While fasting used to be mainly practiced for religious purposes, it’s now become a popular tool for those looking to achieve weight loss success. Intermittent fasting (IF), which is often associated with the ketogenic diet, focuses on cycles between periods of eating and fasting.
What does it involve?
Unlike some diet plans, intermittent fasting isn’t a one size fits all package. In fact, there’s various forms you can practice.
The 16/8 Method: the most popular type of IF, where you restrict your eating to an 8-hour period (example: noon – 8PM), then fast for the remainder 16 hours in between.
The 5:2 Diet: involves limiting your intake to 500-600 calories for two non-consecutive days of the week, then eating normally five remaining days.
Eat-Stop-Eat: is where you fast for 24 hours once or twice a week.
Does it work?
While intermittent fasting and its effectiveness is still under preliminary research, we’ve met HealthyWager Challenge winners who attribute their weight loss success to it.
Holly M. found intermittent fasting to be a successful tool in helping her lose weight. Upon signing up for HealthyWage to motivate her to further her weight loss efforts, she initially aimed to lose 45 pounds in 6 months. She crushed her goal, losing 82 pounds and won $3,558!
“Intermittent fasting took a lot of pressure off about meal prep,” states Holly, “I kept my diet simple and clean because I have this small window where I’m nourishing my body and I want it to be healthy, clean food.”
Even after winning her weight loss challenge, Holly continues to practice intermittent fasting due to the continued positive effects she’s experienced, and the ability to easily incorporate it into her busy schedule.
In addition to Holly, HealthyWager Challenge winner Catherine J. also found success with intermittent fasting. Catherine bet $100 a month that she would lose 60 pounds in 10 months. When her final weigh-in confirmed she not only met but exceeded her goal with a total weight loss of 61 pounds, Catherine won $2,884!
“I travel a ton [for work], I’m stress eater, and I love sugar. What really helped me with traveling was intermittent fasting. If I found myself derailing, I’d go back to “I’m not going to lose $1,000.”
Determined not to backslide again, Catherine did her research and laid out how she was going to lose weight once and for all. “I always said I wasn’t going to diet again, so this counting calories and intermittent fasting, along with HealthyWage was right up my ally. I wanted to lose weight my way, the healthy way.”
The scoop
While many have found intermittent fasting to be an effective practice in achieving weight loss success, it’s recommended you research and consult with your physician (if needed) before implementing any drastic change into your diet.