What is intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is currently a popular way to lose weight. In fact, many friends have tried this way of weight loss. Intermittent fasting refers to reducing daily food intake to reduce calorie intake, which can control weight and have the effect of losing weight. Intermittent fasting actually caters to a low-calorie diet.

What is intermittent fasting for weight loss?

Intermittent fasting for weight loss is a very popular way of weight loss on the Internet. Intermittent fasting for weight loss is relatively simple to do. You only need to make a good diet plan and follow it exactly as planned to achieve the ideal weight loss effect.

The Fast Diet, also known as the "5/2 fasting method", is a new weight loss method initiated by British medical doctor Michael Mosley. It means that you only consume 500 kcal (for girls) or 600 kcal (for boys) of food per day for 2 non-consecutive days a week, and you can eat freely for the other 5 days without any control. With the development of the times, our eating habits have also undergone tremendous changes. Eating and drinking all day long has become the "norm" in our lives, and the daily energy intake is generally exceeded. Intermittent fasting is catering to the trend of low-calorie diet. Some studies have shown that the benefits of intermittent fasting go far beyond weight loss. It also protects the brain and anti-aging; controls diabetes and lowers blood sugar; detoxifies and purifies organs; improves immune function; prevents cancer; improves mood, fights depression and prolongs life.

The intermittent fasting weight loss method proposes to maintain a normal diet five days a week and to engage in intermittent fasting on the other two days. However, the fasting days cannot be two consecutive days and must be separated. For example, you can choose to fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Fasting days do not mean not eating at all, but rather that you need to consume a quarter of your normal daily calories, which is 600 calories for men and 500 calories for women. You are not allowed to eat or drink excessively during the five non-fasting days, but you should consume appropriate calories. The intermittent fasting weight loss method can establish healthy eating habits. By cultivating self-awareness and choosing low-fat, high-protein, and high-dietary fiber foods according to plan and proportion, it can achieve a sense of fullness while avoiding excess calories.

Specific methods of intermittent fasting to lose weight

The intermittent fasting weight loss method requires you to choose any two days of light food a week and eat normally on the other 5 days. On the two days of light food, you only eat breakfast and dinner. Let’s take a look at the recommended recipes for light food with the editor below.

In the 5:2 intermittent fasting plan, many Western diets are recommended. We have chosen a quick way to choose food portions as follows: On the fasting day, it is recommended that boys consume 600 calories and girls consume 500 calories, distributed into breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast: half a bowl of low-glycemic index staple food (such as brown rice, oatmeal, pasta, sweet potato with skin, about 140 calories); a portion of beans, fish, meat and eggs (such as one egg, a cup of unsweetened soy milk 240 ml, a slice of ham, about 70 calories)

Dinner: 2-3 servings of beans, fish, meat, and eggs (palm-sized fish or meat slices, cooked by blanching, baking, steaming, etc., about 140 calories for a girl's palm and about 210 calories for a boy's palm); a serving of low-glycemic index fruit (such as a small apple, a small bowl of seeded and sliced ​​guava, half a banana, about 60 calories); a handful of nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts), 90 calories; eat more vegetables (no oil cooking)

The principle of weight loss by intermittent fasting

1. Let the digestive organs rest and redistribute their functions. If the stomach and intestines are always digesting and absorbing food, the body's detoxification and metabolic functions will not be properly allocated and supplied. When the gastrointestinal tract reduces the amount of exercise, the body's metabolic function will allocate more energy to speed up movement.

2. Eliminate toxins and excess substances in the body. In an earthquake, those who survived actually relied on the energy storage system in their bodies to survive. The energy in these energy storage systems is actually in excess in our bodies. In detoxification, the most important thing is to cleanse the intestines and blood. Intestinal cleansing is to clear out the old feces in the body, and blood cleansing is to clear out the waste in the cells and blood.

3. Improve immunity After the process of blocking, detoxification and reconstruction, the body's immunity will be comprehensively improved. For example, if a cancer patient uses fasting therapy, the white blood cells and cancer cells in the body will be in a state of starvation. The cancer cells will have no vitality, while the white blood cells will be more combat-effective and survive by devouring cancer cells.

4. Ensure ideal weight. For obese people, all organs may malfunction due to cell mutation. The ultimate goal of intermittent fasting is to obtain high-quality protein from preferred foods so as to maintain an ideal weight. High-quality protein is relatively more conducive to promoting digestion, avoiding obesity, and increasing immune function.