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- Herausgeber: Youcanprint
- Kategorie: Ratgeber
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
If you truly want to lose weight in a sustainable way, feel great about yourself, and improve your overall health, then you really need to read this book! Most people are trying to find the right solution to lose weight, have tried all sorts of diets, but didn't get too far with those diets. Why? Because it's extremely hard to stick to them and immediately after it, people will start gaining weight just like they were never on a diet. You don't want this unpleasant surprise to happen to you, so the real question you need to ask yourself is: Do you want to lose weight and remain fit, while you are having your favorite food? If the answer is yes, then you need a lot more than a diet; you need a completely new lifestyle. You really don't have to look further than this book to find the perfect inspiration for your new lifestyle: The Eat Stop Eat Program. Intermittent Fasting tends to be the most sustainable way to burn fat. That's right, you will burn fat and lose weight, but you will not lose muscle mass (if you follow the simple principles of this Intermittent Fasting programs). This book will provide you valuable tips and tricks about: what you need to eat in order to make your body burn fat; how you need to structure your day to maximize the results of this procedure; how you need to exercise to burn fat and not lose muscle mass; Intermittent Fasting may sound very difficult for many people, but the Eat Stop Eat program is the easiest and most accessible program you can do. Even if you have never fasted before, you can still easily cope with this program and experience the full benefits of it. If you want to fall in love with Intermittent Fasting, start with this program first! I promise that you won't be disappointed after trying this method, and you will discover how easily you can stick to it, unlike the previous diets you have tried. Of all the Intermittent Fasting programs this is my favorite, as it allows me to enjoy the benefits of fully nutritional meals combined with the fat loss and overall health benefits of Intermittent Fasting. You will probably find plenty of information online about Intermittent Fasting, but there aren't too many sources that will let you know what to eat in order to maximize the results of this program. If you are looking for such information, look no further, as this book is exactly what you need. So, what are you waiting for? Buy this book, now!
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Eat Stop Eat
Intermittent Fasting Diet to
Have More Energy and Lose
Weight (with the Best Recipes)
Mary Nabors
© Copyright 2020 Mary Nabors - All rightsreserved.
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Introduction
The number of obese people is growing each year and with it, the number of people suffering from diabetes, or other illnesses and conditions related to obesity. In fact, most of the diseases caused today are caused by the food we eat. In past centuries, people were dying of diseases that can be easily cured today. But if those illnesses are not such a big issue nowadays, we have more severe issues to think about: diseases caused by our own food.
Do you know what the most common feature of food is nowadays? It’s that most food has a very high-calorie level.
Make no mistake, calories can lead to energy, but only if you burn them, not just eat them. Otherwise, it’s like fueling your car with a tank full of gas, but not going anywhere. Most people stuff their faces with high-calorie food, but really don’t have the time, or the ambition to burn those calories. And that’s when the problems start.
The second issue with the food nowadays is its very low nutritional value. The rich-nutrient organic food our forefathers ate has been slowly replaced by processed food, which mainly focuses on carbs, and not too much on proteins or healthy fats.
In the category of carbs, you can easily include sugars and starches, therefore you shouldn’t be surprised if the high
consumption of carbs will boost your glucose level in your body.
Glucose is the default energy fuel your body uses on a daily basis, but what happens when you are not a very active person?
It will not be consumed, so it will simply get stored in your blood, increasing your blood sugar levels.
Sound familiar? It probably does because if this process gets worse, then it can lead to diabetes. You are probably wondering now what you need to eat or to do, to prevent this from happening. Keep in mind that obesity and diabetes are the least of your problems, as everything can get a lot worse. Eating this way may lead to more severe conditions like heart, liver, kidney diseases, possibly even cancer. Processed food can cause a lot of issues to your body, and it can even lead to deaths. In fact, you should consider sugar more dangerous than drugs, alcohol or tobacco, as most people are hooked on it.
Natural food is not really natural, as plenty of vegetables and fruits are being tampered with all kinds of chemicals. This is why we need to distinguish organic food from what we normally see as natural food. There are plenty of farmers out there who are no longer letting the vegetables, fruits, or animals grow naturally. They use plenty of pesticides on the veggies or fruits, and grow their animals using concentrated food. All these substances eventually end up in our plate, and can seriously affect our liver or other internal organs.
In supermarkets, you can have a difficult time finding organic food, as most of the food sold there can be easily considered processed. When we are bombarded by this kind of food, with very low nutritional value and extremely high-calorie value, it’s really no wonder why we are so vulnerable to diseases. If we have to consume this food in huge quantities just to feel satisfied, it’s only a matter of time until we gain weight and start getting fat or even obese.
Many people started to follow diets to lose weight, but the problem with most of these meal programs is that as soon as you quit the program, you will most likely start to gain weight again, and eventually end up with the same weight just like when you started the diet. You need something sustainable, not just something you can follow for a small period of time. In other words, you need a different lifestyle to have for many years to come. The change may be drastic, but it’s required with the food you consume when you eat it, and also the way you exercise.
This is where Intermittent Fasting (also known as IF) can come in very handy for you! Don’t think of this practice as a religious, as it’s not done only for these purposes. Perhaps the first thing that pops in your mind when you think of fasting is the Ramadan practiced by Muslims all over the world, or by other religions like Christianity or Judaism. Practiced for religious purposes, fasting represents a period of spiritual and body cleansing.
Intermittent Fasting is also about cleansing, but it’s more applied to the body than your spirit. Think about a self-discipline process that combines scheduling your meals, being more careful with what you eat, but also exercising. This is what Intermittent Fasting really is. As you will find out from this book IF can be practiced on a daily basis, or less frequently.
If you want to find out everything there is to know about Intermittent Fasting, like benefits, how it works, the best methods to use, but also why the Eat Stop Eat program is one of the best IF methods for you, then this is the book for you. In order to maximize the results of Intermittent Fasting, it’s very important to eat healthily. This book will provide you tips about the food you need to eat, but also some of the best recipes you can use for this program, for every period of the day.
Chapter 1: Intermittent Fasting
1.1 Definition
Most people would probably consider Intermittent Fasting just another diet to lose some weight. However, is this procedure just a regular diet? Or is there a lot more to it? Well, first of all, Intermittent Fasting is more about scheduling your meals, than what you really eat. Your body needs nutrients to function properly, and calories to burn for energy. Everybody needs to know exactly when to eat, and when to let the body burn some calories.
Therefore, you can consider Intermittent Fasting the noble art of scheduling your meals, in order to maximize the calories burn process. As it turns out, this procedure is less about what you eat, and more about when you eat. You don’t have to make radical changes into your diet, you can eat the same food as you normally eat, but it’s very important to schedule your meals.
Why?
Basically, if you fast on a daily basis, you are literally dividing a day into an eating (feeding) window and fasting period. Let’s say you normally eat from 8 am to 8 pm; that’s your standard
feeding window. The period from 8 pm to 8 am is the fasting period, when you don’t consume any calories at all, so you are not eating anything (you are just drinking water, maybe). You don’t have to be an expert in nutrition to know that we eat huge amounts of carbs during the day, and these carbs are the most important source of glucose. As we’ve mentioned previously, glucose is the default “fuel” for our bodies, but if it’s not consumed, it gets stored in the blood, raising the blood sugar level. Sounds familiar?
People often confuse the fasted state with the fasting window, but make no mistake, we’re talking about two different terms here. If the fasting period is pretty clear (the timeframe when you don’t eat at all), the fasted state is more related to the “fuel”
the body uses for energy. That’s right! When the body can’t use any more glucose, it has to switch to an alternative “fuel.” So yes, your body runs like a hybrid car, switching the fuel type. The difference is that your body normally runs on glucose (which can be compared to petrol), and the alternative solution is the fat tissue (which can be compared to electric).
The fasted state is when the body switches the energy source from glucose to fats. As you can imagine, it normally doesn’t happen right after your last meal, and it happens 12 hours after it. The fasted state is the best time to burn some fats, therefore, a lot of people prefer to work out early in the morning, on an empty stomach, when they had dinner at least 12 hours ago.
If we put all this information together, we can come to the conclusion that Intermittent Fasting is the practice of refraining from consuming any food within a specific period of time.
Now, when you have three consistent meals per day, plus snacks, it simply doesn’t allow you a fasting period of more than 12 hours. In this case, you are not really fasting at all. Here’s the catch: you need to decrease the feeding period and increase the fasting period, in order to feel like you are fasting. Most specialists would agree that having a fasting period of 16 hours can be a great start. This will only leave you with 8 hours of a feeding window.
Most people can’t have three main meals within this timeframe, so whether you like it or not, Intermittent Fasting leads to a decrease in calorie intake, so you consume less food. In most cases, this means just renouncing one meal per day. Most specialists would agree that it’s better to renounce breakfast, as it allows you the extra time in the morning to exercise and burn fat. Therefore, if you have your feeding window between noon and 8 pm, you can work out after 8 am (because that’s when you enter the fasted state and only eat at noon).
It may sound easy to say, but Intermittent Fasting involves a lot of self-discipline and restraint, as you might experience hunger, possible headaches, and you might be tempted to eat although it’s the fasting period. Practice makes you endure easier these
challenges, and if you have the right mindset, you can go through the fasting period, even if it feels way too long.
Probably by now you have a better understanding of what IF
really is, therefore, you will not think that Intermittent Fasting is:
- a super formula to lose weight, as you will not lose too much weight per week (even if you are not eating anything). You can expect to lose less weight (but constantly), so bear in mind that this method encourages weight loss in baby steps, that’s why it’s more sustainable and healthy at the same time (unlike most drastic diets which are very harmful for your overall health);
- the best diet out there, as you can find better alternatives when it comes to diets. If you want to lose weight fast, Intermittent Fasting may not be the best choice for you.
Just think of IF as one of the best options for a stressed and busy individual.
- mandatory, because not everyone needs to lose weight, or not everyone can follow this procedure (as you will discover later in this chapter). You can consider Intermittent Fasting as a more moderate method to lose some weight, unlike other radical diets.
To sum up, Intermittent Fasting is about:
- setting a fasting period and a feeding window;
- the longer the fasting period is, the higher chances you have to enter the fasted state, burning fat;
- for daily fasting, chances are that you will skip a meal, and this will eventually lead to fewer calories consumed.
However, if you really want to maximize the effects of Intermittent Fasting (and you will soon find out that they are not only limited to weight loss), you really have to combine this procedure with physical exercise and LCHF (low carb, high fat) diets. In other words, you will need to work out and eat healthy in order to have better results with Intermittent Fasting.
1.2 Benefits and Facts
You are probably wondering now why any normal person would go through hunger and possible headaches just to lose a few pounds. Well, people are not doing this procedure just for weight loss, as there are plenty of other benefits also. Some of the most important reasons why you should try Intermittent Fasting are:
● a lower level of oxidative stress and blood pressure;
● obviously, fat burning;
● it speeds up your metabolism during the fasting period;
● it allows you to better control your appetite and blood sugar, but also your cardiovascular function.
Bear in mind that people can participate in Intermittent Fasting for different reasons besides fat burn, like:
● disease prevention;
● slowing down the aging process;
● psychological, physical and spiritual benefits;
● better mental performance;
● better physical fitness.
Some specialists believe that there are eight main benefits of Intermittent Fasting, as listed below:
1. destroying precancerous and cancerous cells; 2. brings your body into nutritional ketosis; 3. fat tissue decrease;
4. better gene expression for healthspan and longevity; 5. it can trigger autophagy, but also the apoptotic cellular repair or clearing;
6. enhanced insulin sensitivity;
7. it lowers the inflammation and oxidative stress; 8. betterneuroprotection and improved cognitive effects.
Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss
Without any doubt, most people who are practicing Intermittent Fasting are doing it to lose weight. IF should be switching your default fuel type from glucose to fats, but when you are not eating at all during the fasting period, not only that glucose will no longer be available, but the body will use your stored fat as an energy source. Funny fact, although the insulin level skyrockets when you consume plenty of glucose, this doesn’t mean that it will do its job. Insulin is supposed to regulate the blood sugar level, but it fails to do so when it reaches very high levels.
Insulin can only act when its level decreases, but this doesn’t happen during the feeding period (at least not when you eat plenty of carbs). However, if you lower the time frame for the feeding window, the insulin level will decrease, and this encourages adipocytes to release fatty acids. The longer you fast, the lower your glycogen and glucose level will be, leaving your body with no choice but to use fatty acids as the energy source for your body and brain. During the fasting period, the fatty acids will not be able to store and to form fat cells.
People following a radical diet often fail to commit to it, and very soon they quit the diet and go back to their normal eating habits.
This is how they manage to cancel the results of their diet in terms of weight loss, as they start to put on weight immediately after quitting the diet. But what if you found a program that can
really work for you and doesn’t require too much effort or radical change on your part to have results? Most people would stick to such a program if it requires minimum effort, so just like any diet, commitment is very important in Intermittent Fasting.
If you can find the IF program that works best for you, with minimum effort, and gradually decreasing your calorie intake (to a level which you can easily sustain), then you will have an easier time losing weight in the long run, as you should be able to sustain the program for a very long period.
Intermittent Fasting for Disease Prevention
According to a study published in the World Journal of Diabetes people suffering from type 2 diabetes who tried daily Intermittent Fasting for the short-term were able to decrease their body weight and fasting glucose, and also improve the post-meal glucose variability.
If you are still not sure what are the effects of Intermittent Fasting over your overall health, you can take a look below:
- improved stress resistance;
- it lowers your inflammation and blood pressure;
- when there is a better lipids level, and better glucose circulation, these facts can decrease the risk of
neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, but also cancer or heart diseases.
Intermittent Fasting for Anti-Aging Purpose
Stress and not enough sleep are just a few of the biggest problems most people are experiencing today. As it happens, these are the main factors that speed up the aging process. It doesn’t come as a shock that people who don’t stress themselves too much, and have enough sleep, look younger compared to people who are experiencing both of these symptoms.
Obviously, aging is not something that you can reverse, as nobody has discovered the “Fountain of Youth.” However, can we do something to slow down the aging process? Well, I have good news for you! As it turns out, we can slow down the aging process.
Intermittent Fasting triggers a process called autophagy, which is responsible for intracellular rejuvenation. Everything that is damaged at an intracellular level gets cleaned up and replaced during this process. To be a bit more specific, autophagy (which literally means self-eating) is a self-detox process responsible for removing damaged cells and replacing them with brand new ones. This process can be done on your internal, but also external organs. Speaking of autophagy, it plays a crucial role in
preventing
diseases
like
neurodegeneration,
diabetes,
cardiomyopathy, autoimmune ones, liver diseases, cancer and many more.
Intermittent Fasting for Superior Mental Performance
Intermittent Fasting can be considered a way of life, so it’s a lot more than a diet. The diet usually has effects over your body weight, but IF has effects over your weight, in disease prevention, or to slow down the aging process (as you can see from the above). But that’s not all, as this process has a few effects on your brain function as well. As you already found out, Intermittent Fasting triggers autophagy, but this can be enabled at a brain level also. This is known as neural autophagy, and it’s responsible for recycling and repairing damaged brain cells. If something interferes with neural autophagy, it can eventually lead to neurodegeneration, which can mean insufficient function of the brain, or in other words, preventing the brain from performing at its full potential.
However, there’s another positive effect of Intermittent Fasting, when it comes to brain function. It leads to a higher level of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a protein triggered by this procedure. As it turns out, the BDNF protein can play an important role in stimulating your memory, cognitive and
learning function. This protein protects the brain cells and encourages the appearance of new cells.
Intermittent Fasting also leads the body into nutritional ketosis (which is reached approximately 12 hours after the last meal).
Coincidence or not, that’s when the body uses fat as energy, and when ketones level is starting to increase. Ketones feed the brain, and this leads to enhanced productivity and mental acuity. As you might expect, your energy level goes up.
Intermittent Fasting for Different Therapeutic Benefits
Who would have thought that Intermittent Fasting could also be used as therapy? For example, it can have some therapeutic effects in the psychological, spiritual and physical areas of your life.
Psychological
The benefits of this practice are not just for your body and brain, as they can be noticed at a psychological level also. IF makes you improve your self-discipline and your willpower through the self-control “muscle.” The fasting period is the perfect opportunity to control and train your mind, just like you would apply intense physical training. You actually impose on yourself when it’s OK to eat, and therefore you manage to control other important aspects of your life.
From a psychological point of view, Intermittent Fasting has had some positive effects on most people trying this procedure, particularly on women because it gives them a better sense of achievement, control, pride, and reward. But these effects don’t apply only to women; it can increase the self-esteem on anyone trying IF. There are plenty of people out there who think self-discipline (or self-control) can predict success, improve your quality of life and happiness. So, what better way to practice self-control (self-discipline) than through Intermittent Fasting?
Spiritual
When you first heard of fasting, you probably thought of it as a religious practice, as it’s widely spread all over the world, especially in religions like Islam, Judaism, or Christianity.
Fasting practiced for spiritual (religious) purposes is seen as a self-cleansing process, during which you are not eating food from animal origins (or any food at all), but this practice is not just for what you eat or drink during this period. It’s also about refraining yourself from other cravings, regardless of their nature.
Keep in mind that, from the religious perspective, fasting means penance, but it still has an end. The main goal of this fasting is forgiveness, to feel better about yourself, self-love, and peace.
Unlike fasting for religious purposes, Intermittent Fasting doesn’t have to end after a few weeks. You should be able to
keep this procedure for a very long time. And the best part is that you don’t have to refrain from meat or any other food of animal origins. Why stop it if it makes you feel better, and it makes you love your body even more?
Physical
Perhaps the first benefit that comes to mind when you think of Intermittent Fasting is diabetes management, but as you already found out, there is a lot more to this procedure. As it turns out, IF works like a charm for reducing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, but also any seizure-related brain damage. However, Intermittent Fasting has more positive effects from the physical point of view. For instance, it can reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy and lower the morbidity rates linked with cancer.
Intermittent Fasting for Improved Physical Fitness
When it comes to physical fitness, Intermittent Fasting has more benefits, including improved metabolism, better endurance, and bodybuilding compatibility.
Improved metabolism
The effects of Intermittent Fasting apply to your digestive system as well. You are not only training your mind to eat only within a time frame, but you are also training your digestive
system to consume everything it needs in a reduced time frame.
Therefore, you can easily say that Intermittent Fasting helps you balance the nutrients you consume during a day. People on an IF program will learn to eat only when they are hungry within the feeding window, instead of having all the meals of the day at fixed times, or just go on and eat mindlessly (eating irregularly and consuming junk food).
When you significantly change your eating schedule, this can have an impact on your metabolism, and on top of that, if you are also careful with what you eat, then you will definitely speed up your metabolism. That’s what Intermittent Fasting does to your metabolism, it makes it more flexible while forcing your body to use both fats and glucose as energy sources.
Better endurance
When you eat less (or nothing at all for a while) you feel lighter, as you have less fat tissue to slow you down. There are many athletes who are improving their physical condition by running or by doing some cardio exercises. In this case, a very important indicator is the “wind”, which is, in fact, the volume of oxygen per minute, per kilogram of body weight, athletes use during intense exercise. Breathing is very important during intense exercises, so a higher volume of oxygen consumed during an intense exercise can help you perform a lot better.
The indicator we are talking about is also known as VO2 max, and the higher this indicator is, the higher your fitness level will be. There were scientists who tested this indicator on a fasted group (the ones who skipped breakfast) and a group that had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. The starting VO2 was 3.5 liters per minute for both of these groups; but after an endurance exercise, the indicator was completely different. V02 max increased with 9.7% for the fasted group, whilst the fed group only experienced an increase of 2.5%.
Bodybuilding compatibility
There are plenty of bodybuilders out there who like to focus on getting more proteins to increase their muscle mass. This is why it feels good for them to have 5-6 meals per day, each meal having 2000-2500 calories. But muscle mass is not built just like that, as you need to work out intensively, to turn fat into muscles. You may be consuming the proteins you need, but you also consume a lot of carbs along the way (in plenty of cases). So instead of having 5-6 meals, just have 2 consistent meals during the day.
Wouldn’t it be great to choose the right time to work out, just to maximize the fat burning process? Well, that’s what Intermittent Fasting does for you. If you choose to work out at least 12 hours after your last meal, you will have amazing results in terms of fat loss. Your body will consume the stored fats you
have, and you don’t have to worry about losing muscle mass (at least not if you are doing this procedure correctly).
Studies have shown that you need around 20 grams of protein per meal, in order to maximize your muscle growth. So, if you are having 2 consistent meals per day, it’s really not OK to consume 40 grams of proteins with one meal, just because you had little to nothing proteins in your previous meal. It’s not good to compensate for the protein consumption like this, as 40
grams per meal can be too much to be processed by your body.
You can make sure that you complete each meal (if necessary) with protein supplements (like shakes or protein bars).
1.3 Who Can Try Intermittent Fasting?
As it turns out, Intermittent Fasting is simply not for everyone.
Firstly, IF is not for a growing body, this is why children or teenagers should not participate in Intermittent Fasting on a daily basis; only up to 24 hours. You can imagine that a growing body needs all possible nutrients, and you can’t achieve this with a decreased feeding window. If children or teenagers have to try Intermittent Fasting, they should only do it with the consent of a doctor.
Intermittent Fasting should be avoided by pregnant or breastfeeding women. Since these women need to feed for two persons, nutrient deprivation through Intermittent Fasting is really not indicated.
Starvation can also lead to reducing women’s fertility, and since Intermittent Fasting may involve starvation, it should be avoided by women who are having difficulties to get pregnant.
But this is just in the early phases of Intermittent Fasting, as training your mind and digestive system can help you not even feel hungry during a daily fasting program. IF done properly can rule out the hunger feeling, and can make women feel better about themselves and have increased energy levels. Bear in mind that women’s hormones can be triggered by the following factors:
- not enough sleep, rest or recovery;
- too much stress;
- too much or too intense physical exercise;
- infections and inflammations, but also other diseases;
- poor food choices or less food.
Intermittent Fasting should not be tried by people suffering from diabetes who are using insulin. If you had a surgery or other medical intervention, you also need to forget about Intermittent Fasting during the recovery period. If you have a history of an eating disorder, then Intermittent Fasting is not for
you. Anyone with a medical condition needs to get approval from their doctor before trying IF.
If you are wondering who can try Intermittent Fasting, then you only have to rule out children, teenagers, pregnant and breastfeeding women, or anyone suffering from a disease or medical condition that doesn’t allow IF (according to a doctor).
1.4 How to Practice Intermittent Fasting
By now, you already know what the feeding window and the fasting period are, but to better understand how Intermittent Fasting really works, you will need to understand the role that insulin has. As you would expect, the insulin level is high during the feeding window, and this can block the fat burning process.
When you had a meal with plenty of glucose, your body will try to burn the glucose, but there is usually a part of it which gets stored in your blood, increasing the insulin level.
Well, insulin is supposed to be the blood sugar level regulator, right? That’s correct! But when there is too much glucose in your blood, the insulin level gets very high, and paradoxically, this is preventing it from doing its job. In order for your insulin to work properly, you need to bring your body into the fasted state, so to wait at least 12 hours after your last meal, when the insulin
level is low enough to do its “magic.” When there is no more glucose to burn or to store, that’s when the body is looking for an alternative source of energy, and it looks like the most viable option is the fat reserved.
When the insulin is very high, that means your body is still getting glucose and this still remains the only energy source for it. This condition can be described as insulin resistance, as too much insulin is secreted by your body, but it still can’t regulate the blood sugar level, so your body resists the effects of insulin.
Unfortunately, when this condition becomes chronic, we are talking about abdominal fat storage, low HDL, high triglycerides, obesity, and perhaps even type 2 diabetes. What’s also extremely worrying is that 35% of adults today, and 50% of elderly people have a pre-diabetes condition.
So perhaps you are now starting to see my point of view when I consider carbs and sugar as being perhaps the most damaging substances to our bodies. Luckily for us, there is a solution that doesn’t require any medical intervention or treatment. If nutrition is the root of our problems, then we need to change something about our food to eliminate our health concerns.
Intermittent Fasting is the key to maximizing your fat burning process, and lowering the glucose level from your body. How? It simply makes you give up on carbs and sugar for a while, so you can allow your body to self-regulate. When you stop feeding
sugar and carbs to your body, the insulin will eventually do its job and regulate the blood sugar levels in your body, lowering it and thus preventing your condition getting worse to prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
All the Intermittent Fasting programs involve caloric restrictions, and nutrient deprivation, so you will need to find a way to control hunger. This is the secret for a successful IF
program and for burning fat. If you can master your hunger, then you are on the right path in the fat-burning process. But this is not an easy job, as your body is really not used to running on fats, so when you are hungry, your body is craving carbs (and glucose from carbs) to satisfy its hunger.
However, with a powerful will of power and mindset, you can overcome your hunger, and let your body find an alternative energy source. Bear in mind that your body should adapt to different conditions, so what you are doing is not something unhealthy. You are challenging your body to find a different
“fuel” and it just says “Challenge accepted!” Your body can come up with the best solution in this case, as it will go for your fat reserve, in order to get the energy it’s looking for.
If people are able to increase their fasting time, then it’s more likely for the body to become fat-adapted, which means that the energy source has been successfully switched to fat. Think of it as a clean energy, as burning this fuel is very environmental-
friendly (your body being the environment). If you are in an insulin-resistant state, getting your body into the fat-adapted state can be extremely difficult, but it’s still not impossible (it just needs time and practice). You need to know that your body doesn’t switch the energy source instantly, it needs to happen slowly and gradually, as it doesn’t have a button to switch immediately the fuel type.
In order to prepare for the fat burning process, you will slowly have to increase your fasting period. Take it easy, in baby steps, so you can manage the whole thing a lot easier. The longer you fast, the lower your insulin level will be and the lower your blood sugar level will get. As the body is running out of glucose, it will need to use the energy stored in your fat tissue.
But here, I am talking about the fat-adapted state, and not about how to get into this phase. Well, I have good news for you, as you can follow the following 4 simple rules to achieve this state:
- you will need to try LCHF (Low Carbs High Fats) diets, as your body runs on the energy from your fat reserves; but you need to get the right type of fuel into your body, to make it run on fats for a longer period;
- consider working out, as physical exercise is the most effective way to burn fat. Just to make your training even more effective, you will need to do it in the fasted state (at least 12 hours after your last meal). If there is glucose left
to burn, your body will burn it, and it will switch to fat cells for getting the energy it needs;
- pay extra attention to the calories you consume. Most of the food we eat today is full of carbs and calories, so lowering your calorie intake can seriously limit the number of carbs or volume of glucose you are consuming.
As you are probably wondering what food types have fewer calories, the answer is simple: natural and not processed food. Try to focus more on fruits and vegetables, and make sure you are very selective with the food you eat.
- the final rule is about Intermittent Fasting, as this is the best way to get your body in the fasted-state. This method sets up the right conditions for the fat burning process; you can even burn some fat using this method alone, but if you want maximum results, you need to respect all the other rules above.
