Con fasting you lose weight (a little) but above all you compensate for the excesses. The beauty is that there are no calories to count and you don’t have to weigh what you eat. However, the choice is not simple: is weekly fasting or intermittent fasting better? To follow in a group or with the help of the apps? A guide tailored for you
The urge to get back in shape there is, that of going on a diet much less. The enthusiasm has already been spent in previous attempts, trying now the ketogenic now the protein and always finding, after some time, at the starting point and with the same perspective: weigh the foods, combine them according to the dietitian’s scheme , give up on what you like best, console yourself with a free dinner once a week when it is allowed.
To simplify things, in recent times, the fast, chosen by an ever-increasing number of people and which seems to have cornered traditional diets. This dietary model is not based on “how much” and “what” to eat but on “when” to do it. Let’s forget total fasting: here, calories are abruptly reduced with different formulas ranging from intermittent fasting to the detox week up to the lean day. It is the simplicity of the model that decrees its success, but does it work? And how to regulate between the various possibilities? Let’s be clear.
If you want to try fasting, choose the evening fast
“One form of fasting that has no health consequences is that intermittent, which begins in the evening and ends in the morning »explains Sara Farnetti, specialist in internal medicine, functional nutrition and metabolism. This is in fact the most common practice and it works like this: all nutrition is concentrated (without exceeding) in a time window of 8-10 hours (for example, from 7 to 17) and then fast until the next day (14 -16 hours) skipping dinner. “It is a physiological fast and therefore not harmful to the body»Farnetti specifies« because it occurs at rest and in those hours the body fully uses the nutrients received during the day ».
It works for those who feel like it give up the evening ritual of sitting at the table two or three times a week. “Intermittent fasting, concentrated in 2-3 days, it can help to control body weight and to recover if it has been exceeded in the previous days. ” explains Sara Farnetti «I am instead opposed to prolonging it because it interferes with the hormonal system and moreover it is not really effective for weight loss. It is true that insulin levels are reduced and this allows you to lose weight in the short term, but over time the body reacts to the lack of food by producing high quantities of cortisol, the stress hormone, which increases insulin resistance. and blocks access to visceral fat, which is deposited in the abdominal area. If you really want to solve an overweight problem, you need to learn how to eat better by choosing the right foods and combinations. Skipping a few dinners is not enough: you need a specialist with whom to review and correct your diet ».
Group fasting is easier
A week or two of less fastinga period that, however, cannot be faced alone but in a group, during a stay in contact with nature in which we dedicate ourselves only to well-being and physical activity. This is what Michele Riefoli has been proposing for twenty years, nutritionist biologist, teacher of motor science, nutrition and physical activity and author of the book Integral revolution. Nutrition, movement, awareness: all the tips for an integrated well-being of body and mind (Mondadori).
“Fasting for some is a shortcut to losing weight quickly, even if the result is often short-term. In reality, it must be considered a strategy to strengthen the immune system »explains Riefoli. “With a strong caloric restriction, a mechanism called autophagy is activatedthat is, while I am fasting I self-digest the weakest cells with a cleansing and internal rejuvenation effect on the organism. This also happens normally during the night’s rest when the metabolism is efficient, you regularly practice physical activity and eat healthy at the table. But most of the time the mechanism jams because these good habits are not followed, to which are added polluting factors of the environment in which we live and which favor cellular stress and the production of free radicals. To restore the body’s self-cleaning program, it is therefore necessary to reduce calories in a calculated way so as to induce the body to start burning the fat reserves where toxins are more easily found. This action it also lowers the risk of chronic inflammation, prevents overweight, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases typical of aging».
One day fast, the softest formula
At the word fast alone, most people, however, widen their eyes. While it is true that many resort to this method to lose weight, many more see it as an excessive and hardly sustainable sacrifice. But there is also a softer way, the one that Stefano Erzegovesi, director of the
Center for eating disorders of the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, author of the book Fasting for all (Vallardi), call Skinny day and which in any case does not completely exclude food.
One day a week you can enjoy a couple of nuts for breakfast and kefir (a strongly probiotic fermented milk), for lunch and dinner a spoonful of fermented vegetables and a generous plate of seasonal vegetables seasoned with a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil. To feel full, you can add a plate of shirataki noodles (Konjac fiber), seasoned with light pesto or vegetable sauce. On other days, regular meals in line with the Mediterranean diet. “Fasting for the body is a whiplash” explains Dr. Erzegovesi “and the doctor must always be informed if you decide to do so”.
Fasting is not for everyone: it is not indicated if you suffer from diabetes, hypertension, acute liver or gastric diseases, if you play sports or are underweight, pregnant or breastfeeding.
Fastic, Do Fasting, Simple, BodyFast, IF, Vora: are the apps that, on Instagram and TikTok, promise to “fast without effort” and reach a healthy weight. They all work more or less the same way: you set height and weight that you want to reach and in how much time, then you indicate the time slot in which to fast. Depending on the chosen plan, an alarm alerts you when it is time to stop eating and another when to resume. During the day, you can also keep track of what you drink and eat, of the sensations (well-being, tiredness, hunger, nervousness) experienced.
Some of these apps are designed as a game of prizes: you earn stars and “longevity badges” for each day you manage not to munch on anything before the end of the time set for fasting. They certainly increase motivation, but entrusting hunger to an algorithm does not teach us to understand if the set weight goal is realistic and healthy for the body. If you go from a dietician, based on the parameters, a healthy weight is established with him, while in the app it is the person himself who indicates it. Do we trust ourselves? Better ask yourself before downloading the app.