Intermittent Fasting or IF works great if you know what you’re doing and what to eat, and most folks do not. If you continue to stay on the same old diet, of whatever you fancy, you won’t see much of a weight-loss result by practicing IF.
The concept of IF, of course, is to consume fewer meals, preferably 1 to 2 per day, with little snacking in between, and then let your body burn it off by fasting for 18 hours or so until your next meal.
Logic tells you that ingesting fewer calories means less for the body to burn or store in your fat cells, which can stop and even reverse insidious weight gain.
But, there’s a big BUT here. It’s not that simple, for several reasons, which I’ll outline.
The Problem.
If burn sugar and carbs for fuel, you may feel starving and unhappy in the morning until you eat the first meal. This sensation is perceived as stress by your brain, which means your body releases cortisol — our fight or flight stress hormone — and that’s bad for your heart.
We all know stress can cause heart disease, so the less of it, the better.
If you switch to IF yet continue to feast on the Standard American Diet (SAD), you’ll continue to consume a ton of sugar, wheat, and carbs, which all turn into glucose in your bloodstream. Your system subsequently must burn off the glucose and/or release a ton of insulin to move the excess glucose out of your bloodstream, which then is locked away as Triglycerides in your fat cells.
This process leads to insidious weight gain, whether you practice IF or not!
I read many stories online, particularly on Quora, where folks ask why they’re not losing weight even though they’ve been practicing Intermittent Fasting for more than 2 weeks. 2 weeks?
First of all, patience is a virtue, and you can’t expect miracles to happen in 2 weeks when you’ve been loading your body with all kinds of nasty stuff for 20–30 or more years, right?
The reversal process takes time, but it’s way faster than the weight gain process if done correctly.
The Game Changer Solution.
You must first transition your metabolism to become a fat burner rather than a sugar/carb burner by switching to the Keto diet.
Once your body naturally finds its way to burning fat for your fuel which provides you “sugar-free-clean-energy,” and you have stopped eating all the junk out there, the magic happens!
Your body requires around 4 weeks to transition to a fat-burning metabolism, and once that happens, you’re on a roll.
IF then becomes effortless, stress-free, and super effective for added weight loss and health benefits. Once you’re fully into fat-burning mode, you no longer feel hunger sensations and have plenty of energy without eating food.
The excess water retention and the weight start to melt off quickly.
Combining the Keto Diet with Intermittent Fasting is the magic weapon against weight gain and is the only effective healthy weight-loss program.
By the way, there’s no real magic here — I just use the term. It’s all 100% natural, logical, it works, and it’s the ONLY way to reach your optimal weight and body goals.
In Summary.
You’re wasting your time and stressing your mind by fasting if you haven’t changed your diet to a natural one, removing all processed foods, sugar, wheat, and everything made from it. It just won’t work, and you may end up feeling miserable and harming your heart. Not good!
It’s vital to first transform your body to burn fat for your fuel and then add IF for excellent extra health benefits once you’ve accomplished that. Then you will experience extraordinary results and never look back.
Please view my explanations on IF.
I’ve been on the Keto Diet for over 6 years and have been practicing IF for almost as long. I’ve never stopped, never had a cheat day, and my weight is ideal at 140lbs. (previously over 200lbs.), and I feel great every day.
Bonus: I’m never hungry and can barely finish any of my meals as you require fewer calories as a fat-burner.
Win-Win!
Thanks for reading,
Rob