Spontaneous Fasts Are the Simplest Form of Meal Skipping

A fast offers clear benefits for making people healthier. For some, fasting protocols offer a simple approach that can be combined with healthy eating for permanent weight loss. With a traditional diet, you are following a healthy eating pattern, but consuming fewer calories at each meal. With intermittent fasting, you're are roughly consuming the same number of calories, just during a scheduled feasting phase. You can help suppress hunger during intermittent fasting by eating high-fiber foods, such as nuts, beans, fruits and vegetables, as well as high protein foods.

• Spontaneous Fast - With spontaneous meal skipping, you do not need to follow a structured schedule to reap the benefits. Simply skip meals from time to time, especially when you don't feel hungry or are too busy to stop and eat.
• Same Day Fast - Fasting for half a day and eating unrestricted for half a day during a set time frame is one of the simplest methods to follow for a beginner. Same day fasts done once or twice a week can help manage your weight.
• The 16:8 Fast - With the 16:8 method of fasting, you focus your food consumption within an eight-hour window, such as 8 am to 4 pm. Nonetheless, you should eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water and not binge.
• Eat-Stop-Eat Fast - With an alternate day fasting method, you can fast from breakfast to breakfast, lunch to lunch, or dinner to dinner with same great results using the eat stop eat protocol.

Very low calorie diets or prolonged periods with low caloric intake can cause physiological changes that can cause the body to adapt to the restriction and therefore prevent further weight loss. With intermittent fasting, you cycle between a low calorie levels and normal eating. Most intermittent fasting methods also recommend strength training, as this is important if you want to lose weight but hold on to muscle mass. Your body responds to eating restrictions by strengthening the cells' ability to fight off certain diseases. If your weight loss efforts stall, then your fasting and eating schedules may need to be adjusted.

*NOTE: Due to a difference in hormonal makeup, women have special considerations when fasting. Intermittent fasting is not a good idea for women under 18 years of age, those with a lean body profile, or those with medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism or a history of eating disorders. Ask your physician about an appropriate fasting protocol for you.