Intermittent fasting is becoming very popular right now, but what is it and why does it matter?
The easiest way to describe Intermittent fasting it is that you basically eat all your meals, and snacks, with in a 6-8-hour window, and fast the rest of the time.
Water, coffee, and other non-caloric beverages are allowed during the fast, but no solid foods are permitted… and all conventional sodas are basically poison. Yes, I said it. Diets sodas (diet anything) are worse and far more dangerous to the human body than their sugary counterparts.
The idea is that while you’re fasting your body is naturally using its stores of energy, which helps burn fat, but also burns undigested proteins and foods that may need that additional help to focus on breaking that down in the body.
Other positive side-effects are that it helps the body release toxins and allows it to go into maintenance mode which it normally can’t do when it’s burdened down by digestion and processing the foods you eat all day, every day. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind a resting and recovering from a workout as well.
Intermittent fasting is popular because it focuses on when you eat rather than what you eat. In other words, you can eat whatever you want within a certain 6-8 hour window of time, you choose, and then take a break before eating your first meal the following day… 16 hours later.
Sounds awesome right?
Well, yes and no. Eating whatever you want, as much as you want, is not healthy. Yes, you give your body more time to recover, but you’re still eating all sorts of sugars and carbs which will still have a negative impact on your overall health and fat-burning efforts.
There is no doubt that you will feel better doing intermittent fasting. It really should be a mandatory practice. It is that good, that healthy, and boosts your immunity and ability to absorb the nutrients in the food you eat and making sure your body runs better.
By combining intermittent fasting with a ketogenic diet, you can turbo charge your results and make the transition to being completely Keto compliant easier as you start implementing the changes you need to make.
I recommend starting Intermittent fasting before you go Keto and getting used to it. Then gradually, start replacing certain foods step-by-step. This will make it easy for you to stick to your keto diet plan by feeling immediate results. It will also help your taste pallet adjust to minimizing cravings.
With cravings the rules are easy. If you are craving, then something is lacking. Usually the body interprets the need as sugar or carbs, but it is usually critical nutrients. So if you are craving, you are either going too fast and/or not eating healthy enough. Supplementation is a requirement for eating healthy today.
You should always get your bloodwork done regularly, and I recommend getting allergy tests, or your gut microbiome tested… so that you start learning more about what is good for YOU… as every person is different and reacts differently to foods. Who knows what you might discover about food intolerances.
Of course, intermittent fasting has its difficulties and may not be easy for everyone. Afterall, you are taking long breaks from eating anything at all. For some, moving through the hunger pains could be difficult.
That’s why I recommend you start intermittent fasting while on your regular diet first. This will allow your body to get used to the new fasting schedule first and then you can ease your way into eliminating carbs and sugars while increasing healthy fats to gradually balance everything out.
There is never a good reason to burden yourself unnecessarily. But being on a keto diet while doing intermittent fasting is a perfect combination that can super charge your results if done correctly.