Are you baking your buns off these days? And eating more comfort food because you’re bored or anxious—or both? You’re certainly not alone. People all over the country are packing on the pounds, the “Quarantine 15″. As if we needed another excuse to eat more! But don’t despair if you’ve put on excess weight. There are 2 easy solutions for quick weight loss, one of them being the popular intermittent fasting. And the best part is that you don’t have to count calories or weigh your food. You also don’t have to guess what foods you should eat. Ready to get started?
Eat Snacks & Lose Weight?
Hallelujah! The kids are fast asleep and now it’s time to plop down on the couch, relax and binge-watch your favorite show. But before you dial up Netflix or Prime on your TV, you grab a shopping basket full of snacks. Popcorn, chocolate, crackers, pretzels, chips … you’re all set. At least for the next hour or two, you can shut off your mind from the depressing news cycle. And those yummy snacks you’re about to feast on will give you a major hit of dopamine, temporarily making you feel blissed out and slightly high.
Obviously, eating late night snacks isn’t good for you. Besides the sugar and high sodium content of typical snack food, eating late at night doesn’t give your body a chance to burn its own stored fat for energy. Day in and day out, if you eat midnight snacks, you’re just adding to your body’s energy savings account; the carbohydrates get stored in fat cells.But what if there was a way to enjoy your favorite snack foods once in a while without worrying about putting on weight. And even better, what if there was a way not only to enjoy comfort foods, but actually lose weight? Sound too good to be true?
Well, the truth is you can’t eat a lot of junk food and expect to be healthy. However, one of the biggest diet trends over the last few years can help you lose weight without telling you what to eat.
Intermittent Fasting For Weight Loss
You’ve probably heard of intermittent fasting by now. But in case you’re not really sure what it’s all about, here’s the skinny on it…Intermittent fasting involves eating and drinking anything with calories during a limited amount of hours during the day. There’s not a ton of research on it, but studies (like this one) show that fasting for 16 hours a day can result in weight loss success and other health benefits.
You don’t have to fast for 16 hours right away. I recommend starting with a 12 hour fast and then week by week, working up to 16 hours. Fasting for 12 hours is really simple. If you think about it, you’re in bed for 7-8 hours (hopefully) every night. Plus, if you can avoid midnight snacking and finish your last bite of food or glass of wine by, say 8 p.m., you can easily go 12 hours or longer without having any calories.
The idea with intermittent fasting is to have your body go into a temporary state of ketosis. This is when your body is burning its own body fat for energy instead of glucose from food you’ve recently eaten. If you’re frequently eating throughout the day, your body doesn’t get a chance to tap into its own energy reserve (fat cells).
Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
When you fast, even if it’s not for a full 24 hours, your insulin level goes down and your excess glucose (blood sugar) is burned up instead of being stored as body fat.In addition, when you fast, the bacteria in your gut migrates from the small intestine into the large intestine. Some people have a condition called SIBO or small intestine bacterial overgrowth. SIBO is characterized by bloating, gas and other digestive disturbances.
One reason people get SIBO is because they eat too often. When you eat every 2-3 hours, gut bacteria ferments in the small intestine. That’s why I recommend going 5-6 hours in between meals if possible.Intermittent fasting isn’t really a diet, it’s more of a lifestyle. Unlike fad diets, which tells you what to eat, or what not to eat, with intermittent fasting, the only thing to follow is when to consume calories.
Many people eat late at night and have breakfast first thing in the morning. Again, the problem with this is that it doesn’t give your digestive system much of a break, and it doesn’t provide your body with the opportunity to burn its own fat. See if you can start finishing your last meal early in the evening, avoid late-night snacking, and then having your first calories around 10 a.m. Within a couple weeks of following this lifestyle, you’ll notice your pants will fit looser.
What Should I Eat? The DNA Diet Reveals Your Specific Needs
Even though intermittent fasting will help you lose weight, you might be confused about which type of diet and specific foods will help you lose the most weight and help you feel the best.
The reason virtually every diet ends up failing is because everybody is different. When it comes to nutrition, one size does not fit all! The solution to figuring out what type of diet and which foods are the best for you is a cutting-edge solution I’m so excited to share with you. It’s called the “DNA Diet.”
The DNA diet is part of my Reclaim Your Life 16-week health transformation program, and will let you know whether a Mediterranean Diet, low carb diet or low fat diet is the best for your unique genetic makeup. Also, the DNA Diet reveals the best exercise program for your maximum fat loss potential. You are too unique to be pigeonholed into a gimmicky diet. DNA testing unlocks the mystery of what foods and exercises can have you living your best life in just weeks.Schedule a call with me now to learn more about The DNA Diet and the other health transformation programs I offer.Here’s to living the pain-free, joyous life you deserve.
Until Next Time,
Jenna L. Witt, APRN
Family Medicine/Functional Medicine
Certified Health Coach
Email: fundamentalwellnessne@gmail.com
Ph: 1-800-964-5091
