How Can Intermittent Fasting Help You?

You may have heard of “fasting” before, but a new and slightly different trend called “intermittent fasting” is taking the health world by storm. Studies show that fasting several times a week can help people cleanse their bodies and lose weight. Every day, your body builds up toxins that are only removed when you sleep or when you do certain things such as fasting. Find out exactly how intermittent fasting cleanses your body, and how it helps you lose weight and feel great!

Weight Loss for Summer

If you are like many Americans, you are already thinking about summer. You may also be thinking back on your New Year’s resolutions now that it’s almost swimsuit season. Have you met your goals yet? Studies show that eating better and exercising more are the most common goals for resolutioners. Everyone wants to lose weight and look better at the start of the new year, and they make resolutions to meet those desires. However, studies also show that most people—about 80% to be exact—have already quit by mid-February. Only 8% of people actually achieve their New Years goals.

No matter if you are part of the 8% or 80%, there is still time for you to help your body be healthier throughout the rest of the year or just in time for summer. Now that it is crunchtime, you want to focus on weight-loss strategies that are effective and safe for your body, but that don’t require a ton of your time. You also want some way to cleanse your body of toxins so it works better throughout your day and during your weight loss journey.

Removing Toxins from the Body at Night

You may not think about your body as being “toxic”, but it could be. Every day your body goes through processes to rid itself of waste products. The digestive system is one such example. It takes from your food the nutrients your body needs to thrive and work well, and it gets rid of all the gunk you don’t need. Many people have heard that the body needs sleep for effective weight loss and better health. Why? Because your body flushes your system of toxins as you sleep.

Every day you’re exposed to toxins in your food, water, and your environment that clog you up and slow you down. When you sleep, your circulation improves and studies show that the brain takes on more fluid. That fluid is to flush out toxins from your brain tissue so that your memory is in optimal shape and so that you wake up refreshed and ready for a new day. Ever felt groggy after a short night of sleep? That’s why!

Removing Toxins through Intermittent Fasting

Another way your body removes toxins and resets itself is through intermittent fasting. This is an amazing new way to diet and cleanse the body, and one that is taking the world by storm. Many people have heard of fasting before, but maybe not as a method of healing and losing weight. Fasting is the practice from abstaining from food or drink (or sometimes both) for a specific amount of time. Many people fast for religious purposes, while others fast for the amazing health benefits it gives you.

With this type of fasting, you consciously plan to go without food for a specific amount of time. Many people have tried intermittent fasting methods before and have found specific guidelines to be helpful when doing this type of fasting.

3 Methods of Intermittent Fasting

There are 3 methods to choose from when doing intermittent fasting that have proven best for removing toxins and boosting weight loss:

• 16/8 Method: This confines your eating hours of the day to 8 hours. You take the entire night to abstain from food, and you skip breakfast. No matter how long you sleep, you essentially go 16 hours without food, and then take your 8 main waking hours to eat. Eat normally during those 8 hours instead of binging on food.
• 5/2 Diet: You eat as you normally would for 5 days of the week. For the other 2 (you choose which 2), you only eat between 500 and 600 calories on those days.
• Eat-Stop-Eat Method: This involves fasting 1 or 2 times a week. However, when you do it, you go for a full 24 hours. That means you eat dinner and until dinner the next day, you abstain from food. It’s actually easier than you might think.

Why is intermittent fasting in these ways better than other forms of dieting or toxin-removal from the body?

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Not only do you see improved weight loss, but your body will feel cleaner and lighter through intermittent fasting. This is because you are allowing your body the ability to better cleanse itself of toxins. This cleansing helps boost cellular repair, which is the process of your cells removing built-up proteins from inside them that are no longer needed. Studies show that intermittent fasting helps dramatically boost a person’s Human Growth Hormone (HGH). HGH speeds up fat loss and leads to better muscle gain, among many other benefits. Going between periods of eating and fasting also allows your insulin levels to even out and even drop, which allows your body a greater ability to access fat reserves when losing weight.

Not only is intermittent fasting a way to lose weight, but it’s fairly easy. Intermittent fasting coupled with proper, nutritious eating can do wonders for your body, especially if you’re working on a summer beachbody. We specialize not only in chiropractic services, but also in weight-loss services such as nutritional assessments, medical weight-loss plans and Laser-Like Lipo. All of these are amazing aids to help boost your results from intermittent fasting or to help make sure you are doing it correctly for optimal health. To find out more about intermittent fasting or how you can get in shape for summer, call Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center today at (512) 806-0015!