When you decide to take control of your health, it is likely you will feel inundated with all kinds of advice and methods for body fat percentage reduction and weight loss. Everyone has a different method or diet, so it’s hard to discern which method will be the right one for you. Should you follow a strict low-carb diet? What about counting your macros? A juice cleanse? 

Luckily, there are other options. One of the most popular approaches to healthier eating is called intermittent fasting. 

There are many long-term health benefits to intermittent fasting, especially for people who are trying to decrease their body fat percentage or shed extra pounds. 

Defining Intermittent Fasting 

Since everyone approaches intermittent fasting differently, understanding what intermittent fasting is — and what it’s not — helps underscore the benefits of this practice, which we will discuss later in this article. 

When intermittent fasting, you create an eating “schedule” that works for you and your health. Maybe you only eat between 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM each day, or maybe you’re an alternate day faster, which means you eat normally one day and then fast the next. 

This kind of fasting is not the same as fasting for religious reasons. A person who follows intermittent fasting is usually doing it for their health. 

And this method has become very popular in recent years as people experiment with new ways to lose weight that don’t rely on restrictive diets or trendy fad diets. Instead of focusing on what you’re eating, with intermittent fasting, you are focusing on when you’re eating. Reframing meals in this way can make a big difference in a person’s relationship to food and their body. 

The fasting intervals you choose really depend on your lifestyle and your major goals with intermittent fasting. If you still need to eat everyday, a 16-hour fast with an 8-hour eating “period” might be the best option. If you are serious about weight loss and want to jump start the process, then alternate day fasting could be the way you want to go because it reduces your weekly caloric intake. 

But how does intermittent fasting work? When you go without eat for several hours, the body uses up all of its glucose stores. Glucose provides the body with energy to keep going. When this happens, the body burns fat for energy instead. 

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting 

There are many benefits to intermittent fasting, both for physical and mental health. 

Burn More Fat 

One of the biggest reasons people taking charge of their health and wellness turn to intermittent fasting is because with intermittent fasting, they can burn more fat than they would with a regular diet. With intermittent fasting, you aren’t eating during all of your waking hours. Confining the time you eat to a specific set of hours gives your body the chance to look to fat stores for energy. 

With a normal eating schedule, the body is taking in glucose throughout the day. The body turns to glucose as the primary source of energy. With fasting, the body “runs out” of glucose and looks elsewhere. 

Decreased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes 

Lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes is incredibly important, especially for people who are prediabetic or have a high body fat percentage. Intermittent fasting can both lead to weight loss and reduce insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a major issue for people with type 2 diabetes. 

Type 2 diabetes can cause long-term health complications. By starting with intermittent fasting, you can get ahead of the risk and prevent developing type 2 diabetes. 

Development of Healthier Eating Habits 

Intermittent fasting itself isn’t the full picture of how weight loss begins in the kitchen. Because intermittent fasting — by its nature — restricts a person’s eating window, it often helps that person develop better, healthier eating habits. 

With intermittent fasting, you want to stay fuller longer. This means forgoing simple carbohydrates (like sugars and grains) for more protein and fiber in your diet. While you still need carbohydrates, the body burns through the energy in carbohydrates faster than in high-protein or high-fiber foods. 

When you fill your plate with foods to keep you full, you are usually avoiding highly processed foods or foods with high amounts of saturated and trans fats. 

Sleep Better 

People who do intermittent fasting generally sleep better than those who don’t. Most intermittent fasters have their last meal of the day between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM. This is the optimal time to stop eating because it gives your body time to digest the food before you get in the bed, meaning your body can really rest and prepare for the next day. 

Many people who don’t do intermittent fasting might find themselves eating a late snack shortly before their bedtime. This can make it harder to sleep since the body now has to digest that food instead of just resting. 

Lower Inflammation 

Scientists have found that intermittent fasting can also lower inflammation in the body. 

Inflammation is a normal thing the body does to help heal you from illness or injury. However, many people deal with chronic inflammation, which has lifelong side effects. Chronic inflammation means the body is constantly in this “fighting” state and can negatively impact organs and other bodily tissues. 

Lowering inflammation with intermittent fasting can make a huge difference in your day-to-day health, especially if you decrease chronic inflammation in the body. 

Watch Your Progress with ZOZOFIT 

Before you start intermittent fasting, it is important to have a plan to measure your progress with this method. Many people intermittently fast to lose weight or reduce their body fat. The best way to track this is not the traditional scale, however. The scale doesn’t show the full picture of your health. 

Using ZOZOFIT, which relies on 3D body scanning technology provides you with a literal image of your body so you can see the fat reduction progress you’re making overtime. With ZOZOFIT, you can also set goals to motivate you to continue intermittent fasting.