Intermittent Fasting...It really works

Of all the nutritional approaches to dieting, intermittent fasting is probably the one that makes the most sense, is the easiest to implement and is extremely effective for losing weight.  Intermittent fasting is also riding a huge wave of popularity and is the diet and healthy lifestyle technique that I have been enjoying for a number of years. Intermittent fasting is exactly what it sounds like it is, a period of time where one doesn’t eat.  It is basically an extension of sleeping.  What?  When you sleep, you do not eat.  Sleeping is actually a fasting period.  That is why breakfast is named breakfast.  When you wake up and eat, a person breaks the fast. Break fast, breakfast.  Get it?  So, intermittent fasting is an extension of that night time fast.  The reason why it makes perfect sense for weight loss is that the longer the period you have without eating, the less calories you are eating.  The less total calories you eat during the week, your body begins to lose weight.  Even better is that intermittent fasting is a body fat burning weapon.  All carbohydrates when eaten are converted to sugar and then used as energy.  Excess carbohydrates not burned as energy due to a lack of motion (think work, exercise etc) are stored as bodyfat.  The digestion process of a meal typically takes around 4-6 hours.  Let us say that you have finished eating your dinner at 7pm.  Over the next 4-6 hours your body is digesting the food you have eaten and is slowly converting the food calories to energy. Even at rest or sleep the body burns calories, this is called resting metabolism.  If you go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 6am, your body has gone 11 hours without eating, it has digested and converted your dinner to calories, some used for metabolism, most stored in the body waiting to be used as energy or converted to body fat.  What if you skip breakfast, what happens in the body?  The body will continue to burn the stored calories for energy so that their will be nothing left over to convert to bodyfat.  What if you extend the no breakfast period awhile longer and continue not to eat?  The body then begins to dip into its stored reserves and uses that for energy. The stored body reserves are bodyfat.  With an extension of no eating, the body will burn your fat for energy, thus the weight loss and body fat loss. Intermittent fasting is an extended period of time without eating.  Suggested intermittent fast lasts 14-15 hours.  If your last meal is at 7pm, your first meal would be at 9 or 10am.  Some intermittent fasts go for 16-17 hours. I personally do the 16-17 hour fast, so my first meal is usually at 11am or 12 noon if my last food eaten was at 7pm the night before.  And believe me, it is easy to do.  The key to intermittent fasting is to not treat the rest of your meals for the day like they are a thanksgiving feast.  If you eat like it’s a holiday, the point of the fast is erased. Your first meal should be a normal sized, healthy meal. And then eat the rest of the day as you normally would.  If you are having a weight issues and need to lose a lot of weight, you can take the fast one step further, by adding a ketogenic aspect to the diet.  Make your first meal of the day all healthy protein (chicken, fish, meat, eggs) with no carbohydrates and your body will continue to burn body fat as if you have not eaten anything at all. 2 hours after your protein meal, have a light snack or two to hold you over for dinner.  I use intermittent fasting as a healthy lifestyle tool and a way to manage excess calories eaten at big meals or holidays.  For healthy lifestyle and weight management, intermittent fasting should be performed 1-2 days per week. For weight loss, 4 days per week.  Not only is intermittent fasting good for weight loss, but it is good for you.  Intermittent fasting enhances the body’s cellular repair, reduces insulin resistance lowering risk of diabetes, reduces inflammation, good for the heart and the brain, may decrease risk of Alzheimer’s disease and can possibly extend your life by an average of 10 years. As you can see intermittent fasting is well worth a few hunger pangs you may get first thing in the morning.  Give it a try.

Chiropractic Thought for the Week:  It’s flu and virus season.  Virus germs are all around us. We are constantly exposed to viral germs all day and every day.  Most of the time this exposure does not lead to illness.  Why? Our immune systems are designed to kill these viral and bacterial germs as they enter our body, keeping us healthy. If your immune system is not working at a peak performance and optimal level, the germs win and you get sick. Immune system performance is maintained by proper nutrition and supplementation (think eating healthy balanced whole foods and taking vitamin C, D3 and elderberry on a daily basis).  In addition, regular chiropractic care helps the immune system’s performance levels.  Research shows that chiropractic care enhances the rate at which the body’s DNA repairs itself (an important marker for immune system health).  In addition, spinal adjustments to the thoracic spine cause an increase in infection fighting white blood cell production and patients under regular chiropractic care show a higher level of resistance enzymes in the body.  So, not only does chiropractic care help you with your aches and pains, it is a boost to your immune system.

Chiropractor and pregnancy care:  Pregnancy care from the chiropractor involve balancing the pelvis and eliminating spinal nerve stress to the reproductive system.  Gentle, low force, light pressure adjustments help the pregnant patient be more comfortable during pregnancy and help with overall pregnancy health.

Dr. J. Zimmerman is a practicing chiropractor in Smithville, NJ. Dr. Zimmerman has over 30 years of chiropractic, health, nutrition and exercise experience

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Dr J. Zimmerman, Chiropractor Dr. Zimmerman is a practicing chiropractor from Galloway, NJ with 30 years of chiropractic practice.