Its no surprise that intermittent fasting is one of the most popular types of eating plans. You dont need to measure out food or buy any prepackaged shakes. There are no required weigh-ins or calorie counting. All you really have to do is not eat during certain hours. Its pretty simple.

There are different ways to go about it, of course. Most people do the 16:8 diet, in which you fast for 16 hours and then eat within an eight-hour window. Theres also the 5:2 diet, where you drastically cut back on calories just two days a week, and there are 24-hour fasts, where you dont eat anything one day each month.

Regardless of the method, significantly restricting when you eat can throw your body for a loop and cause a handful of odd side effects. Intermittent fasting may not be suitable for everyone. (People with a history of disordered eating, for example, should definitely avoid it.)

Its important to know what to expect before you jump into any new eating habit. Heres what happens to you mentally, physically and emotionally when youre fasting intermittently.

You might lose weight.

Many health experts, including personal trainer Jillian Michaels, say that intermittent fasting actually isnt that great for weight loss. Thats because youre not necessarily eating less or cutting back on calories. There are just longer gaps in your day when youre not eating at all.

That said, many people do lose weight because they consume fewer calories during those restricted food hours.

Eating for only eight hours a day also makes it less likely that youre having a big meal right before bedtime. Our metabolism goes down when we sleep and we burn fewer calories. Nighttime eating has been linked to both obesity and diabetes.

Intermittent fasting really does keep you from doing some really bad things, which is to eat a big meal before you go to bed, said Dr. John Morton, a bariatric surgeon with Yale Medicine. Big meals before bed are probably the worst thing you can do when it comes to weight loss, he added.

You could get super hungry.

A lot of people who fast experience hunger pangs, mainly when they start the program. Thats because our bodies are accustomed to using glucose a sugar that comes from the food we eat for fuel throughout the day. When its deprived of food (and, therefore, glucose), the body will essentially send signals saying, Hello, arent you forgetting something here?

Once your body gets into the groove of fasting, it will start burning stored body fat for energy rather than glucose. And as you spend more time in a fasted state, your body will get increasingly efficient at burning fat for energy.

In short, those hunger pangs should dissipate and your appetite will level out, Morton said. He added that fasters will ultimately have fewer cravings and hunger pangs the more consistently they fast.

In the meantime, that hungry feeling may drive some people to overeat. The natural tendency is when you havent eaten breakfast, you go, Since I didnt eat breakfast, Im going to eat more [for lunch], Morton noted.

If the hunger pains are bad enough to interfere with your daily life, get something to eat. The idea is not to starve yourself.

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Your energy levels and moods will fluctuate.

Research has shown that fasting can cause some people to feel fatigued, dizzy, irritable and depressed.

In the beginning, your energy levels might be low because youre not getting the proper nutrients that you need, said Sharon Zarabi, a registered dietitian and bariatric program director at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

As your body gets used to intermittent fasting, your energy levels will pick back up. Your body becomes more efficient at using energy and this helps improve mood, mental ability and long-term performance, Zarabi said.

Theres even some evidence that suggests intermittent fasting can ultimately help fight depression and anxiety. The body releases a hormone called ghrelin when youre hungry or fasting, which in high amounts has been associated with an elevated mood.

Your gut health may improve.

Many people who partake in intermittent fasting note improved gut health. Fasting gives your gut a chance to rest and reset as your digestive system doesnt have to deal with uncomfortable effects of eating like gas, diarrhea and bloating.

Anytime you fast, youre giving your body a break from trying to metabolize what you just ate, Zarabi said. By fasting, we let the gut microbiome refresh, which in turn improves our overall digestive pathway.

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You could cut your risk for chronic diseases.

Intermittent fasting has been linked to a lower risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

According to recent research from Mount Sinai, this is because fasting reduces inflammation and reducing inflammation helps our bodies battle various chronic inflammatory diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases. Researchers are still working to figure out how and why this happens, but the evidence so far suggests that the fasting body produces fewer of the subset of monocytes, a kind of blood cell, that are known to damage tissue and trigger inflammation.

This is a big reason why people who fast intermittently may live longer and stay healthier.

Your heart health could improve.

Intermittent fasting can help lower your blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides the type of fat in our blood thats associated with heart disease. That is, if you lose weight in the process.

As long as youre losing weight, youre going to improve all those things, Morton said.

Before you start an intermittent fasting program, health experts recommend meeting with a dietitian or physician. Theres a critical distinction between fasting and starving, and if you ignore that, you could wreck your organs and immune system.

The bottom line: pay attention to your body and eat in a way that works best for you.

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This Is Your Body On Intermittent Fasting - HuffPost

Running is one of those sports you can pick up at any point, at any skill level and you won't even need any special gear either although some is recommended for added comfort, like decent running shoes, a good running watch and some running headphones wouldn't hurt either. If you want to get fit in 2020 and have been thinking about staring to run regularly, we'll give five reasons why you should start running and some tips on what to wear, too.

Running regularly has a range of benefits, including improved physical and mental health, but it can also make you sleep better and some studies suggest it can improve your memory, too. Whether the last statement is true or not, running certainly has more benefits than drawbacks, and if you embark on the journey of becoming a runner, you won't regret it, on the contrary.

Once you started running, you will see and feel the benefits of it very soon. It is easy for runners to lose weight fast, as detailed below, but on top of that, running can also help you maintain weight loss easier, unlike 'just' going on a diet, for example.

Read the below reasons if you need one last nudge to start running...

You can just go for a run at any point during the day, especially if you are not doing a tempo session. Saying that, stretching before and especially after your runs is recommended, to loosen up the muscles a bit. Get a foam roller or another massage tool, they are fairly inexpensive but work great nevertheless.

Also, after your runs, drink some water to replace the water that left your body through sweating. If you are going for longer runs anything around or over an hour take some water with you using a reusable water bottle. We don't want to further pollute the environment with single use plastics.

Eating right is also important when it comes to running and in general, too. Try not to eat anything half an hour prior to your run, but ideally leave an hour this. After your runs, especially if you went for a longer run, consider eating or drinking something with high protein content, let it be protein snacks, protein powder shake or just some nuts and fruit.

Running indoors or outdoors will improve your mood

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Everyone has heard of the runner's high, this feeling of euphoria that runners experience when they devour the miles. Exercising and running in particular releases endorphins in your body which will make you feel happier. Endorphins are natural pain relievers and its release in the body is an evolutionary response to different forms of stress, one of these being long-distance running.

If you haven't tried running before, don;t imagine runner's high as being under the influence of drugs. You won't find running easier because of it but you will have a feeling that you wouldn't mind doing it again, immediately after you finished running.

The more you run, the more often you will feel this and the more endorphin will be released in your body, making you a more balanced and happier person overall.

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Running will help you lose weight faster

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Kind of an obvious one next: running being a cardio exercise can effectively help you lose weight fast(er). It's pretty simple, when you run, you spend a lot of energy moving your body forward, which burns more calories, which in turn will help you lose weight fast.

Of course, it will all go in vain if you will reward yourself after the running sessions with something unhealthy. A calorific reward system is the worst things you can do to yourself if you actually want to lose weight and be healthy. By saying "I ran for 30 minutes today, I deserve this pizza", you will effectively take in more calories than before and will actually gain weight as opposed to losing it.

For the best results, here is the formula you need to follow:

Losing weight fast = running regularly + consuming calories around maintenance level + using a non-calorific reward system

With this method, you will start losing weight very soon and will also improve your overall health in the same time. Don't try to swap having 2 pizzas for lunch and zero exercise for going running every day and eating leaf salad only. Be sensible and gradually change your lifestyle so it sticks.

Lose weight and keep it off with running

(Image credit: Getty Images)

There is a lesser known law called Wolfe's Law, which states that if you put your bones under stress, they will regenerate to be stronger in response to this stress. Running does in fact put pressure on your bones and therefore, by running regularly, your bones will get stronger, too.

This will only be true, however, if you improve your diet as well as go for regular runs. Poor diet and exercising can actually make your bones weaker and can also result in the loss of muscle mass. At the end of the day, you are what you eat and if you want a healthy body, you will have to feed it healthy foodstuff.

Avoid processed food especially fast food and introduce more fibrous items into your diet, especially vegetables. To clarify, you don't need to swap your whole diet to vegetables. What you can do, though, is to start logging your calories to see how much you eat, and then swap some of the bad calories to good ones.

In summary: running will improve your bone health, but only if you eat right and supply your body with the right nutrients.

Running can significantly improve your quality of life

(Image credit: Getty Images)

This, again, is one of the more well-known benefits of running. Running regularly will improve your heart-health as well as your circulation. What does this mean?

From the National Center for Biotechnology Information: "[Running] is a highly aerobic activity that utilises both fatty acids and carbohydrates for energy. The typical runner tends to have a slow resting pulse rate and a high maximal oxygen consumption. Echocardiographic studies show that distance runners' ... hearts are more efficient than those of sedentary people, pumping a larger volume per beat."

Running will change your body (in a good way) and especially your heart, and will make you more efficient with your energy expenditure overall. Your heart will become more resilient and you will be less prone to illnesses.

Running will make you sleep better

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Increased physical activity can improve your sleep quality significantly. It does this by tiring your body out more and also by reducing stress levels. This will make you sleep better and spend more time in deep sleep which will also make you less stressed overall.

As you can see, once you started the process, exercising regularly can have a snowball-effect on your health, let it be physical or mental. All it needs is a bit of a push and you to get moving. Once that's done, you will find more energy not just for running, but for other activities in your life too, which again will further improve your health, even in short term.

As mentioned above, you won't need an awful lot of gear to start running. That's not to say you wouldn't benefit from having the proper gear at your service on your jogs or runs.

If you are just starting out, you most likely won't need the best gear, so as much as the Garmin Forerunner 945 is a top running watch and the Hoka One One Carbon X is a great running shoe, you can opt in for less advanced gear and still reap the benefits of support.

(Image credit: New Balance)

Weighing just over 200 grams, the FuelCell Rebel is a lightweight shoe. It uses the Trace Fiber upper construction that uses precision stitching in key areas but keeps the upper thin and airy.

The main concern of the New Balance FuelCell Rebel is the forward propulsion; its main aim is to move you forward. The FuelCell midsole is a two-part rebound system that doesn't rock your feet but bounces you back up. It's not as firm and well rounded as the Asics Metaride or the Hoka One One Carbon X, more springy and bouncy.

(Image credit: Garmin)

Garmin's mid-range GPS running smartwatch, the Garmin Forerunner 245, uses the latest HR sensor technology the market leading company has to offer, as well as having integrated memory to store music, making it perfect for those smartphone-free running sessions. Battery life is also excellent, up to seven days in smartwatch mode, take that, Apple Watch!

(Image credit: Soundcore)

Without a doubt, the Soundcore Spirit X Sports wins on being the best value for money headphones for runners. For the price, you'll get a pair of sweatproof Bluetooth headphones with up to eight hours of listening time. Granted, the sound is not superior but definitely decent enough to deliver a bit more than just squeaky noise during your runs.

Link:
5 reasons why you should try running and the best running gear you'll need - T3

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) The start of a new year means new goals, and for some that means putting down the sugar and picking up those vegetables.

But losing weight the right way is a process.

A local dietitian says fast acting weight loss programs don't work for everyone and healthy weight loss takes time.

When people don't see instant results it makes it harder to stick to their goal.

"What we do see a lot of people do is they kind of are looking for that next quick fix. So people kind of end up buying into the weight loss and supplement industry to help them with this which is really just a lot of money getting pulled away from their wallet that they can be used to putting towards the basics of getting back to health and wellness," said Annie Justmann, a Dietitian at Premier Health and Fitness.

Justmann says setting realistic goals and finding someone to hold you accountable is the best way to stay on track.

In addition to that, she says you shouldn't neglect your greens and heart healthy fats.

Read the rest here:
Local dietitian offers tips on sticking to health goals in 2020 - WTXL ABC 27

My name is Amber Clemens (@amber_clemens). I am 29, born and raised in Wisconsin. I currently live in Green Bay and work for a local construction company as an administrative assistant. I lost 150 pounds without fad diets or any gimmicks.

I can't remember a time in my life (until now!) when my weight wasnt an issue for me. The first time I remember actively trying to lose weight was in middle school. I was diagnosed as borderline pre-diabetic, and my doctor told me to start keeping a food journal and to be active for at least 30 minutes a day. I think I stuck to that for maybe a week.

Being that young, I found it hard to make that kind of change while watching my friends eat whatever they wanted. After that, I tried to lose weight so many times throughout my life but I would always end up in a repetitive cycle of over-restricting my food intake, bingeing, and falling back into old habits. I was the *classic* yo-yo dieter.

I live in an upstairs apartment, so I often have to take multiple trips up and down the stairs to get everything. This particular night I had only taken two tripsand halfway up on my third trip I had to stop because I was so out of breath and tired. In that moment I realized I was done living that way. I was 27 years old, somewhere around 300 pounds, and I was having trouble doing basic life things all because of the way I was treating my body.

I made myself a promise that this time had to be different. I was tired of feeling trapped in my own body and I finally felt mentally ready to make this commitment to myself. I began my weight-loss journey two weeks later, on May 30, 2018.

I wasnt focused on a specific caloric deficit and I was not following a specific weight-loss program. I lost 20 pounds in the first month.

After that, I started to do more research and reached out to the resources I had available in my life to make sure I was doing things in a healthy, sustainable way. Thats one thing I knew had to be different for me this time around in order for this to work; I had to make healthy and sustainable lifestyle changes that I could actually stick to long term.

Ultimately, this all led me to calorie counting, which is the simple tool to which I credit my weight loss. For me, counting my calories worked because I never had to completely cut out any certain foods if I didnt want to. If I really wanted something, I could still have it, I just had to learn how to incorporate it into my daily caloric allowance.

Before, when I would try and lose weight, I always categorized food as good or badand now my outlook has totally changed. I realize now that there are foods that are more nutritious and make my body feel better when I eat them, and there are foods that are less nutritious but just taste really good.

Ive found that what works best for me is focusing on fueling my body with foods that are nutritious and make me feel good when I eat them 80 percent of the time, and incorporating those other foods 20 percent of the time. Over-restricting never worked for me before, so Im thankful Ive found balance.

My friend had a gym at her apartment complex and we went there together. I had no idea what I was doingall I knew was that I was determined to move my body for at least an hour.

We did all cardio that first night. I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I also tried the elliptical but couldnt last longer than 30 seconds. I switched to the stationary bike and did that for 15 minutes, too. We finished with some bicep curls.

That night, I went home and looked up gym routines that incorporated cardio and strength training and I stuck to those routines I found online (e.g., workouts on PopSugar Fitness on Youtube), while making adjustments to push myself as I lost weight.

TBH, physically going to the gym five nights a week became unrealistic for me, which is how I developed a love for home workouts. I could still get three to five workouts in per week, and it was much more convenient.

Currently I workout three to five times a week at home but I am going back into the gym in the new year. I am going to start focusing more on strength trainingand being in a gym with tons of equipment will allow me to accomplish that better than I can through my home workouts. I am seriously so excited to get back in the gym and challenge myself.

I went from never working out to running a 5k this past August. If you had told me that I would run a 5k before the start of this journey, I wouldnt have believed you.

From May 2018 until now, I've lost 150 pounds. Im *so* much happier and stronger today than I ever thought was possible.

I am not a nutritionist. I did not study exercise science in school. I am just a woman who had a poor relationship with food her entire life. I used to eat fast food every day, sometimes multiple times a day. I was a secret binge eater. I would sneak food into my room/car/pockets and eat alone so no one would see. I knew I was harming myself but I didnt understand how and wasnt ready to change. Until one day, I was.

I started slow, made simple changes, and things started to click. I am the epitome of, "If I can do it, anyone can do it." I changed for me and no one else. I embraced all the changes, both mental and physical, that this journey has brought me, and Im healthier and happier than ever before.

There were times I wanted to quit and go back to my old lifestyle. But on my worst days I would remind myself of why I started and how miserable I felt that night on the stairs bringing in groceries.

See the original post here:
'I Counted Calories And Stuck To The 80-20 Rule To Lose WeightAnd I've Lost Over 150 Pounds' - Women's Health

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Isumi Weight Loss Patch Reviews - It's Good Thing For Lose Weight | - KEYC TV