Buzz
Skipping meals, once a top forbidden dieting practice, has now evolved into a core strategy in the increasingly popular weight loss approach, backed by research.
Intermittent fasting—reducing meal frequency cyclically—not only poses no harm, but it can also lower blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, reduce inflammation, and cardiovascular risk.
Why and how? Researchers believe that fasting exerts a certain pressure on cells in the body, akin to muscle tension during exercise for muscle and heart, enhancing cellular resilience and boosting disease resistance.
After about 12 hours of fasting, your body depletes carbohydrate stores and begins burning stored fat (Image: eatthis.com).
Moreover, according to Courtney Peterson, PhD, associate professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama, Birmingham: “Studies suggest that combining muscle training with weight loss is more effective than other conventional diets, even if the amount of weight loss is the same.” This is because after about 12 hours of fasting, your body depletes carbohydrate stores and starts burning accumulated fat.
But this system has a loophole. In a recent study, participants in the alternate-day fasting plan lost about 6% of their body weight over six months – similar to those on a normal low-carb diet – but 38% of fasters dropped out, nearly 10% more than other diet groups. A similar issue arose in other trials.
So why bother experimenting with a fast weight loss plan with a high dropout rate and enduring hours of hunger pangs? Beyond health benefits, some people actually enjoy this method and find it the easiest way to control their weight.
It's important not to overindulge on 'cheat' days during a diet. (Image: medicalnewstoday.com)
Whether you're on a two-day-a-week reduced calorie diet or breaking down meals into smaller time frames throughout the day, all these diet plans mentioned above don't require calorie counting every time you fuel your body, a relief for those tired of keeping track of weight loss journals.
Once you've planned out your menu for the reduced calorie diet phase, taking, for example, 500 calories a day with a menu of chicken and vegetables, your body is programmed. And during the diet break phase, you can eat regular healthy meals (even steak) without worrying about what you're putting into your body.
The crucial point, of course, is not to overindulge on these 'normal' days. Researchers say that people on reduced calorie diets eat over 10 to 15 percent more on their break days, so overall they only reduce a small amount of calories than they think.
2. Hunger Factor
Indeed, occasionally you may feel hungry but this happens mildly and infrequently. Dr. Kristin Hoddy, a nutrition expert, who secretly practiced dieting and researched portion control, said: 'Hunger doesn't make your day worse, some studies even show an increase in satisfaction levels. Some research subjects even reported being distracted by other things and forgetting about hunger altogether.'
The feeling of hunger can also become more bearable over time (Image: eatthis.com)
Studies on intermittent fasting have shown that people rate their hunger at 8 out of 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 in the first few days, but after two weeks, that number drops to 3. After 3 to 4 weeks of experimentation, you'll realize you don't feel hungry on reduced calorie days.
3. Not Everyone Fits
There hasn't been any long-term fasting studies, but the benefits are promising and the risks are low. You can stop anytime if it doesn't feel right. However, the limited time frame of reduced calorie diets can be daunting, even for a few people or short-term plans, it's still quite challenging. This points to a bigger issue: perhaps more than traditional diets, this type of reduced calorie diet plan won't work for everyone.
Try a diet plan for two weeks (Image: shredfat.com)
Try a diet plan for two weeks and jot down how you feel and what you eat. You can switch to something else if your current plan isn't satisfying, or you can tweak it a bit to better suit your body. Moreover, when dieting, you should also split one meal into two smaller ones on reduced calorie days so you can have dinner with your partner without worrying about excess calories.
Phuong Thao (CALIPSO)
Posted by: Tuyen Le
Keywords: Cutting down on diets is the easiest way to control weight
