[0:00] so many of you have asked me to share a
[0:02] video on intermittent fasting so that's
[0:04] exactly what I'm going to do today think
[0:05] of this as a beginner's guide we are
[0:08] going to cover the basics and I'm going
[0:09] to do my best to really try to simplify
[0:13] the concept and the process now if you
[0:16] don't know me my name is Danny Spees I'm
[0:18] a Health weight and wellness coach and I
[0:20] love helping people make healthy eating
[0:23] easy doable and delicious and before I
[0:27] jump in I'd like to thank element for
[0:29] sponsoring this video and I plan to
[0:30] share more on them in a bit so what is
[0:34] intermittent fasting also known as Tim
[0:36] restricted eating intermittent fasting
[0:38] is just that it's when you choose to eat
[0:41] your meals within a specific time window
[0:45] throughout the day and then for the rest
[0:46] of the day you are not eating at all so
[0:49] you're not consuming any type of
[0:51] calories or any type of energy which is
[0:53] why we call it fasting now intermittent
[0:55] fasting is not a form of caloric
[0:58] restriction in the sense that it's not
[1:00] about eating less it's simply about
[1:03] eating less often although I will say
[1:06] for many people it does result in eating
[1:09] less simply because when you restrict
[1:12] the amount of hours within the day that
[1:14] you can consume food kind of natural
[1:16] byproduct for many people is that they
[1:19] consume less food but not true for
[1:20] everybody and technically intermittent
[1:23] fasting is also not a diet because again
[1:25] the focus is on the eating window not so
[1:28] much the food but I do think it's
[1:30] important to note that the type of food
[1:31] you eat can make your fast feel easier
[1:34] or more difficult and that's something
[1:36] I'm going to talk more about later in
[1:38] the video so why fast there are two main
[1:41] reasons that people choose to experiment
[1:43] with intermittent fasting the first is
[1:45] weight loss and the second is simply to
[1:48] reap the health benefits that are
[1:50] associated with intermittent fasting so
[1:52] let's chat about what some of those are
[1:54] the very first one is that it lowers
[1:56] insulin levels now if you're not
[1:57] familiar with insulin it is sometimes
[1:59] called called the transport hormone and
[2:02] that is because whenever you eat
[2:04] anything your blood sugar Rises also
[2:06] known as glucose when you have glucose
[2:08] in the blood insulin is released to
[2:11] transport that glucose or that blood
[2:14] sugar to the liver to the muscles then
[2:16] eventually to Fat stores now when
[2:18] insulin levels are elevated fat burning
[2:21] or the process called lipolysis is
[2:23] turned off this is why insulin is also
[2:26] known as the storage hormone because
[2:28] when insulin is elevated the body does
[2:32] not have the ability to access fat
[2:35] stores for energy but when insulin
[2:38] levels are lower which happens when we
[2:40] are fasted the body then can access its
[2:43] own fat stores to use for fuel and this
[2:46] is why a lot of people like to use
[2:48] intermittent fasting as a tool to
[2:50] support their weight loss goals another
[2:52] health benefit is an increase in growth
[2:55] hormone Now growth hormones help to
[2:57] support skeletal muscle and as many many
[2:59] of us know as we become older wiser and
[3:02] more fabulous um maintaining healthy
[3:05] skeletal muscle is very important for
[3:07] good health and for longevity and it can
[3:10] also really support weight loss goals
[3:12] because the more lean muscle mass you
[3:14] have on your body the more calories the
[3:16] more energy your body is going to burn
[3:18] another incredible benefit of
[3:20] intermittent fasting is a process called
[3:22] autophagy autophagy is a cellular
[3:24] process where the cells are able to
[3:26] break down and recycle their own damaged
[3:29] components which allows them to get rid
[3:31] of any debris and maintain cellular
[3:33] health and cellular function this plays
[3:35] a crucial role in overall health
[3:38] protecting against diseases and
[3:40] supporting longevity but do keep in mind
[3:42] that in order to reap the rewards of
[3:46] autophagy you need to be fasted
[3:48] somewhere between 14 and 17 hours
[3:52] depending on which expert you follow
[3:54] another benefit is gut health fasting
[3:56] allows your body to turn on a gut
[3:58] cleansing process called the migrating
[4:00] Motor complex now this is a pattern of
[4:03] rhythmic contractions in both the small
[4:05] intestines and the stomach that allows
[4:08] the system to push out undigested food
[4:11] and bacteria and this keeps your gut
[4:13] feeling very happy and healthy fasting
[4:15] is also associated with lower
[4:17] inflammation in the body improved heart
[4:19] health and improved brain health so
[4:21] clearly there are a lot of good reasons
[4:23] to experiment with intermittent fasting
[4:25] should you feel intrigued to give it a
[4:28] try Okay so we're going to talk about
[4:30] fasting windows in just a minute but
[4:31] first I want to talk about what you can
[4:34] and cannot consume when you are fasting
[4:37] because this is a question I get a lot
[4:39] and here's the deal it really depends
[4:41] what your intention is when you are
[4:43] fasting but quick side note I can tell
[4:46] you for sure no matter what your
[4:47] intention is creatine collagen and
[4:50] protein powders will absolutely break
[4:52] your fast that is a question many of you
[4:55] have asked me before because sometimes I
[4:56] put those ingredients in my coffee now
[4:58] here's the deal if you are using
[5:01] intermittent fasting for weight loss
[5:03] many would argue that you could do
[5:05] something called a dirty fast and what
[5:07] that means is that when you're having
[5:08] coffee or tea in the morning that you
[5:10] can add a little bit of heavy cream of
[5:14] coconut cream of MCT oil and when I say
[5:17] a little bit I mean about a tablespoon
[5:19] okay and then for sweetener many would
[5:22] also say that you could do a little bit
[5:23] of stevia because Stevia does not affect
[5:25] blood sugar the way other sweeteners do
[5:28] and the theory here is is that the fat
[5:30] and the little bit of sweetness is not
[5:32] enough to actually raise insulin levels
[5:34] therefore it does not interrupt the fat
[5:36] burning process but technically the term
[5:39] fasting means zero calories which means
[5:41] you would not take anything in that had
[5:44] any calories at all and this is
[5:46] specifically true if you're looking to
[5:48] reap the rewards of gut health Andor of
[5:51] autophagy in which case what you are
[5:54] able to consume and still be in a fasted
[5:56] state would be water sparkling water
[6:00] black tea black coffee and or
[6:02] electrolytes which brings me to today's
[6:05] sponsor element element is an amazing
[6:08] zero sugar highquality electrolyte
[6:10] company that can enhance your daily diet
[6:13] especially if you are fasting or even if
[6:15] you're simply somebody who likes to
[6:17] focus on eating a diet of real Whole
[6:20] Foods with minimal processed foods like
[6:23] myself it contains a science-backed
[6:25] electrolyte balance of sodium magnesium
[6:28] and pottassium that help to replace and
[6:30] balance out electrolyte levels in the
[6:32] body now a lot of people don't realize
[6:35] that very clear signs of electrolyte IM
[6:37] balances include headaches muscle cramps
[6:40] fatigue and sleeplessness specifically
[6:43] in this very hot weather I know here in
[6:45] New Jersey it's well over 90° and
[6:48] personally I feel such a huge difference
[6:50] in both my energy levels and my feeling
[6:53] of hydration when I drink element it is
[6:55] just not the same when I drink regular
[6:58] plain water I literally like crazy I
[7:00] look forward to drinking it every single
[7:02] day now if you were going to drink
[7:04] electrolytes during your fasting window
[7:06] but you wanted to be really careful or
[7:07] really strict then you might want to
[7:09] choose the raw unflavored element
[7:12] packets but I also know that a lot of
[7:14] people will still drink the flavored
[7:15] packets when they are fasting myself
[7:18] included and while I don't fast every
[7:20] day my husband does and he always drinks
[7:23] the uh flavored packets so ultimately
[7:25] that's a decision that you can make for
[7:26] yourself now personally I love the mango
[7:29] chili J and I love the raspberry salt my
[7:32] husband he's an orange salt and a citrus
[7:34] guy but they have so many flavors to
[7:36] choose from including a chocolate Salt a
[7:38] watermelon salt a grape food Salt so
[7:40] many good ones and right now element is
[7:42] offering everybody in the clean and
[7:44] delicious Community a free sample pack
[7:47] with any order that's eight single serve
[7:49] packets with any element order which is
[7:52] a great way to test out all eight
[7:54] flavors so you can get yours at drink
[7:57] element.com
[7:59] any speed this is only available with my
[8:01] link so you want to visit d r i n k l m
[8:06] nt.com back/ d n i s p i s and I'm also
[8:12] going to leave the link for you down in
[8:13] the description box below so how long
[8:15] should you fast for there are different
[8:17] fasting Windows within a
[8:19] 24-hour period usually you will see
[8:22] people fasting anywhere between 12 to 22
[8:24] hours but technically any period of time
[8:27] when you're not eating is considered a f
[8:29] so sometimes we have to just like look
[8:31] where we are and then build upon there
[8:34] often what you will see and I feel like
[8:35] what most experts are recommending to
[8:37] the average person who is new to
[8:39] intermittent fasting is to aim somewhere
[8:41] between 12 and 16 hours so what you
[8:44] would want to do is work your way up to
[8:46] 12 and then slowly but surely add an
[8:49] extra hour until you can comfortably get
[8:51] to 16 hours or comfortably get to
[8:53] whatever fasting window feels like the
[8:55] right balance for you and the easiest
[8:57] way to determine your fasting window is
[8:59] to think about what time you like to eat
[9:02] your last meal in the day and then work
[9:04] backwards so if you like to eat dinner
[9:06] at 700 p.m. then you would not eat again
[9:09] until 700 a.m. the next day and then if
[9:12] desired you can slowly build from there
[9:14] maybe the next day you wait till 8: and
[9:16] then a few days later you go till 9:00
[9:18] and eventually you get to 10:00 but I
[9:20] will tell you this Pro tip no matter
[9:22] what you do always include your sleeping
[9:25] hours in your fast time because that's
[9:27] going to make fasting a whole lot easier
[9:29] and the last piece I want to talk about
[9:31] is food while intermittent fasting is
[9:33] not a diet and is technically not
[9:35] focused on the food but rather the hours
[9:37] in the day when you are not eating food
[9:40] I do think it's important to note that
[9:42] the types of meals you eat within your
[9:44] eating window can affect how easy or
[9:48] difficult your fast is going to feel
[9:50] ultimately the name of the game is to
[9:52] eat blood sugar balancing meals meaning
[9:54] you want to eat meals that are rich in
[9:56] protein fiber and healthy fats and you
[9:59] want to minimize highly processed
[10:01] flowers and highly processed sugars or
[10:03] really any type of food that's going to
[10:05] create a big spike in your blood sugar
[10:08] so good quality sources of protein
[10:10] plenty of vegetables fresh fruits
[10:12] healthy fats like nut seeds and avocados
[10:15] and then of course whole grains based
[10:17] around how you feel and your activity
[10:20] levels and quite honestly this really
[10:22] isn't different than any healthy dietary
[10:25] approach right if you look at all of the
[10:27] different dietary approaches in the
[10:29] world and you look at the through line
[10:31] they're all kind of saying the same
[10:33] thing at the base right let's focus on
[10:34] real Whole Foods as close to their
[10:36] natural POS State as possible most of
[10:39] the time prioritizing protein fiber and
[10:41] healthy fats and if you need some help
[10:43] or a little bit of inspiration with food
[10:45] or recipes or cooking I have hundreds of
[10:48] easy healthy delicious recipes for you
[10:50] right here on clean and delicious and I
[10:52] will also say as this is a kind of a toe
[10:54] in-the water beginner's guide that if
[10:56] this is speaking to you and it's
[10:57] something you feel like you want to
[10:58] experiment with
[10:59] but you're not sure if it's the right
[11:01] decision for you you may just want to
[11:03] consult with your healthcare provider
[11:05] just to get the extra support and
[11:06] guidance that you may be needing okay
[11:08] now as always I am so curious to hear
[11:10] from you all do you fast are you
[11:13] considering fasting do you have any tips
[11:15] or insights to add to the content that
[11:17] I've just shared I'd love to hear
[11:19] literally anything you can add to the
[11:21] conversation if you can come on down to
[11:22] the comment section below this way we
[11:24] can all continue to support each other
[11:26] as we learn and grow thank you all so
[11:28] much for watching I'm Danny Spees and I
[11:30] will see you back here next time with
[11:32] some more clean and deliciousness cheers