Search Weight Loss Topics:




May 21

How to Fast: A Guide for the Hungry Man – GQ Magazine

Diets that Work Comments Off on How to Fast: A Guide for the Hungry Man – GQ Magazine

At first, fasting sounded less like a health plan and more like a prison protest. But we kept hearing that it works, so we scrutinized two rival approaches

Of all the fad diets to come down the pike, the one we never saw coming was the simplest: Just don't eat food. The idea of intermittent fasting (i.e., regimented periods of eating and not eating) has gone mainstream. Fans say it works by training your body to burn its fat reserves. It's also said to decrease the risk of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. And, of course, caloric abstinence is the most cost-effective diet in history. The main downside is the grueling first two weeks, when you'll probably quit.

If you somehow stick with it, you'll join a lineage of fasters dating back to Aristotle and Plato, who proved that even humanity's deepest philosophers sweat their beach bodies. Fasting may actually put us closer to our natural state; some experts think humans aren't designed for three squares a day and that we mistakenly regard mild hunger as an emergency. Which is why, although our loinclothed ancestors only ate when they brought down a mastodon, we invented Doritos Locos Tacos.

True, fasting comes with side effects. You have a decent chance of dizziness and acting like a dick. But science can definitively state: Not eating food makes you lighter. People ask, What is this magic diet? and there's really no magic at all, says professor Krista Varady, the planet's leading expert on alternate-day fasting. We're just tricking the body into eating less. I tricked my own body by (briefly) joining each of the main schools of fastingthe hard one and the harder one. To see which is right for you, read on.

Willpower Required Low to moderate

Who's Done It Hugh Jackman followed the 16:8 Diet for the X-Men movies, because America is not ready for what a 40-something Wolverine really looks like.

How It Works For eight hours a day, you eat however you normally do. For the other 16, fast. You can drink water, black coffee, and herbal tea. That's it. You're giving your body time to digest.

How It Feels Doable. If you time it right, this essentially means skipping breakfast and after-dinner snacks, which many of us do, anyway. When I tried it myself, my hunger never reached panic mode: Once lunchtime rolled around, I found myself opting for a reasonable sandwich instead of a chili-cheese dog. I did, however, miss my nightcap.

Upside You'll be conveniently unconscious for much of your fasting time. And you don't have to do it every day: The popular how-to book The 8-Hour Diet says you'll see benefits if you eat 16:8-style as few as three days a week.

Biggest Catch A militant budgeting of time. Your 16-hour window can move around from day to day, but it must be rigidly kept. So if you raid the fridge after midnight, wave good-bye to breakfast. If you feast at lunch, prepare to spend a lot of dinner dates consuming only Perrier.

Do This One If You're fasting for the first time. Varady says this type of time-restricted feeding, a phrase that makes it sound like you're in a gerbil cage, is the easiest-to-maintain method she's tested, and she's tested a lot of them. After all, a celebratory meal is mere hours away.

Willpower Required Advanced to Shaolin monk

Who's Done It Jimmy Kimmel did it well enough that he can no longer make fat jokes about himself. Miranda Kerr and Jennifer Aniston reportedly like it, too, and neither of them has seen an ounce of body fat since 1996.

How It Works For five days a week, eat normally. For the other two, fast by limiting yourself to 600 calories a day. (And yes, booze counts.) A typical breakfast: a slice of ham and two scrambled eggs. Dinner is a protein-packed chicken salad.

How It Feels I won't lie: By 4 p.m., I was running purely on black coffee, which meant I was both over-caffeinated and irritable. Plus, 600 caloriesnearly a quarter of my daily recommended intakefeels like a handful of peanuts, which speaks to the insanity of our usual portion sizes. No wonder Varady says so many of her study subjects bail out in the first 14 days.

Upside You can pick any two fasting days your heart desires and split them up any way you like. The point is to establish a schedule that's strict enough to work but manageable enough to stick to.

Biggest Catch You have to make it through those first couple of weeks so your body can reset, Varady says. Once you do, your gut will start releasing hormones that signal fullness. Ideally, you'll begin feeling satiated and eating less on your normal days. But that's when side effects could set in, making you feel hungover without even the benefit of the fun part.

Do This One If You're serious about this shit. It's designed to drop weight fastbut it'll hurt.

This piece originally appeared in the June 2017 issue with the title "Why Is Everybody Suddenly Fasting? (And How Can I Fast Better Than Them?)"

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS ONE

Originally posted here:
How to Fast: A Guide for the Hungry Man - GQ Magazine

Related Posts

    Your Full Name

    Your Email

    Your Phone Number

    Select your age (30+ only)

    Select Your US State

    Program Choice

    Confirm over 30 years old

    Yes

    Confirm that you resident in USA

    Yes

    This is a Serious Inquiry

    Yes

    Message:



    matomo tracker