The origin of fasting is religious. Almost all the world's religions have recommendations about fasting for their followers. In Islam for example, all Muslims are expected to fast in the month of Ramadan. Christians fast from time to time as a way of building themselves up spiritually. However, there is a new reason for fasting which is not religious; fasting to lose weight.
It is said that one of the quickest ways of losing weight is to stop eating. The weight we gain is mainly from the food we eat; so if you stop eating you lose eight. That is the logical truth. However, this should not be taken to be absolute. If you want to lose way through fasting, then it should be done in a way to achieve the result. One thing we should all keep in mind is that fasting is different from starving.
How the Body Reacts To Fasting
The human body is a very sensitive system. When you are fasting, the body falls on your energy reserves for survival. These reserves are in the form of fat. As the stored fats are burned, you lose weight. But the body as a way of keeping itself safe switches into a safe mode. It makes use of less energy for the same level of functions it performs. When the fasting lasts for a long time, the body then gets used to this mode as normal. For that reason, when you end the fasting and started eating normally, the body makes use of just a little of the energy and stores the rest as fat. The result is that you gain more weight. And that is not your aim for fasting.
How to Fast To Lose Weight
The above fact about fasting when taken into account, demands that the right strategy be adopted in order to lose weight from fasting.
The first thing is that you should not allow your body to switch into the safe mode when you fast. The body switches into this mode when fasting is prolonged. Therefore, for fasting to help you lose weight, you should fast for short periods. You should in fact fast for about two or three days and eat for two days in alternation. This way your body does not get used to the fasting.
The next important thing is how you break your fast. If you fast for two days only to go back to over indulge yourself, you will not achieve anything. You will gain more weight. You should control how you eat when you break your fast. You must control the amount of food you eat after fasting.
If you want a fasting program that works our # 1 recommendation is Every Other Day Diet by Jon Benson. You can read our in-depth Every Other Day Diet review to get more information.
