It develops that you can lose weight without diets and exhausting workouts. It’s about fasting for weight loss. In a short period, you can lose up to three sizes of clothes, but is it worth it?
What do you need to know about fasting?
Fasting – temporary abstinence from food to cleanse, heal, lose weight. Sometimes this is the most affordable way to harmony and beauty.
What you achieve after a period of fasting?
• high energy level;
• weight loss;
•good mood;
• new eating habits;
• body cleansing.
Types of fasting
First, you need to determine the goals of fasting. They depend on your reasons. It could be health problems, extra pounds or even heaviness.
The main types of fasting include:
• Nestitherapy. It is perfect for people before surgery. You can also come across such a name as unloading and diet therapy;
• Detox programs. These types of fasting are aimed at cleansing the body of toxins, the effects of alcohol poisoning, malnutrition. As usual, it is based on water and juices;
• Interval fasting. A very popular type, used specifically for weight loss, interval fasting consists of a daily refusal of food for 16-23 hours. It is carried out to rejuvenate the body, to get rid of excess weight;
•Religious post. It is aimed at cleansing the soul and body. Each religion has its own rules of food refusal.
In addition to the main types, people actively practice therapeutic fasting at home to lose some pounds. They follow all the rules, thoroughly approach the process, do exercises, but have only one goal – to lose weight.
What are the issues of fasting?
Recently, there have been developed many methods of abstinence from food. All of them differ either in duration or in limitations. Sometimes, fasting for weight loss at home combines the rules of several systems.
The main types of fasting:
• Dry fasting. It is the most rigorous method which implies water refusal. It can be forbidden even to take a shower, brush your teeth. As usual, it prohibits only the drinking of water. The duration of dry fasting should not exceed 24 hours, an increase in the duration is possible only under the supervision of a specialist;
• Water starvation. It is the most common technique. Abstinence comes only from food, while you can (and even need) to drink water. Duration should be up to 70 days, but you can try 14-30;
• Interval (periodic) fasting. You can eat any food, but only in the food window. A person starves for 16 hours, eats for 8 hours. Or starving for 20 hours and eat for 2 hours. There are also systems 22/2 and 23/1. The duration of this method is unlimited;
• Cascading fasting. Recently, this technique has become popular. The essence is simple: the alternation of hungry and plant days. At first, we eat nothing for a day, and then we eat the same amount of fresh vegetables and fruits. The duration of such fasting for weight loss is ≈ 14 days.
The softer the method, the longer it can be practiced. In any case, it is important to test the positive and negative reactions of the body.
Preparing for fasting
You cannot start fasting for weight loss at any time when it is convenient for you. Refusing food (and sometimes water) is a serious step that requires preparation.
What you should do:
• Decide whether fasting is good for losing weight. Not every person can abstain from food for a long time. Much depends on lifestyle, health, it is necessary to study contraindications;
• Consult a doctor. This step is especially important if you have any chronic diseases;
• Choose the type of fasting, determine the duration;
• 1-2 weeks before losing weight by fasting, remove sugar, fatty foods from the diet and do not forget to drink 2 liters of water;
• 3 days before the fasting, alcohol, and tobacco should be excluded.
During fasting, you need to abandon active physical exercises, hard work, but you can walk, move, dance, do some exercises.
Fasting rules:
• Skip breakfast and lunch for the day from fasting. From morning to evening, drink water. For dinner, eat a salad, porridge on the water or a vegetable smoothie;
• Be sure to take daybreak for a quiet hour. Sleep will help to maintain strength and to reach the goal. The main thing after waking up is not to forget about fasting for weight loss and not to eat something;
• Clear your mind. No need to focus on hunger, food, it only enhances the appetite. If it is impossible, you need to leave the house for a walk. Only not in the city, but in the forest, park, where there are no cafes, shops;
During fasting, it is important to check your feelings and mood. Sometimes, irritability, anger, weakness will appear. In this case, you need to return to your goals, get motivation and develop willpower.
Stages of fasting and recovery
Change the body and lose a lot of pounds is possible only with prolonged fasting. This is a complex process, which is divided into several stages.
There are three stages in total:
• Nutrition improvement. Stage duration is up to three days. We feel hunger and other unpleasant symptoms react to odors. But at the same time discipline is developed, the work of the hypothalamus improves. The biggest weight loss also occurs due to the cleansing of the digestive tract, the removal of excess fluid.
• Increasing acidosis. It starts on the third day, lasts up to 7-10 days, and then occurs an acidotic crisis. During this time, hunger passes, thirst increases, gastrointestinal tract function changes, digestive secretion ceases, gastric secretion begins. The body rests, defenses are activated, pathogenic microflora is destroyed.
• Adaptation. At this stage, the body continues to cleanse, it lasts up to 70 days, depends not on abstinence, but the stores of fat.
Fasting is considered as completed if you succeed at all three stages. Only in this case, the body ‘restarts’ and cleansed of the pathogenic flora.
Although fasting is a fairly popular method for losing weight, do not forget that exercise during this period is unwelcome. Also, it is necessary to consult a doctor to enter to observe fasting correctly.
