Intermittent Fasting for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide

Intermittent fasting (IF) is one of the hottest health and fitness trends in the world right now. This method is used to lose weight, improve health and simplify a healthy lifestyle. Many studies have shown that this method can have a powerful effect on your body and brain and may give you a longer life.

This is the ultimate beginner's guide to Intermittent Fasting.

What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?

Intermittent fasting (IF) is a term for an eating pattern that goes through cycles of fasting and eating. It doesn't say anything about the types of food you should eat, but rather when you should eat your food. In that respect, this is not a diet in the conventional sense. It is better described as a diet. Common Intermittent Fasting methods range from a 16-hour daily abstinence to fasting two days a week for 24 hours.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a term for an eating pattern that goes through cycles of fasting and eating. It does not say anything about the types of food you should eat, but rather when you should eat your food. In that respect, this is not a diet in the conventional sense. It is better described as a diet. Common Intermittent Fasting methods range from a 16-hour daily abstinence to fasting two days a week for 24 hours.

People have been fasting since the beginning of time. Sometimes this was necessary because there was no food available. In addition, it is also part of most major religions, including Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. If you think about it for a moment, you quickly come to the conclusion that our hunter-gatherer ancestors did not have supermarkets and refrigerators at their disposal, nor did they always have access to food. Sometimes they simply couldn't find anything to eat, so the body evolved in such a way that we can spend extended periods of time without food without any significant problems. In fact, it is more “natural” to fast from time to time rather than eat 3-4 (or more) meals every day.
People have been fasting since the beginning of time. Sometimes this was necessary because there was no food available. In addition, it is also part of most major religions, including Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. If you think about it for a moment, you quickly come to the conclusion that our hunter-gatherer ancestors did not have supermarkets and refrigerators at their disposal, nor did they always have access to food. Sometimes they simply couldn't find anything to eat, so the body evolved in such a way that we can go without food for extended periods of time without significant problems. In fact, it is more “natural” to fast from time to time rather than eat 3-4 (or more) meals every day.

In short: Intermittent Fasting (IF) is a term for an eating pattern that alternates periods of fasting and eating. This is very popular in the health and fitness communities right now.

How to Best Handle Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting has been very popular for many years and uses different methods. All methods divide the day or week into "eating periods" and "fasting periods". During fasts, you eat very little or nothing at all.
Intermittent Fasting has been very popular for many years and uses different methods. All methods divide the day or week into "eating periods" and "fast periods". During fasts you eat very little or nothing at all.

These are the most popular methods:

Because you eat fewer calories in all of these methods, you should lose weight as long as you don't make up for it by eating a lot more during the eating periods. Personally, I find the 16/18 method the easiest and easiest to maintain. This method is therefore the most popular.
Because you eat fewer calories in all of these methods, you should lose weight as long as you don't compensate by eating a lot more during the eating periods. Personally, I find the 16/18 method the easiest and easiest to maintain. This method is therefore the most popular.

More detailed information about the different methods is provided at the end of this article.

In short: There are several ways you can do Intermittent Fasting. They all divide the day or week into “eating periods” and “fasting periods”.

How Intermittent Fasting Affects Your Cells and Hormones

During fasting a number of things happen in your body, both at the cellular level and at the molecular level. For example, your body adjusts hormone levels to make stored body fat more easily accessible. Your cells also initiate important recovery periods.

These are some of the changes that take place in your body during fasting:

These changes in hormone levels, cell functions and gene expression are responsible for the health benefits of Intermittent Fasting.

In short: When you fast, the amounts of human growth hormone go up and your insulin levels go down. Your body cells also alter the expression of genes and initiate important cell repair processes.

Intermittent Fasting is a very powerful way to lose weight

Wanting to lose weight is the most common reason people try Intermittent Fasting. Because you eat fewer meals, Intermittent Fasting automatically leads to a reduced calorie intake. In addition, Intermittent Fasting alters certain hormone levels, enabling weight loss. In addition to lower amounts of insulin and an increase in growth hormone levels, there is also an increase in the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
Wanting to lose weight is the most common reason people try Intermittent Fasting. Because you eat fewer meals, Intermittent Fasting automatically leads to a reduced calorie intake. In addition, Intermittent Fasting alters certain hormone levels, enabling weight loss. In addition to lower amounts of insulin and an increase in growth hormone levels, there is also an increase in the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine (norepinephrine).

Due to these hormonal changes, short-term fasting can actually increase your digestive speed (your metabolism) by about 3.6% - 14%. By helping you eat less (fewer calories in) and help you burn more (more calories out), Intermittent Fasting causes weight loss by changing both sides of the calorie equation. Research has shown that Intermittent Fasting can be a very powerful way to lose weight. In a meta-study from 2014, it has been shown that an average of 3% - 8% weight loss occurs over a period of 3 - 24 weeks.

That is relatively a lot, especially compared to most studies in the field of weight loss. According to this study, people saw their waist circumference decrease by about 4% - 7%. This shows that they lost significant amounts of harmful belly fat that builds up around organs and causes disease. We call this so-called visceral fat, the most dangerous form of body fat in existence.

There is also a study that has shown that Intermittent Fasting causes less muscle loss than the more standard methods of continuous calorie restriction. However, keep in mind that the main reason this works is the fact that you are eating fewer calories across the board. If you eat enormous amounts during the eating periods, it could just happen that you don't lose any weight at all, or maybe even gain weight! And of course that cannot be the intention.

In short: Intermittent Fasting could slightly improve your digestion (your metabolism) and also help you eat fewer calories. It is a very effective way to lose weight, especially belly fat.

Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Much research has been done on Intermittent Fasting, both in animals and in humans. These studies have shown that powerful benefits for weight control and for body and brain health can occur. It could even make you live longer.

Here's a rundown of the top health benefits of Intermittent Fasting:

Keep in mind that research into Intermittent Fasting is still in its infancy. Many of these studies were small-scale, short-term, and most were conducted on animals. Many questions remain to be answered in long-term scientific studies on humans.

In short: Intermittent Fasting can have several benefits for your body and your brain. It can cause weight loss and protect you from type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. It could also extend your life.

Intermittent Fasting makes it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle

It is easy to eat healthy, but it can be very difficult to maintain. One of the biggest obstacles is the work it takes to plan and cook healthy meals. Doing Intermittent Fasting makes this easier because you don't have to plan, cook and clean up as many meals as before.

Intermittent Fasting is even very popular among the "life hackers" because it improves your health while making your life easier at the same time.

In short: One of the biggest benefits of Intermittent Fasting is that it makes it easier for you to eat healthy. Prepare, cook and clean up fewer meals.

Some people should be careful with Intermittent Fasting (or even avoid it completely)

Intermittent Fasting is certainly not suitable for everyone. If you are underweight or have had an eating disorder in the past, you should not start Intermittent Fasting without first contacting someone working in the health care system. In these cases it can be very harmful.

Should women fast?

There is evidence that Intermittent Fasting does not have nearly as many benefits for women as it is for men. For example, one study has shown that insulin sensitivity increased in men, but that it actually worsened in women. Although no human studies have yet been conducted in this area, studies in rats have shown that Intermittent Fasting rendered female rats emaciated, masculinized, sterile and menstrual cycles were skipped. There are many anecdotal reports of women having stopped having their periods when they started using Intermittent Fasting, which then returned to normal when they stopped taking Intermittent Fasting.

These are all reasons why women should be careful with Intermittent Fasting. Start gradually to get your body used to it and stop immediately as soon as problems, such as a lack of menstruation, appear. So listen very carefully to your body

In short: People who are underweight or with a history of eating disorders should not fast. There is evidence that Intermittent Fasting could be bad for some women.

Safety and side effects

Hunger is the biggest side effect of Intermittent Fasting. You may also feel weak and feel that your brain is not working as optimally as you used to. All of this could also be only temporary, as your body needs time to adjust to the new meal schedule. Again, you should listen carefully to your body and stop immediately if you feel anything unusual. Of course you have to give your body time to adjust to the new (temporary) lifestyle.

If you have a medical problem, you should contact your treating physician before trying Intermittent Fasting.

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That said, Intermittent Fasting has an excellent safety profile. There is nothing "dangerous" about not eating for a while if you are otherwise healthy.

In Brief: The most common side effect of Intermittent Fasting is hunger. People with certain medical conditions should not start Intermittent Fasting without first checking with a doctor.

Frequently Asked Questions about Intermittent Fasting

Here are the most frequently asked questions about Intermittent Fasting, with their answers. This is a selection of the questions I regularly receive from readers:

Yes. Water, coffee, tea and other drinks without significant calories are fine. Don't drink sugar in your coffee. Small amounts of (powder and / or coffee) milk should also not cause any problems. Coffee, in particular, can have benefits during the fasting period, as it dulls the feeling of hunger.

No. Look at it the other way: Most people who skip breakfast are the people who live very unhealthy lifestyles for the rest of the day. If you make sure you eat healthy for the rest of the day, it won't be a problem.

Yes. However, keep in mind that some supplements (such as fat-soluble vitamins) work better when taken with a meal. It is better to take these during a meal.

Yes, if you feel good exercising while fasting is no problem. Do not exercise extremely, because you probably do not have enough energy for that. Some people recommend taking Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) before exercising while fasting.

All regular weight loss methods can lead to muscle loss. That is why it is important that you do strength training and eat a lot of protein. One study has shown that Intermittent Fasting causes much less muscle breakdown than normal calorie restriction.

No. Research has shown that short-term fasting actually speeds up digestion. However, fasting for longer (three days or more) can slow digestion.

That's probably a bad idea. Children are still growing and need a steady flow of good nutrients.

How can you get started?

Chances are that you (unknowingly) have already done Intermittent Fasting. If you've ever had an evening meal and didn't eat anything until lunch the next day, you've probably already done an abstinence period of 16 hours or more. In fact, many people instinctively eat that way. They simply don't feel like it in the morning. By the way, â € no appetiteâ € ™ is often an excuse for â € no timeâ € ™, but that's a whole different story. [! 166476 => 1140 = 44!] I personally think the 16/8 method is the easiest way to do Intermittent Fasting. I recommend trying this method first. If you are used to this method and feel good fasting, you can try one of the more advanced schedules such as 24-hour fast one to two times a week (Eat-Stop-Eat) or eat only 500-600 calories a day one or two days a week (the 5: 2 Diet).

Another approach is to simply fast when it suits you. In other words, skip a meal every now and then if you are not hungry or have no time or do not feel like cooking. There is no need to follow a structured Intermittent Fasting plan to experience at least some of the benefits. Okay, it's less effective, but still you can still get some of the health benefits of Intermittent Fasting with it.

I recommend that you try out the different methods and choose the one that you like and that fits into your daily routine.

In short: It is advisable to start with the 16/8 method, after which you can continue with a longer fast if necessary. It's important to experiment to find out what works best for you.

Should I Try Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent Fasting is not something that suits everyone. It is just one of the many lifestyles that can help improve your health. Eating a healthy and varied diet, exercising and getting enough sleep are still the most important factors to focus on. If you don't like the idea of fasting, you can simply ignore this article. Then continue with what works for you.

There is not one nutritional solution that suits everyone. The best diet for you is the one you can stick to over the long term and feel good about it. Intermittent Fasting is great for some people, others don't like it at all. The only way to find out which group you belong to is to try it out for yourself.

If you feel good while fasting and it is a sustainable way of eating for you, it can be a very powerful tool to lose weight and get healthier at the same time.

6 Popular Ways to Use Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting has become very trendy in recent years. It has marketed itself as a great way to lose weight, improve digestion, and perhaps even extend life. It is therefore no surprise that something so popular has led to different types / methods of Intermittent Fasting. All of them can be effective, which version works best depends on you. Choose the method that suits you best and that best suits your rhythm of life.

Here are the 6 most popular ways to use Intermittent Fasting.

The 16/8 method means that you fast every day for 14-16 hours, limiting your daily “eating period” to about 8-10 hours. Within this eating period you can easily fit two to three meals. This method is also known as the LeanGains protocol.

Following this method can be very easy, for example by not eating anything after dinner and skipping breakfast the next morning. For example, if you finish your last meal at 8:00 pm and don't eat anything until noon the next day, then technically you are already fasting for 16 hours.

It is generally recommended that women do not fast for longer than 14-15 hours, as they seem to do better if they fast a little shorter. For people who have a lot of appetite in the morning and who like to eat breakfast, this method can be difficult to get used to. However, many people who skip breakfast instinctively eat this way. You can drink plain water, coffee and other calorie-free drinks during the period when you are not allowed to eat. The advantage is that this can even help to combat hunger.

It is very important to eat mostly healthy foods during your eating period. This doesn't really work if you eat a lot of junk food or massive amounts of calories.

Personally, I think this is the most â € œnaturalâ € way to do Intermittent Fasting. I eat this way myself and experience it 100% as effortless. I eat a low-carb diet, so my appetite is a bit dull anyway. I simply don't feel like it until about 1pm. Then I eat my last meal between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM, so I end up fast about 4-7 PM.

In short: The 16/8 method includes daily fasting for 16 hours for men and from 14-15 hours for women. Every day you limit your eating to a "eating period" of 8-10 hours, in which you can fit 2 to 3, or more, meals.

With the 5: 2 diet, you eat normally five days a week and limit yourself to 500-600 calories two days a week. This diet is also called the Fast / Fast diet and has become popular thanks to the British journalist and doctor Michael Mosley. On fasting days it is recommended that women eat 500 calories and men 600 calories.

For example, you eat normally on all days and on Mondays and Thursdays you eat two light meals (of about 250 kilocalories per meal for women and 300 kilocalories for men). As critics have rightly pointed out, there has been no research on the 5: 2 diet itself, but plenty of research is available on the benefits of Intermittent Fasting in general.

In short: The 5: 2 diet, or the Fast / Fast diet, is about eating just 500-600 calories two days a week, and the remaining five days eat normally.

During Eat-Stop-Eat you fast once or twice a week for 24 hours. This method has become popular thanks to fitness expert Brad Pilon.

If you fast from the evening meal one day to the evening meal the next day, it amounts to a 24-hour fast. For example, if you finish eating at 7 p.m. on a Monday evening and don't eat anything until 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening, you have just completed a full 24-hour fixed. You can also fast from breakfast to breakfast, or from lunch to lunch. The result is the same.

Water, coffee, and other calorie-free drinks are allowed during the fast, but solid foods are not.

If you are fasting to lose weight, it is very important that you eat normally and healthily during the eating periods. So the same how much food you would eat if you didn't fast. The problem with this method is that a full 24-hour fast can be quite tricky for many people. However, you don't have to jump right in with your eyes closed, if you start with a 14-16 hour fast and work from there, that's okay too.

I've done this a few times myself. I found the first part of the fast very easy, but the last few hours I got very hungry. I had to have quite a bit of self-discipline to finish the full 24 hours and often smuggled a bit by having dinner just a little too early.

In Brief: Eat-Stop-Eat is an Intermittent Fasting program with one or two 24-hour periods of fasting per week.

Fasting every other day means that you fast one day and eat normally the next.

This occurs in several variants. Some variants allow you to eat about 500 kilocalories during fasting days.

Fasting every other day seems pretty extreme, so I definitely wouldn't recommend this to beginners. With this method, you go to bed very hungry a few times a week, which is not very pleasant and probably cannot be sustained in the long run.

In short: Fasting every other day means that you fast one day and not the next. Sometimes by not eating at all, sometimes by eating just a few hundred calories.

The Warrior diet was once popularized by fitness expert Ori Hofmekler. Basically you eat small amounts of fruits and vegetables during the day and then eat one huge meal in the evening.

So you are “fast” in fact during the day and in the evening you can enjoy a “party meal” within four hours. The Warrior Diet was one of the first popular “diets” to incorporate some sort of Intermittent Fasting.

This diet also focuses on food choices that are quite similar to the well-known Paleo diet: unprocessed foods that resemble what they once looked like in nature and were eaten by our ancestors.

In short: The Warrior Diet is all about eating small amounts of fruits and vegetables during the day, then eating one huge meal at night.]

You don't even need to follow a structured Intermittent Fasting method to enjoy some of the benefits. Another option is to occasionally skip meals, for example if you are not hungry or have no time and / or desire to cook and eat. It is a myth that people have to eat every few hours or else they will go into "starvation mode" and digest their muscles. The human body is well equipped to endure extended periods of hunger, so missing one or two meals every now and then is no problem.

So if you really don't feel hungry one day, skip breakfast and eat a healthy lunch and dinner. Or if you are traveling and can't find anything to eat anywhere, do a short fast. Skipping one or two meals, if convenient, is in fact spontaneous Intermittent Fasting. Just make sure you eat healthy during normal meals.

In Brief: Another “natural” way to do Intermittent Fasting is to simply skip one or two meals, if you're not hungry or don't have time to eat.

Finallyâ €!

There are many people who get fantastic results with some of these methods. However, if you already feel completely good in your current health and see little room for improvement, then Intermittent Fasting will no longer have any added value. Intermittent Fasting is not a good idea for everyone. It's not something everyone should be doing, it's simply a tool in the toolbox that can be used successfully by some people. Some people also believe that it may have far fewer benefits for women than it does for men, and that it would also be a bad choice for those with a predisposition to eating disorders.

If you decide to try this, keep in mind that it is also still very important to eat a healthy and varied diet, in combination with exercise and adequate sleep. It is not possible to fill yourself up with junk food during eating periods and expect to lose weight and improve your health.

Sources

Dailyburn.com/life/health/intermittent-fasting-methods/

Www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting

Www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting