Fasting for weight loss is an all new trend, gaining more and more attention every day. The concept is simple; all the dieter has to do is to cut down their daily calorie intake for a day or two. Diets such as the 5.2 diet are highly popular for helping people lose weight while still allowing them to eat their favorite foods.
How fasting for weight loss works
At first glance, fasting may sound like a painful and dangerous process. However, in reality, you don’t have to completely cut off your food intake during the fasting period. There is a wide range of selections for fasting diets and some of the more popular ones involve fasting for a day or two while eating normally on the other days. Some fasting diets will simply call for a limitation of calorie intake from your regular diet while others, such as the Hollywood diet, requires you to limit your food intake to specific liquid meals and cleansing concoctions. In addition, the vegan diet plan can also fall into the fasting diet category when adopted by those who are not vegans.
Is a vegan diet plan right for you?
If you’re thinking of fasting for weight loss, there are many options available
A fasting diet requires a commitment from you to consume specific types of foods, sometimes only on non-consecutive days of the week. Especially when a meat lover decides to try out a highly restrictive option such as the vegan diet plan, the discipline and planning ahead required is considerably high. This is why it is always important to be well aware of what you are getting into before considering fasting for weight loss. Needless to say, fasting is not recommended for people with specific health conditions. Additionally, for someone with a history of eating disorders, the risk of relapse is a major concern along with other health issues. It is recommended that a physician is always consulted before getting into a fasting diet plan.
Fasting diets vs. the 1500 calorie diet
The 1500 calorie diet, as the name suggests, requires you to maintain a diet of 1500 calories a day. Most people will definitely lose weight by going on the 1500 calorie diet and the average meal plan recommends three small meals with smaller snacks in between. Needless to say, the 1500 calorie diet will not provide instant results as it does not involve a drastic reduction in calorie intake. Instead, it will reduce your food intake to a considerably lower level, depending on your body weight and provide gradual weight loss in return.
When it comes to fasting for weight loss, the results can be much faster. If we take the Hollywood diet for example, the diet consists of a two day juice fast that removes up to 10 pounds of harmful toxins from your body. In addition, most fasting diets will only require you to stick to the highly restricted routine for a couple of days. This means that you will be free to consume what you like on other days. While popular belief states that a dieter will bounce right back to eating high-fat foods after a fast, those who have been on fasts claim that they don’t often crave fatty foods and fill up on moderate quantities of healthier food. This means that even when you are not on the fast, you will still be eating healthily and continue to lose weight.
Which diet option is for you?
Fasting for weight loss offers a wide range of options for people with just about any dietary preference. It is claimed that a short term vegan diet plan can act as a fasting diet and fetch fast results for those who consume animal protein on a daily basis. Liquid fasts and the Hollywood diet are among the most popular fasting diets. These involve the consumption of various fruit and vegetable juices or liquid meals for set periods of time to prompt weight loss and to promote faster metabolism. There are also other diet options that we will discuss in other posts.
Fasting for weight loss is not something to be afraid of. For a normal healthy adult, fasting for a couple of days is highly unlikely to be a cause of any major medical problems. What you need to keep in mind is not to engage in the practice for any longer than prescribed. With the assistance and guidance of a qualified dietician or a physician, you too can try out fasting for weight loss and see the results for yourself.
