Intermittent Fasting & Weight Loss

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Intermittent Fasting & Weight Loss

clock with fork and knife

Written by Dr. Sandra Miranda, ND

Do you have trouble losing weight?  Frequent sweet cravings that don’t go away even after you eat a sweet?  Constant hunger? 

Early insulin resistance can be the culprit.

Mary, is one of my wonderful patients who is now 45 years old.  She came to me a few years ago asking for help with weight loss.  She’s always been a very driven individual, often sacrificing a normal schedule to run her own, now successful business.  This led to years of irregular meal times and going hours without a proper meal, eating on the go, under stressful conditions.  Over the years, she slowly saw her weight increase.  It’s not like she didn’t exercise, she did. 

It was time for a change but after months of exercising, even with a personal trainer, she didn’t see much change.

The solution for Mary, and many others?

Have your fasting insulin (and fasting glucose) levels tested.  An elevated fasting insulin is an early indicator of just how hard your body is working to control your blood sugar levels and therefore, it is often elevated long before fasting glucose shows changes. 

After confirming an elevated fasting insulin through blood work, my patients are put on a customized supplement plan, and guided through a series of lifestyle & dietary changes.  The one thing I sometimes recommend to everyone – intermittent fasting.

A proper intermittent fast is an extremely safe, flexible way to kickstart your metabolism.  Firstly, it helps our cells to clean themselves.  To function properly, your body must constantly work towards removing damaged cells or cells with faulty parts or machinery.  While this is a naturally occurring process, high insulin and high close in the body shuts this naturally occurring process down. 

Secondly, whenever you eat a meal, your body ultimately decides if it wants to burn fat or store fat.  When your insulin levels are constantly high, it doesn’t matter what you do, your body is ALWAYS going to store it as fat, making weight loss impossible. 

What is the healthiest way to start with intermittent fasting?  The easiest way is to cut out one meal from your day.  The best meal to cut out is dinner and not breakfast specially if you have been dealing with lots of stress and are dealing with a possible burnout.  You can have your breakfast for example by 9am and then your lunch and snack by 3pm This is called 18:6. This means that you eat for just 6 hours a day and fast for 18 hours of day.  

The secret to successful intermittent fasting?  To make sure that you are eating whole food and low glycemic index foods during the hours that you are allowed to eat.  Avoid overeating on junk and sugary foods during these hours.   

For many of my patients, intermittent fasting has been to the key to their successful weight loss.  Energy improves, they’re finally able to do the things that they love to do, they feel good about the way they look and are no longer at the mercy of their cravings and constant hunger.  And of course, they have reduced the risk of obesity-related conditions, ensuring years of health to come. 

For more information or to find out if intermittent fasting is right for you, call us for a free “Meet&Greet” 905-239-3900. We are happy to help!

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