Intermittent Fasting 101 – Weight Loss Plateau Help!

(upbeat music) – Hey, Munchies. Welcome if you're new. I'm Alyssia. I know a lot of you are
focusing on weight loss goals so I thought it would be an
appropriate time to talk about weight loss plateaus and specifically a highly requested topic:
intermittent fasting. So first of all, what's a plateau? When we go on a journey to lose weight, we typically make some changes
in our diet and lifestyle. The types of foods we eat,
the amount of food we eat, and maybe the type and amount of exercise we participate in too. At first we may see some
immediate results in terms of weight loss and it's exciting. But after awhile, our bodies
can get used to these changes and we stop seeing results.

AKA, we may have hit
a weight loss plateau. Now this can be frustrating
but a plateau is pretty normal on a weight loss journey. Our bodies are smart and they adapt. If we start feeding our bodies less food, it learns how to survive on less. And then although you started eating less than your body needed, that new intake can become
what your body now needs.

But we can't just eat less,
and less, and less forever or exercise more, and more, and more. Now it's important to know
that what seems like a plateau might actually mean a
few different things. One, you haven't committed
to your weight loss plan as well as you could. A piece of chocolate here,
an extra handful or two, or three of nuts there, and we end up eating more than we think. We have to be honest with ourselves. Is this really a plateau
or have we gotten too lax with our diet and exercise plan? Two, you may be at your ideal weight. That number is gonna vary by the person but sometimes we set weight
loss goals that aren't realistic or necessarily healthy for our bodies. Our bodies will naturally try
to maintain a certain weight where it's most comfortable, and reducing that further
can result in regaining the weight later on.

And three, other health factors might be preventing weight loss. Such as thyroid problems
or other health conditions. Medications that you take, smoking habits, pregnancy, or menopause. Or it could just be you lost
all the weight you're going to on that particular plan and
now it's time to reassess and consider a new strategy. That is why it's important
to switch things up. So like I said, our bodies
get used to what we do. Over time, especially when
we've tried many different diets or yo yo'd between them,
we can end up in homeostasis. So pretty much the body establishes a norm and then tries to maintain it. We eat less, our body
adjusts to that new norm, and then we have to take
some action to shake up that new norm again if we
wanna see further progress. So, homeostasis can lead
to a weight loss plateau but remember that not
all plateaus are a result of homeostasis as we discussed earlier.

There are a few ways
to overcome a plateau. It could be just adjusting calorie intake. But it doesn't have to be. Remember, we don't want to
cut our calories too low. We need that fuel to
function and eating too few calories consistently can
actually slow down our metabolism. You can also try switching
up your macronutrient ratio or alternating between
different workout routines.

We're all different and it
takes some trial and error for each of us to find what works for us. But one specific way that could be helpful to overcome a weight loss
plateau and the main purpose behind this video is
intermittent fasting or IF. Intermittent fasting is
essentially an eating pattern that cycles between periods
of fasting and eating. Now this is not a diet. It's not about which foods
you eat but when you eat them.

Someone who is intermittent
fasting is choosing to not eat on purpose for a period of time. They consume calories during
a specific window of the day and choose to not eat for
a larger window of time. There are many different
approaches, but generally the fasting period can last
between 16 and 48 hours. And remember, fasting
means not eating anything. You can have beverages that
don't affect blood sugar like water, coffee, tea,
and non-caloric beverages but fasting will not work
if we're consuming food and calories even if it's healthy. The idea is you're not eating anything. But that doesn't mean you
have to go two full days without eating to incorporate
this into your lifestyle. 16 hours really isn't that long. If you finish dinner by 6:00
p.m. and then don't eat again until 10:00 a.m. the next
day, that is 16 hours. So your window of eating would
be 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and fasting would be
6:00 p.m.

To 10:00 a.m. It doesn't have to be more
extreme than that for people to see results. Another approach is the 5:2 diet. You fast two days per week
eating only 500 to 600 calories and then eat a normal amount of calories on the other five days. You can also alternate between
eating normally one day and then fasting for the next. Now I definitely encourage
you to do your own research if you wanna try out intermittent fasting, but remember, it does
not have to be extreme.

A lot of you might be
thinking what the heck? I thought we were supposed
to eat all day long. What happened to not skipping breakfast? What happened to eating
a bunch of small meals throughout the day? Breakfast does not actually
kickstart your metabolism to help you lose weight. Now that being said,
some people may benefit from eating breakfast or
multiple smaller meals. Sometimes skipping a meal
leads to overeating at the next meal but that ultimately
comes down to portion control.

The problem with eating
so many small meals is a lot of us are more
likely to overeat at each of those meals so we end
up consuming more overall than we would have otherwise. The bottom line is eating
many meals throughout the day doesn't really rev up your metabolism. Whether our calories are
spread out across six meals in a day or eaten in a
small window of time, our bodies will still burn
up about the same number of calories processing that food.

After we eat, our body processes
the food for a few hours burning what it can. Our bodies will use that energy
first because it's the most accessible rather than burning stored fat. But if we stop eating so often, our body isn't digesting food constantly and it turns to the fat stored in our body for energy instead. So essentially, you're getting
into a fat burning state of ketosis for a period of
time without a high fat diet. For more on ketosis,
what that Keto 101 video. I promise it will explain a lot. And if you're finding this
episode helpful so far, don't forget to subscribe
and if you wanna be notified of new videos each week,
be sure to hit the bell. Overall, much less of the
food we eat after fasting is likely to be stored as fat.

Basically intermittent
fasting can teach our bodies to use the food we eat more
efficiently by depriving the body of constant calories
or not eating all day long, we can learn to burn fat as fuel. So intermittent fasting
doesn't necessarily mean you're eating less calories,
you're just eating them in a shorter window of time. So what are the benefits
of intermittent fasting? Body changes to facilitate weight loss. While fasting, our insulin
levels drop significantly which helps facilitate fat burning. And human growth levels
increase maximizing muscle gain and fat loss. Lose weight and belly fat. Eating fewer meals mean you may end up naturally eating fewer calories. But this won't be true if you binge during your eating windows.

Plus, intermittent fasting
has shown to cause less muscle loss and burn more
calories even at rest. Reduce insulin resistance. Intermittent fasting
can reduce our fasting blood sugar levels and insulin levels which can help protect us
against Type 2 diabetes. Prevent chronic diseases
and live a longer life. Studies have shown promising results that intermittent fasting can help prevent neurological diseases such Alzheimer's, fight inflammation, and
reduce oxidative stress.

Less oxidative stress means
slower aging and a longer life. You can incorporate intermittent
fasting while following whichever kind of lifestyle
suits you but it's become common among low-carb dieters. If you watch my Keto 101
video, you know that a diet high in fat can get you into ketosis which I mentioned earlier. When you're in ketosis
you tend to stay satiated for much longer and you
don't have as many cravings. So adjusting the intermittent
fasting and skipping a meal can feel easier or more bearable. If you aren't on a low carb diet, you can still try intermittent fasting, just recognize that you may feel hungrier especially at first. If you struggle with portion
control or have an addictive relationship with food, it
can help to track calories to make sure that you don't
overeat at those meals. But I really don't recommend
intermittent fasting for someone who doesn't
have a healthy relationship with food because it's so
important that you're able to view food as fuel rather than a reward for this to work effectively.

Who else should be careful of considering intermittent fasting? (upbeat music) But you should also know
that there aren't enough longterm studies on intermittent fasting in humans to draw definitive
conclusions just yet. So really listen to your body. Everyone will respond differently
and just like any other lifestyle choice, intermittent fasting won't be for everyone. What's most important is
that you inform yourself as best you can. Keep in mind that
there's nothing dangerous about intermittent fasting in general if you're healthy and
well nourished overall then it can be a helpful tool. One thing I don't love
about intermittent fasting is that a lot of people
try to use it as an excuse to not eat well.

I've always said that if
you don't have the eating wholefoods and avoiding
processed foods thing down yet, don't waste your time. What you eat matters more than when. The when that intermittent
fasting tackles is more of a specific detail for
those who have truly reached a plateau following a healthy lifestyle that nourishes their body. One last note I wanna
bring to your attention is that while intermittent
fasting can help some people overcome a weight loss plateau,
remember that our bodies can adjust to this new schedule too.

So if you've been incorporating
intermittent fasting for awhile, it could
be time to switch it up or you may wanna do a few
weeks on and a few off to keep your body guessing. I hope you found this helpful. Remember, I definitely recommend
doing your own research to find which approach
to intermittent fasting resonates with you if
you choose to try it out. But first and foremost,
really be honest with yourself about whether or not
you truly hit a plateau before making any extreme changes. It could be that tightening
up your existing routine and finding that discipline
will make a big difference. If you want more
educational videos like this be sure to give this video a thumbs up and share it if you
thought it was helpful. I will see you all in a
few days and remember, it's all a matter of mind over munch.