Intermittent fasting is my secret go-to weapon when it comes to burning stubborn belly fat and keeping it off. But don’t mistake it for just another fad diet. It can be a life-changer! I’m talking about healthy, safe, effective lifestyle change. Intermittent fasting holds the key to ending your yo-yo dieting and compulsive eating habits. And with the right intermittent fasting foods, you’ll reap benefits beyond your wildest dreams. As incredible as it is for quick weight loss, you’ll also notice:

•       Healthy skin
•       Anti-aging benefits
•       Strong hair and nails
•       Boost in energy
•       A clear mind and less anxiety and depression 
•       Healthy immune system
•       Gut health
•       Freedom from bloat

Why Intermittent Fasting Works

Intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating offers an incredibly powerful way to trim down quickly and stay slim. It focusses on when you eat and eating beneficial intermittent fasting foods when you do eat. It allows your body time to cleanse and repair itself while replenishing your cells with the essentials you need to improve your overall health, wellness, and beauty. 

Tips for Successful Intermittent Fasting

While there are many tips I can offer during your intermittent fasting, choosing the right intermittent fasting foods is essential to getting the most out of your fast. It’s essential to plan your intermittent fasting foods and prep your meals ahead of time to achieve success.  

Planning meals and snacks for your non-fasting days is priceless. You don’t want to derail your hard work by grabbing a sugary breakfast bar when you’re on the go, do you? Intermittent fasting foods can be delicious, nourishing, and easy to store for those post-fast snacking moments. Some of my favorites are:

• Fresh veggies
• Hard-boiled eggs
• All-natural beef or bison jerky
• Raw, unsalted nuts
• Bone Broth

Start Slow and Allow Flexibility

Choose intermittent fasting days and times that best meet your scheduling needs. Don’t set yourself up to fail by setting unattainable goals. Take it slow and make gradual changes as your body and schedule adjust to the changes.

Intermittent Fasting Support Systems

Make intermittent fasting easier by enlisting a support system of friends and family. Whether they are up for joining your healthy quest or not, they can encourage while helping you through tough times. Ask them to help you stick to your intermittent fasting foods and keep you from giving in to cravings and temptations. You’ll be glad you have them to rely on!

Don’t Give Up

Push through the cravings and adjustment period. Your body can do it! Intermittent fasting foods will help curb those pesky cravings and keep your stomach full before you know it. When you stick to your guns, you move one step closer to regaining that sexy waistline, incredible energy, youthful skin, better sleep, and healthier and happier life.

Intermittent Fasting Foods

What should you eat during your eating window for intermittent fasting? Stock up on options that are nutrient-rich and, if possible, paleo-based. I highly recommend you include intermittent fasting foods like:

• Healthy fats such as olives and avocados
• Fresh fruits and veggies
• Fermented foods
• Wild fish
• Grass-fed, pasture-raised meat and poultry
• Bone Broth

Animal Fats

And don’t be so quick to throw away that extra animal fat! Animal fats are health-promoting if they come from healthy animals. Some of my favorites are tallow (beef fat), lamb, duck, and schmaltz (chicken fat). These animal fats provide a rich and decadent flavor and are a must-add on your intermittent fasting foods list. Try sautéing your favorite veggies in it and let me know what you think.

Food to Avoid While Intermittent Fasting

There are some foods you may enjoy that will inevitably work against your weight loss and health goals. If they aren’t part of my intermittent fasting foods list, they will only promote inflammation; significantly impacting your overall health and wellness. Not to mention, these foods speed up premature signs of aging. Yikes!

Inflammatory foods are anything your body is unable to metabolize, digest, utilize, or eliminate adequately. And why would you want to fill your body with waste-enhancing foods that will only bring harm to your cells, gut, and skin? At the very least, stay away from soy, sugar, gluten, and seed oils.

Soy

I know, I know. Soy was once all the rage for a healthier lifestyle. Unfortunately, it’s just not an intermittent fasting food.

Soy is in almost every processed food but will not give you the benefits you expect. It leads to significant inflammation in the gut and will wreak havoc on your body. Still need more convincing? Here a few eye-openers to help you keep soy off your intermittent fasting foods list:

• Soy contains phytic acid, reducing the absorption of critical nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and zinc.
• Processed soy forms the two toxic substances lysinoalanine and carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Soy increases your body's need for B12 and Vitamin D.
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt your hormone functions, potentially causing infertility and breast cancer in women.
• One cup of soy milk a day may lower sperm count by up to 50%.
• Feeding babies soy-based formula may provide 13,000 to 20,000 more estrogen compounds in their blood than babies who consume milk-based formulas. Another way to look at it: infants who consume soy formula receive the estrogenic equivalent of five birth control pills per day. How’s that for a deterrent?
• The neurotoxin, MSG, forms during soy processing
• If you’re a vegetarian and insist on soy, you must keep it as natural and unprocessed as possible. Stick to fermented soy foods, such as tempeh and unprocessed tofu, while ensuring you choose organic and non-GMO options.

Sugar

Sugar is one of those items that should just go without saying, but I’m going to drill it into you anyway. AVOID SUGAR! There are so many remarkable benefits to cutting sugar out and relying on your intermittent fasting foods instead. The inflammation sugar causes your body brings dreadful consequences, including:

• Weight gain
• Fine lines and wrinkles
• Sleep disturbances
• Reduction in energy
• Feeds cancer cells
• Oxidative stress which accelerates all signs of aging
• Hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, and diabetes
• Gastrointestinal issues, including the risk of Crohn’s disease ulcerative colitis
• Lowers absorption rate of proteins and minerals
• May spark food allergies.

And don’t even get me going on my fructose rant! We’re talking about liver damage, cancer, cholesterol increase, and skin issues.

Acceptable Sweeteners

Artificial sugars mess with your brain and nervous system, so avoid them! If you’re looking for something sweet, add these to your acceptable intermittent fasting foods list in moderation:

•       100% fruit jam
•       Apple juice concentrate
•       Applesauce
•       Coconut, palm, or date sugar
•       Smashed bananas
•       Blackstrap unsulphured molasses
•       Green Leaf Stevia
•       Raw honey
•       Pure maple syrup

Wheat & Grains

Highly processed grains, much like sugar, can be very addictive, and you can do without them. Even those healthy whole grains aren’t all that healthy. They are full of carbs which raise your blood sugar levels, forcing your body to produce more insulin and leading to: 

•   Insulin resistance
•   Obesity
•   Metabolic syndrome
•   Diabetes
•   Chronic fatigue

Grains are also off the intermittent fasting foods list because they contain high levels of the anti-nutrients phytic acid and lectins. Phytic acid binds to minerals, cutting down the anti-aging nutrients you usually get from food. Lectins damage the lining of your intestines, causing a leaky gut - allowing toxins to leak into your bloodstream, causing significant inflammation throughout your body. Not very cooperative when you’re intermittent fasting. 

Finally, rye, wheat, barley, and spelt contain gluten. And you don’t want those extra pounds and an unhealthy gut to impair your intermittent fasting, do you? Compromising your gut contributes to further inflammation, weight gain, and high risk for a wide variety of diseases and illnesses. Trust me, friends, it’s not worth it.

Poor Quality Oils

Vegetable oils are heavily processed and made from seeds, grains, and legumes that are not naturally rich in oil. They are put through extreme conditions to extract the tiny amount of oil they do contain.

While most oil packaging is made from clear plastic bottles, heat, light, and air cause oils to oxidize. Oils could also be rancid and are most certainly inflammatory.

More Incredible Benefits from Intermittent Fasting

The benefits are plentiful and undeniable. You’ll enjoy fabulous benefits, including:

•       Reduces and fights off inflammation
•       Reduces the risk of chronic disease
•       Promotes quick weight loss and fat burning
•       Builds and tones muscles
•       Boosts cognitive function and brain health
•       Cleanses and rejuvenates the entire body
•       Increases longevity
•       Boosts energy, productivity, and performance
•       Rests and heals the digestive system

Inflammation

What’s the ultimate cause of many diseases and illnesses, mental health concerns, and signs of aging? Inflammation! In a nutshell, inflammation is your body’s natural response to any harmful stimuli, from bacterial infection to a slow-healing wound. If it becomes chronic, it can lead to life-long diseases, including: 

•       Arthritis
•       Heart disease
•       Diabetes
•       Hypertension
•       Various forms of cancer
•       Obesity

Getting inflammation under control is your body’s best chance at repairing, replenishing, and maintaining your overall health.

Intermittent Fasting and Weight Loss

When you take in fewer calories, you lose weight. Simple as that.

To burn body fat, you must remove fatty acids from storage and release them into your bloodstream, known as lipolysis. There are two effective ways to initiate lipolysis-exercise and intermittent fasting. Fasting causes the body to burn more fat. Once your body digests a meal, it begins lipolysis to sustain energy, releasing those fatty acids into the bloodstream. This process can begin in as little as two hours into your fast! Pretty incredible, isn’t it? You’ll be watching that stubborn fat melt off before your eyess 

Improves Mood

Intermittent fasting has the power to elevate your mood, motivation, and behavior. And who wouldn’t love a more positive attitude, self-confidence, and less anxiety?

Retains Muscle Mass

Let’s squash a little misconception that’s out there. Intermittent fasting does not mean starvation and deteriorating muscle mass—quite the opposite. Intermittent fasting is less likely to reduce lean muscle mass than your traditional low-calorie diet. It will help your muscles grow, heal, and tone. 

So, if you’ve always wanted that lean, sculpted, sexy body, pairing intermittent fasting with light exercise will help get you to your goals.

Reduces Insulin Resistance

Obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes remain among the top health threats to Americans. And the traditional low-calorie, low-fat diet just isn’t cutting it. While studies show a low-calorie diet can help with weight loss, it’s rarely sustainable. Intermittent fasting provides a more significant reduction in fasting insulin as well as insulin resistance. It's crucial since insulin is one of your fat-storing hormones. Burning and keeping fat off requires your insulin levels to remain low so your cells can respond efficiently to insulin during release.

Sharper and Clearer Thinking from Intermittent Fasting

Fasting helps ward off the risks of neurodegenerative diseases. The benefits of intermittent fasting on your brain alone is reason enough to start. Fasting puts mild stress on your brain cells in a similar way exercise does on your muscles. Your brain will benefit by growing more robust and resistant to neurodegenerative diseases. Not to mention, you’ll improve your attention span, concentration, and focus. It’s the productivity hack you can’t afford to miss out on!

Fasting upsurges the process known as autophagy–basically a cellular waste removal service in your brain. It gets rid of molecules with damage to reduce neurological diseases. Think of it as your brain taking out the garbage.

Filling your body with intermittent fasting foods grows new brain cells. Also called neurogenesis, this process helps establish new connections in the brain and sharpen your cognitive abilities.  

Boost Your Immunity and Longevity

How would you like to add years to your life? And I’m talking about healthy, active years. Intermittent fasting increases cellular stress response, which deteriorates with age. Aging causes cellular degradation or loss of function. But what if I said you could slow down the natural aging process and defend yourself from those troublemaking free radicals-those toxic byproducts of metabolism, destroying healthy cells and causing aging? Yep, intermittent fasting can help you combat premature aging.

Choosing to fast with the right intermittent fasting foods provides the essentials you need to restore the proper pH balance in your blood. Too much acidity can lead to acidosis and debilitating ailments like arthritis. Fasting clears acidosis from your bloodstream and restores the proper alkaline-acidity environment to help your body to thrive.  

Intermittent Fasting for Bloat

You know that horrible get-me-out-of-these-pants feeling you get when you bloat? When you want to curl up into a ball in agony from the bulging tummy and gassy bubbles? Would you jump up and down if I said fasting could help relieve these awful feelings? When you implement intermittent fasting, you restrict the amount of time you eat during the day, compressing your meals into an "eating window" and providing additional time for healing and digestion.  You can alleviate additional bloat by hydrating, eating healthier foods, and choosing the right foods. This is where your list of intermittent fasting foods come in handy. They satisfy your cravings, flush excess water, and heal your digestive tract lining.

Bone Broth for Intermittent Fasting

Just imagine the additional pros of incorporating my tasty bone broth with your intermittent fasting foods and recipes. You know I use it for everything, so it’s at the top of my intermittent fasting foods list. The best part is, no matter what you’re preparing for your intermittent fasting, you can toss bone broth into any of it! Load up on this liquid gold for a list of rewards, including: 

• It keeps you full-And without adding on pounds. Bone broth is rich, hearty, and satisfying. It has virtually zero carbs and very few calories, so it’s a sin-free choice.  Sip on or add in as much as you want, before, during, and after your fasts.
• It’s full of collagen-building blocks- And you know what collagen does to wrinkles. So, why not add it to your fasting routine and take years off while improving your health?
• It detoxifies your body-Bone broth will help cleanse your cellular matrix, energize, and de-age your cells. Enough said.
• It heals your gut- Weight gain and digestive problems often stem from a common source: an unhealthy, unhappy gut. But there’s hope! The gelatin and amino acids in bone broth can help repair the lining of your digestive tract. And a healthy gut sets you up for healthy weight loss, immune function improvements, and more.
• It heals your joints- There's no arguing that your joints will develop wear and tear over time, making it more difficult to move. Eventually, it will lead to less exercise and more sitting-one reason some of us experience more weight gain as we get older.  The good news is that bone broth gives you a generous supply of nutrients to heal your joints.

The Bottom Line of the Incredible Benefits of Bone Broth

So, do your body a favor and load up on delicious intermittent fasting foods that will provide incredible, long-lasting benefits. From rapid weight loss to a new, healthy lifestyle, start preparing for your intermittent fasting today. 

With peace and love,