Have you heard of intermittent fasting? Although it can seem counter-intuitive to restrict your eating to certain time periods in order to improve your health, intermittent fasting is a tried-and-true method for healthy weight management.
Today, our founder Stephanie shares her story of intermittent fasting and how, in combination with a low-carb keto diet, it helped her lose 20 pounds and keep the weight off!
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern during which you cycle from a period of eating to a period of extended fasting. We all “fast” when we sleep — that’s why we call the first meal of the day “break-fast” — but intermittent fasting extends the length of our overnight fasting time. The eating schedule can vary from diet plan to diet plan, but as an example, at Fast Track to Health in New Jersey, Stephanie cycles through 8 hours of eating and 16 hours of fasting each day. That means she eats everything for the day — all meals and snacks — within an 8-hour window.
Lose and Manage Weight
By fasting for long enough, your body goes into a state of “nutritional ketosis,” when it burns long-term fat stores for energy instead of short-term glucose stores. This encourages your body to burn fat more often and more efficiently, giving your metabolism a boost and helping you lose weight.
At Fast Track to Health, we’ve seen firsthand how effective intermittent fasting can be. Stephanie’s weight used to fluctuate upwards by about 10 pounds every winter, but since incorporating intermittent fasting into her lifestyle in 2018 (and following a low-carb, keto diet), she was able to lose over 20 pounds — and more than a year later, the weight has stayed off!
Other Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is a powerful tool for weight management, but it also offers additional benefits for your overall health and wellness:
- Encourage Autophagy: Autophagy is your body’s natural process of “cleaning out” any unnecessary or dysfunctional components. During autophagy, your body repairs, heals, and recycles dying cells. Kickstarting autophagy is a great way to reset when you’re experiencing digestive issues or need a therapeutic cleanse.
- Regulate Blood Sugar Levels: Intermittent fasting can help you lower your body’s insulin tolerance, which helps to moderate your blood sugar and keep you at a healthy level.
- Extend Your Lifespan and Combat Aging: Studies show that fasting can improve your overall longevity and help you combat the effects of aging on your skin and other organs.
- Increase Human Growth Hormone (HGH): HGH is incredibly important to your health and wellbeing since it stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration.
Ready to Try Intermittent Fasting Yourself?
Intermittent fasting can be a powerful tool for healthy weight loss and holistic health and wellness, and it’s easy to start incorporating into your lifestyle! Its effects will vary from person to person, but we encourage you to give it a try if you’re curious. (Check out our video on how to get started with keto and intermittent fasting.) We’re confident it can help you feel your best, look your best, and support long-term healthy living!
To learn more about intermittent fasting, feel free to browse our Youtube channel and healthy living blog. Fast Track to Health is a wellness center in New Jersey that focuses on functional medicine and natural remedies. We are passionate about healing from the inside out, rooting out problems instead of just suppressing their symptoms, and we offer acupuncture treatments, massage therapy, nutrition consulting, and ionic foot baths to residents of Somers Point and Turnersville.
Contact us today to schedule an appointment or learn more about our integrative medicine!