Help Preparing Meals When Fasting to Lose Weight
Posted by admin on Sep 29, 2009
Meal plans are a good way to plan what are going to eat during the course of the week and as such can provide a predetermined and planned calorie intake helping you limit the food that you eat.
This can obviously be combined with fasting to lose weight as you can set the times and amounts of food you eat during each eating phase. The only problem is meal plans are a little complicated and it takes a good deal of nutritional know how to look at a meal plan and know exactly how much of each ingredient you will need.
An alternative method of keeping an upper limit on your calorie intake is instead to use a shopping list that only contains items that add up to your restricted calorie goal for the week. Therefore you use this food during the eating periods and once you have run out then you have to wait until your next trip to the store to restock
Why don’t people just make shopping lists for people instead of meal
plans? let people make what they want, when they want it. When the
food is out, you’re done eating until the next week.
This is great because it is a very simple way to keep calories in check and allows you to see how much food you will actually be eating that week and saves you time going back and forward to the store.
Granted it may be difficult to manage this level of preparation if you do the shopping for a larger family and you are the only one that practices fasting but try and keep your shopping separate and in a different place in the house.
If you’re not sure how much food you should be eating, how many calories you need or what you should buy once you get to the store then I highly recommend you check out the made for you meal plans over at www.empowerednutritionmealplans.com.
These guys have basically done all the work for you with step by step meal plan system to support any goal that includes a weekly shopping list like we have talked about.
If you’re fasting to lose weight but unsure of how much or what you should be eating I highly recommend you check out www.empowerednutritionmealplans.com by visiting their site here.
Fasting for Weight Loss Versus Diet Pills and Programs
Posted by admin on Sep 22, 2009
A sad fact is many people will scoff at fasting to lose weight because of its simplicity and instead spend a small fortune on weight loss pills, potions and programs. However had you ever taken the time to read the small print on any of these diet pills or programs?
Well if you look at the label you will see they come with the caveat “…when combined with a calorie restricted diet.” That’s right; these things don’t even work unless you are first putting your body into a calorie deficit. Essentially what the diet pill manufactures are saying is that if you want to lose weight fast you need to be on a calorie restricted diet.
Of course they like to market them in a way that seems to say “If you take this pill you can and eat all the junk of the day and still lose weight!” The sad thing is, many of us buy into this because it is what we want to believe. Eating is pleasurable and we eat junk food because we enjoy it, these marketers know this and can manipulate our innate human desires to seek pleasure and avoid pain by pitching their product as the fastest easiest way to lose weight.
This advice needs to be on every diet plan or weight loss claim you see as a calorie deficit really is the only true, scientifically proven way to lose weight. The same applies for workout plans but the fact remains that you can slog away in the Gym as much as you want but you will still not lose weight unless you are on a calorie restricted diet!
At the end of the day if you want to lose weight you have to eat less. Fasting is a simple method to help you reduce calories without the complicated calorie counting, calorie shifting methods that are out there. An added benefit is that you can still eat the foods that you enjoy in the eating window as long as you take responsibility and exercise some degree of moderation.
When done correctly intermittent fasting will not only help you look better but there is more and more evidence mounting of it’s ability to improve health factors like blood sugar levels, diabetes risk and even prolong life.
So forget the pills, the potions or the latest diet craze, if you want to lose weight you simply must eat less. Fasting for weight loss can help you do this quickly, easily and in as short a time as possible.
Fasting for Weight Loss vs Six Meals Per Day
Posted by admin on Sep 15, 2009
If you’ve ever told someone that you’re using fasting to lose weight then you will have likely had people telling you that what you are doing is wrong and that if you really want to lose weight you should be eating six small meals a day. In this article we are going to examine the pro’s and cons of six meals a day versus using fasting for weight loss and come to a consensus on what is the best method for you.
Is eating all this more effective than fasting to lose weight?
First we need to look at where this whole idea of eating six meals a day came from and it really is a recent phenomenon as over the last 100 or so years in industrialized countries society and working convention is based around breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The idea of six small meals a day first came from the body building fraternity as a way to lose weight, or get ‘cut’ for body building competitions while maintaining or even gaining muscle mass.
This method worked well for bodybuilders as there large size, high metabolism and large energy demand to fuel their training meant that they could easily consume 2500-3000 calories a day and still be in a calorie deficit! This method filtered into the fitness world then into general advice shelled out by well meaning but uninformed individuals who were then telling people that if they wanted to lose weight they should eat more!
Most individuals that want to lose weight for health or image reasons most often are not the size of a bodybuilder nor do they have the same energy demands due to physical activity. Even six meals a day at 400 calories is 2400, 400 calories more than is recommended as the daily intake for women!
When losing weight really just comes down to calories in must be less than calories out we can see how absurd this six small meals a day theory is. By fasting it is easy to achieve a calorie deficit, it just doesn’t seem as tempting to most people as getting to eat six meals a day!
You see it’s in our basic human nature to avoid pain and seek pleasure. The idea of fasting to lose weight may at first seem like a daunting task to most people and it will be a little uncomfortable at first as your body and brain crave the sugar rushes you are accustomed to giving it.
However if give it a try and you will soon see it is not as difficult as you had anticipated and you will actually lose weight with fasting instead of wondering why your putting on weight by eating six meals a day like the grapevine told you.
Fasting to Lose Weight: 24 Hour Cycles
Posted by admin on Sep 8, 2009
In my efforts to use fasting to lose weight I tried the alternate day feeding method whereby I ate nothing for one whole day then ate the next. This method of intermittent fasting is certainly one of the more difficult.
The reason that this fasting cycle came to prominence is because of the positive benefits that were being observed when this feeding to fasting cycle was used on rats in the lab. Rats that were fed on alternate days showed reduced blood sugar, improved insulin sensitivity, increased HDL levels and lived 30-40% longer than rats that could eat ad libitum.
The difficulty with humans that are fasting to lose weight adopting this eating pattern is that we no not have the same sleep patterns as rats. Most rodents feed t
hroughout each 24 hour period, humans however mainly eat only during the waking hours so if we fast for a day we in fact fast for about 34 hours and have an eating window of 14 hours because we need to factor in the time we are asleep.
After trying this fasting schedule I have to admit I was able to cope with it though I did get very hungry in the even and the temptation to eat was very high. As this was the first time I had fasted for a long time I was motivated by the determination to put my own will power and prove to myself I could do it.
With out that motivation I am unsure if I could adhere to this method of fasting to lose weight for very long. For example today is now my eating day so I am really enjoying the fact I can eat, I am just eating healthy balanced meals and a few snacks here and there when I feel like it, but I have yet to decide if I will start a full 24 hour fast tomorrow! Maybe using this method once or twice a week would be sufficient but I obviously may not lose as much weight.
I know that other people using fasting to lose weight do a shorter cycle in which they start and end their fast on alternate days at 4 or 6pm so this is something I may experiment with also.
Intermittent Fasting: Does Fasting to Lose Weight Work?
Posted by admin on Sep 2, 2009
Intermittent fasting is the practice of fasting to lose weight. It is becoming one of the most popular weight loss methods for people that need to lose weight in a hurry. Trying to lose weight quickly is not always an easy task but sometimes beach season or a wedding can quickly creep and before you know you are left in a position where you may only have a few weeks or less to shed that unwanted poundage.
But can fasting to lose weight really help you get into the shape you desire? Intermittent fasting requires you to cycle days of normal food consumption with a 24 hour fast during which you consume nothing but water. The general premise is that during the fast you give your body a break allowing the digestive system to digest the previous day’s food, heal and rest while at the same time allowing the body to eliminate any toxins.
When fasting to lose weight calorie intake is restricted and creates a calorie deficit. During a calorie deficit (when the amount of calories consumed is less than that required for maintenance of bodily functions) the body is forced to use the fat stores as a source of energy.
There is also some evidence to suggest that intermittent fasting increases the levels of growth hormone in the body. Increased growth hormone may truly be one of the fastest ways to lose weight because its function is to preserve muscle mass and increases the levels of fat burning. Its effect may be intensified when intermittent fasting is used in combination with a solid fitness plan.
For example it is well known that physical activity and exercise is one of the fastest ways to lose weight because it increases the amount of calories needed making it easier to achieve a calorie deficit. It is this calorie deficit that is the key to weight loss, whether you are fasting to lose weight or other wise. If you are consuming more calories than your body needs then you will put on weight. If you are consuming less calories than your body needs your body will be forced to use fat stores and you will lose weight.
Whether or not intermittent fasting is the best vehicle of achieving this will depend on the individual in question. Foregoing any food for 24 hour period may take more self discipline than many have, it also leaves some people feeling tired and irritable. Those who have managed to break through the initial stages and get accustomed to this method often say that fasting to lose weight is one of the best ways to lose weight quickly.
