Miscalculated intermittent fasting (MIF) can lead to muscle wasting. What's muscle wasting? Well, exactly that---wasted muscle. You waste muscles because you've fasted too much. The result is like a WW II prisoner of war that suffered cruel food deprivation. You've slimmed too much because you deprived yourself of food.
Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash.
I won't get into the details because I'm not as knowledgeable as the natural health and fasting experts I follow, so I'd get straight to the point. Once you reach your ideal weight through intermittent fasting or IF, slow down a bit, or you'd over-fast and start muscle wasting. That's what the experts say. Go back to your no-diet slim and just eat.
Intermittent fasting is doing away with sugar (or anything sweet), going low on carbs and eating less frequent. You do it for a time, say, 3 to 6 months. I did it for almost a year. You eat one meal a day and eat no sugar or sweets and go low on carbs. You will have radical weight loss and fat burning (but make sure to get approval from your medical doctor first). I started with two meals a day for maybe a week. Then I had afternoon small snacks when I started one meal a day.
Later, the small snacks had to stop, too.
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In three months the craving for sweets and carbs was gone--in fact, craving for food in general. I wasn't often hungry as I was prior to IF and skipping breakfast wasn't a big deal anymore--before, I suffered weakness, dizziness and cold sweats if I hadn't eaten anything till 11 am. I had to eat breakfast early morning and snack at 10 am to make it to lunch. 😆 Now, not anymore. Because IF also has mental health benefits. Feeling like you're dying because you hadn't had any breakfast is all in the mind.
After about 4 months I reached my ideal weight. I was down to 155 pounds from 169. My mistake was that I kept on with IF for several more months even when I already hit my ideal weight. Second mistake, I didn't workout, thinking I should take a break from physical workouts when fasting.
So my muscles disappeared! And it looked terrible! I didn't like it one bit. So I did some homework again. Thank God I found the right IF experts, like Dr. Sten Ekberg and Thomas DeLauer, among others.
So, what I did was to begin eating a little bit more again since I have burned body fats and have slimmed down a lot--but definitely, still zero sugar and low carbs. Well, sometimes it's hard to avoid sugar altogether since some products like cream for my coffee has less than 1 gram of it---0.08% per serving to be exact, says the nutrition info on the pack.
And you don't have much choice when you're out and eating at fastfoods, karenderia or restaurants. But at least you keep it to a very low minimum compared to how much you ate prior to intermittent fasting. Before, I ate 3 meals a day (with 3 cups or more of rice a day) loaded with carbs and sweets 😆.
I alternated IF and regular eating. Say, on Monday I did IF. Then Tuesday I ate 2 meals. Then Wednesday I did IF again. Then Thursday I ate 2 and a half meals. And so on. Mind you, the meals I eat are loaded with natural protein (mostly fish and chicken), some fats, and enough vegetables (for dietary fibers). I allow myself a minimum of fruits now and then.
And I also worked out physically. I did push-ups in variations, weights, squats, brisk walking and jogging, plus, of course, shadow boxing and martial arts---yup, even when I'm on a fast. Burns more calories and gives you more lean muscles.
This works for me. Doesn't mean it will automatically work for all. But one thing for sure---you must do it with your medical doctor's advice and monitoring, whether you're healthy or with health issues.
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Simple yet powerful ways to lose weight without starving yourself or sacrificing your favorite food! NO DIET SLIM is where you get plenty of slimming tips so you never have any excuse left for staying overweight.
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