I first started intermittent fasting 3 years ago when I took up my new post in Sibu. My family was still in Kuching and so I was alone in Sibu. In my new posting, I had to attend a lot of dinners. As my weight was already 80kg at that time, I knew that I had to do something, otherwise my weight will balloon. After doing my own research, I decided on the 16/8 method of fasting.
For this method, I will fast for 16 hours and in the next 8 hours window, I have two meals. This is very simple to implement. I normally take my dinner at 7 pm. The following day, I will just skip my breakfast and have my lunch from 11 am onwards. This means that I will have fasted for 16 hours before I take my lunch. Around 7 pm, I will take my dinner and the whole pattern repeats itself.
On my first day of fasting, I remember telling myself, I will skip breakfast but if I feel too hungry I will have an early lunch. I was quite surprised that I did not feel that hungry and on my first day I was able to fast 16 days. This routine fitted very well with my lifestyle. Since I do not have to cook breakfast, every morning I was able to go for brisk walking before going to work. At the same time, I do not feel lethargic or tired and I was able to function normally despite my fasting. Over a period of 1 year, I managed to bring my weight down to 70kg. This is despite the fact that I had to attend official dinners once or twice a week.
Most diets emphasize on what to eat, however in intermittent fasting, the emphasis is when to eat. Intermittent fasting is when you only eat at certain times of the day. You fast for a set number of hours each day or eating only one meal a couple of times a week.
Many studies have shown that intermittent fasting has great benefits for both the body and the brain. I will summarize some of the benefits below:
1.Insulin levels decline and human growth hormone (HGH) levels rise when you fast. Both the decline in insulin level and increase in human growth hormone assist in the burning of fat. Your cells also launch critical cellular repair processes and alter the expression of genes.
2.Intermittent fasting allows you to consume less calories while somewhat increasing your metabolism. It's a powerful tool for losing weight and visceral fat.
4.Intermittent fasting has been shown in studies to lower oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. This should help prevent aging and the onset of a variety of ailments.
5.Intermittent fasting has also been shown in studies to lower a variety of heart disease risk factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides, and inflammatory markers. However much of these studies are conducted on animals and more research on humans still needs to be carried out.
6.Fasting activates the autophagy metabolic pathway, which eliminates waste from cells.
7.In animal studies and certain human studies, intermittent fasting has been found to help prevent cancer. It has been shown in human studies to help minimize the negative effects of chemotherapy.
8.Intermittent fasting has been shown to be beneficial to brain function. It has the potential to promote the creation of new neurons while also protecting the brain from injury.
In general, intermittent fasting will help us to become more healthy and to live longer.
We used to be gathers and hunters not too long ago. During that era, humans do not eat 3 meals a day. However, after the agricultural and industrial revolution, there was a drastic change to our lifestyle, humans begin to take 3 meals a day. We eat our meals at designated times regardless of whether we are hungry or not. Although our lifestyle has changed drastically, our body has not evolved that much from the time when we only consumed one or two meals a day.
There are some misconceptions about fasting. This is because of the false information spread by some parties with vested interests. I used to think that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. This is because you and I have been programmed by manufacturers of cereals to think this way. These companies spend massive amounts of money on advertising to brainwash us. Fasting is not being promoted simply because there is no money to be made. Pharmaceutical companies are only interested to sell us vitamins and drugs. Food manufacturers on the other hand will earn less if we consume less food.
Fasting maybe not be for everyone. I have a friend who tried, and he was having chills while fasting and so he stopped. Do consult a doctor first before you start intermittent fasting.
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Do check out my previous posts.
Daring To Dream At Age 60 Part 2
My Trans-Siberian Railway Adventure Part 1: Views From A Train’s Window
My Trans-Siberian Railway Adventure Part 2: Views From A Train’s Window
BOW:That One Childhood Memory That Lives With Me
My Trans-Siberian Railway Adventure Part 3: Views From A Train’s Window
Seeing The Beauty Around Us And My Poem “Miracle Of A New Day
My Trans-Siberian Railway Adventure Part 4: From Moscow To St Petersburg
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Charles
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