4 tips to help you get the most out of your intermittent fasting

Paleo, Ketogenic, and the South Beach diet are a few of the famous plans that countless people from around the nation use to shed those unwanted pounds. Since most troops can't be nearly as selective with their food choices as civilians can, finding a healthy way to lose body fat before the physical assessment can be rough.

After all, the MREs we scarf down during deployment aren't exactly low-carb meals.

Today, intermittent fasting has become one of the most popular trends to hit the fitness world. The idea, in brief, is to eat all your meals within a structured time frame and then go several hours without eating a single calorie. IF has been proven to manage two vital chemicals in our body: growth hormones and insulin.

Growth hormones help the body produce lean muscle, burn fat, and reduce the effects of aging. Elevated insulin levels block the benefits of growth hormones and cause weight gain. Yet many people who are on this structured plan may want to see quicker results that will positively benefit the body – that's the whole point of IF, after all.

So here's out you can get the most from your structured fasting plan.

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Extend the length of your fasting window

Many people will fast for 16 hours a day and only eat their meals within an eight-hour window. However, consider extending the window to 18 to 20 hours if your body will allow it. Many people have a hard time going that long without eating. To combat the hunger, people who intermittent fast regularly drink large amounts of water to fill their stomachs up. This is just a temporary fix. Keep in mind it can sometimes take the body time to adapt to this type of meal plan structure.

The longer our insulin levels remain low, the more our bodies feed off stored energy.

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Perfect form!

Hit the gym while fasting

Intense workouts mean we're burning some serious calories. While you're already fasting, working out during that window adds to your body's caloric deficit — which means you're going to lose even more weight.

However, listen to your body — many people will feel too weak at the gym when they first start using this meal plan.

Lift heavy at the gym

Although fasting will use up the glycogen stored in our muscles on its own, by lifting heavy at the gym, the body turns to other sources of fat storage to restore that glycogen into your muscles.

Lose fat while gaining muscle.

It's totally a win-win.

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Eating ice cream will elevate your insulin, but rubbing it on your face is fine.

Avoid foods that spike your insulin

Once your fasting window has closed, and you've finally eaten something after several hours of going without food, to keep your insulin levels as low as possible, its recommended you avoid intaking in meals that contain a high amount of carbohydrates and sugar.

Eating clean proteins and healthy fats will raise your insulin levels, but not at the high rate as carbohydrates and sugars do.