Weight loss is an issue that affects countless numbers of people today. The rate of growth of people has increased as the number of weight loss products continues to increase and our marriage to the Standard Western Diet grows. More people are turning to fasting for weight loss in order to jump start their programs or to gain firm control over their eating habits.
Fasting can be undertaken for as short as 1 day or as long as 30 – depending upon the type of fast and your health at the start of the fast. As with any other fitness or diet program you should always consult with your doctor so that you both can make an informed decision about your plans based on your current health, fitness and medications.
Once you determine that any underlying health issues you may have will withstand a fast you are ready to begin! Fasting for health and weight loss reasons can be an effective way to lose unnecessary body fat but also a way of cleansing the body of unhealthy toxins and divorcing yourself of unhealthy eating habits.
Weight loss happens through a negative calorie balance. When you burn more than you take in you will lose weight. The negative balance can happen with decreasing intake or increasing burn (exercise). Fasting for weight loss may be a healthy way to jump start your weight loss program but it isn’t a way of managing your weight.
Weight management should never be an endless journey of weight gain and weight loss that plagues many people. Instead management should be achieved through maintaining a specific weight by having changed your eating habits to a ‘diet’ that you can continue without fear of ‘falling off’.
Fasting can also be unhealthy. If you have underlying emotional eating habits then fasting can lead to binging or can lead to anorexia. Either of those eating disorders are dangerous to your health.
There are three types of fasts – a water-only, juice fast and fruit fast. A water only fast is pretty self-explanatory – you drink only water. In a juice fast you drink freshly squeezed juices that include, but are not limited to carrot, apple, fruits, and greens. A fruit fast allows the participant to only eat fruits, of any kind and in any amounts.
Most people fasting for weight loss start with a water-only fast. This lasts for 1-3 days and then the individual moves to a juice fast. These juices are freshly squeezed at home using a juicing machine. The most beneficial ingredient in these juices are the living enzymes, which die after 24 hours. Thus, fresh squeezed juice is imperative to gaining the most benefit from the juice.
Once you have achieved your time goal for the juice fast you can move into the fruit portion of the fast. This phase of fasting for weight loss should be ½ the length of time of the water and juice phase combined. In other words, if you fasted drinking only water and juice for a total of 10 days then you should eat only fruit for a total of 5 days.
Use as much organic produce as you can, especially when you are juicing. Imagine pouring fungicides and herbicides into your body at an alarming rate as you juice 2 pounds of carrots to get 16 ounces of juice.
Once you complete the juice phase you can move into a raw food diet of vegetables and fruit for the same length of time as the fruit phase and you’ll continue to see rapid weight loss. You’ll also be cleansing out your lower intestines with the added fiber of the toxins that build up when you aren’t eating.
As you transition to a diet of foods that you can continue to eat and maintain your weight loss be sure to include as much raw food as you can since living food is wonderful for a living body.
Fasting for weight loss has fantastic health, spiritual and weight loss benefits. With the right motivation and support you can use fasting for weight loss to the benefit of your overall health.
Resources:
Mark’s Daily Apple: Why Fast
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fasting-weight-loss/#axzz2lJuDshf4
NPR: Two-Day Diets: How Mini Fasts Can Help Maximize Weight Loss
Fitday: 4 Dangers of Fasting for Weight Loss
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/4-dangers-of-fasting-for-weight-loss.html
Health: 16 Ways to Lose Weight Fast
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20501331,00.html
Mercola: Intermittent Fasting Finally Becoming Mainstream Health Recommendation
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/01/18/intermittent-fasting-approach.aspx
Mercola: What Science Says about Intermittent Fasting
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