There are a lot of trends these days in the fitness industry. Many looking to shrink your wallet more than your waist but every so often some stand above the rest and show actual results. One of these trends that’s becoming increasingly more popular is intermittent fasting. At first glance those words may look intimidating but with a little bit of practice and patience you can get in shape fast with fasting.
The first thing you must know is that intermittent fasting is NOT a diet. Fasting is simply a tool, another piece of the puzzle to help you achieve your body goals. Intermittent fasting does not change WHAT you eat, it changes WHEN you eat. This is done a couple different ways but the one I am going to specially talk about is the 16/8 method. This involves fasting every day for 16 hours (sleep counts). This will restrict your daily eating to an 8-hour window typically done by skipping breakfast. Wait, skip breakfast you say, isn’t that the most important meal of the day? All it takes is a quick google search to debunk this classic myth but if you truly can’t resist breakfast the window can be adjusted to anytime throughout your day.
Now let’s talk about some of the benefits of intermittent fasting:
- Less time to eat means fewer meals which means less calories consumed
- Increases metabolic rate, helping you burn more calories
- Body reaches “starvation” burning fat as energy
- Increased productivity (use energy for other things other than digesting)
- Improved brain health by suppressing inflammation
- Lower risk of type 2 diabetes
- Backed by SCIENCE, many studies show the effectiveness of fasting
Let me tell you my experience with intermittent fasting. Last year as summer was approaching I was looking to shed some pounds and decided to try this plan. At first, I was skeptical, not eating for 16 hours? Yeah right, I can barely go 2 hours but as the days went on it got easier and easier. I first noticed the mental focus, never once did the idea of breakfast pop into my head and my energy was used elsewhere. With previous diets without fasting I was ALWAYS hungry but with fasting I never felt that. I was always content during my 8 hours of eating. And of course, burning fat became more apparent than ever.
I understand this may sound difficult but there is a reason why so many people are adopting this trend because it works. Just stick with it and the benefits will show before you know it. If at first the hunger is hard to manage, zero calorie beverages can still be consumed to help suppress that (yes you can still drink your coffee). So, do yourself a favor and give this a try, ditch the breakfast and start fasting! If you need more information or are looking for new ideas with diet and/or exercise, contact one of our certified Personal Trainers.
Logan Cossette
