When You Want To Lose Weight Fast

Working on weight loss? Then you probably want results — fast.

Let me save you some time: skip the fad diets. Their results don’t last. And you have healthier options you can start on — today!

You can safely lose 3 or more pounds a week at home with a healthy diet and lots of exercise, says weight loss counselor Katherine Tallmadge, RD.

I will warn you that this might not work for everyone. And I’ll add that if your under a doctor's care consult them first before changing your diet or doing lots of exercise.

How to Lose Weight Fast

If you burn 500 more calories than you eat every day for a week, you should lose about 1-2 pounds

If you want to lose weight faster, you’ll need to eat less and exercise more.

For instance, if you take in 1,050 to 1,200 calories a day, and exercise for one hour per day, you could lose 3-5 pounds in the first week, or more if you weigh more than 250 pounds. It’s very important not to cut calories any further — that’s dangerous.

Limiting salt and starches may also mean losing more weight at first — but that’s mostly fluids, not fat.

“When you reduce sodium and cut starches, you reduce fluids and fluid retention, which can result in up to 5 pounds of fluid loss when you get started,” says Michael Dansinger, MD, of NBC’s The Biggest Loser show.

Diets for Fast Weight Loss

Dansinger recommends eating a diet that minimizes starches, added sugars, and animal fat from meat and dairy foods. For rapid weight loss, he recommends focusing on fruits, veggies, egg whites, soy products, skinless poultry breasts, fish, shellfish, nonfat dairy foods, and 95% lean meat.

Here are more tips from Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, author of The Flexitarian Diet :

Eat vegetables to help you feel full.
Drink plenty of water.
Get tempting foods out of your home.
Stay busy — you don’t want to eat just because you’re bored.
Eat only from a plate, while seated at a table. No grazing in front of the ‘fridge.
Don’t skip meals.
Keeping a food journal — writing down everything you eat — can also help you stay on track.

“Even if you write it down on a napkin and end up throwing it away, the act of writing it down is about being accountable to yourself and is a very effective tool for weight loss,” says Bonnie Taub Dix, MA, RD, author of "Read It Before You Eat It".

Besides jotting down what you ate, and when, you might also want to note how you were feeling right before you ate it. Were you angry, sad, or bored? We often focus so much on foods and calories, but our emotions are a huge part of our eating habits.

If you see a persistent pattern in your emotional eating, please consider talking to a counselor about it. They can be a big help in finding other ways to handle your feelings.

You have to take weight loss seriously if you’re going to make it work for you.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone.

I write about weight loss and diets and how to lose fat. I have two sites on blogger:

idropped40pounds.blogspot.com and howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com

Thank You for stopping by and remember to sign up for emails and every time I post you'll get it sent to your inbox.

I also write ebooks and you can find my latest in any of the online bookstores.

Big Diet Mistakes

Gut-Busting Diet Mistakes

Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD
You’re working to slim down, but your belly hasn’t budged much yet. This post will explain the mistakes you could be making.

Shifting these habits could make all the difference. Losing the extra belly fat can lower your odds of getting heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.

You may be confident that you can make up for it in the gym but think twice.

“There’s a myth about the role of exercise in weight loss,” says Brett White, MD, a family medicine physician in Newport Beach, CA. “Exercise is critical for [heart] health. But realistically, losing weight starts with what we put in our mouths.”

San Francisco-based nutritionist Manuel Villacorta, RD, founder of the weight management website EatingFree.com, sees many men in their 40s and older who have discovered the shortcomings of exercise in their weight loss efforts.

“It’s what worked before,” Villacorta says, “but now they’re finding that it doesn’t have the same effect.”

Of course, you need to be active to lose weight and keep it off. Just don’t count on exercise alone to cover your calories — especially when you’re packing away too much too often.

2. Not Planning Your Meals — or Skipping Them Altogether

It’s not just about what you eat. When you eat also matters.

Eating on the run or at odd hours, you may be throwing off the brain signals that tell you when you’re hungry and when you’re satisfied. And that might lead to eating more than you should.

Skipping meals to slim down is also a bad idea.

When you put off eating, your metabolism slows down, and your body begins to store fat. “Anything that affects the metabolic rate will contribute to fat buildup,” Villacorta says. The bulk of that fat, he adds, gets stored in your midsection.

Your metabolism slows naturally as you age, Villacorta says, but you can keep it as active as possible by eating regularly. That means breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with healthy snacks in between.

Bonus: You’re less likely to overdo it at your next meal if you don’t let yourself get too hungry in the first place. “Excessive hunger is often followed by gorging,” White says.

3. Downing Man-Sized Meals

Controlling portion size is key to controlling the size of your gut.

Your three meals, Villacorta says, should be no more than 700 calories each. A cup of steel-cut oats with a cup of blueberries and a tablespoon of walnuts makes a great power breakfast.

Lunch and dinner should be 4 to 5 ounces of lean meat or omega-3-rich fish, such as salmon, for protein, with veggies and whole grain, like quinoa or brown rice. If you’re a vegetarian, make sure to include a plant-based source of lean protein in each meal.

For your midmorning and midafternoon snacks, skip the chips and cookies. Instead, eat an apple and a cup of nonfat Greek yogurt.

In White’s experience, the healthier the food you eat, the more you can allow yourself.

“People think that dieting means eating less; they envision hunger,” he says. “But if you move from steak and potatoes to fruits and vegetables, you can actually eat more.”

If you eat processed foods, check the label. They may be higher in fat and sugar than you think.

4. Eating Because You’re Stressed

When you’re feeling anxious, you’re more likely to turn to sweet, fatty foods like candy and cookies.

So if you want to flatten your belly, you have to take steps to control your stress levels.

For his own stress, Villacorta follows his therapist’s recommendation and does some simple relaxation exercises. Twice a day, he spends a few minutes taking deep breaths.

“I started doing that, and it was amazing,” he says. “Stress is going to be there,” Villacorta says, “but you can still learn to be healthy.”

5. Overlooking Liquid Calories

Do you know how many calories are in that drink?

Check the label. Or have a glass of water or tea. And if you drink milk, opt for skim or low-fat. You’re still getting the calcium and vitamin D you need, but without the added calories.

Also, take it easy with alcohol. It’s got calories; and when you drink and loosen up, you may eat more than you would if you were sober.

Calories from liquids may account for half of a person’s daily calorie intake.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

 

Eat The Right Foods To Lose Weight

Nutrition and weight loss go hand-in-hand, and it pretty much comes down to chemistry and math. Intake too much energy (calories), weight is gained while creating a caloric deficit stimulates weight loss. Everyone seems to be on the search for something quick and easy. Very Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs) are popular but disregard possible health risks. Seems like a risky high-dollar cost to shed unwanted pounds. I am a believer in eating “real” quality food to maintain a fit physique and at a cost-saving. To start a healthy weight loss journey, review what you’re eating now in order to make changes promoting healthy weight loss which is no more than one to three pounds per week.

Time for a Lifestyle Change
Losing weight is a pretty straightforward process. It will require a nutrition lifestyle change together with regular exercise for the best overall results. Quality healthy food choices are important. If you’re eating processed foods, dining out, drinking alcohol and soda regularly, an immediate revision to those choices will need to happen. Start by keeping a food journal, write down what you’re eating, and cut out unhealthy meals. Studies show people who maintain a consistent food journal have the best weight loss success. The journal allows for accountability. You will learn and be able to repeat personal best weight loss weeks simply by reviewing what has been recorded. A Food Journal is your way to find out why you are not losing weight. If you eat the right foods to lose weight, the weight will come off. If you’re only on a part-time diet and still eating the same foods you did before only in smaller amounts you probably won’t see any results.

The Right Foods and Right Portions
Eating healthy should be enjoyable, taste fabulous, and never be a burden. Essential nutrients for weight loss include lean proteins, fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats. Understanding portion size is what can fit in the palm of your hand further simplifies eating healthy without the need to continuously count calories. Normal hunger occurs every two to three hours so many people take advantage of nutrient timing. Eating several small meals per day keeps our metabolism boosted, promotes satiety, and eliminates urges to binge on guilt-laden food. Keeping the focus on consuming healthy foods will be the success in adopting a healthy lifestyle and reaching your goal weight.

Enjoy a Variety of Healthy Foods

Fortunately, there is a wide variety of healthy foods to satisfy the pickiest eater for weight loss and an overall healthy lifestyle. Check out the examples of healthy foods below which can also be used as a ready-made grocery list:

Best Proteins

Lean Proteins ( You’ll notice no red meat on the list)

Chicken Breast (boneless/skinless) – 3.5oz, 30g

Turkey – 7g protein per ounce

Tuna – 6oz, 40

Salmon – 3.5oz, 27g

Halibut – 4oz, 30g

Trout – 4oz, 28g

Sardines – 4oz, 10g

Eggs (high in EFA) – 1 large, 7g

Milk – 1 cup, 8g (1% or skim, if tolerated)

Cottage Cheese – 1/2 cup, 15g

Almonds 8g, Peanuts 9g, Cashews 5g – 1/4 cup

Peanut Butter – 2tbsp, 8g

Kefir – 14g per cup

Yogurt – 8-12g per cup

Tofu – ½ cup, 10g

 

Top Antioxidants

Blueberries – at least a fistful a day

All rich colored berries (strawberries/blackberries/raspberries/cranberries/blueberries)

Sweet potatoes – at least ½ cup serving daily

Broccoli – eat ½ cup raw or 1 cup cooked daily

Tomatoes – One medium

Acai – look for quality juice

Beans – Eat two 1/2 cup servings a day of cooked or canned beans

Oats (steel-cut is the best) – Eat at least three servings of whole grains per day. A serving equals one cup cooked oatmeal, 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats, or 1/4 cup steel-cut oats

Spinach – one cup cooked spinach or leafy green vegetable per day

Dark chocolate – Eat a one-ounce serving daily

Red wine or Concord grape juice 4oz – 1 glass daily

Green and white tea – up to 4 cups daily

 

Eat Healthy Fats

Olive

Extra virgin olive oil

Wild salmon (fresh, frozen, and canned)

Ground flaxseeds

Flaxseed oil

Walnuts

Herring

Sardines

Sablefish

Anchovies

Farmed oysters 

You don't have to eat everything from all three categories, but pick foods from all categories and eat them every day. 

Healthy Eating

In order to lose weight being consistent with healthy food intake will be necessary. There is no such thing as perfection and only progress. Take one day at a time and know there will be slip-ups. If you do get off track, let it go and make a better choice with your next meal. Food guilt only drags us down and prevents moving in a positive direction. Using the palm as your portion size, and eating every two to three hours is a great beginning to reaching your goal weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

 

Losing Weight Isn't Like Maintaining

You can get discouraged when you’re trying to lose weight and you see thin and fit people eating more than you and you still can’t lose weight. Losing weight requires you to eat fewer calories than your body burns. This is the complicated part of losing weight. “How many calories does my body burn in one day?”  Most people will get this question wrong.

Everyone’s different, women are different from men and your size also matters. The more body fat you have the fewer calories you burn. That’s a general statement, so I’ll explain, let’s take two men or two women that weigh the same, one of the two will have more body fat, the one with more fat will burn calories slower. So, what’s the difference in how I burn calories? Well, if you burn calories slower than your friend, you will burn fewer calories per day. This means you have to eat fewer calories per day or you’ll gain more fat.

Maybe your friend is more physical than you. You work at a desk all day and your friend works in a warehouse and stays all day. Even though both jobs are not physically demanding the one that stands all day burns many more calories. Yes, but I work out after work, so doesn’t that makeup for sitting all day? Not really, your work out even if it is intense, will only burn about 300 calories. Actually, most people who work out for one hour will burn fewer than 300 calories.

Losing weight is harder than just cutting out some calories. The misconception is that to lose weight you have to starve yourself. Not true, you do have to stop eating the food you’re eating and starting eating fresh, healthy foods. You will get plenty to eat, but you need to start eating more vegetables, fruit, and lean protein. A good example and the foods you should be eating would be the Dash Diet. You can get information on this diet on the internet. 

The food pyramid will give you a good example of the choices of food you have.

To lower your blood pressure and lose weight on the DASH diet, you should eat:

Grains (6-8 servings per day) Healthy whole grains help you to feel full so that you eat less and lose weight. Whole-grain foods include oatmeal, whole-grain cereal or pasta, or brown rice.
Vegetables: (4-5 servings per day) Veggies are naturally low in calories and provide your body with important vitamins and minerals. Many fresh vegetables are also high in fiber.
Fruit: (4-5 servings per day) Fresh fruit is a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth without adding too many calories to your daily diet. Add nutrient-rich berries to your whole-grain cereal or carry an apple or banana with you to eat as a snack.
Low-fat dairy (2-3 servings per day) Choose low-fat or fat-free milk products while you’re on the DASH diet. A cup of skim milk is a single serving of dairy.
Lean meat, fish, or poultry (6 servings or less per day) Protein is an important part of the DASH eating plan. Lean meats like chicken provide a healthy dose of protein. But keep in mind that a single serving of meat or poultry is just 3 ounces. DASH dieters can also get protein from eggs, fish, or lean meat.
Nuts, legumes, seeds (4-5 servings per week) Nuts, like almonds or walnuts, can make a great snack. But some processed nut and seed products are high in salt. So choose these snacks wisely and eat just a single serving at snack time.
Fats and oils (2-3 servings per day) A single serving of fat is just a single tablespoon of oil or margarine or 2 tablespoons of salad dressing. Smart DASH dieters measure their fats to make sure that they are not eating too much.
Sweets and sugars (less than 5 per week) If you add sugar to your coffee or jam to your toast, these count as sugars on the DASH diet. Try to reduce the sugar in your diet when you’re on the DASH diet.

Talk to your doctor before you try any new diet plan, but this plan is a way of life and should be done in combination with increased exercise like more walking.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

 

What Is HIIT?

I found this post on another website, BriRaeFit.wordpress.com. This lady is fun to follow. She always has something interesting to say and this subject, HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is the best way I found to lose body fat. I tried lots of different routines but HIIT along with a low-fat diet helped me lose the last of my fat. And your doctor will be happy you’re getting in the cardio workout doctors want.

Now HIIT isn’t for everyone. But to encourage you to try, Run, Walk is not the only way to do this workout. I did this same routine on a stationary bike. But you do have to be able to get your heart rate elevated. If you’re not used to a workout of any kind. You might check with your doctor and ask what would be your target heart rate for workouts. If you’re not used to competing in sports or even speed-walking when you first start training it’s easy to get your heart rate over 200 BPM. That’s very dangerous. Some people have trouble walking up a couple flights of stairs. For these people, I’d encourage them to use a stationary bike to build up stamina before they started a walking routine. If you can’t start by doing a 20-minute workout, you’re just wasting time. Read the following blog to see the benefits.

HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training, is a great cardio variation to get your heart elevated and burn fat. HIIT workouts have been proven to burn 9 times as much fat as regular cardio, if done properly & if the exerciser really pushes to their maximum levels of effort. Intervals can be anywhere between 30 seconds to 5 minutes and you should not be able to pass the talk test when finished for optimal results. Rest periods can be between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. The entire workout is usually 15 – 45 minutes.

What is it?

Short periods of high intensity (~45 seconds) like a run, walk routine.

Longer period of moderate intensity (~90 seconds)

Short Rest Period (Optional ~30 seconds)

(Just as an example)

Keeping rest periods short is the goal of this type of workout. You want to still be winded when starting the next interval for maximum results. This engages the physiological stages of energy usage and burns optimal fat. Insanity is a popular HIIT workout program and if you’ve ever completed one workout you know you’ll be dripping sweat by the end.

Benefits

Increased performance and cardiovascular health – HIIT aids in training your maximal oxygen consumption levels therefore by conditioning your body to take in more oxygen when performing more exercise you are increasing your cardiovascular ability to perform cardio exercises for a longer duration of time. Increased cardiovascular performance increases overall performance because you can train longer without becoming winded.

Less fatigue due to lower blood lactate levels. If you are doing a HIIT run, meaning sprinting for a time and walking for a shorter time, then in 15 minutes you will go the same distance as you would at jogging at a stable state. However, because of the intervals, you are burning more calories from your internal systems working to catch up. This allows time for your pumping blood to clear lactate, the stuff that makes you sore, faster than stable jogging, which results in less muscle fatigue.

Larger oxygen deficiency throughout your workout which results in more metabolic energy used. Metabolic energy is either carbohydrates or fat, to keep it simple. Therefore once your body runs out of carbs energy (body’s preferred energy source) your energy will start to come from stored fat. Therefore HIIT workouts get you to your peak metabolic rate in the fat burning stage faster and keeps you there longer, than regular stable cardio.

Keeps metabolism boosted throughout the rest of the day! Oxygen consumption remains high after you complete a HIIT workout because you perform at the highest levels of oxygen consumption repeatedly, therefore oxygen consumption levels need to stay elevated until muscles are fully oxygenated. This increased EPOC (excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption) yields a faster metabolism long after your workout. To get optimal results, HIIT workouts are great in the morning so you burn more calories throughout the day!

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

 

Losing Weight Is Easier Than You Think

 Yes, it does take willpower, the willpower to make permanent changes. That was always my problem. I'd cut my calories for a few weeks, and I would lose 5 or 10 pounds, but then I'd get off the nutritional diet and return to my old way of eating and the weight would come back. Finally, I found the right way to eat, and the weight stayed off.

I know this might look complicated but it's quite simple. The bottom section is the foods you can eat every day. The middle section is foods you can eat once a week, and the very top is meat and it's recommended that you only eat red meat once a month. Red Meat takes the longest to digest, up to 3 days. For seniors even longer. This food pyramid gives you lots of food choices. The activity part is mainly walking, the only other I usually do is stretching. I walk about one hour extra 5 days a week. 

By sticking to this diet plan you can stop counting calories. Wine or clear alcohol like Gin, vodka, or tequila are good choices. Drink alcohol cold and only add water if necessary. When drinking wine use dry wine.

They say you can eat all you would, after a couple weeks you will cut back on your own. This food is filling and nutritious. Don't get impatient, your body will take a week or more to get used to the new diet.

Most of the celebrity diets are starvation diets. You drop the pounds fast but if start to eat the pounds go back on. I was on one 0f those diets when I wrestled in college. I had to drop 20 pounds in a couple of weeks. I could eat one meal a day 3 oz. of red meat, a cup of broccoli, and a glass of water. That's it all day. I made weight but I was weak. I think I lost that match.

Lose weight the right away and it won't come back. I know it's tuff when you eat out with family or friends. I look over the food pyramid before I go out and decided before I leave what I'm going to order.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

 

Intermediate Fasting

From personal experience, that never worked for me. I could never give up eating the foods that made me gain weight. When I wasn’t dieting I’d go back to the same foods like pizza and burgers. You can’t eat pizza and burgers or any of the other high-calorie foods half the time and salads half the time and expect to lose weight.

Among the many strategies for losing weight and aging well – following a low-carb diet, eliminating gluten, getting more exercise – there’s one that’s consistently recommended by researchers: calorie restriction. When you take in fewer calories than you require to maintain, your current body weight, you’ll lose weight. So what does that mean and how much is fewer? First, it doesn’t mean you have to cut the quantity, It means you have to eat foods that have fewer calories. Whole foods have fewer calories than processed foods. So, which ones are processed? I’m simplifying this because I have reads that are confused about what’s whole and what’s processed.

Whole foods are the ones you buy in the produce section of the grocery. They have not been package, nothing has been added, they have never been frozen, they are just the way they can from the farm. Fish is easy to buy fresh, not farm-raised or frozen. Other meats are a little harder to buy fresh, but it’s still possible if you can find a butcher. Try to buy beef that is fresh cut from the butcher, not packaged or frozen.

The big challenge is how to sustain the calorie deficit long enough to see significant results. And remember it only works when you eat food that’s high in nutrients. you can’t just cut back on the chicken wings or use a sauce with fewer calories and think you can lose weight.

A relatively new strategy called intermittent fasting may offer a manageable way of eating less because you’re only required to diet some of the time. Fans say it’s a plan that you can stick with over months, even years. I don’t believe this plan can work because you’ll never lose your taste for greasy fried food, salt, sugar, and the chemical additives in processed food.

A food craving is your body's way of telling you that it needs more nutrition. Eating a bowl of ice cream only fills you up and doesn’t give you any nutrition so in a couple of hours you get more cravings. Humans mistake cravings for hunger pain and just eat more stuff.

Read more: How obesity can affect your liver
What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting means severely restricting your food intake on one, two or more days of the week and eating normally the rest of the time. The so-called “fast days” aren’t total fasts; rather, you take in about a quarter of your normal calories. For women, that represents about 500 calories, for men, about 600 calories. It’s often referred to as a 5:2 diet, with five normal days and two fasting days; other versions are called 4:3, 6:1, alternate-day fasting (ADF), or the “every-other-day” diet plan.

A 2012 BBC documentary, Eat, Fast and Live Longer, is often credited with bringing intermittent fasting into the mainstream, but it’s been researched longer than that for its potential benefit in reducing breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and cognitive decline.

In fact, calorie restriction for longevity has been researched since the 1930s and is so far the only method proven to improve longevity, at least in lab animals.

A Better Kind of Weight Loss

Another promising finding is that intermittent fasting appears to yield the loss of less lean muscle when compared to conventional daily dieting. In a 2011 review, 90% of the weight lost through intermittent fasting was fat; compared with only 75% in daily dieting.

Maintaining lean muscle mass while dieting offers a metabolic advantage for maintaining weight loss because muscle burns more energy than fat even at rest.

Does it Reduce Belly Fat?

Belly fat, aka visceral fat, is the spare tire that surrounds your internal organs, leading to a greater risk of diabetes and heart disease. A 2011 review found that both traditional dieting and intermittent fasting reduce similar amounts of belly fat.

Read more: How do I know which kind of belly fat I have?
Who Shouldn’t Try Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is not appropriate for Kids and teenagers or pregnant women.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.