By Losing weight in such a short period of time is very much like crash dieting. It’s good for the duration, and provides fast results. Although, long term, it will not be sustainable, and may cause you to re-gain the weight you lost and quite possibly, gaining even more back!
I don’t recommend crash dieting, although I do have a method that can assist you to lose weight quickly, closer to the number you were after. This method requires some conscious effort, and allowing yourself to be a little bit hungry, for a duration of time. This is not going to cause the body any distress.
6 ways intermittent fasting helps you lose weight fast, and keep it off for life
- By burning visceral fat. This is the stubborn fat we have on our bodies. It’s allocated deep around the abdominal organs. During a 6 month fasting duration, people on an intermittent fasting diet were able to shed 4–7 percent of their visceral fat (3) (4).
- It kick starts ketosis. Ketosis usually happens under extreme limitations of carbohydrates. Intermittent fasting provides a short cut towards this ultimate fat burning state. Once the body is drained of glucose the primary source of our bodies energy – it is forced to burn through fat reserves for energy, through a process called Ketosis. Ketosis has the power to reduce inflammation markers, burn through extra fat and drop weight at a faster rate.
- Lowers your insulin levels – making you more insulin sensitive. Low insulin levels is the cue your body needs to make in order to switch in burning stored fat instead of glucose (7).
- Improves cholesterol. Fasting impacts your cholesterol by decreasing your levels of LDL and VLDL cholesterols. This is the bad cholesterol. Although it’s more apparent on obese people, who may also have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease; keeping your cholesterol levels in check benefits your health long term.
- Reduces inflammation. Lowering inflammation markers is the key to weight loss, and improving your longevity. You also have the added benefit of reducing your risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Fasting decreases oxidative stress and inflammation across the whole body.
- Boosts your metabolism. When your resting metabolism is boosted, it helps you burn more calories throughout the day, even when asleep or at rest.
In order to get the most long term fat loss benefits (and health ones of course!), here are some added tips that will turn you into a fat burning machine
3 added tips to get the most out of fasting
- When breaking your fast, eat high quality protein, veggies and fat. It’s very important that when you break a fast, you are only filling your body with nutritious foods. It can be tempting to eat something sweet, but do resist this urge. Pre-prepare your meals earlier, so you always heat and eat your foods.
- Eating lower carb. Get most of your carbs from the cruciferous veggies you are eating, as well as limited amounts of sweet potato. This will make it a lot easier to get into ketosis.
- Use MCT oil. Try having 1–2 teaspoons of MCT oil to break your fast, before ingesting any food. Better yet, include it in your black coffee when fasting has ended. This will nourish your body with good fats and boost your fat burning potential even more.
Don’t forget that this method works well with time. Allow yourself at least a month to get into a habit of feeding and fasting. You can chose to fast for 12–16 or 20 hours. I personally fast from lunch time – 12, and wont eat again until 5am. This allows me to re-feed after training, as I find I’m a lot more hungry before lunch time. This also allows your body’s digestion some calmness, and regenerating during the night. If you have gut issues (as I do) this method works perfectly to decrease inflammation markers in the gut. Don’t forget to alter the duration of the fast daily, so your body does not become accustomed to it, and you get the best results. Give it a go.