Diet To Beat The Quarantine Calories
By- Lifestyle Food
Weight gain in quarantine is becoming a collateral pandemic. Working from home makes the kitchen reachable and food is the biggest addiction but a little motivation and careful planning can help to reduce pounds without moving a toe! Yes, you read it right!!
Corona pandemic has confined us to our homes and many are working from home, this arrangement has exposed us to newer problems, and weight gain due to continuous snacking is topping the lists. This instant and repetitive snacking is usually related to “ bored eating” or it is a kind of “flight mechanism” and most of us are struggling with weight-related issues or other digestive complications. And this is posing a serious issue for our world which is already fighting with COVID 19, to look after our loved ones we must stay fit as a fiddle. To bring down the weighing scales intermittent fasting has surfaced as a popular and workable solution.
Intermittent fasting -Tried and test by the “Caveman”
Intermittent means which happens at irregular intervals and likewise intermittent fasting has no standard duration, as it is merely the absence of eating. Intermittent fasting is an ancient secret of health practiced throughout human history. Anytime that you are not eating, you are intermittently fasting like sleeping after dinner and not eating till breakfast is intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting is normal and humans have evolved to fast for shorter periods – hours or days – without detrimental health consequences. Body fat is merely food energy that has been stored away. When the body is deprived of food it simply “eats” its fat for energy, It is essentially an eating pattern that includes both eating and fasting phases. Intermittent fasting benefits include weight loss, improved digestion, and a much-needed detox from junk food and binge drinking.
Feast and famine’
The most commonly followed pattern is one where you eat early dinners, around 7 or 8 pm, and then have your next meal in a gap of 10, 12, 14, or 16 hours, keep the fasting period as per your endurance to avoid starving yourself. Another common way of intermittent fasting diet plan is the 16/8 method in which you are allowed to eat for 8 hours a day and you need to fast for 16 hours. For weight loss on intermittent fasting, one can also opt for the 5:2 method. It involves fasting with minimal calories for 2 days of fasting and following a normal eating pattern for the rest of the 5 days. The meals during the eating phase in intermittent fasting must include all major food groups like fats, carbs, protein, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids with ample amounts of water.
”Intermittent fasting is more of a psychological process rather than physical activity. Staying focused will go a long way.”
Broad-spectrum benefits
- Intermittent fasting benefits include weight loss, body detoxification, and increase in muscle mass but to achieve quicker and effective results, workouts are important.
- Healthy eating becomes simpler with this style of eating and its tests will power.
- Eating early dinners helps your body come in sync with circadian rhythm, which improves the sleep.
Address your worries
- Don’t binge eat after the fasting period and don’t try snacking in the fasting period, use only beverages like tea, coffee, and skimmed milk.
- Don’t let intermittent fasting prevent you from enjoying your life, stop worrying about being perfect, and cherish family time, regardless of progress towards the weight and fitness goals.
- Intermittent fasting may have some health benefits, including weight loss, but may not be suitable for pregnant women, lactating mothers, diabetic patients and people with other physical ailments may be at risk from fasting and should consult a doctor before trying any program.
- Do not rely too much on caffeine In most cases, intermittent fasting allows caffeine. This stimulant can keep you going for hours without feeling the need to eat but over time, caffeine can make you an insomniac which will take a toll on your metabolism.
”The body will take time to adapt to the new lifestyle and it may detox itself in the beginning. Keeping yourself hydrated will help you with all the digestive troubles in the honeymoon period.”
A readymade strategy
1.Keep personal goals
Typically, a person who starts intermittent fasting has a goal in mind which can be to lose weight, improve overall health, or improve metabolic health. Stick to those goals and incorporate other periphery lifestyle changes to achieve them.
2.Fit all of your macros into feeding window
A person interested in losing or gaining weight may find meal planning helpful, it must include calorie intake and incorporating proper nutrients into the diet plus it ensures that the meals have all necessary food components in the diet. it is essential to consider the nutritional value of the food, and a person should aim to consume nutrient-dense food, or food with a high number of nutrients per calorie to feel fuller during the fasting period.
3. It’s a pattern of eating
Intermittent fasting is simply another tool to reduce calorie intake, and binge eating or picking junk food after the fast will have adverse effects on the body. This may result in loss of muscle mass, to stay energetic, it’s important to eat a balanced diet.
4.Training in the fasting state
For healthy individuals, intermittent fasting should not affect their ability to exercise except during the period when the body is adjusting to the new eating schedule. Those worried about losing muscle while fasting should be sure to consume enough protein during eating periods and participate in resistance training regularly. Remember to drink plenty of electrolytes.
5. Hunger pangs may pop up
This eating pattern is all about self-control. It is not unlikely to feel hungry, tired, and irritated in the beginning. Learn to distract the mind and remind yourself that this is an adaptive period and the body will take time to adjust
It’s simply not feasible for many of us to restrict food entirely for set periods to achieve better health so, in the beginning, it’s best to try it by starting small fasts and keep it as simple as possible.
