The Quick Cut: 

• Intermittent fasting has powerful health and fat loss benefits.

• This works by not eating or snacking for 16 hours and eating during an 8-hour window.

• Keep in mind not to snack even when cravings kick in; the benefits will be worth it.

The Long Slice:

What Is It? 

In essence, it's a way to fast a bit every day without completely starving yourself. It has many powerful benefits for your health overall (e.g. reducing cancer markers) as well as being great for dropping fat and keeping fat stores low.

How Do I Do It? 

There are a few different flavors (no pun intended), but basically, you are sticking to a predefined period of fasting and a predefined period of eating. For the FastCut30 program, we will use the popular 16/8 method, where we fast for 16 hours and eat only during an 8 hour window.

How Does It Work? 

I'll briefly describe how it works from a weight loss benefit perspective, in layman's terms. Three great things happen when we fast: 

1. We reduce the number of times our insulin is released (this is good because insulin is a fat-storing hormone).

2. We increase human growth hormone (also good because HGH is critical in breaking down fat, especially stubborn belly fat, and in building strength and muscle).

3. Our body uses up its glycogen stores (which primarily come from the carbs we eat) and once it's low on glycogen, the body looks for other sources of fuel, primarily stored fat.

→ And if you workout when you're in this fasted state, you DOUBLE the effects of this third benefit, leading to even greater fat loss!

What Else Should I Know? 

The most important thing to keep in mind is NOT snacking or having any caloric foods or beverages during the 16-hour fasting period. That's because snacking can cause insulin to be released, negating the three benefits of fasting mentioned above. 

What helps is the fact you'll be sleeping during a good chunk of those 16 hours. So basically, if you were to end your eating at 8pm, and go to bed at 11pm and wake up at 6am, then you would just skip breakfast and by the time lunchtime rolled around at 12pm, you'd have the green light to eat again since you fasted for 16 hours. 

In the morning, you can have water, green tea, black coffee or any non-caloric beverage. If the cravings get too bad, go ahead and break your fast early and seek to push back the time you start eating the next day.  

While it may feel tough at times, the fat loss results you get will be worth it!
Happy cutting, 🔪