Calories that you add to the body are often your biggest enemy when you are trying to control your body weight. The more you can control calories that go into your body, better control you have on body weight. This principle works in dieting that is widely practiced for weight reduction and weight control. When you are on a diet, the nutritionist works out a diet plan for you that you must strictly follow. The plan consists of eating specific foods low in calories but high in nutritional value in specified quantities at specified times.
Dieting controls the types of foods and quantities but does not restrict the routine of eating. You follow the normal routine of having three square meals a day. But dieting is not the only way to reduce calorie intake. Fasting too gives good results in weight reduction by following the same principle of calorie restriction done differently. Read on to know more about how fasting fares in comparison to dieting.
The Diet Regime
Now let us look closer at the method of dieting and its effects on the body. You follow a normal diet but select foods that supply fewer calories just sufficient for the body to maintain its normal activities and growth. Since no extra calories are available the chances of fat accumulation on the body is minimum, and this helps to keep the body weight under control. Since there is no scope of the creation of extra fat, there is no question of gaining weight. However, the lure of losing more weight can drive you towards further reducing food quantity. As a result, the metabolic rate of your body decreases and not only you lose fat but also muscle tissues. This can affect the overall health and make you weak.
Fasting for Weight Reduction
With an eye on weight reduction, another method that helps to restrict calorie intake is to take recourse to fasting. The idea of fasting is to delay the interval of food intake without restricting the type of foods, its quantity, and available calories. The concept is that the longer you can prevent calories from entering your body higher is the chances of weight reduction. Unlike dieting, intermittent fasting increases the metabolic rate as well as the production of growth hormones while retaining muscle tissue but consume fat that brings down the body weight. Once your body gets used to fasting, it relies more on consuming fat for supplying energy to the body and this accelerates weight reduction.
You Live Longer
Besides weight reduction, more longevity is another 16 hour fast benefit. When fasting, the body is capable of However, redundant, damaged and old cells more efficiently than when the stomach is full. Since you are starving intermittently, the body does not feel stressed from starving. The result is that you enjoy a longer life.
Think carefully before selecting the right method of controlling your food habits for weight reduction because it should not happen that you achieve the goal at the expense of your health.
I find fasting hard on my body. If I don’t eat it feels that I get shaky and lightheaded so I find trying to eat healthy and staying away from sugar especially is most helpful to me. And walking several times a week.
I never knew that fasting was so beneficial I will have to try it. Thank you for all the great information I sure could lose a few pounds sure get harder the older I get.
I have always thought that weight control is more a lifestyle choice than a diet. Eating in moderation I guess more than anything.
I know people who fast, and it just seems to mess them up and some cant fast, they make up for it in other times.
I try and eat higher protein now, knowing my muscle mass is declining naturally and do weight bearing exercise as much as possible.
I choose ‘none of the above’. I do not need to lose weight and try to eat well.