Everything you need to know about Intermittent Fasting

There are so many misunderstandings and misconceptions about intermittent fasting. Here I will give it to you short, sweet, and to-the-point!

While we are familiar with fasting for religious purposes or medical procedures, intermittent fasting is different and is all the rage in the health, fitness, and wellness community....for good reasons!

In short, it is a shortened window of eating, going for an extended period of time without eating. It helps your body go from burning sugar to burning fat for energy.

I know, it goes against what we have been told....6 small meals a day keeps your metabolism up. Well, when you know better you do better and we know better now. Think about it, our ancestors didn't have the snacks or the opportunity to eat like we do now. Food was not as readily available to them as it is for us. Not to mention that dinner was prepared with whole (not packaged/processed) foods, families ate at the table together and portions were smaller!

Don't get me wrong, many people have success eating many small meals, but many people also have great success with intermittent fasting. We are all different and it is all about finding what works for your body!

The food and diet industry has done well at painting a certain picture of how we should eat now and it is fast, easy, full of sugar, and makes them A LOT of money. Now we have a plethora of health conditions and are overweight, not to mention how hard it is for us to lose weight!

Intermittent fasting has been known to decrease triglycerides, blood pressure, and inflammation. Chronic inflammation is known to disrupt hormones. The benefits go beyond simply losing weight. While we all feel that we could lose some weight, it is my hope that you also care beyond that number on the scale and can see where your overall wellness is a priority!

But on the subject, intermittent fasting is also known to help control your appetite (thanks to the regulation of the hormones ghrelin and leptin) and cravings and this helps with weight loss in that way, not just burning stored fat.

I know that people hear fast and think deprivation, but if you do it right, with a trained or certified professional you will not feel deprived! You can finally gain control over your hunger and your cravings!

The how-to behind intermittent fasting will vary for everyone. You are the MASTER of your body, or should be...I can help, so it is up to you to find a way to make it work for you, your body, and your lifestyle. There will be some trial and error. As with most things, it gets easier over time with practice.

I recommend starting at a smaller fasting period, so push your normal breakfast back an hour. Do that for a day, couple days, or a week until you feel good. Then push it back another hour and so on until you are fasting for 16 hours a day and eating in an 8-hour window.

Other notable benefits:

1. Save money on groceries - you eat fewer meals.

2. Studies and many experts including Dr. Michael Mosley say intermittent fasting helps us with a host of health conditions such as improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and insulin sensitivity. Intermittent fasting may also help improve the health of your heart, brain, waistline, immune system and health conditions including:

brain health...think Alzheimer's
diabetes
cancer
gut health
heart disease
inflammatory conditions...think chronic pain conditions, trouble losing weight
obesity
stress

3. Weight loss

4. Improved Metabolism

5. Belly Fat