There are many ways to do intermittent fasting… 16 hour fast is one of them.
You may have been hearing something about Intermittent Fasting or IF, for short and the side effect is being in nutritional ketosis if you count your macros for ketosis. Since we will be in fat burning mode, if you’re anything like me, we have plenty of fat energy stored to pull from and can go from sixteen to twenty-four hours without food. HAHA. The cool thing about this is that because we have ready access to fat as fuel, we don’t get hungry, nor do we experience those nasty sugar burning ‘hangry’ symptoms (bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger). You know what I am talking about.
I Have Never Been Much of a Breakfast Eater
For years I kept reading reports that said I should eat breakfast, we all remember the famous “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” campaign. As a person who wanted to do the right thing for my body, I would follow the standard health guidelines, when in retrospect they were making me sick. When I used to eat a traditional breakfast of cereal, oatmeal or if life was really good, a toasted bagel, I would be STARVING after two hours. You know the feeling. Just give me some food now! Now that I am primarily a fat burner, basically doing a 16 hour fast, I just don’t need or even want to eat until later in the day. I typically eat between noon and 8 PM (aka 16 hour fast). This extra time without food gives my body a whole host of benefits, plus at the end of the day, I am eating fewer calories. I even throw in a Good Fat Bar for dessert! Yumm!!
Some of the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
- Reduced inflammation
- Reduced free-radical damage, which means slower aging
- Improved insulin sensitivity and lower insulin levels – which means reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes
- Can reduce weight and belly fat
- Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels, at least in men.
- Studies show that intermittent fasting can improve numerous risk factors for heart disease such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides and inflammatory markers. Healthline Article
- Studies in animals suggest that intermittent fasting may be protective against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
This is a short list of what the evidence is showing results from IF fasts. Again, this is all going to be dependent on what works for your body, and IF should only be used as part of a healthy balanced Keto lifestyle. You can do IF and not get into ketosis, again, it all depends on the macros. It should come NATURALLY and not be used as a means of purposefully skipping meals in order to lose weight. IF can be done every day or a few days a week, or even in spurts, whatever your body is telling you it needs. It works well for Kylee and I. It’s very handy to have one less meal to prepare every day. Hopefully, it will work for you!
Here’s to fasting.
To Your Exquisite Health!
Good Fat Company Team
Contributor: Sherri Richards, Good Fat Life Magazine
