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Intermittent Fasting: Ready, Set, Go!

Intermittent Fasting: Ready, Set, Go!

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Now that we’ve had some time to read up on the claims and promised results, it’s time to take The Complete Guide to Intermittent Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting for a spin!

So, not gonna lie here, I am just a bit nervous going into this. I must confess that I love to eat and am not particularly inclined to miss meals. Aside from an epic stomach flu or routine lab tests, I’ve never really fasted before and am not sure how this is going to go.

Despite this, however, I really am interested to see how Fung’s claims will hold up when taken for a test drive. Since it’s not realistic to think there could be any measurable health changes in just seven days, I’m mostly interested to see how intermittent fasting (IMF) will impact my appetite, workouts, and weight.

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Myths of Fasting

Myths of Fasting

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In Chapter 3 of The Complete Guide To Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting, Dr. Jason Fung deals with what he perceives to be the many myths surrounding fasting. He believes that if a person looks at both the anecdotal and scientific evidence he has to offer, that the case against fasting falls to pieces. Let’s take a look at the six myths he addresses.

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How can fasting enhance weight loss?

How can fasting enhance weight loss?

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Setting the obvious aside, (you know, the not eating bit) let’s take a look at why Dr. Jason Fung believes that fasting offers particular weight loss benefits over and above simple caloric restriction as we continue our ongoing discussion of June’s Diet of the Month, The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting.

When we eat, the complicated process of digestion and absorption kicks off. Food is both mechanically and chemically broken down and then absorbed as it travels along the GI tract. When blood nutrient levels begin to rise, our bodies respond hormonally and metabolically. One particular response Dr. Fung is keen to point out is the insulin response.

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What is fasting?

What is fasting?

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From Chapter 1, Dr. Jason Fung acknowledges that the mere suggestion of fasting sounds crazy to most people. Starvation?That’s your recommendation?? In the opening pages to The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting, Fung argues that starvation and fasting are two entirely different things. While starvation is involuntary and typically due to a lack of food, fasting is a choice to abstain from eating for a period of time.

Though humans have historically fasted for religious reasons, Fung argues that living in a constant state of feast, feast, feast (with no famine) has wreaked havoc on our health and that a return to periodic fasting may offer the solution.

Though there are countless diets out there with complicated rules and restrictions, fasting is simple and straightforward. As opposed to most diets that have a laundry list of things to do, fasting is about what not to do. The authors explain that this is part of the beautiful simplicity of a fasting regimen. You need not fuss over food lists, measuring portion sizes, cooking and clean up, packing special meals, and other tedious tasks that often go along with dieting. Rather, all you have to do is abstain. Furthermore, fasting regimens can be as flexible as necessary. Fung emphasizes many times over that there is no single right way to fast and that a person should experiment to see what works best for them.

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An Introduction to June’s Diet of the Month

An Introduction to June’s Diet of the Month

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The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Jason Fung, MD with Jimmy Moore

For most Americans, fasting conjures up images of deprivation and the devout. From Jesus to Gandhi, fasting has been used to draw one closer to God or to make a social statement. It’s serious business because humans like to eat, drink, and be merry. Skipping meals? Not so much.

So a diet book that actually recommends fasting as a means of wellness is a bit jarring to some. After all, we are constantly being told by various health experts that eating regular meals–especially breakfast–is essential to a balanced diet and maintaining a healthy weight. Some even go so far as to say we should be eating every couple hours, claiming this keeps the metabolism humming and burning away calories. Dr. Jason Fung, however, would disagree and argues in his book that fasting is actually the key to effective and sustainable weight loss.

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Announcing June’s Diet of the Month!

Announcing June’s Diet of the Month!

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Losing weight can be tough and everyone tackling the scale needs support and encouragement along the way. Having someone cut through the confusion and hand you a solid action plan doesn’t hurt either. Though I’ve had a lot of people tell me they know what they should be doing to lose weight, getting it done is another matter. Even armed with clear information, it can be hard to actually apply that knowledge come dinnertime.

While many of my strategies and tips at The Diet Oracle will apply to any number of weight loss plans, I really want to help you where the rubber meets the road. I want you to feel confident that you can follow your plan and get results. With all this in mind, today I am launching a new feature at The Diet Oracle called Diet of the Month.

Each month I will take an in depth look at one particular diet; I’ll cut through the fluff to give you the ins and outs, plus valuable tips to achieve the best results possible! You’ll get a front row seat as I not only discuss the plan and all it entails, but also live it for seven days. That’s right. For an entire week, I’ll be taking the diet for a real world test drive. I’ll follow the eating plan and log every bite, time my meals, do the grocery shopping, and test the recipes…all while juggling the obstacles and obligations we all face from day to day. You’ll get to see whether the diet might be a good fit for you and what sort of results you could expect. Not a bad deal, right?

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Turning Failure into Success

Turning Failure into Success

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Over the past week, we’ve been discussing how you can use your past weight loss experiences to your advantage.  If you’ve been following along, you should now have some clear (or at least somewhat less fuzzy) strategies to work into your new diet plan, strategies that are just right for you.  Not only have you made note of what worked really well for you, but you should also have a handy little list of what bombed.

Today we’re going to wrap up this segment with the last piece of the puzzle.  Now that you’ve had the chance to take that little walk down memory lane and relive some of your previous weight loss efforts, let’s discuss the final question on our list. 

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Nutrition News

Nutrition News

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Stay in-the-know with the latest research and expert opinions

8 Sneaky Signs Your Body Needs More Carbs

“Carbohydrates are one of the main sources of energy used by the body,” says Texas-based registered dietitian Linzi Cruz, RD. “It’s true an imbalance of carbs can impact weight loss, liver function, and GI metabolism, but too little of them can cause some pretty uncomfortable side effects as well.”

Study Shows Potential Health Benefits of Fasting

“Feeding and fasting can significantly impact how the body makes and uses proteins that are critical to decreasing insulin resistance and maintaining a healthy body weight…Therefore, the timing of and duration between meals could be important factors to consider for people struggling with obesity-related conditions.”

RDN: Use Your Values as Weight Loss Motivation

“Real change comes when you make changes based on who you are, not on how you think you will be perceived,” writes registered dietitian nutritionist Carrie Dennett.

FDA Approves Capsule Device to Assist Weight Loss

A new hydrogel capsule has recently been cleared by the FDA in the fight against overweight and obesity.  Called Plenity, this capsule is swallowed and works by swelling within the upper GI tract, creating a feeling of fullness which ultimately leads to decreased caloric intake.  The capsule then proceeds to the lower GI, where it is partially broken down, releases its fluid, and is expelled.  “The most compelling aspects of this approach are its effectiveness, novel mechanism of action and impressive safety data,” says weight loss expert Dr. Ken Fujioka.

Coming soon!

Coming soon!

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Upcoming Feature: Diet of the Month

The longer I’ve worked as a dietitian, the more obvious it’s become that there is no single diet that works for everyone. Even setting medical needs aside, eating habits and food preferences vary so much from person to person. This is why, despite what a given diet may claim, there really is no “right way” to lose weight. Of course, some diets live up to their promises, while others do not. But when the rubber meets the road, there are just any number of ways to craft an effective weight loss plan.

In an effort to help you successfully lose weight on any diet, I am bringing you a new monthly feature here at The Diet Oracle called Diet of the Month.

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Any attempt to change an ingrained habit is no doubt going to be difficult. After all, some habits–like eating–we’ve had since birth! And with each passing birthday, these behaviors can truly become second nature. Just like the saying goes: Old habits die hard.

So taking into consideration that we are not only creatures of habit, but also live in a world that we can’t always control, it is only natural that we’ll be faced with obstacles when attempting to make serious changes. As I’ve said before, if weight loss was easy, the diet industry wouldn’t be the multi-billion dollar industry that it is!

With all that in mind, let’s look at that third question on our list:

When you’ve tried to lose weight in the past, what obstacles seemed to pop up, time and time again? 

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