will begin a cellular repair process. Within this process is autophagy, when your cells clear themselves of dysfunctional proteins that can build up within cells. Autophagy is an excellent benefit of fasting because it forces your body to clean itself and create energy.

Sensitivity to insulin improves

When the body’s sensitivity to insulin improves, insulin levels also drop drastically. When insulin levels drop, stored body fat becomes more accessible. When this stored body fat becomes more accessible, your body begins to take from those fat stores to produce energy. This process ultimately results in weight loss targeted at fat instead of muscle.

Cells initiate cellular repair

Fights inflammation

Acute inflammation is normal and aids in fighting infections. However, chronic inflammation can seriously impact your health by causing heart disease, cancer, or arthritis. Studies have shown that fasting can help lower levels of inflammation and lead to a higher level of well-being.

One of the leading causes of death worldwide is heart disease, and the most effective way to reduce the risk of heart disease is through diet and lifestyle changes, like incorporating fasting into your life. A study that took 100 obese adults and had them fast for three weeks saw a significant decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol. Another study of 4,629 people credited fasting for their lower risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes.

While fasting, it can help to schedule your fast around your lifestyle, work commitments, and exercise routines and also while you are sleeping. This tip will prevent you from feeling hungry while you are awake and make the fasting period easier to manage.

The cool part of fasting is that certain drinks you can consume during the fast will give you a boost to make it to your eating window. However, it is essential to note that any liquid consumed during fasting must contain zero calories. Some examples include the following:

Water
Tea
Black coffee
Bone broth

Many who are fasting rely on bone broth because it contains nutrients that help their bodies during a fast. If you do not like the idea of drinking bone broth, water alone can help fight off hunger and provide energy.

When not fasting, it is not only essential to maintain a somewhat healthy diet, but it is also important to avoid overeating. If overeating occurs during non-fasting periods, then there is a risk of interfering with the benefits of fasting. Worse, you might gain weight instead of losing it. Since fewer calories are consumed on fasting days, the food you eat should be low in calories and high in protein and fibre, as those foods will help you stay full for more extended periods.

Fasting not only helps you lose weight, but it can also help keep muscles intact while dieting. The significant part about this? Muscle will be gained, and body fat will be lost simultaneously, allowing for faster and more effective results. Merely cutting out calories like a regular diet would not provide these same results.

How To Reinforce Fasting Benefits

Now that all the benefits of fasting have been laid out, what can one do to ensure success in their fasting journey? These include:

Buy quality food
Pay attention to calories without counting each one
Be consistent; you will not succeed with fasting if it is not a long-term change
Be patient with yourself and with the process

Should exercise be incorporated while fasting? Yes, absolutely! With fasting, it is especially important to focus your exercise on strength training more than any other type of workout. Burning body fat while keeping muscle is the key during fasting, and strength training is a great way to accomplish that. Also, strength training during fasting is beneficial to hormone optimization.

While strength training is recommended during fasting, scheduling your fasting around when you will work out is essential. Working out in the morning is the best time because it allows your body to match its natural circadian rhythm, which is your body’s 24-hour internal clock.

Strength training exercises that can be taken advantage of are:

Lifting weights
Stair workouts
Walking hills
Cycling
Dance
Pushups, sit-ups, squats, etc.

Not everyone enjoys strength training. If you are this type of person, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) could be your most viable option.

HITT combines periods of intense activity with 15 to 30 minutes of rest. This kind of training is
efficient and provides benefits that other aerobic exercises cannot offer, including:

Boost in human growth hormone
Increased strength
Increased stamina
Improved body composition
Increased brain function
Better depression management

In 2014, a study showed that intermittent fasting, when paired with exercise and a healthy diet, led to a reduction in body weight of 3-8% over a three-24-week period. These results showed people losing roughly .55 pounds per week when fasting intermittently and 1.65 pounds per week during alternate-day fasting. With these results, people also showed a waist circumference loss of 4-7%, meaning they lost belly fat, a common goal for dieters.

These results not only show that fasting can be a great aid in weight loss but if you sign up for alternate-day fasting as opposed to intermittent fasting, the chances of seeing results are higher. Regardless, fasting, in general, can be a great advantage in any weight loss endeavour.

Fasting: Are There Risks Involved?

With all the benefits that intermittent fasting has to offer, it is also helpful to address the safety of this lifestyle change and if there are any concerns to be aware of. As with anything, if you begin fasting correctly and safely, there are no real issues to be worried about. However, you should not try fasting if you:

Have low blood sugar
Have a history of an eating disorder
Are underweight/at an average weight
Are pregnant or nursing

Even if you do not have any of these conditions, it is always a good idea to consult a doctor before making any diet changes. As you get further into fasting, make sure to monitor how you feel, and if anything feels off, consult a doctor.

Feeling hungry or weaker than usual is normal as your body adjusts to the fasting lifestyle. Still, extreme hunger, headaches, fainting, or other symptoms should be addressed if it persists.

Conclusion

While fasting can be a great tool for aiding in weight loss, it must be paired with regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle to see long-lasting results. Since fasting allows you to control calorie intake fairly easily while also changing how the body stores and burns fat, it is a great lifestyle change that can propel your weight loss journey forward. Do some research, pick a fasting plan, and see if it could be the right course for you.

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

TANNER, S. (2020) How Fasting Helps You Lose Weight [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article597.htm [Accessed

About the Author

Steve Tanner is a freelance journalist.


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Those who have kept track of the trends in the dieting world should have seen, over and over again, the different quick-ix diets that hit the media regularly. There is something new each day, and it is on to the next when that proves not to work. But what if you did not have to diet? What if you could change your eating lifestyle to promote weight loss without restrictive diets? This concept may sound too good to be true, but recent studies have shown that it might not be. What Is Fasting? Fasting is refraining from eating for a specific time. The main idea of fasting is to force metabolic adjustments in your body. These metabolic changes do not happen until, on average, three to five hours after eating, and it is not until eight to 12 hours after a meal that a person is considered fasting. There are different types of fasting based on the amount of time spent in the state of fasting, but each type aims to serve the same primary purpose. 16/18 The 16/8 method involves skipping breakfast and eating only during eight hours of your choosing; the remaining 16 hours are spent fasting. For example, you can eat between 12 and 8 p.m. or any other variation of eight hours. 5:2 The 5:2 diet does restrict calories and, therefore, may not be everyone's favourite. But if counting calories is something you already do, this diet could be the perfect one for you. This diet consumes 500-600 calories twice a week on non-consecutive days. Other than those two days, however, eating remains normal. Eat-Stop-Eat Eat-stop-eat requires a more extended fasting period, which is 24 hours. It is done once or twice a week by not eating breakfast one day, for example, and then not eating again until breakfast the next day. Five-Day Prolonged Fast Lastly, the five-day prolonged fast is what it sounds like: a fast that lasts for five days. However, there are two different five-day fasts that people have been taking advantage of. The first version, the original, only allows water consumption during the fasting period. Five days is a long time to fast, especially if you try it out for the first time. That is why the modified version of the five-day fast was introduced. You can eat plant-based, low-calorie, low-carb, and low-protein foods for the modified five-day fast. This modified fast is supposed to mimic the original five-day water fast results by restricting calorie intake to just 800 calories per day. During the non-fasting periods, your diet should still be healthier. Fasting does not mean you can eat anything you want in those open periods of eating. When aiming for a healthier lifestyle, there are five food groups you must ensure you are getting enough amounts of. Those five groups are: Bread, cereals, and potatoes Dairy Fruits and vegetables Meat and fish Fatty/sugary foods Fasting VS Fad Diets A key benefit of fasting is that you have a smaller window of time when you are allowed to eat. This small window naturally reduces your calorie intake without leaving you feeling as unfulfilled as most fad diets do. What is excellent about fasting is that it simplifies dieting. Nothing is worse than trying to begin a new diet and failing because it is too confusing to follow. When fasting using the 16/8 method, for example, it is much easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle within an eight-hour window, wherein you are only eating two meals, than keeping that same lifestyle by eating normally. It is not to say fasting is easy because no lifestyle change is initially necessary. However, the simplicity of fasting sets you up to succeed in the long run because it is easier to stick with than a more complicated diet. Many fad diets fail because: They are short-term, and, therefore, even if the weight does come off, it is gained back rather quickly once the diet ‘ends.’ They leave you feeling hungry because you are cutting back calories drastically. Because fewer calories are consumed, the dieter often feels tired and lacks the energy to get the required amount of exercise. Health Benefits Of Fasting While diet will always be important when trying to lose weight, fasting has effects on the body that aid in weight loss, more than merely cutting out sugary foods or eating more vegetables. Some of these effects include: Higher human growth hormone (HGH) levels When fasting, cells will begin a cellular repair process. Within this process is autophagy, when your cells clear themselves of dysfunctional proteins that can build up within cells. Autophagy is an excellent benefit of fasting because it forces your body to clean itself and create energy. Sensitivity to insulin improves When the body’s sensitivity to insulin improves, insulin levels also drop drastically. When insulin levels drop, stored body fat becomes more accessible. When this stored body fat becomes more accessible, your body begins to take from those fat stores to produce energy. This process ultimately results in weight loss targeted at fat instead of muscle. Cells initiate cellular repair When fasting, cells will begin a cellular repair process. Within this process is autophagy, when your cells clear themselves of dysfunctional proteins that can build up within cells. Autophagy is an excellent benefit of fasting because it forces your body to clean itself and create energy. Fights inflammation Acute inflammation is normal and aids in fighting infections. However, chronic inflammation can seriously impact your health by causing heart disease, cancer, or arthritis. Studies have shown that fasting can help lower levels of inflammation and lead to a higher level of well-being. One of the leading causes of death worldwide is heart disease, and the most effective way to reduce the risk of heart disease is through diet and lifestyle changes, like incorporating fasting into your life. A study that took 100 obese adults and had them fast for three weeks saw a significant decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol. Another study of 4,629 people credited fasting for their lower risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes. While fasting, it can help to schedule your fast around your lifestyle, work commitments, and exercise routines and also while you are sleeping. This tip will prevent you from feeling hungry while you are awake and make the fasting period easier to manage. The cool part of fasting is that certain drinks you can consume during the fast will give you a boost to make it to your eating window. However, it is essential to note that any liquid consumed during fasting must contain zero calories. Some examples include the following: Water Tea Black coffee Bone broth Many who are fasting rely on bone broth because it contains nutrients that help their bodies during a fast. If you do not like the idea of drinking bone broth, water alone can help fight off hunger and provide energy. When not fasting, it is not only essential to maintain a somewhat healthy diet, but it is also important to avoid overeating. If overeating occurs during non-fasting periods, then there is a risk of interfering with the benefits of fasting. Worse, you might gain weight instead of losing it. Since fewer calories are consumed on fasting days, the food you eat should be low in calories and high in protein and fibre, as those foods will help you stay full for more extended periods. Fasting not only helps you lose weight, but it can also help keep muscles intact while dieting. The significant part about this? Muscle will be gained, and body fat will be lost simultaneously, allowing for faster and more effective results. Merely cutting out calories like a regular diet would not provide these same results. How To Reinforce Fasting Benefits Now that all the benefits of fasting have been laid out, what can one do to ensure success in their fasting journey? These include: Buy quality food Pay attention to calories without counting each one Be consistent; you will not succeed with fasting if it is not a long-term change Be patient with yourself and with the process Should exercise be incorporated while fasting? Yes, absolutely! With fasting, it is especially important to focus your exercise on strength training more than any other type of workout. Burning body fat while keeping muscle is the key during fasting, and strength training is a great way to accomplish that. Also, strength training during fasting is beneficial to hormone optimization. While strength training is recommended during fasting, scheduling your fasting around when you will work out is essential. Working out in the morning is the best time because it allows your body to match its natural circadian rhythm, which is your body’s 24-hour internal clock. Strength training exercises that can be taken advantage of are: Lifting weights Stair workouts Walking hills Cycling Dance Pushups, sit-ups, squats, etc. Not everyone enjoys strength training. If you are this type of person, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) could be your most viable option. HITT combines periods of intense activity with 15 to 30 minutes of rest. This kind of training is efficient and provides benefits that other aerobic exercises cannot offer, including: Boost in human growth hormone Increased strength Increased stamina Improved body composition Increased brain function Better depression management In 2014, a study showed that intermittent fasting, when paired with exercise and a healthy diet, led to a reduction in body weight of 3-8% over a three-24-week period. These results showed people losing roughly .55 pounds per week when fasting intermittently and 1.65 pounds per week during alternate-day fasting. With these results, people also showed a waist circumference loss of 4-7%, meaning they lost belly fat, a common goal for dieters. These results not only show that fasting can be a great aid in weight loss but if you sign up for alternate-day fasting as opposed to intermittent fasting, the chances of seeing results are higher. Regardless, fasting, in general, can be a great advantage in any weight loss endeavour. Fasting: Are There Risks Involved? With all the benefits that intermittent fasting has to offer, it is also helpful to address the safety of this lifestyle change and if there are any concerns to be aware of. As with anything, if you begin fasting correctly and safely, there are no real issues to be worried about. However, you should not try fasting if you: Have low blood sugar Have a history of an eating disorder Are underweight/at an average weight Are pregnant or nursing Even if you do not have any of these conditions, it is always a good idea to consult a doctor before making any diet changes. As you get further into fasting, make sure to monitor how you feel, and if anything feels off, consult a doctor. Feeling hungry or weaker than usual is normal as your body adjusts to the fasting lifestyle. Still, extreme hunger, headaches, fainting, or other symptoms should be addressed if it persists. Conclusion While fasting can be a great tool for aiding in weight loss, it must be paired with regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle to see long-lasting results. Since fasting allows you to control calorie intake fairly easily while also changing how the body stores and burns fat, it is a great lifestyle change that can propel your weight loss journey forward. Do some research, pick a fasting plan, and see if it could be the right course for you. Page Reference If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is: TANNER, S. (2020) How Fasting Helps You Lose Weight [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article597.htm [Accessed About the Author Steve Tanner is a freelance journalist.