Intermittent Fasting - Does it work?
Intermittent Fasting
This summer, as I had plenty of time on my hands, I have found something interesting that I thought it couldn’t be right, at first, but as I dived deeper into it, it started to make sense. In the beginning, I was like “What the hell? Can you lose fat by starving yourself to death?” I was very skeptical, but it proved to work.
To note, I wasn’t fat at all but because I still wanted to keep myself in shape, clear my gut and eat healthier without spending too much time on it since back then I was sometimes even more than 10 hours on Steem, I decided to give this whole fasting thing a try, I decided to do another little experiment.
For about a month I stick to the schedule, even if in the beginning it wasn’t easy but with time it even became pleasant, like a game and the best part I started feeling different, feeling better I would say.
Origins
The idea behind this is straightforward, people lived in caves, in an “uncivilized” society for way more than they did in a civilized society, so our bodies haven’t changed that much since then.
Back then, people either had to hunt for their food, which wasn’t possible all the time because life just gets in the way or they had to gather, but that food wasn’t so consistent and available at all times. Because of that, people were living on an empty stomach sometimes even days; thus they were a lot fitter and healthier, and our bodies are still the same, just our behaviors changed.
When the French came to America people were still living in tribes, they were still uncivilized, and they were eating only when they were hungry. Because the French had the same eating behaviors, to separate themselves from the Indians that were considered brutes they decided to add the three meals a day rule, which is complete bullshit.
How do this works
If you’re eating three meals a day like everybody else, you will have food in your stomach at all times, a thing that is not good nor for your health nor your energy.
If you always have food in your stomach, the stomach will always digest something; it will keep on working while taking away from your energy. Haven’t you ever felt tired after a huge meal? Well, that’s because all the energy was focused on digesting the consistent food that you just ate. And also, if your stomach is always digesting food it will not be able to burn fats and heal your body because it will be busy thus eating three meals a day doesn’t seem to be the best strategy.
All the foods from your stomach get digested in 12 hours, at most, and here’s where the intermittent fasting comes into play. By only eating food in an 8-hour window and not eating anything for 16 hours straight, your stomach has at least 4 hours to burn fats and heal your body every day.
Some people also promote not eating for 24 hours straight once a week, but this strategy may be a bit hardcore for some, but by not eating anything for the first 4 hours of the day and only eating in an 8-hour window after that will result in more than 24 hours of fasting a week.
Conclusion
This is not for everyone, but if you want to test your limits for a bit, see what’s possible and what’s not and maybe even gain some energy and lose a few pounds, I advise you to give it a try.
If you want to know more about thie benefits interittent fasting has, because maybe my explanation might not be that on point since I gathered all these information about four months ago, you should watch the following clip.
Also, stick around tomorrow because I have one more post on this subject that you might like.
The pictures are from Pixabay: 1, 2, 3.
This is really interesting! I heard something about this type of died before and wanted to try it out but I did the one with not eating for 24 hours straight. It was hard I have to admit but I felt better afterwards! Sadly I only managed to do it two or three week....
I also read somewhere, that your teeth will get some rest too and can heal while not eating for a while, so you won't have to go to the dentist that often. After reading I tried it out not to eat for a day, because I had toothache and it worked and the pain didn't get back :D
And by the way I will post tomorrow, I think, about your sugar challenge and make a review of how its going so far. I only started at Monday^^.
Not eating for 24 hours straight sounds a bit intense, I'm kinda interested in trying that one out too because I want to test my limits, see what my body is capable of.
Sounds epic, I have to make a post about it too. :)
It is really hard. I, unfortunately, chose a day were I had to run a lot around. At the end of the day I was really starving and had no energy left but I felt great, don't know why ;)
I was considering giving intermittent fasting a try a couple of months ago, and then I forgot 😁 So,thanks for the remainder. I look forward to reading part 2 tomorrow. Cheers!
I'm glad I was of help, you should give it a try, what's the worst that can happen?
Kinda makes sense.
:)
Think I have been doing this unwittingly for years ~ last meal of day around 6pm then brunch at 10/11 am the next day.
Intrigued, so going to read up on this some more.
Thanks for the heads up.
xox
Haha, that's epic, I bet you have a healthy lifestyle. I was kinda doing it unwillingly before but only sometimes.
Interesting thing to try out, definitely. I've had that feeling of being stuffed after an abundant meal for more than once in my life.
After some researching (and experimenting in my own diet) about nutrition, I found out that certain combination of macronutrients in a single meal, specifically - proteins and carbohydrates, make me really tired. So, I tried some non-conventional food combinations and it really helped out with the after meal fatigue. I also tried paleo diet, and must say it worked out quite good. The only obstacle you can have is how to maintain constant discipline. :)
Looking forward to the next post!
That's a great thing you did there, I'm trying to find out what are the 10-15 foods that don't make me tired after eating them but I'm still researching.
I really wish you good luck, I hope you find out as soon as possible. :)
I sure have! I never really understood why, but thankfully now I do. And intermittent fast really does work! I would know because I've tried it too, sometimes voluntarily sometimes involountarily.
It really would be nice if everybody could try it.
It would be nice if people would give it a try, they never know how much it can help them. The issue is that most are scared to try it out because they were taught that eating 3 meals a day is healthy but it's bullshit.
I'm not a health professional or dietitian or even know what it really does to the body. I do think 3 big meals a day is waaaay too much food for any person unless you do high level of physical activity for extended periods of time. Hunger is actually in the mind and not the stomach (that part is a scientific fact). I eat when I'm hungry and stop when i'm full, I naturally do the intermittent fasting without thinking, I was doing it before it was even a thing and i have a highly physical job and eating 3 meals a day weighs me down. Eating 1 big meal and a couple of small snacks do me just fine. I also noticed, the more often I eat the more often I feel hungry afterwards . I can say fasting too much for too long probably has negative effects too so one must be careful with it and it can create eating disorders. As mentioned above it's a brain response, eating foods that are rich in flavors (spices, gourmet etc...) will fill up most people faster for longer because the brain gets the satisfaction it needs over quantity of low quality foods filled with salt and sugar. I don't go to the gym , I don't count calories and eat full fat everything( as long as they are not hydrogenated) and i'm at a healthy weight. I totally agree with the point you bring up, in the early days, people went days without food and our bodies were designed that way and they probably haven't changed in that regards and digesting requires a lot of energy.
Thank you for this amazing comment. I think you're totally right, hunger for most of the times it starts in our head thanks to the fact that we taught our body to expect food at certain times every day.
I usually have one smaller meal in the morning and one bigger one later when I get home and eventually a snack or something like that if I need some more food, all of that in an 8-hour window. :)
I have a friend who swears by this. I think I'm going to give it a try as I've added a few kg since moving back to the U.S.
The men in caves were not living long lives, but I tend to think the same way: "...our bodies haven’t changed that much...". The body is a very complex system and you have to test a little to see what is best for you. It can be dangerous to test on yourself, so most people don't.
It can be dangerous but with higher risks come higher rewards.
I do 12 hour blocks of fasting most days. Weekend are hard with social gatherings. The key to getting me to try was what you also pointed out: if you always have food in your stomach, your body is always digesting food, taking away from the body's ability to do other processes correctly.
Weekends are always harder for me too, but they don't have to be. I always like to keep myself busy because then it gets way easier. After a while it doesn't seem that hard, it's all about behaviors I think. :)
i think I'm gonna stick around. i nsed more enlightenment on this