The Differences between Intermittent Fasting and Regular Dieting – A Guest Blog by Will Kashis

There aren't too many people that enjoy dieting.  Most of the programs come with a countless number of restrictions as well.  Eating is one of the greatest comforts in life, so when you're left with unpleasant choices, it can definitely hurt those motivation levels.

Cutting out things like carbohydrates, fats, sugars, and a host of others, will only make losing weight more difficult.  How long have you ever been able to stay on a diet?  Did you make it to a month?  What happened to your body when you went back to eating like normal?  In most cases, the individual will gain their weight back.  There is also the possibility of gaining more, because you're eating everything you missed out on during the diet.

The One Day a Week Plan

If you've tried one diet after another and wound up with the same results, intermittent fasting could be the solution.  It's not much different from any other counting calories diet.  However, you only have to do it once a week.  Let me explain:

In order to maintain your current body weight, it's important to stick to 2,000 calories per day.  If you want to lose a half pound by the end of the week, you need to cut out 250 calories a day to do it.  This means you could only consume 1,750 calories each day, for a 7-day period.  Intermittent fasting allows you to stick to your normal 2,000 calorie diet, 6 days a week.  You would fast on the 7th day, and burn those 1,750 at once.  The reason for this approach is so you don't end up binge eating.

It's really not that hard to fast once a week.  You should consider this a small price to pay for receiving 6 days of normal eating.  So, before you disregard a once a week diet, we highly recommend trying it.  Just because your previous diets didn't work, doesn't mean this one will fail.

Understanding the Fat Burning Method

Our bodies can handle fasting.  In fact, it is very common in the medical world.  Anytime a person needs surgery, doctors and nurses will require him or her to fast for 12 to 24 hours.  It is also instructed for people recuperating from flu issues. 

When you fast on the 7th day, your body won't have any calories to burn.  Instead it will start burning the stored fat in your body.  Whether it's the hips, thighs, or waist areas; the body needs the stored fat to produce energy.  The end result is weight reduction with a simple approach.

Will Energy Levels be Depleted?

Even though there are debates about lower energy levels when fasting, it's only a partial truth.  Our bodies have enough fat stored to fast for 24 hours, without any type of repercussions.  When medical researchers discuss lower energy levels and fasting, they are talking about longer periods of time.

There have been a couple studies performed recently that involves fasting.  The Intermountain Medical Center (Utah), showed positive results around fasting.  The studies showed that our bodies will release cholesterol, which enables it to create energy from fat reserves.  The recent British studies showed positive health benefits were associated with controlled fasting.  Due to the findings, we are bound to see more studies in the future.

Anyone struggling to stick to a diet should consider intermittent fasting. Even if this would be the first diet regimen you tried, it's a great place to start. You can learn more by reading about the Eat Stop Eat weight loss program.

Will Kashis is a freelance writer who writes for health sites

and recently launched his site at Diets.md

Comments

[Jonathan]

I honestly believe that losing weight is a lifestyle change, it is not something you can just do for a few weeks and then go back to your normal habits. This is simply not healthy.

[Nick Outlaw]

"In order to maintain your current body weight, it's important to stick to 2,000 calories per day. If you want to lose a half pound by the end of the week, you need to cut out 250 calories a day to do it." WRONG!! a 300lb person would need more and a 100lb person would need less than 2,000

[Tom]

Nick, I think it is just an hypothetical example. Everyone has their number of calories to eat for maintaining current body weight.

[Howtolose]

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