What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?
Intermittent fasting (IF) involves cycling between periods of fasting and eating, and is an extremely popular for weight loss. Intermittent fasting is not a diet, it is a pattern of eating where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. There are many variations of intermittent fasting, and different people choose what works for them. The most common approach is 16/8 method. In 16/8 intermittent fasting you will eat all your meals in an 8 hour window, and then fast for 16 hours, every day. When you fast, it is entirely up to you. You can fast between 8pm and 12pm or 6pm and 10am.
You can change your eating and fasting window to suit your work and training time.
Benefits of intermittent fasting
According to research, intermittent fasting, in addition to weight loss and fat loss has multiple health benefits, such as better insulin sensitivity and improved cholesterol levels.
How to start intermittent fasting?
Fasting means consuming zero calories. While fasting, you can drink water, black coffee (limit to 2 per day) and plain green tea.
The easiest way is to introduce intermittent fasting gradually. Start off by not eating anything between 8pm and 8am. This will give you a 12 hour overnight fast. Then, week later increase the fasting window to 13 hours.
Exercise within or right before your feeding window, and don’t leave longer than two hours after your training without eating anything.
What happens to your body during intermittentt fasting?
Because levels of norepinephrine hormone increase during a fast, short term fasting can increase your metabolic rate.
When you fast, your insulin levels drop significantly, and that facilitate fat burning. Also, human growth hormone (HGH) may increase, and higher levels of human growth hormone facilitate not only fat burning, but also muscle growth.
Milena Kaler is a is a qualified London Nutritionist, sports nutrition, stubborn weight loss, digestive health, and autoimmune disease nutrition specialist. She is trained in the principles of Functional Medicine and practices from her clinic in Central London, Harley Street, as well as providing online consultations.
Milena has helped thousands of people to lose weight and keep it off. Scientific and holistic in approach Milena looks at all aspects of a client’s health. She embraces a systems-oriented approach aiming to get to the root cause of health and weight issues instead of simply focusing on the symptoms.
Milena’s expertise has been sought by celebrities, and she has been featured as a nutrition expert in reputable magazines including Women’s Health, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Women’s Fitness, Peak Brain Training, and Metro.
As a full member of the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT), and the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), the only register for Nutritional Therapy recognised by the government and NHS, Milena is committed to upholding their strict Code of Ethics. Additionally, Milena is a member of the Primary Care Society for Gastroenterology (PCSG).
Milena sees patients with chronic health conditions, as well as clients looking for support to optimise their health. Some of the areas Milena can help with include: weight loss, digestive, hormonal, autoimmune disease, menopause, and skin health.
Milena sees every person as an individual with different problems and different goals. She takes time to listen to her clients’ specific concerns to develop customised nutrition and lifestyle plans, based on laboratory test results. Having overcome her own chronic health and weight loss issues, Milena really understands how it is to feel overwhelmed by poor health and can relate to her clients when they first come to see her.
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