Intermittent Fasting - How you can Control your Hunger to Diet Better
Learn a little bit more about Intermittent Fasting.
If sticking to your diet has been your main problem listen up. We may have a solution. Intermittent fasting. It has become a popular dieting method as of late, and for good reason. But what is it, exactly?
At an elementary level, intermittent fasting simply means designating an eating window and a fasting window. During the feeding window, you eat as normal, but don’t consume any food outside of this time period. This can range anywhere from a fast of a few hours to an entire day. One of the more effective and often studied methods to evolve from this movement is the 16-8 method.
The 16-8 method of intermittent fasting
Pick an 8-hour window of your day in which you choose to eat. Most people choose to fast until mid-day and eat until later in the night. For example, someone who works 9-5 might find it easier to stave off breakfast, eat lunch at 12, and continue eating until family dinner at 8pm with the kids. Others might be suited to an earlier start - say a 9 am breakfast culminating with dinner at 5pm. Whatever your schedule is, make sure you’re fueling your workouts and lifestyle.
The idea is that you gain better control of the hormones leptin and insulin. Intermittent energy restriction has been shown to reduce fasting insulin and leptin levels, both hormones that signal a craving to eat. Rather than continuous energy restriction, as what happens in conventional dieting, reducing the feeding hours seems to also reduce hunger levels. If you have trouble sticking to your diet because you're always so hungry, consider intermittent fasting as a solution.
Keep weight training!
A recent look at the interaction between the 16-8 method of intermittent fasting, resistance training and body composition showed a significant change only between those who trained/fasted together. Those who either just weight trained or just did the intermittent fasting protocol with no lifting showed no differences in fat mass and weight. This suggests that intermittent fasting alone might not be as effective at lowering body fat percentage as it could be with exercise combined.
To get your best results, stick to a diet and exercise plan that allows for feeding post-workout and training at least four times per week.