A Word to the Wise  – Fasting To Lose Weight May Be Dangerous To Your Health

Fasting is a way to abstain from food or drink for a particular period of time. Dieticians and fitness experts know there’s a connection between fasting and weight loss.

There are several types of fasting programs, and we can say a bit about them here:

Missing meals could be deliberate or unintentional.

• Well if it is unintentional, beware! You may skip a meal and then eat like an epicure at the next meal. Ask me how I know.  … I’m a thoroughly familiar with the concept of “eating like a bear coming out of hibernation”. I tell you I know exactly what it is like, because I have been there, done that, and bought 3 t-shirts.

Cutting short your eating window:

• Many people start a fasting to lose weight diet, by eating only 2 meals a day. When you follow this fast, you eat breakfast later in the day and dinner earlier in the day. This creates a longer time to fast in the night.

• Although you may not be accustomed to it, you might decide to eat only two meals per day instead of the traditional three meals. This process would lead you to eat both breakfast and dinner and nothing in between.

• If you want to fast for one day out of every 2, you should know it’s a very extreme fast and shouldn’t happen very often – maybe only one week a couple of times a year. Your doctor needs to be in the loop if you are interested in an every-other-day fast.

Fasting every other day:

This is an aggressive kind of fast and should be done only for a week or once or twice in a year. You definitely should also be under medical supervision if you want to try this.

Doing a Master Cleanse or Lemonade Diet:

• This is the “Big Kahuna” of fasting. For many people, this is the only way to do a fast. During the lemonade diet, you will eat, or rather drink, only the following items: lemon juice, maple syrup, delicate cayenne pepper, water, and salt water.
• In the past, I’ve been able to maintain this fast for only a few days; however, I do know people who have stuck it out on this fast for 9-10 days. This pretty aggressive approach should only be embarked upon under the direct supervision of a physician. Any health problems or pre-existing conditions can be exacerbated by fasting to lose weight.

Basically, fasting means to directly abstain yourself from food or severely limit your food intake.

• If you are in doubt whether fasting will help you in losing weight or not, then the answer is an absolute ‘YES’. When you fast, several things take place in your body.
• First of all, the amount of undigested food items deposited in your digestive tract decreases to a considerable extent. As your body still needs energy, the food stored in your body gets consumed, including your muscles.
• If you continue to fast, your muscle and fat will start burning, thus contributing a lot in your weight loss. But it can be harmful to you health to have your body burn muscle as fuel.

Generally, fasting for a long period of time is considered to be dangerous for the human body because depriving yourself of the essential nutrients is by no means a good idea. But if you choose to fast for a shorter span, then the desired results can be achieved without affecting your health adversely. Some of the benefits of short term fasting include detoxification, weight loss and healing.

When you start fasting to lose weight, you also detoxify your body.

As you lose weight and burn fat, you can become healthier. When you fast and eat only small amounts of food, you are simply consuming a low-calorie diet. Therefore, fasting and weight loss generally go hand-in-hand. This can be a very effective short-term weight loss strategy if used carefully and under medical supervision.

When you fast, you also become psychologically stronger and more disciplined. This will help you in following a strict exercise regimen, which will further help you in losing weight. Before fasting, ask yourself how long you are going to fast.

Can you keep your weight loss in check, and what will you do after your fast ends? This is the time when many people regain the weight that they lost during the fast, and they may even gain more weight than they lost.  They really haven’t changed their eating habits.  During the fast, your body goes into starvation mode, and it begins to cling to every morsel of food that you eat. When you begin to eat agin, your body holds on to even more food – just in case you decide to fast again. So, fasting to lose weight doesn’t work for most people.

If you insist on fasting, you should refrain yourself from eating too much food when you break your fast.  Don’t even try to compensate for the food you could not consume during your fast.

Walking and weight loss programs go hand in hand, because you’ll certainly be losing weight when you do this cardio-friendly, calorie burning activity.

It will take commitment on your part, but you’ll soon look and feel wonderful as you lose weight. It’s the kind of exercise you can do anywhere at any moment, and there’s no extra equipment to purchase.

The correct way to walk:

• Do you want to maximize weight loss through walking? If so, you need to make sure that you are walking correctly or not. The proper way is the following:
• Your elbows should be at 90 and your arms should swing back and forth naturally to add intensity.
• While walking at high or medium speed take smaller, quicker strides.

Don’t slouch!

• When you walk, stand erect with your back straight and your head held high. It will make it much easier for you to breathe well and put less pressure on your shoulders, back, and neck.
• Posture is important when walking. It is essential that you stand straight and do not slump – this will help you to breathe more easily and put less stress on your back, neck and shoulders.

Walk pretty quickly.

• You’re going fast enough if you can cover about 3.5 miles in one hour. Another benchmark for you walking activities is if you are able to cover a mile in about 15 minutes. Then you can be certain that you are walking at the right speed.
• You should monitor the intensity of your walking.
• You can pretend as if you are going to catch a bus or are late for a meeting.
• Even if you follow all these tips, you should make sure that you are walking for at least 30 to 60 minutes. It will be better to include some hilly tracks in your walking routine so that the intensity levels are increased.

Variety and comfort are essential!

• Vary your walking paths and destinations. We all like to see new scenery and landscapes. So don’t walk the same area every day.
• Wear shoes that are comfortable to walk in. I also suggest that you wear clothing that doesn’t bind and that will wick perspiration away from your body.

Farther and faster:

You will have a tendency to perspire when you walk at a brisk invigorating pace. You definitely will not want all of that moisture and sweat to remain on your skin. Generally, I start out at a fast gait and slow down a little as the walk progresses.

When you’re out walking, feel free to go at a fast clip at the beginning because you’ll probably slow down toward the end. Dress for comfort, with sturdy walking shoes and layers that you can remove as you work up a sweat during your walk.

Set a goal such as walking faster by one minute per week so that you may even be able to speed walk soon.

Another way is to just walk farther every week. Both ways can work.

How walking and weight loss are interconnected:

Most overweight people are not fit, mainly due to lack of exercise. As a result, their muscles and energy system lose efficiency. Because obese people are not fit, they cannot afford to jog or run to burn off their calories and that is the reason brisk walking helps them in losing weight without much exertion.

The exercise of walking helps you to do your workout steadily and consistently, making you use up fat more efficiently. There are other exercises and out door activities like soccer, baseball and tennis that need much more energy that is stored up in your body if you happen to be obese. It is true that walking is a slow and steady activity and that you expend fat more efficiently, in spite of the fact that you may not be 100% healthy.

Enjoy the possible social aspects of walking to lose weight.

Whenever possible, I try to invite friends and family to walk with me, and they usually accept my invitation because they want you support my desire to lose weight fast.

Often, we get a chance to chat about lots of things we probably never would have discussed if we were not out walking together. You can also increase your walking time when you are out shopping or strolling through the malls. So, this can be quite a pleasant time for you if you want to make it so.

I have been morbidly obese for more than 3 decades, and I’ve tried for years to lose weight. After researching the best lose weight fast diets, I am determined to lose those extra pounds. This year, I plan to lose 100 pounds. Can I do it?

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