What To Know About Fasting

There are different types of fasting.  There is fasting for a religious purpose such as during Lent and during Ramadan, but then there is also the new diet craze that you may have heard about and that’s called Intermittent Fasting.  Whatever your intentions may be, fasting is absolutely a healthy lifestyle and, by its nature, promotes fat loss.  Here are some tips, and fun facts that will get you through the tough hunger pangs.  Let’s indulge.

For Religious Purposes

Fasting during Lent consists of eating one meal only on specific days - Ash Wednesday and Good Friday – otherwise it’s your routine diet schedule (unless you choose to fast the entire 40 days).  Ramadan is a daily fast between sunrise and sunset, which occurs on the 9th month of the Islamic calendar.  Both of these traditions are intended to be a sacrifice, and an allowance for a complete cleansing of the body.  Following these traditions requires great discipline (a word we’ll frequently use in this article).

Intermittent Fasting     

This has become a new craze amongst diet options.  Essentially it is a daily routine where you fast anywhere from 12 to 24+ hours.  The key benefits for intermittent fasting are: increasing your insulin sensitivity, and increasing your growth hormone levels.  Increasing insulin sensitivity is absolutely crucial in this sugar laden & hidden sugar laden society.  You can pick up nearly any item, that isn’t raw, in the food store and it will have some form of sugar in it (odds are you won’t be able to identify it in the ingredient list).  While avoiding these sugars may be extremely difficult, and by no means am I saying you will be able to, fasting for 12 plus hours causes the levels of insulin in your blood stream to drop significantly, meaning your body won’t adapt and require higher and higher demands of this hormone.  The other benefit is growth hormone.  Studies have been shown in men who fasted for around 24 hours to have a growth hormone increase of 2000%!  That’s an astounding number by any means.  Imagine paying a 2000% tip at a restaurant; that would be a $500 tip on a $25 dollar bill!!  Growth hormone is responsible for the reservation of protein in your body.  What’s made of protein you ask?  Hair, nails, skin, ligaments, bone, etc.  Growth hormone may very well be the fountain of youth.

What And When To Eat?

As stated earlier, fasting by nature is a fat burning diet plan!  Fasting puts your body in a state of ketosis, meaning that eventually your body will begin to use fat as fuel.  In order to promote this process you should emphasize the eating of fats.   Seriously.  Eat wholesome fats like uncooked olive oil, uncooked coconut oil, avocados, natural peanut butter, and grass fed butter.  Fats aside, you also need to get in quality proteins and carbohydrates.  Good sources of protein would be Eggs, Salmon, and Greek Yogurt.  Good sources of carbohydrates would be Sweet Potatoes, Oatmeal, Quinoa, and Beans.  These are just some good examples, you’ll find plenty of more quality nutrients.  Also, don’t forget your vegetables!  Getting in enough fiber, vitamins, and minerals are crucial (especially potassium, and b vitamins). 

If you’re new to fasting, it’s recommended to start with a 12 hour fast.  This would mean you would have a 12 hour window to eat, and by eat this means getting all of your daily caloric needs in.  The more advanced, or disciplined, you become with your fasting would determine how long you can stretch the fasting window.  The best practice is probably a 20 – 22 hour fast.  So if you start eating by 6pm that would give you a 2 – 4 hour window for eating (8 pm – 10 pm).   

Fighting The Hunger Pangs

Sparkling water and apple cider vinegar will be your best friend.  Drink these two often throughout the day.  Be sure to mix the vinegar in a good amount of water to dilute the potency of the acidity.  Either way, with these two throughout the day you’ll be plenty full.  Believe it or not, that rumble in your stomach will go away, and what will replace it is a surge of energy.  No joke.  That rumble you hear generally occurs during the time your body would expect to get food, let’s say you’re just starting out and your previous daily routine was having breakfast at 9 am.  Your stomach would start rumbling around 9 am and go for an hour or two and then slowly stop.  You’ll probably feel lethargic and weak for a little bit, and then you’ll move into the heightened self phase!  You think faster, you move faster, its primal survival mode at its finest.  You will feel like you’ve just had a cup of coffee!  This is the time to go work out!  Do your normal workout routine, like one our workout generator would provide, and if possible increase the intensity (minimize rest periods between sets).  High intensity exercising also increases growth hormone!

So whatever your intentions are for fasting, just remember these tips and you’ll do great!  Perhaps the biggest challenge to this new lifestyle is discipline.  Your will will be tested, and a lot will be said about your character when you fully adopt this lifestyle.  You will increase growth hormone levels, you will increase insulin sensitivity, and you will burn fat!  Stick with it, we hope the best for you!

We are advocates of your goals!

Whatever your intentions may be, fasting is absolutely a healthy lifestyle and, by its nature, promotes fat loss.