Intermittent fasting is one of the great things which is advised to many people for weight loss. Fasting is often taken in the wrong way and people make their fasting unhealthy and thus complain that they are not losing any weight. Do not ever starve yourself and feed yourself with healthy food which must make a part of your healthy diet. Intermittent fasting means only home-cooked food and eating them in different phases.
Intermittent fasting could be considered as one of the effective ways to lose weight. The eating pattern can have some detoxification effect on the body. The diet is divided into two phases fasting and eating. Now when you are in the fasting phase you don't have to eat or drink anything apart from water. In the eating phase, it is important to eat healthy and proper food. Eating is very important and needs proper attention.
The popular intermittent fasting methods are:
- 16/8 method: This means you skip the breakfast daily and eat only in the 8-hour window time from 12 noon to 8 pm daily.
- Eat-Stop-Eat: This means you skip meals for one or two days every week. This means skipping the dinner one day and then eating directly dinner the next day and eating nothing in between.
The 5:2 Diet: Only consume 500-00 calories on 2 days of the week but consume food normally for the rest of the days.
Healthy food that should be eaten
Now it is important to keep in mind that fasting does not mean starving yourself to death. This means that if you are craving for food too much you can break your fast and eat something to keep your body going. Fasting is also a process and should be done slowly in a regular way. One must start with lower goals and then increase these goals so that it becomes their habit and finally they can manage the fasting process without putting too much pressure on the body.
Few things to always keep in mind are
- During the phase when you are eating keep it restrictive to only healthy food. Eat home-cooked food and this will preferably help in fasting as well.
- Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, other sources of fats, proteins, grains, and fibre all of this should be part of your diet.
- Also, always eat until you are 80% full. Starving yourself is not good for health as well as eating at the full capacity is also not good when you are on a diet. Eat some nourishing food if you are too hungry even if it means breaking your fast.
Ghee roasted makhanas, roasted black chana, a bowl of yogurt, and other light and healthy things could be consumed as a part of snacks.
Now when you are following a healthy diet and are conscious about your health, you should also get health insurance to be ready for medical emergencies and secure your finances.