Intermittent Fasting and Weight Loss
Intermittent fasting is something I advocate for because of all the leanmazing potential benefits for your body. By just simply changing your eating schedule, it can make a world of difference in your fitness journey as well as your everyday life! One of the most sought after benefits of intermittent fasting is weight loss. For some, you can begin to see results by just incorporating an intermittent fasting schedule into your everyday life. Although this is the case, to see quicker or more sustainable results, there are a number of things you can do to help speed up the process! Today’s blog will be ALL about Intermittent fasting and weight loss!
First off…
How exactly DOES Intermittent Fasting help with Weight Loss?
When we eat, our body stores glycogen as an energy source in our livers. While fasted, since we are not consuming any calories, those glycogen stores are not getting restored, therefore they become depleted. When this happens, our body needs to find another source of energy. This is when it begins a process called ketosis. When our body is in ketosis, it is converting the fat in our bodies into KETONES which it then converts into energy. Put simply, since we are not consuming any more calories our body starts using the fat it has stored as its energy source; we become LEAN MEAN FAT BURNING MACHINES! To learn more about the basics of Intermittent fasting, check out our BEGINNERS GUIDE!
How else can it help?
A HUGE thing that Squadies on their fitness journey’s tell me they struggle with is overeating and snacking. In order to begin to lose weight, our bodies need to be in a calorie deficit - meaning our body is burning more calories than we are consuming. If we are snacking and overeating, more often than not, we are probably consuming too many calories and are at a calorie surplus, meaning your body will begin to store those extra calories as fat in the body. Since we are only eating within a small window of time (typically 8 hours) instead of being able to eat throughout the whole day, it becomes easier to control your eating. First of all, while fasting, you typically consume more water since you cannot eat without breaking your fast. When we are properly hydrating our bodies, we are less likely to mistaken our thirst for hunger and therefore can avoid overeating. Secondly, since we only have about 8 hours to eat there is less time for you to snack. Many of us also struggle with night snacking especially. When our eating window ends between 7-9 (depending on what window of time you choose) by the time you begin to feel snacky, you are already fasting - therefore you can avoid overeating and snacking!
How to speed up the process and start losing weight with Intermittent fasting
There are a couple things you can do during your eating window and while fasted to help you see more results quicker!
During Eating window:
- Healthy eating! - If we are practicing intermittent fasting but have unhealthy eating habits, we probably won't be seeing much results! Pairing intermittent fasting with a healthy, nutritious diet will help you to start losing weight faster! At leansquad, we have leanmazing healthy and tasty meal plans, perfect to pair with intermittent fasting to help you see results! It is also important to make sure we are eating enough within our eating window. Undeating can have negative effects in the long run, it can negatively affect your health, and any weight you may lose can come back more easily since it is not sustainable!
- Eat less sugar, carbs and processed foods! - Similar to the first point, it is super important to be eating the right foods, this means staying away from sugar, processed foods and processed carbs. Instead, eating your greens, healthy fats, proteins and complex carbs will help you see results!
During your Fast
- HIIT Workout - Along with a healthy diet, working out is also super important and can help with weightloss. To get more specific, completing a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout while in a fasted state would be optimal! Why? When we are practicing HIIT, our heart rate is elevated and our metabolism is going; our bodies are burning! Since we are in a fasted state and running off of our own body fat, HIIT workouts can allow your body to burn EVEN more fat while fasted!
- Stay Hydrated! - Drinking enough water is extremely important for our overall health. Besides from properly hydrating your body, drinking enough water can help keep you satiated, avoiding the feeling of hunger. To take it a step further, try drinking LEMON WATER! Lemons also help keep you satiated and help boost your metabolism which can help with weight loss. Learn more about the benefits of lemon water HERE. You can also try calorie free carbonated flavoured water! The carbonation can help you feel full while keeping you hydrated.
- Black coffee or tea - Before you ask - YES can drink coffee or tea while fasted, but it MUST be black! No sugar or cream added! You can choose to add a 0 calorie sweetener if you must (stevia, erythritol) but drinking it black is your best bet! Caffeine can actually help keep you satiated and helps speed up the metabolism, all great to help with weight loss!
To find out more about what you CAN and CANT have while fasting check out THIS blog post!