If you’re looking to mix things up in your diet and exercise routine, you might want to look into intermittent fasting. For some time now, my timeline has been mostly before and after pictures of people, protein shakes, and pretty food. I was trying to cut weight and build lean muscle and my Instagram somehow already new. Yet, my normal exercise routine wouldn’t cut it, I felt stuck and bored and wouldn’t notice any results. Then, I came across a post that looked interesting; it was a girl who was boasting about something called intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and fasting. It is not specific on what foods one should eat but when you should eat them. It can be a very powerful tool for weight loss through hormones. Throughout this process, hormone levels change to facilitate weight loss and because of these changes, the metabolic rate may increase by 3.6-14%. In addition, fasting also increases the release of norepinephrine known as the fat-burning hormone.
There are many ways one can fast and it is very flexible to meet everyone’s lifestyle. One can fast for 24 hours twice a week, eight hours a day or whatever your heart desires. I, personally, chose to eat in eight hour windows in order for my body to be in fasting mode for 16 hours. I consume all my calories for the day between the hours of 12PM-8PM. Before 12pm and after 8pm, I am on a liquid diet consisting of black coffee and water. Black coffee is a known hunger suppressant.
After a few weeks, my body normalized to this fashion of eating, I was still consuming my normal amount of deficit calories to lose weight within my window of eating. I mixed up my gym routine by including fasted cardio in the morning before my first meal at 12pm. Now, after the process, I finally realized that this is what works for my body type. Intermittent fasting plus lean meals plus fasted cardio and strength training is what my diet and exercise routine now consists of when I’m trying to cut weight and build lean muscle. I noticed a difference almost instantly while trying this method, no other diet and exercise routine gave me the results I could see as quickly as this one.
Nevertheless, we all have different body types and what works for me might not work for you. It’s all about trying out different methods, finding out what works for you, and giving it your all.