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As one of the best diets today, intermittent fasting has become the most popular way to lose weight lately.
intermittent fasting for women diet plan
In order to benefit from this system, you must understand how to adhere to it well, and be aware of each of the “methods of doing it, its benefits, and most importantly when it is not suitable for you” and these three points will answer you in this article, so give me your attention a little.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is an alternating period of eating and fasting, meaning that you eat within 8 hours and then stop eating for the remaining 16 hours of the day.
This definition, despite its simplicity, means more than you think. As you can see, the type of food that should be eaten during intermittent fasting was not mentioned, but rather the timing of eating.
This is one of the most important reasons for the spread of this system, unlike most other strict diets in the quality of foods that you can eat. You will find that there is a system that recommends reducing the percentage of fat and increasing the percentage of fiber, and another prefers increasing the percentage of healthy fats and reducing the percentage of carbohydrates and other examples.
However, intermittent fasting does not determine the quality of foods that you can eat - it is enough to be healthy only - and this is a great solution to overcome one of the most difficult obstacles facing many people who are trying to lose weight, which is the feeling of deprivation from certain foods.
Another point that makes it one of the best diets is that it is not foreign to the human body, as it is almost the same way in which the ancient human lived.
As you know, our ancient ancestors only ate when hunting their prey. Other than that there was obligatory fasting, if you understand what I mean.
Fasting is also a very common habit in many monotheistic religions such as Islam, Christianity and many cultures, so this system is not considered foreign to the human body and you will not suffer much from the problem of adapting to it.
Not only is this what makes it a flexible system, the great thing is that this system is not restricted to specific times that you must follow, but there are different types of intermittent fasting that you can follow that suits you personally.
This brings us to the next point:-
Types of intermittent fasting
1- The 16/8 method: It depends on skipping breakfast and eating within 8 hours only throughout the day.
For example, you can eat from one in the afternoon until nine in the evening, and fast the remaining 16 hours during the day.
2- The “eat-fast-eat” method: It depends on fasting during a full day once or twice a week, provided that the two days are not consecutive.
For example, a day that begins with dinner on Saturday and ends with dinner on Sunday, and the matter is repeated again during the week .. Let it be on Wednesday, for example.
3- The 5:2 method: It depends on abstaining from eating two days a week, and it is stipulated that they should not be consecutive, like the method above with a slight difference.
Which is that you can only eat 500 calories during the day, which is why it is relatively easier.
There are some other methods - you can even design one that suits you - and your working conditions, but you must follow the basic rule that the number of calories that enter your body is less than the number of calories you burn.
It is worth noting that the 16/8 method is the most common pattern of intermittent fasting, so I advise you to start with it first.
Now that we've explained how intermittent fasting is a flexible and easy diet, is that enough to lose weight?
Meaning that there must be physiological changes in the body to achieve weight loss, and this is what we discuss in the next part of this article.
Is intermittent fasting an effective weight loss diet?
Yes, intermittent fasting has shown a noteworthy and commendable success in terms of its effectiveness in slimming.
In one of the studies conducted on people who followed the intermittent fasting system for a period ranging from one to three months, they found a decrease of 3 to 8 percent of their weight, and this is a large percentage compared to some other systems “source”.
According to the same previous study, a significant decrease in the loss of belly fat was shown.
While another study showed that when you follow the intermittent fasting system, it has been found that there is less loss in the amount of muscle, and it is known that most diets for slimming may not be well compatible with building muscle at the same time.
And this study appears to show that you can build muscle even if you're following the source intermittent fasting diet.
As you can see, it seems that intermittent fasting, like other diets, follows the idea of losing weight by reducing the amount of calories that enter your body compared to what you burn.
So as you can see, based on what was mentioned in many studies, that it is an effective diet to lose weight, and this is due to some changes that occur in the hormones, which will stimulate the body to burn fat more, the following is an explanation of this idea.
How does intermittent fasting improve hormone levels in the body?
During fasting, some changes occur in cells and hormones, which are positively reflected on how to burn fat and lose weight.
For example, this is what fasting does to your hormones:
Human Growth Hormone (HGH): Growth hormone levels rise dramatically, increasing by 5 times. This has benefits for fat loss and muscle gain.
Insulin: Insulin sensitivity improves and its levels in the body drop dramatically.
The lower the insulin levels in the body, the easier it is to access and burn stored fat.
Cellular Repair: When you fast, your cells initiate cellular repair processes. This includes autophagy, where cells digest and remove old and dysfunctional proteins that accumulate inside cells.
Intermittent fasting benefits
It is not just about the effectiveness of intermittent fasting in weight loss, as many studies praise it and these are some of its health benefits.
Heart health: Intermittent fasting may reduce bad LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, markers of inflammation, blood sugar and insulin resistance.
This is one of the main risk factors for heart disease.
2- Cancer: Animal studies indicate that intermittent fasting may prevent cancer.
3- Brain health: Intermittent fasting increases the brain hormone BDNF and may help the growth of new neurons. It may also protect against Alzheimer's disease.
This is, of course, in addition to the basic benefits that are embodied in losing weight and improving hormone levels in the body, as we mentioned earlier.
What makes intermittent fasting a special diet?
One of the reasons why it is one of the best diets to lose weight is that this method of slimming makes your lifestyle simpler and easier.
As you know, sticking to a diet is difficult, especially when it comes to meal planning, cooking and storing healthy foods.
This is different in intermittent fasting, where you do not need a lot of planning, cooking and cleaning after meals, as is the case with other systems.
This is one of the most important reasons why intermittent fasting is gaining such popularity in light of the presence of a large number of other systems.
Important notes about intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is not for everyone:
If you are underweight or have a history of eating disorders, you should not fast without consulting a health professional first.
The effect of hunger on some:
Fasting for a long time may make you feel hungry and result in a feeling of weakness, or problems with thinking and concentration.
This may be temporary, as it may take some time to get used to, but if you notice that it is ongoing, you may need to reduce your fasting time or try another diet.
If you have a medical condition:
You should consult your doctor before committing to any diet, including this one, especially if your medical history includes these conditions:
Diabetic.
You have problems regulating your blood sugar.
You suffer from low blood pressure.
Take medications.
You have a history of eating disorders.
You are a woman trying to get pregnant.
You are a woman with a history of menopause.
pregnant or breastfeeding.
Frequently asked questions about intermittent fasting
1- Isn't it unhealthy to skip breakfast?
No, the reason for this problem is that most of those who skip breakfast have an unhealthy lifestyle in the first place, so if you eat healthy food the rest of the day, no problem.
2- Is it possible to drink liquids while fasting?
Yes, water, tea, coffee and other healthy fluids may be beneficial as long as they do not contain calories.
Just make sure your drinks are sugar-free, or reduce it as much as possible.
3- Can I exercise during intermittent fasting?
You can and you can eat a light snack before exercise, and also try to be your training at the end of the fasting time so that you can eat immediately after the exercise.
4- Does intermittent fasting cause muscle loss?
All diets negatively affect the proportion of muscle in the body.
For this reason, you should stick to exercise and make sure you eat enough protein, to maintain your muscles as much as possible.
As we mentioned earlier, intermittent fasting is one of the best regimes in which you can maintain your muscles while losing a large amount of fat.
5- Should children fast?
It may be a bad idea to allow your child to practice intermittent fasting.
How to start intermittent fasting
In a large percentage, you may have tried intermittent fasting, whether for religious reasons or the nature of your work, so it will not be foreign to your body.
According to many people, the 16-8 method may be the most popular and easiest way to get started.
If you find it suitable and you don't have any problems, you can move on to a more advanced method, for as long as it's worth.
If it is more difficult, you can just skip some meals during your day, provided that you do not eat anything between meals, and without sticking to a plan in the first place.
Meaning you eat three meals a day, if you can skip any of them just do it.
Is intermittent fasting the best way to lose weight?
No, the best weight loss diet is one that you can continue on for as long as possible.
No single diet is right for everyone, but intermittent fasting remains a healthy lifestyle, easy to implement, and you can definitely lose a great deal of fat if you stick to it well.
It is also worth noting that if you do not notice satisfactory results when you follow it, you can of course try another system that meets your needs.
I hope the article was useful and I am happy to discuss it with you in the comments. Thank you.