Intermittent Fasting isn’t about starving yourself. It’s about manipulating your insulin levels.
Intermittent fasting is a great way to help you get the most out of your body at this stage in life. When you understand that manipulating your body’s insulin response – instead of merely focusing on the number of calories you consume – is critical for losing weight and keeping it off, you’ll realize how necessary intermittent fasting can be for your overall health.
Every time you put food in your mouth, carbohydrates in that food break down into glucose. Your body absorbs the glucose, and your blood sugar levels rise. In turn, your pancreas then releases insulin into your bloodstream.
Insulin then works by allowing your cells to convert that sugar (glucose) into usable energy. But if your bloodstream contains more sugar than your body needs, insulin will push that extra glucose into your fat cells. That often can turn into added weight.
In an average body, insulin is your best friend. At its core, insulin helps you maintain balanced blood sugar levels and function at your best.
Understand Insulin Resistance, and You Will Understand Why Focusing Only on Reducing Your Calories Doesn’t Work as a Diet Strategy.
As you get older, the typical American diet of highly-processed foods and sugary carbohydrates has likely caught up to you. The constant consumption of food will ultimately cause your cells to resist insulin. Insulin is not as good as removing the glucose from your bloodstream. Over time, insulin resistance can increase your blood sugar level. Your pancreas then goes into overdrive by increasing more insulin with the hope of returning your blood to healthy levels.
By the time you are in your 40s, and especially if you’ve been following a typical American diet, your pancreas is not going to be able to meet your body’s demand for insulin.
Prolonged insulin resistance ultimately leads to diabetes and medication you’ll take for the rest of your life. According to a study reported by the Journal of the American Medical Association, more than half of Americans have prediabetes or diabetes .
When you fast, your body is given a chance to stabilize its insulin levels. When you give your pancreas a rest from producing insulin, you can not only potentially reverse insulin resistance, but you’ll be in a better position to lose weight.
In that regard, if you focus only on reducing your calories, you ignore the effect insulin has on losing weight.
Therefore, you should not only be focused on what you are eating but when you are eating.
Suppose you’ve started our calisthenics workout program. In that case, you should create an intermittent fasting program for a complete, positive effect on your total health.
Regardless of which exercise program you choose to follow, intermittent fasting is likely the missing link between your health goals and your actual results.
Is Intermittent Fasting Easy To Follow? The Short Answer: Yes.
Intermittent fasting is a type of diet that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. The most common form of intermittent fasting is 16/8, which means you fast for 16 hours and then eat during an 8-hour eating window. Another more extreme form of intermittent fasting is alternate-day fasting, which means you have one day of normal eating and then one day of fasting. There are many different ways to do intermittent fasting, such as eating earlier in the day, eating fewer calories on specific days of the week, or eating two meals a day. The type of intermittent fasting you choose depends on your lifestyle and health goals.
As dads, we are busy. We are interested in improving our health but don’t want to completely rearrange our schedule or lifestyle to start a fasting program. Not to worry. We have an easy-to-follow intermittent fasting program for beginners who want to see what intermittent fasting is all about without changing their entire life schedule.
The Review Dads Beginner Intermittent Fasting Program: Practical and Easy to Follow
Your eating window will be from 12 pm to 8 pm. That means we skip breakfast and eat a usual lunch and dinner. We focus on minimally processed foods and avoid sugary snacks. This beginning intermittent fasting program is easy to follow, simple in its food selections, and gives you an excellent introduction to the process before you begin more extended fasting programs.
| Eating Window | Eat | Do not Eat |
| 12 pm – 8 pm. You can have coffee in the morning but no milk. Even a tiny amount of milk will cause an insulin response. You may prefer Assam or Irish Breakfast Tea if you still need that caffeine kick. | Whole foods include meat, beans, legumes, leafy green vegetables, and nuts. We prioritize high-quality protein and green vegetables. We focus on lower carbohydrate intake. When you do that, you’ll notice you won’t be as hungry during your fasting period. Avoid or limit rice, potato, and pasta. | Processed foods. No candy. Limit bread, rice, potato, and pasta intake. If you are hungry for a sugary snack, drink a glass of water with a dash of salt or apple cider vinegar. |
The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting for Dads Over 40
Benefit #1: Weight loss
Men over 50 often find themselves gaining weight, especially around the midsection. Some of this is likely due to a decrease in metabolism. Intermittent fasting can help you prevent weight gain or even help you lose weight by keeping your appetite under control and preventing you from overeating.
Benefit #2: Protection against Diabetes
As you age, you become more susceptible to developing diabetes. Intermittent fasting helps by increasing your sensitivity to insulin, which helps lower blood sugar levels and protects against diabetes.
Benefit #3: Lower Risk of Heart Disease
Cardiovascular disease is a common problem for men and women after age 40. Intermittent fasting can help lower your risk of heart disease by improving cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and oxidative stress.
Benefit #4: Higher Antioxidants
When fasting, you’re boosting your body’s production of antioxidants. This is particularly important as you get older because you’re at a higher risk of developing oxidative stress-related diseases like heart disease and certain types of cancer.
Benefit #5: Boost your brain health
Intermittent fasting can help your brain stay healthy as you get older by increasing the production of new cells in your brain and reducing the risk of developing diseases that affect the brain, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Research shows that intermittent fasting can also help improve memory, mood, and mental clarity.
One study found that when people fasted for 24 hours, their brain cells removed toxins typically stored in the brain. This could help prevent or even reverse age-related diseases that affect the brain, such as Alzheimer’s.
Benefit #6: Help preserve lean muscle mass
Aging naturally leads to a decrease in lean muscle mass, which can contribute to obesity and an increased risk of chronic diseases. Intermittent fasting has been shown to help prevent and even reverse this process by keeping your muscles healthy and boosting your metabolism.
Benefit #7: Lower risk for developing diabetes
You may be at a higher risk for developing diabetes as you get older. Intermittent fasting can help lower your risk of disease by improving insulin sensitivity, which means your body can metabolize sugars more effectively. This can help prevent type 2 diabetes, a common metabolic disorder that affects many people over 40.
Bonus Benefit: Strengthen your immune system
As you age, your immune system becomes less effective, making you more susceptible to developing diseases. Intermittent fasting has been shown to help strengthen your immune system by increasing your production of white blood cells and enhancing your body’s response to infections and diseases. This could be helpful for people who don’t eat a healthy diet and are particularly susceptible to getting sick.
Final Words about Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting will improve your overall health, help your workout program achieve greater results, and strengthen your mental toughness. The intermittent fasting program we provided above is practical and easy to follow especially if you’re a beginner and have a busy schedule.
Don’t wait. The best time to get started on it is now.