As you may or may not have noticed, my title for this article includes a pretty sweet wordplay if I must say. Today I wanted to keep in mind the current time of year, Holidays. With that in mind, lets first take a quick moment to be thankful for all or some of the following. Your car, your money, your ego, your image amongst friends and co workers, your shoes, your new cool tech gadget and all other cool things we consume. Or I guess we can say oh yea, lets take a chill pill on all that and be thankful for friends, family, loved ones, health, roofs over our head, great opportunities, great & abundant food, clean water, and an overall amazing community.
When we keep some of the above in mind it puts into perspective the stuff that we cover here on a weekly basis. Now I do not want to diminish the importance of this information at all, but more so put it in its proper place to make sure that we all realize it is not a matter of life and death but that it is something that can be utilized to increase your overall quality of life in so many ways. And, as a result helping you bring more to the community you are a part of.
Intermittent FASTING 101:
You may or may not have heard of Intermittent Fasting. It is a rather simple nutritional intervention that is being widely used and rather successfully might I add. It involves splitting your 24 hour day into two basic states or categories.
"Fast"-ed or "Fast"-ing state: (Anywhere from 18-48 hours)
"Fed" or "Feed"-ing state
Lets look at your fasting state first. The time ranges from 16 to 48 hours. I have played with the 16 hour state recently and have had a few experiences with the 24 hour fast as well.
To start this off you will typically have your dinner around lets say 7 or 8 pm. You would then enter your Fast for the next 16-18 hours for this example. So you would then wake up the next morning and potentially have your morning workout or get ready for work.
Side note: If you workout in the mornings I would not do this on workout days but 1 x per week. I prefer this on days of cardio only or 1 x per week of Resistance Training workouts.
You would then look at consuming your first meal around 11am - 1pm of that day.
Things to consider during your fast:
Potential Irritability
Increased need for water consumption
Greater ability to differentiate between false hunger and real hunger
Great caloric deficit and resetting of the bodys fat burning hormonal environment.
Need for consumption of Amino Acids during "fasting state" (specifically before and after morning "fasted state" workouts.)
Increased need for a delicious balanced meal when you come out of the fasted state.
Now lets look at the Feed-ing state.
This time period will only last the next 6-10 hours depending on your last meal for this day. During this time it is advisable to consume your main 3 meals. You still have breakfast aka (Break the Fast) just at a later time than your normal routine. It does not have to include your typical breakfast food but definitely can if that your thing.
Each meal will be of a decent size and will keep you going strong into the next day.
Things to consider during your Feed-ing or Fed state:
If you workout in the evening try keeping carbs moderate to low for pre- workout meals and then have a heavy carb meal after your evening workout to finish off the day and resulting fed state.
Don't go crazy on junk food for your first meal after the fast, that will totally erase all good coming from the fast.
Have the meals be of regular size and portions. Listen to your body and always allow for 15-20 minutes after eating to see if you need more food. That is how long it typically takes a meal to reach your tummy and its sensory receptors that signal hunger.
Pros and Cons of Intermittent Fasting + General Guidelines:
Pro: Create a massive caloric deficit
Pro: Increases fat & calorie burning
Pro: Increases ability to recognize true and false senses of hunger
Pro: You dont have to eat every 2-3 hours which can be a pain in the bum bum
Pro: Increased energy levels and metabolism
Cons: Women have a hard time with this diet
Cons: Takes a little getting used to
Cons: You may feel flat at times but that is not often reported
Guidelines:
I don't recommend this more than 2-4 x weekly with 2-3 days being the sweet spot for me at this point.
I recommend you try it out and see how you respond to it. Every body is different.
Have some amino acids on hand and be ready to take those during your morning hours and before/after workouts.
Lastly always consult with your medical doctor before attempting this.
There you have it guys. Go give this intermittent fasting for fat loss a try and share your thoughts and comments with me as it always helps me to make this stuff more simplified for you when I get those comments and questions.
IMPROVEMENT EVERY DAY!
Jeff Hazzard
PS Have you ever tried Intermittent fasting before? If so, let me know how it went for you!
To find out more about the new rules of fitness and reach your full fat loss potential, check out http://jeffhazzardfitness.com/fatlossnow to get my free report Fat Loss & Diet Secrets Revealed!
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