Will Fasting Hurt My Weight Loss Efforts
Posted: November 20th, 2011 | Author: Dr. Bill Stillwell | No Comments »Today’s question comes from a reader who has started on the road to
fitness, by employing a number of different strategies to make it
happen. So far, he is down 12 pounds, which is a fine start.
He is exercising a minimum of five days a week and tries to do
something every day. This is perfectly fine, so long as you don’t do
something strenuous every day. Many people walk every day, for
instance, and don’t even really consider that part of their exercise
program. They count what they do, other than walking, as exercise,
like lifting weights, doing bodyweight exercises and so on.
He also has made significant changes in what he eats, eliminating
almost all packaged food and going with protein, fruit and
vegetables. He still eats a couple of Snickers bars and a bag of
pork rinds a week, which isn’t good for you, but let’s remember that
he has lost twelve pounds in five weeks.
He heard about what is called "intermittent fasting," and wanted to
know if it’s helpful, or harmful.
Now, before I tell you what I think, let me tell you that this is a
very controversial idea in the fitness community, where the
sentiment runs heavily against the idea. All the trainers, diet
experts and nutritionists are heavily invested in regular meals, on
some kind of schedule, and they have a whole laundry list of reasons
why this approach won’t work, or is harmful…and won’t work.
They will tell you that you’ll lose muscle tone, strength, energy…
and that your body will go on the fritz quickly, which can only be
remedied by eating the way they tell you.
By the way…"intermittent fasting" means that you abstain from food
for one or two days a week. (So this definitely is not for
everyone.)
So let’s boil it down for Bubba.
Will it hurt you, or help you?
It certainly won’t hurt you…provided that you’re in pretty good
shape…with no serious health problems, such as diabetes, high
blood pressure, and so on. You could probably do it, even with those
problems, but you definitely need to see your doctor first and get
the okay. (This is common sense, but….)
Will it help?
Last week, I talked about the first rule of weight loss, which
simply put is: In order to lose weight, you must take in fewer
calories than you are taking in at present. I used the 3000 calories
a day figure, dropping the number to 2500, and multiplying out the
number over a year.
So lets apply this to fasting, using one day a week. Let’s assume
you have already dropped your 3000 calories a day to 2500 calories a
day and you’ve been doing this for a while…with no ill effects…
and you’re losing weight. Your net drop in calories is 3500 calories
a week. Now with a fast (for 24 hours), you are dropping another
2500. That’s upping the ante to 6000 calories a week. This certainly
should speed up your weight loss, provided that you do not
overcompensate when you break your fast (ie.,eating over 2500
calories).
Will you lose muscle tone? Will your energy level go down?
No. Tests have shown that none of the things the fitness community
claims will happen…actually do happen. It’s just another in the
long list of "Gym myths," which are too numerous to count.
So…once you’ve started a good program, like mine, which you can
find at:
…and you’re doing well (actually losing weight), you might give
this a try, if you’re so inclined. If it works for you, you’ve found
another key to fitness.
Come join thousands of highly satisfied customers.
With my best wishes for your optimum health,
Dr. Bill
Favorite Formulas
816 Turtle River Court
Plant City, FL 33567
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit: http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?nIzsnGxstKyMjEwMnIwstEa0jEysDJwsDCw= |
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.