Why Intermittent Fasting Is Such a Powerful Weight Loss System

Last Updated on March 7, 2021 by Paula

Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of why intermittent fasting is so popular.

Let me cut to the chase. People won’t talk about it if it weren’t producing any kind of positive results. Just given the amount of talk surrounding and involving intermittent fasting, one can clearly see that it produces results.

I’m not talking about losing 20 pounds on week 1 and, by the time week 6 rolls around, you’ve gained 25 pounds.

I’m not talking about that kind of weight loss. Those diets are all over the place. There’s no shortage of that kind of weight loss system.

Intermittent fasting enables you to not only lose weight quickly but to keep it off, not just next week, not just next month, or even next year.

If you stick to your schedule, you can pretty much say goodbye to all that extra weight permanently.

The best part to all of this is that you did not change your eating habits. You get to eat what you like to eat.

✅ If you like steak and lobsters, you’ll still get to eat those.

✅ If you’re a chicken person, you still get to enjoy chicken dinners at KFC or at home.

Why is intermittent fasting such a powerful weight loss system? Why does it work? There are four key reasons. Keep these in mind.

When you start with intermittent fasting which I will pretty much detail here, always keep these benefits in mind.

Wrap your mind around why intermittent fasting works so you can get the focus and willpower you need when it seems a bit difficult.

Believe me regardless of what kind of weight loss system you adopt, there will be rough spots.

You have to keep coming back to why you’re doing something instead of just focusing on what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. While those details are important, if you lose sight of why what you’re doing works, then it’s very easy to lose your resolve. Before you know it, you go back to where you started.

Reason #1: Intermittent fasting is a powerful weight loss system because: You reduce your overall calorie intake without feeling like you’re “punishing yourself”

As I have mentioned repeatedly , intermittent fasting enables you to lose weight even if you continue eating what you like to eat. If you’re able to stick to your normal diet, you don’t feel like you’re punishing yourself. You don’t feel like you’re doing something really out of the ordinary.

Believe me, if you adopt a vegan weight loss lifestyle, and you used to eat a lot of meat, you can tell the difference. It’s a drastic switch. Even if you were to try to gradually move into a totally vegan lifestyle, you can still see the difference. It’s like black and white.

You may be able to keep this up for quite some time but, for most people, they end up going back to where they started. It seems that their old eating patterns just seem to have a way of getting the better of them. We are, after all, human beings. We are creatures of habit.

As awesome as a new lifestyle may be for you and with its amazing health benefits, parts of you will put up a fight. Your mind and your body are used to doing things a certain way. Eventually, your habits will win out. That’s why it feels like you’re punishing yourself when you go on a typical diet. Either you reduce the amount of food that you eat consciously or you switch to a different category of food. Whatever it is, it seems like an ordeal.

Your conscious mind thinks that this is great because you’re on your way to weight loss, but your subconscious mind is having a tough time. This is nothing short of punishment. Which part of your mind do you think will win out in the end? Here’s a hint. It’s not your conscious mind.

With intermittent fasting, you can reduce your overall calorie intake without feeling like this is some sort of punishment. You’re still eating what you like to eat but, since you’re sticking to a strict time schedule, the number of calories that you take in on a day-to-day basis start to go down. Before you know it, you start seeing the results when you look in the mirror.

Let’s get one thing clear. Weight loss is actually pretty simple on a mathematical level. It’s all about calories in, calories out. Your body requires a certain number of calories for you to maintain your weight. That’s right. All that flab and fat requires calories to maintain.

What if you ate fewer calories than you need to maintain your weight? What does your body do? It starts burning fat for energy. That’s how it works.

When you reduce your overall calorie intake because of intermittent fasting, you start operating at a calorie deficit. Your body needs to find that energy somewhere in your system so it starts burning fat. The best part to all of this is that it doesn’t feel like a hassle. You’re not triggering this calorie deficit because you consciously ate fewer calories because you switched to eating only vegetables or eating only high-protein meat.

Reason #2: Intermittent Fasting is a powerful weight loss system because: It is easier to adjust to a feeding schedule than changing food preferences

As the old saying goes, “You can’t make a leopard change its spots.”

If you like certain foods, it’s going to be very difficult for you to change your food preferences. How come? Those food preferences have been with you since you were a little kid.

Remember when you were 6 years old and you put up a fight when your parents tried to give you more veggies instead of a hotdog? A lot of that remains with you all the way to adulthood. The details may change, but the same dynamic remains.

When you just make it a point to adjust to a different feeding schedule instead of trying to reprogram yourself as far as your food preferences go, you would get better results. Best of all, these changes will last longer.

Don’t get me wrong people make the switch from one type of food to another all the time. I’m not disputing that. That’s the main reason why there’s a multibillion-dollar diet book industry in the world. What I’m pointing at is the reality behind those billions of dollars.

The reason why those diet books make so much money is because people fail in their diets. When they try to change their food preferences, they soon find out that they can’t do it. So, what do they do? They buy another diet book talking about other food preferences. Once that fails, they then switch to another book and on and on it goes.

With intermittent fasting, you break free of that cycle. You focus instead on your feeding schedule. That is the way out.

Reason #3: Intermittent fasting is a powerful weight loss system because it pushes people to eat more efficiently

Let’s put it this way. When you were a kid, you probably were in a situation where you realize that you’re running out of time to do your homework. What did you do you when you realized that you only had an hour to do your homework? Chances are if you’re like most kids, you do your best to complete your homework within that allotted time. You’d be surprised as to how quick, efficient, and effective you could be if you’re operating with a high sense of urgency.

Intermittent fasting applies this same principle. Since you know that you only have a certain time frame in which you can eat whatever you want, you are training yourself to eat more efficiently. For example, if you know that certain foods are going to make you feel fuller for a longer period, you’re probably going to eat those instead of foods that you “graze” on. These are the kinds of foods that you have to pretty much eat throughout the day for you to feel full.

A lot of this is not conscious. A lot of this just falls into place as you work with your feeding schedule. Eventually, you start eating more calories per meal but, eventually, this leads to weight loss. Why? You may be eating more calories per meal but since you’re eating fewer meals because of your time frame, the net effect is positive. You take in fewer calories than you need, and you burn fat.

Reason #4: Intermittent fasting is a powerful weight loss system because it eventually triggers Ketosis

Intermittent fasting enables people to eventually trigger ketosis. This is a point where your body burns fat for energy instead of blood sugar. For this to happen, blood sugar has to flush out from your system long enough so your body can switch to burning fat for fuel.

Ketosis doesn’t take place when you start intermittent fasting. In the beginning period of a typical intermittent fasting protocol, there simply is not enough time for ketosis to kick in. However, once you get used to eating only within fixed feeding schedules, you start building the discipline needed to go on full-day fasts.

In other words, you would be able to eat two days straight and then go on for one day without food and then go back to eating. Once you get used to that, you can then go to two days eating and then two days fasting. When that happens, ketosis enters the picture. This is when your body stops getting its energy from your blood sugar and starts tapping your fat stores instead. You then cut off ketosis when you start eating again.

When you switch to low-carb, high-fat food sources, you can then turbocharge ketosis’ effect, but I’ll get to that later in this book. The point that I want you to take away from this section is that ketosis can be part of the picture. This is crucial because if you are struggling with belly fat, you need ketosis to happen.

Keep the reasons above in mind once you start intermittent fasting. These are the reasons why intermittent fasting works. By focusing on them, you will make your transition to a fixed eating window easier. Focus on the why instead of other questions. That is the way forward.

✅ Ready to Lose Weight With Me? Next: Getting Started With Intermittent Fasting