How Do I Lose Body Fat With Diet?
These Experts Reveal How to Lose Fat With Diet, Since Weight Loss Is 80% What You Eat
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The age-old myth that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" needs to take a hike. Not eating breakfast can actually help you lose weight if you are strategic about it. It's one form of intermittent fasting (IF), which involves fasting for part of each day or a few times a week (water, black coffee, and unsweetened tea are allowed during your fasting window). One common example of this is known as 16:8, where you eat during an eight-hour window and fast for the other 16. A popular eating window is from noon to 8 p.m., meaning you skip breakfast altogether and have your last meal before 8 p.m.
Ferrari and Luiza Petre, MD, a weight-loss specialist and board-certified cardiologist, told POPSUGAR that intermittent fasting raises growth hormone levels and lowers insulin levels, both of which help burn more fat. "Insulin decreases when you fast, and lower levels of insulin results in burning more fat," Ferrari added, especially belly fat.
Eating in a shortened window not only reduces hunger (it's true!), but since you're not eating for long periods of time, there are also fewer opportunities to consume calories, which is why IF helps people eat fewer calories each day. If 16:8 doesn't work with your schedule, experiment with other forms of IF, including 14:10 (where you eat during a 10-hour window and fast for the other 14), 5:2 (where you eat 500 calories a day two days a week), or Eat Stop Eat (where you fast for 24 hours once or twice a week).