This is an excellent question – and we’ll look at the pros and cons of both protocols before you decide which is best for you.
Intermittent Fasting
With this method, you’ll have a fasting window and an eating window. It’s a very straightforward plan.
You’ll eat during your eating window, but once your eating window closes, you’ll not be able to eat anymore food until your eating window opens the next day. This is the fasting window.
Your fasting window can be anywhere from 16 hours (minimum) to 20 hours or so. There are several different IF protocols. Some suggest not eating anything for 24 hours, twice a week.
Others suggest to just do it daily with eating windows. Whatever the case, there’s a period of fasting and a period of eating with every single version of IF.
Healthy Eating
Unlike intermittent fasting, there are no eating and fasting windows with healthy eating. The goal here is to clean up your diet so that you’re only consuming healthy and nutritious food.
If you wish to lose weight, you’ll need to be at a caloric deficit daily. You’ll need to consume more plant-based foods when you’re on a healthy eating plan. Beneficial fats and lean meat should be consumed too, but in moderation.
The goal here is to transform your health by getting you to switch to healthier food options and wean you off processed foods and other detrimental diet choices.
Which is better?
The answer will depend on your preferences. If you dislike fasting, IF is not for you. With intermittent fasting, less importance is given to food choices. The focus is on maintaining your eating and fasting windows.
While this is effective at stabilizing your insulin levels and accelerating weight loss, it’s still better to be on IF and also consume healthy foods.
Neither method is mutually exclusive. You can do both and see wonderful results.
If you’re trying to break your habit of emotional eating, adopting intermittent fasting in your lifestyle can help give you a clear plan of when you should and should not eat. You’ll be less likely to binge eat when you’re on IF.
For those trying to lose weight, an intermittent fasting plan with an eating window of 5 or 6 hours will greatly help to stabilize the blood sugar levels in your body. It’s almost impossible for the body to burn fat when there’s glucose in your blood.
So, when you’re in a fasted state because of IF, your body will have lots of time to burn its fat stores for fuel because the glycogen levels in your body are low.
IF is excellent for weight loss and will really give you an edge when it comes to maximizing your fat burning potential. Combine it with healthy eating and you’ll be a fat burning furnace that torches your fat stores round the clock.
However, if you prefer to lose weight slowly and just eat healthy, you can stick to healthy eating. Intermittent fasting is not necessary to lose weight. It helps, but it’s not crucial.
Ultimately, you need to pick a method that works for you… and stick to it until you see positive results. Whichever you choose, adhering to a nutrition program can be difficult. Wow Brand granola is a great addition to either option if you’re looking for a healthy snack after a fast or to add to your new healthy eating plan.
