Including Fasting in Your Diet – Is It Safe?
Fasting for weight loss is an attractive option for many people for several reasons such as quick weight loss and detoxification. There are several ways you can do a fasting diet; you can restrict all foods and only have liquids, restrict some food groups for a certain period of time, or restrict foods on alternating days. Some of them are considered as fad diet because it deliver fast result but it is so hard to keep the weight off once you return to your old eating habits.
So, is it safe to use this method as a part of your diet? It is depends on many factors; people with certain health issues such as cancer, diabetes, liver, kidney, or lung disease are not advised to do this kind of program. A fasting diet program also not recommended for pregnant or lactating women; the side effects can harm both the mother and the baby. For women who want to lose weight after pregnancy, check how you can do it without harming yourself or the baby at how to lose pregnancy weight.
Otherwise, if you think that you have a fit body, just go for it; one day fast is unlikely to cause any harm to a healthy body, even a little longer fast is still tolerable if you have a fit body.
Before you start on your fasting weight loss program you need to prepare your body and evaluate your lifestyle. Whether you’re planning a short fast (anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks) or a long fast (lasting more than 3 weeks), there are some things you need to keep in mind before you start:
1. If you are doing heavy physical activity in regular basis, you might want to stop it while in the program since it can cause headaches and other side effects.
2. Prior to fasting slowly decrease the amount of canned and processed foods you eat; also decrease your consumption of cigarettes, salt, refined sugar and other foods that can cause food allergies. Cut them off completely all of a sudden will result in headaches, stomachaches, and other discomfort.
3. About a week before you start your fast, slowly decrease the amount of food you eat and increase the time between meals. By getting your body used to eating less, it will be easier when you start your fast.
4. Make sure you have a thorough knowledge of what you should be doing during the fast. Keep remind yourself of the cause and goals of the project, this will help you to stay away from any desire to quit halfway.
5. If you are under 18 or having any chronic disease, consult a doctor beforehand.
This type of fasting usually accompany by other benefits such as detoxification and a fast weight loss. For the ‘short complete fasting’, you should repeat it every specific time until you obtain the result you want. DO NOT extend it by yourself; stick to the program. Check my recommendation for this type of fasting at how to lose weight in a week. As for the extended fasting, do it with physician supervision.
Another variety is the ‘short fast’; it will last only 1 or 2 days. There are only a few diet programs that can use this short of a fast and still get satisfying results. From my experience, this type of fast is the best because it offer less difficulties and have minimum side effects.
Fasting weight loss has many variations, benefits and level of results. In the hand of knowledgeable dietician, fasting can be a powerful way to attain fast weight loss while keeping the user healthy for his/her everyday’s activities. My top recommendation for fasting diet is a well designed and easily implemented ‘short fast’ type; check it at Eat Stop Eat Review.
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