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The Science Behind Intermittent Fasting

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It's quite difficult to diet because most people hear conflicting advice on what to eat and when to eat it. Many people have been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. They've been told that to effectively diet they should eat small meals throughout the day. It's no wonder that people struggle with dieting.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent Fasting, or IF, is the decision to skip meals with a purpose. You don't avoid meals casually or without a schedule involved. There are a few ways to implement IF into a lifestyle depending on the style that works for the individual. Calories are consumed during certain eating windows throughout the day, or the person skips an entire day of calories and eats on alternate days.

Schedule for Intermittent Fasting

The 16-hour fast is a popular one. There are eating portions of the day and fasting portions of the day. The…show more content…
The faster will consume calories every other day. For example, if Monday is a day of fasting, Tuesday would be a day to consume calories. Most fasters using this method will choose Monday, Wednesday and Friday as days to fast. The weekends are when calories are consumed.

How Does IF Work?

The science behind Intermittent Fasting shows that your body will behave differently depending on whether you've just consumed calories. The timing of calorie consumption matters too. After a meal, the body will spend some time processing that food. It'll use it for energy instead of the fat stored in the body. The fat is what you want the body to consume when you're dieting.

When you're in a state of fasting, the body will reach for food to consume. Without that food available, it'll pull from the body's fat stores. This is especially true when you're working out with in a fasting state. Your body won't have food to pull calories from, so it'll look to the fat stores to fuel the body during a workout.

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