Intermittent fasting

Caesalpin wrote: »

Recommend you read "The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting" by Jason Fung, MD. To reduce hunger and speed up weight loss, eat low carb, high fat (LCHF) or ketogenic diet. Like T&F Mom said, there is lots of info out there.

buffgrl wrote: »

Please keep in mind that Intermittent Fasting (IF) can be really hard on the female body...many of us are vulnerable to hormonal imbalance brought on by stress, and extended fasting can be perceived as stress by the body contributing to the overall stress load.

Fasting naturally after dinner and overnight while sleeping is normal for our bodies, but extending the fast on through the next day can be stressful causing excess cortisol production. Many women are very sensitive to stress and the resulting excess cortisol production and eventual adrenal fatigue. (IF seems to work better for men in this regard) Whenever you cut calories, alarm bells go off in your body and it is stressed somewhat to begin with. Add to that prolonged periods without food and the result for many women is excess CORTISOL. You may lose some pounds at first ..if.. you're in a significant caloric deficit, but you may notice your belly won't budge or that it may in fact grow larger. (When the body is stressed it tends to hoard fat in the belly!) In time, you may notice that you stop losing altogether or even GAIN as your body makes metabolic adjustments to get you through long periods with no food.

Alternatively, when you eat at regular intervals throughout the day you're telling the body that it isn't starving and there's plenty of food available, even though you're still in a caloric deficit! So hence less stress and less cortisol production= more fat burning! I find that eating at regular intervals and staying within macronutrient ratios and prescribed calories works best for most, with a "free" day once per week to keep the metabolism and motivation burning strong. Yes, I said free DAY, but only if: 1.) you follow your diet PRECISELY throughout the week 2.)Are exercising correctly and regularly 3.)Eat ANYTHING you want but keep portions under reasonable control, in other words, DON'T BINGE and eat like 10,000 calories. So yes, if you're ON POINT all week, MOST people can enjoy a "free" day once a week and eat WHATEVER they want within reason and still lose weight. People with food addiction, emotional eating problems, or trouble feeling full no matter how much they eat will need to modify the "free" day or constrain it to just one meal vs. the whole day.
For most women, the key to weight loss seems to be reducing stress as much as possible by: 1.)Eating correctly 2.)Drinking enough water 3.)Getting plenty of quality sleep 4.)Making lifestyle changes to reduce stress where possible, i.e. job, relationships, etc. 5.)Exercising correctly. The more you are able to dial it all in, the better your results will be. But the stress factor explains why a lot of women have so much trouble losing weight despite doing everything else right. Check your stress! Peace and love to you, good luck with your program!