Intermittent Fasting Beginner

[aspiringnurse]

Hi all,

I would like some more information on 16:8 fasting and what benefits there are/how it aids weight loss.

I don't usually like breakfast and am trying to lose weight by healthy eating / moving more.

Any information would be great thank you!

[LimeJellyHead]

Fasting means no food or drink except water. So on 16:8 you only eat in an 8 hour window and that can be any time of day you like. As you don't like breakfast, that would be the meal to skip. If you last ate at say 7pm the day before then your 16 hour fast finishes at 11am the next morning (yes, sleeping counts) and that is when you can eat again. By that point you may think well I may as well wait until lunch now. So if you ate lunch at say 1pm then you have done 18:6 which I think is the most popular intermittent fasting regime, probably for that reason.

The benefits are, from a weight loss perspective, that you are allowing your insulin to go down and stay down. Each time you eat your blood sugars go up and insulin goes up, to tell the cells to use the glucose. Insulin will stop your fat stores being used. So get rid of that pesky insulin to start using fat stores. It is more complicated than that because there is insulin resistance and stuff but that is fasting in a nutshell.

Other benefits also kick in on a long fast like a 3-5 day water fast where the body can start to heal and repair in amazing ways.

I hope that quick summary helps.