I have been a chubby physique since I was a child. In order to reduce fat, I have tried countless methods and skipped countless pits, such as dieting, ancestral "secret recipe", slimming massage cream, Chinese medicine acupuncture and so on. This lack of systematic "follow-the-wind" weight loss is more or less effective, but it is not lasting and will soon rebound.
After meeting the first fitness instructor in my life, I successfully reduced body fat from 26% to 19% by scientifically reducing calorie intake and exercise, which is a qualitative leap compared with previous medical treatment. However, it is found that it is more and more difficult to maintain weight with age. So I began to look for more effective and lasting methods. In the process, I came into contact with the "fast food" to be said today.
However, this is not to lose weight. A few years ago, when I had a physical examination, I found a thyroid nodule with "4A" grade. Ultrasound can't determine whether they are benign. Every three months, I can clearly see the increase in nodule size. Although it has not yet developed to the point where surgery is needed; I silently learned that after surgical resection, I need to take medicine every day to maintain thyroid function, which will also affect pregnancy and daily life to some extent. Since a lot of scientific research and practical experience show that fasting has a significant effect on inhibiting the growth of early tumors, why not give it a try? !
In just a few months, I didn't raise my expectations, but I was surprised to find that I lost weight after almost "doing nothing" and didn't rebound after returning to normal diet. Regarding thyroid nodules, it is a very long process to slow down the growth of tumors. In the spirit of mice, I am still concerned and will always insist on fasting.
I'm not a doctor expert. The purpose of writing this article is not to call on everyone to lose weight through fasting, nor to convince everyone that fasting is safer and more effective than other ways. The most important thing in the process of losing weight is the "person" itself. Everyone's genes, age, stage, and existing diseases are different, and any way will definitely have different effects on each individual.
What I want to do is to share with you this simple and effective method of losing weight, which is very popular abroad, according to my own experience, so as to provide you with a choice for the long road of losing weight.
What exactly is fast food?
When many people think of fasting, they subconsciously define it as "dieting". But in fact, there are essential differences between the two. Dieting is to deliberately reduce food intake and try to keep your body in "intake"
For example, if you eat three meals a day and consume 2000 calories, you may still eat three meals a day, but eat less each meal and consume 1500 calories a day. But not eating is different. You will choose to eat at a certain complete time period, such as 13:00- 19:00, skip breakfast and divide the original amount between noon and evening. In this way, you can still choose to eat 2000 calories, but you have a complete food-free period from dinner the day before to noon the next day.
What happens to the body when fasting?
. 1. Insulin level drops, and the body enters the stage of fat energy supply.
Insulin, as the most important hormone to control the digestion and absorption of food, has two major functions: first, let food supply energy to cells immediately; The other is to store excess energy in the form of glycogen and fat. However, the glycogen that the liver can store is limited and can only be used by the body for 2-3 days at most. After glycogen is stored to the limit, the remaining energy will be stored in the liver and various parts of the body in the form of fat, and the amount of fat that the body can store is unlimited.
Most people's bodies are in the mode of supplying energy with carbohydrates (sugar or glycogen), which makes us feel hungry easily. For example, a girl with a weight of 120 kg and a body fat of 25% has a fat of about 30 kg, and each kg of fat provides about 3700 calories, which is equivalent to the energy of 1 10000 calories stored in the body in the form of fat. However, even if 1 100000 calories can be consumed in the body in the form of fat for 55 days, because our body does not effectively use fat for energy supply, so much fat is just silently accumulated and useless.
So how can we make so much accumulated fat come in handy? From the hormone point of view, the body will only be in two stages, eating (high insulin) and fasting (low insulin). Every time we eat, insulin starts to secrete. As long as insulin is secreted, the body will stop burning fat.
The core of fasting is to reduce the amount and frequency of insulin secretion in a day. When we stop eating, insulin will drop, telling the body that "there is no foreign food now, and we can start to use the stored fat to get energy". This can not only train the body to switch to the fat energy supply mode faster, so as to achieve the purpose of losing weight, but also help us to effectively balance the time of eating and fasting, so that the burning and storage of fat can reach a balance and will not "gain weight".
. 2. The anti-aging hormone human growth hormone (HGH) increased significantly.
HGH is the strongest anti-aging hormone secreted by human brain, which mainly controls the growth and regeneration of human cells. HGH reached its peak in the 1920s and gradually declined in adulthood. When the level of HGH is low, it is more likely to cause symptoms such as high body fat, low muscle content, low bone density, memory loss or amnesia. Every time we eat, HGH will stop secreting, so we can hardly enjoy the benefits of HGH when we have three meals a day or even when we add meals.
During fasting, HGH will start to secrete to protect our muscle tissue from being consumed by the body as fuel, which can greatly promote the burning of fat as a source of energy for the body. A large number of experiments have proved that fasting is the most effective way to promote the secretion of HGH, and the longer the fasting time, the more obvious the growth of HGH. Fasting for 48 hours will increase HGH by 5 times, and fasting for 40 days will increase HGH by 12 times! .
3. Adrenaline increases and metabolism accelerates.
At the beginning of fasting, the body is used to sugar for energy, and will not use the fat stored in the body for energy. If there is no food to supplement sugar, you will inevitably feel hungry or tired. Once the body and mind have passed the adaptation period of the first few days, the body gradually learns to use the fat function, but most people will feel energetic and energetic. Because at this stage, not only the fat is burning, but also the adrenaline is gradually releasing the stored sugar to assist the fat to supply energy. Experiments show that the resting metabolism of the body will increase 12% after fasting for 4 days! (refers to the burning rate when heat is only used to maintain basic physiological functions such as breathing and blood circulation)
What are the benefits of fasting?
There are countless benefits of fasting, which can promote fat burning, effectively reduce fat, concentrate on improving brain power, improve sensitivity to insulin, reverse type 2 diabetes, lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease, delay or even reverse some early tumors and cancers, resist aging/longevity, effectively prevent Alzheimer's disease and so on.
How long does it take to stop eating?
It is mentioned in the definition that not eating for a complete period of time is called fasting. According to the different physical conditions and purposes of individuals, the fasting time ranges from several hours to three months of long-term fasting. Fasting for more than 24 hours or even days to months is generally used to treat various diseases or detoxify the body. It won't take so long just to lose fat. Considering that this article is an introductory article aimed at reducing fat, I have compiled several simple and common fast food methods suitable for beginners to reduce fat:
12 hour fast food-this is the simplest way of fast food every day, with almost no difficulty. Most people spend 8- 10 hours in their sleep. But the effect of this method is not significant. You can try 12 hours without eating and give up the habit of eating snacks after dinner.
16-hour fasting-there is a complete 16-hour fasting time and 8-hour eating time every day. 16 hour seems like a long time, but it's not too difficult. Many people don't feel hungry when they get up in the morning. They can choose to have brunch 12 after eating at 8: 00 the night before, and then eat until 8: 00 the next day. In theory, you can eat casually within 8 hours of eating, but since everyone's goal is to reduce fat, there is no need to overeat. 16 hours light diet will reduce fat slightly.
20-hour fast food-there is a complete 20-hour fast food time and 4-hour meal time every day. Compared with 16 hours, the difficulty is increased, but the effect is more obvious! I suggest you try 16 hours first, and then decide whether to increase it to 20 hours according to your body's reaction.
24-hour fast food-only one meal a day, usually between noon 12 and 3 pm. This is the most obvious method in the short-term "fast food" method! Generally speaking, a 24-hour light diet two or three times a week can play a very good role in reducing fat.
5: 2 fast food-eat five days a week normally, and the remaining two days will not exceed 500-600 calories. These 500 calories can be eaten in one meal or in several small meals. These two days can be two consecutive days, or you can arrange any two days by yourself. This kind of fasting is relatively easier for many people to stick to.
In fact, there are many ways of fast food. These are just a few common and popular methods I have listed for you. Don't blindly pursue long time and high frequency when implementing it. Among the fasting methods, no one is better than anyone else, and only one is more suitable for you. It depends on everyone's physical condition, goals, living habits and even willpower! I always think that the most undesirable thing in the process of reducing fat is to blindly find shortcuts. Only by constantly trying to find the best way to quit eating can we stick to it. Anything that lasts long enough will give it meaning.
You can eat during fasting &; What to drink?
This should be your most concerned topic. From the advice of most nutritionists and the experience of successful fasting, it is generally believed that a small amount of pure fat (50 calories) or almost pure fat (a very small amount of protein and carbohydrates) will not "break" fasting. For example, a spoonful of olive oil, coconut oil, a small piece of butter, and even some solid foods, such as a few macadamia nuts, will not affect the effect of fasting, but will help to persist in fasting for a longer time. In addition, the following drinks can also be drunk during fasting:
Water: It is very important to keep enough water during fasting. You can choose to squeeze some lemon juice in the water and add some essence to help us stick to it.
Tea: Black tea, green tea and Pu 'er tea are all acceptable. Ginger tea and cinnamon tea also have the effect of suppressing appetite. As long as no extra sugar is added, most herbal teas can be drunk.
Black coffee: Coffee can also suppress appetite and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. It is also a good source of antioxidants. But Jill doesn't advise people to drink too much. Too much caffeine can also affect the effect of fasting.
In addition, many people like to add skim milk to their coffee, which makes them feel healthier and have lower calories, but from the perspective of fasting and hormones, adding whole milk or thin cream will be a better choice. Because the fat in whole milk (carbohydrate+protein+fat) and thin cream (pure fat) can effectively alleviate the influence of skim milk (carbohydrate+protein) on insulin, which is more conducive to the burning of fat.
In addition to these common drinks, I also need to remind you not to drink drinks containing artificial sweeteners, even if they have only 0 calories. Not to mention the potential harm of artificial sweeteners. Many studies have shown that using artificial sweeteners during fasting will stimulate insulin secretion, make you more hungry and greedy, which is not conducive to persisting in fasting.
Who is not suitable for fasting?
Fasting is not for everyone. The following types of friends must pay attention. I don't recommend fasting;
Malnutrition/underweight: When the body fat is less than 4%, the body will start to break down muscle tissue. If you are severely malnourished or your body mass index is lower than 18.5, fasting will lead to more serious problems.
/kloc-under 0/8 years old: when the body is still in the stage of growth and development, we need a lot of nutrition to ensure normal development. It is not a problem to eat less and eat more meals occasionally, but long-term fasting will cause serious malnutrition in the development process, but it is not worth the loss.
Pregnancy &; Lactation: Fasting during pregnancy will affect the baby's development. During breastfeeding, babies rely on nutrients in breast milk for growth and development. If the mother limits the intake of nutrients, the baby's nutrition will also be limited.
Theoretically, you can stop eating under the following circumstances, but I suggest consulting a doctor first and stopping eating under professional guidance:
Gout patients: High uric acid content in blood is the biggest factor leading to gout. On an empty stomach, the body will lose some water, leading to an increase in uric acid concentration, which may aggravate the degree of gout.
Medication period: Many drugs must be taken with food, such as aspirin, or iron and magnesium supplements. Doctors can change the rhythm of fasting and achieve the effect of not affecting the curative effect.
Diabetic patients: Drugs taken by diabetic patients can lower blood sugar, and fasting itself can also lower blood sugar. In order to prevent hypoglycemia, it is necessary to adjust the dosage of drugs in time.
In addition, heartburn friends also need to fast under the guidance of a doctor. However, fasting is feasible for most people. If you have any questions or concerns about your health, please consult a doctor first!
Problems encountered during fasting
Based on my own experience, I summed up some problems that may be encountered when I started fasting, and how to deal with them, hoping to help everyone.
How long do I not eat every day?
From fasting 16 hours every day, from 8 pm to noon the next day 12, five times a week. In fact, it is not as accurate as staring at the watch 16 hours every day. Sometimes when you are hungry, it will end early, or if you don't feel the need to eat a meal right away, it will also prolong the time of fasting. During this period, I didn't take losing weight as the main purpose, and I didn't weigh myself at home, so I basically didn't pay attention to my weight changes. Last June,165438+1October, I tried fast food 24 hours a day for three weeks. I went to my girlfriend's house to play, and accidentally got on the scale, only to find that I actually lost 8 pounds!
At present, fast food has been regarded as a part of life, and its main purpose is to control the growth rate of nodules and maintain weight. I can freely control and flexibly adjust the cut-off time and frequency. I have been on a business trip in the United States for the last three weeks, and I haven't left behind all the entertainment I should go to. When there is no food, I will try to choose 16-20 hours to fast. Occasionally, if you reset too much in a few days, you will rest for 24-36 hours to readjust your stomach and hormones. If we are not allowed to skip any meal on the schedule, we will try our best not to eat any snacks except three meals a day, try our best to reduce the stimulation to insulin and win more time for burning fat!
What should I do if I am hungry during fasting?
There are two kinds of hunger, one is real hunger, the other is imaginary hunger, mostly because you are just greedy, or when it is time to eat, your body habitually makes a "I want to eat" reaction. Here I mainly tell you the second one. We have been used to three meals a day for so many years, and it is normal to suddenly get hungry without eating a meal. In fact, from the perspective of human evolution, it is normal for primitive people to make a living by hunting for several days without eating. If three meals were necessary, human beings would be extinct long ago, and our bodies would not have the function of storing excess energy in the form of fat.
If you have just started fasting and often feel hungry, it is largely a psychological effect. When I first started fasting, I would watch the time every hour, thinking about how long it would take me to eat my next meal. While I was eager to see it, I began to search where I could have a full meal immediately. Experience shows that this will only make you feel hungrier and harder. I suggest you do some distracting things at this time, such as playing the glory of the king for a while, brushing the ticket circle, sucking cats, and so on. There's always a good way to get through it! Secondly, our body actually has enough energy storage to ensure that you can easily survive fasting, but most of this energy is stored in the body in the form of fat. When we first started fasting, our bodies had not adapted to how to use them freely. Once the body turns on the high-efficiency fat function mode, the hunger will gradually disappear!
Here's a little suggestion. When eating, you can appropriately increase the intake ratio of healthy fatty foods, which will help to prolong satiety. You can choose nuts, avocados, coconut oil and so on. If you are still hungry, start by fasting for a short time! For example, 12 hour. When you are completely used to it, you can gradually increase the time hour by hour, and your body can gradually enter a state of adaptation.
Why do I get constipated when I fast?
Many friends around me and I have actually encountered this problem. Because the food intake is reduced on an empty stomach, it is normal to reduce the number of defecations. The problem is not difficult to solve, that is, eat more foods containing high fiber, such as various vegetables, fruits and coarse grains. Generally speaking, a person's daily fiber intake needs to reach about 25-35g. If you are still controlling the intake of carbohydrates and don't want to eat foods with high sugar content, you can reduce the intake of fruits and coarse grains and increase the intake of green leafy vegetables!
Eating 300-500g green leafy vegetables every day can not only ensure the intake of fiber, but also obtain the necessary vitamins and minerals every day. My favorite way to eat vegetables is the lazy way: juice. 200g vegetables+half avocado+a spoonful of chia seeds+a whole lemon juice each time. If you like sweet things, you can add some yogurt or bananas. If you eat this twice a day, vegetables and fiber can easily reach the standard.
Will sports performance be affected?
A large number of experiments show that the exercise ability will be affected at the beginning of fasting, but once the body learns the fat function, the exercise ability will soon recover, which takes about 2-4 weeks. Most nutritionists and experts suggest putting exercise at the end of fasting, which can force your muscles to use fat as an energy source and get food to supplement your body immediately after exercise. But many friends have told me that exercise often leads to fatigue and even hypoglycemia and dizziness on an empty stomach. In fact, this is normal and expected at the beginning of fasting. The root cause is that your body is still using limited carbohydrates for energy, and muscles have not learned to use fat efficiently to provide almost unlimited energy.
My advice is, don't immediately decide to put exercise after meals after you start to feel that exercise is not effective on an empty stomach. On the contrary, it is more helpful to reduce fat by reducing some intensity appropriately and letting the body adapt to the function of using fat during fasting.
Will fasting affect the physiological period?
This is the topic that most girls are most concerned about, because the physiological period reflects the secretion of hormones in our body, and the secretion of hormones determines the health of the body. Generally speaking, when the body loses weight quickly, the menstrual period will be delayed or stopped, which is a self-protection mechanism initiated by the body when it realizes the potential lack of nutrition or energy. That's why I don't recommend that you stop eating for too long or too often as soon as you come up. Because everyone's reaction to different fasting methods is completely different, you can only try it slowly and bit by bit to test which one suits you best.
From the practical experience of myself and many friends around me, some people have no influence on menstruation, and some people will postpone menstruation for about 3 days. My previous fasting time 16-20 hours had little effect on my menstrual period. After that, I insisted on fasting for 24 hours for three consecutive weeks, and my menstrual period was postponed for about five days, probably because I lost at least 8 pounds in these three weeks.
I haven't found more data to prove whether fasting has a good or bad effect on female hormones. The only paper I saw was the hormone measurement of a group of women after 72 hours of complete fasting. The results showed that all hormone values were within the normal range, and ultrasound showed that ovulation was normal and there was no change during menstruation. Dear, if you have seen the data of female hormone research, please leave me a message backstage. I will try to accumulate data analysis and continue to pay attention to and update this topic that is so important to women!
How much can you lose weight every day during fasting?
Here is an inaccurate but estimated method: one kilogram of fat can provide about 3700 calories. If your daily metabolism is about 65,438+0,800 calories, you can burn as much as 65,438+0,800/3,700 = 0.5 kg of fat. A few days before fasting, you will find that your weight has dropped significantly, sometimes as light as 1-2 A Jin Day, but in fact, more than half of it is the weight of food and water.
What should I do if I encounter a bottleneck?
It is inevitable to encounter a bottleneck period. Some people will encounter a platform period soon, while others may need a long time. The time and frequency of fasting can be appropriately adjusted, such as increasing 16 hours per day to 17 hours, and increasing twice a week to three times. Or adjust the diet structure, reduce the intake ratio of carbohydrates, especially sugar, and increase resistance training, which will promote the burning of fat.
I think if you can calm down and read this article completely, then not only light food, but also some basic principles of body function can enter a new stage of cognitive threshold. Everything is difficult at the beginning, but there is a price to pay for sticking to it! It is inevitable that there will be a lot of discomfort when you start fasting. Please give your body a time to adjust slowly. There are many people who have experienced or are experiencing this stage like you. You should believe that the meaning of persistence will bring you unexpected surprises.
Many problems in medicine or nutrition are not as simple as "black and white". Over the years, the scientific community has been constantly innovating. After countless cognitions were overthrown, a brand-new theory evolved. I remember a friend once said that answering "how to eat healthier" is like answering "what is the meaning of life". We can't summarize it with the current thinking, and we may never know what the final answer is, because there may be no so-called "positive solution" at all.
Therefore, the final answer may not be important. It is important that we always remind ourselves not to deviate from the track in seeking the "positive solution" and constantly adjust the trajectory of exploration. Everyone on this road is getting better and better.