I will be discussing a few beneficial forms of fasting, and the type you decide to work with is entirely up to you. They are all based on the premise of restricting calorie intake during the early part of the day and allowing calorie consumption in the latter part of a day. It is somewhat unfortunate that our eating habits have become so warped, involving eating from the time we wake up till going to bed, with no clear-cut time for allowing our gastrointestinal system to rest. The acceptable practice is a period of eating from 6 am to 6 pm and a period of fasting from 6 pm to 6 am. That's almost impossible to practice, I hear you say, with all the late dinners and midnight snacking. The eating window has been grossly expanded, giving room for a lot of harm to be done to your body.
1. THE WARRIOR DIET
This fasting type involves you fasting all day and consuming a lot of calories later in the evening. The aim here is to avoid eating breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the majority of the day. All your nutritional requirements are then met during your dinner. This method is also called the 20:4 type of fasting, with the 4 hours being the period of eating and the 20 hours time for fasting. Fasting with this method an average of about three times a week will result in approximately twenty-four hours of total fast time for the week. If you are looking for how to start out with intermittent fasting, this method is probably the easiest to embrace. For those who love large meals with massive calorific values, then this is a perfect choice for you. Moving from your regular eating pattern to the warrior diet is easy, as you can start off by eating a minimal amount of calories during the day before the king-sized meal during the night. As you go on with the program, your calorific intake during the day will gradually taper off to nothing, leaving the consumption for dinner. Your snacks when starting should be healthy fruits, vegetables, and water. Your dinner should have a lot of protein and healthy fats, and make sure your calorific maintenance levels are met during the window. Most importantly, make sure your fast last for at least 18 hours. As much, as it can be a daunting task starting out with this fasting type, always ensure that you try as much as possible not to eat any important meal outside the feeding window. Consistency is also critical. Do not go on a fast one day and go back to eating breakfast and lunch the next day. Also, note that your feeding window which is about 4 hours is not necessarily during dinner time. You can decide to have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For example, if your feeding window is for breakfast, after the feeding window for eating in the morning is over, you eat nothing else for the rest of the day till the next morn. The same applies if you decide to pick a lunch feeding type.
2. LEAN GAINS
This fasting method is a favorite of a lot of health-conscious individuals. Here you move your first meal of the day to your lunchtime and have your second meal of the day during dinner time. The feeding window here is for 8 hours and fasting for 16 hours. If you have lunch at 12 pm, then your dinner will be at 8 pm. You will eat nothing before your first meal of the day and if you must, keep it very light and should be based on fruits, vegetables, and smoothies. Going through this fasting method for seven days in a week will amount to 112 hours of fasting, which surpasses the regular 12 hours fast. This approach was designed for bodybuilders and weightlifters, but why not give it a shot? A little muscle mass won't do you any harm, and a ripped body sure does look good. The diet should have a lot of protein as this is necessary for the building of the body tissues. On days, you intend to work out, the number of carbs in your meals should be relatively higher compared to days when you are off training. After exercising, your calorie intake should be quite high while on days you don't intend to hit the gym, your first meal should contain a more significant percentage of your calories for that day. As an athlete, you want to arrange your fasting periods such that it falls in periods when you are sleeping.
3. ALTERNATE DAY FAST
With this method, your feeding window is limited to twelve hours within a forty-eight hours time frame. Let's say you have your breakfast at 8 am on a Tuesday, the feeding window will last until 8 pm on that Tuesday. The fasting period will then begin and come to an end at 8 am on Thursday. That only implies that you fast all through Wednesday and you start the cycle all over again. You may be tempted to eat whatever you lay your hands on during this period to prepare yourself for the fats ahead; I will, however, advise you to keep it healthy. A lot of people easily practice this technique. You do not have to be an athlete with a strict training program to practice, this is quite easy because you have a 12-hour feeding window to eat almost anything you want. It is pertinent that you consume calorie-rich meals with caution.
4. ONE DAY FAST
Using this fast method, the duration of your fast is for 24 hours. Out of the seven days in a week, you pick the most comfortable day for you to fast, and you can then carry on with your everyday eating routine for the other six days. This method helps in reducing the total number of calories you consume weekly. If your total calorie intake before the fast was 10,500 calories, and when you undergo one day of full fast, the result will be 9000 calories per week. There is a tendency that you may want to gorge yourself with meals you missed the day of your fast or overeat in anticipation of your coming fast. There's a way around this. Just know that your calorie intake will still be lesser than what you will typically consume due to the calories you will be losing the fast. As with any fasting method, practice mindfulness, and engage yourself fully in your daily routines.
5. THUMBS UP
With any fasting method, you decide to use; the aim is to cut down excess body weight and to achieve an optimum body weight devoid. You may choose to have a blend of the methods and some others not mentioned in this book, as long as it does not in any way cause you any discomfort that you cannot handle. Starting with a fasting program can be tough, so it is advisable you start gradually and increase your fasting period as your endurance increases. Fix a fast to suit your daily schedule and make sure it doesn't come into conflict with significant events in your life for you to achieve the desired results. Increasing your fasting period beyond the baseline of 12 hours is always going to be beneficial to you, one way or another. If your goal is 18 hours of fast a week, if you hit the 16-hour mark, then you are good to go. The point made here is that you have forgone some calories you would have consumed in that extra 4 hours. Every single hour you fast make a positive impact on your health.
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