As an aspiring nutritionist, I figured it was about time to share some health and wellness tips! While I haven’t graduated yet and I am nowhere near a licensed professional, I want to try to share some tips that I’ve been learning in my courses and have even tried myself. (Obviously consult a doctor or other registered specialist for more serious diet concerns and to find what works best for you; remember that everyone’s body is different and that this is still relatively new research.)
Intermittent Fasting
Holiday season is always tough, especially with temptations of sugar cookies and home-cooked meals. It seems that there’s always an abundance of calories to be consumed, and most people fall off of their diets during this time of year and then make their New Year’s Resolution to start it again.
Instead of all of that regret and guilt over eating foods when you’re supposed to be limiting them, why not choose a diet plan that lets you eat nearly everything you want while still increasing metabolism and feeling healthy? Enter Intermittent Fasting.
If you know me, you know I’m a huge foodie and that I can’t restrict myself from food for the life of me. I first heard of intermittent fasting when my dad started it, but I brushed it off as yet another fad diet he was following, and tried warning him of the dangers of skipping breakfast.
Turns out, I was wrong! As of late, there have been multiple studies supporting this idea of intermittent fasting, and after trying it myself, it’s seriously the easiest way to “diet”, if that’s even what you want to call it.
How Does it Work?
So basically, you’re restricting your window of eating time, so you can either do the 8/16 method, where you only eat for an 8 hour window and then fast for 16 hours, which is basically while you sleep and then the morning. For me, I do from 1pm or 2pm until 9pm or 10pm, just because I'm a college student and tend to have a schedule that begins later in the day. While home for the holidays, I've been doing noon to 8pm, since we eat earlier and I don't have any need to stay up later.
You can also do every-other-day fasting, where you fast for 24 hours, eat for 24 hours, etc... I personally think the 8/16 method is easiest, and much less torturous. You don’t have to restrict calories or even change what you eat that much, you just need to restrict the eating window. (But obviously this is not an excuse to go and eat MORE than normal; it doesn't work like that.)
During the periods of fasting, you're still allowed to drink water, tea or coffee (no sweeteners or cream though!), so I've also become an even bigger tea-drinker than I was before. This is also a great way to make sure you're keeping yourself hydrated, since you can drink water anytime you feel an urge of hunger.
The thing about diets for me is that I hate that feeling of being hungry or missing out on foods I like to eat. Intermittent fasting makes that all so much easier because even though I may be hungry or craving foods all morning, I know that there’s a “light at the end of the tunnel”, so to speak, and I’ll be able to eat it soon enough. It’s great for the whole mentality of dieting, and not feeling like you’re torturing yourself.
What Are the Benefits?
I’m sure you’re wondering the benefits here, and there are MANY. So first of all, fasting helps to improve gut health and function, and support the microbiota in the gut. The health of these gut bacteria are important for preventing “leaky gut” syndrome, which leads to inflammation and other auto-immune diseases.
Intermittent fasting also helps with metabolism (!!!) which is great for helping with weight loss and shaping healthy eating patterns. Once I started this schedule, I found that I got full more quickly, so I ended up unintentionally eating less, which means less calories and less weight gain! Woo! In some of the studies we looked at, the rodents who were fasting were given the same amount of calories as the rats who weren’t fasting, and they still presented leaner body shapes.
I’ve recommended this to so many people already, and even just from my own personal experience and evidence presented directly from my professor’s personal experience, I truly believe in this new view of a diet. To read some of the studies that have been published, check them out here, here, and here.
Give it a try this year so you can still indulge while still keeping strictly to your diet. Narrow down your waistline by narrowing down your window of eating time, and feel free to keep putting a little of all your favorite foods on your plate at the dinner table.
If you give intermittent fasting a try, let me know how you liked it and if you saw any results! Comment or send me any more questions or concerns!
Comments