Does the Freshman Fifthteen scare you? Do you hate traditional dieting? If you said yes to either of those questions then Intermittent Fasting may be the lifestyle for you.
What is Intermittent Fasting you may ask? It is not a diet, but a pattern of eating. Following this pattern will allow you to plan your meals and get the most out of them. Intermittent fasting can help burn fat and increase muscle mass because of the routine fasting that you body will be doing. Without going into a long scientific explanation on how this all works, I can simply summarize the concept that when you fast you body has an easier time burning fat. So with 14-16 hours fasting your body is able to burn more fat then when eating at random times. A few benefits to Intermittent fasting include expansion of life span, reducing risk of cancer, and simply making you day simpler by having you create a eating schedule.
A helpful element to the meal plan is that there are many different schedules to choose from in order to achieve the goal of fasting. Six of the most popular methods include the 16/8 method, 5:2 method, eat-stop-eat method, alternate day fasting method, the warrior diet method, and finally the spontaneous meal skipping method. The article 6 Popular Ways to do Intermittent Fasting gives a thorough description of all these methods in order for you to choose the best one for you life.
I have attempted to do the 16/8 method the past couple of weeks; this to me it seemed the most convenient. Briefly, the 16/8 is eating my meals within an 8 hour window throughout the day, 1 p.m.-9 p.m., and fasting for the rest of the night until the next day. Honestly I have only been able to do successfully a handful of days. But even with me trying to follow the schedule strictly I have noticed a decline in unnecessary snacking and I have been choosing more nutritious meals. Along with that I can see my stomach looking toner even with no increase in exercise. This to me seems like a good option for the student that doesn’t have much time to workout and also wants to take care of the body.