All about the intermittent fasting diet and its benefits

Fasting, by definition, is not taking in any food or beverages during a set period of time. In this case, you can drink only liquids that don't contain sugar. There are different ways to do this kind of fasting, and what works best is different for each person.

We fast every night for a long period of time while we sleep. Consciously doing the intermittent fasting diet is a practice that has been around for centuries, but it has become a go-to lifestyle for many people in recent times.

Intermittent fasting works under the principal that if you don't consume any nutrients or food, your body will burn through its reserved energy stores in the body's fat. That is where the shedding of extra pounds begins in a weight loss journey.

By not eating for long periods of time, you are creating what is called a calorie deficit, which is what helps you lose weight. But pay attention to the food you do eat once you are no longer fasting. It's important that when you do eat, you don't eat food that has more calories than your body actually needs or burns in a single day. Foods that are high in calories or with little nutritional value aren't helpful.

The problem is that we currently eat without stopping, and in large quantities, storing a lot of fat, which is what causes obesity in people. Through fasting, we are able to allow our body to burn through its reserves so that it balances itself out and trains itself to eat less and burn calories without storing them. Makes sense, right?

Whether or not you can work out while you are fasting depends on a lot of factors, and you should definitely consult with a doctor or a nutritionist. Exercise is important in bringing balance to our bodies, but on the days that you are fasting, it is important to keep your workouts to a moderate level and not do activities that require you to exert yourself too much.

Aside from weight loss, fasting can help you lower your cholesterol, lower your insulin levels, and provide some mental clarity, plus and your skin may look more healthy and radiant. Fasting can also help reduce inflammation and bloating, which affects many women. It may provide other health benefits.

Here are six possible ways to add intermittent fasting into your lifestyle:

Following this method, you have a six-hour window to eat each day. For example, you can start eating at noon every day and have your last meal of the day by 6 p.m. You can think of it as skipping breakfast and starting your meals with lunch, followed by snacks and dinner. You can drink water, coffee, and tea without sugar to hold you over in the morning.

Choose two days a week—for example, Tuesday and Friday—and during those days you can consume only 500 calories a day if you are a woman or 600 if you're a man. This means that whatever you eat during these two days must be light in calories and nutritious. This diet is also known as the Fast Diet by Michael Mosley.

Let's say you choose two days out of the week, like Mondays and Thursdays, on which you consume no food for 24 hours. You can drink water, but you can't have any solid foods. This is a tougher method to follow for many people and requires great discipline. This formula was made popular thanks to fitness trainer Brad Pilon.

This Warrior Diet was made popular by expert Ori Hofmekler. It basically gives you a window of four hours to eat a big dinner, and then you fast for the remainder of the time. You can eat steak or healthier options, like fruits and vegetables, during that time.

This is all about listening to your body and its needs. This option doesn't really suggest eating every four hours but instead allows you to skip a meal if you are simply not hungry at a specific meal time. The meals that you do decide to eat should still be healthy and nutritious.

The idea behind this method is for you to eat one day and the following day you fast, and so on. During the fasting days, the idea is for you to eat only 500 calories a day if you are a woman and 600 if you are a man, plus all the sugar-free drinks you wish to have.