How Fasting Can Kick-Start Your Metabolism

Written by Jamie, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Highlights:

The Almased 14-Day Fast
How It Works
How Do I Get Through the Fasting Phase?
The Almased Diet Program: Your Key to Weight-Loss Success and Metabolic Mastery

The word “fasting,” for some, conjures up images of gaunt yogis enduring difficult purification rituals or of pale, anemic people struggling with some sort of desperation diet.

However, fasting should never mean starving. Fasting, the right way, helps our metabolism burn more fat while retaining muscle mass.

Science, in fact, shows that modified fasting — fasts in which calories are restricted but required nutrition is supplied — can flip the body’s built-in metabolic switch from preferentially burning sugar to burning fat, which also preserves muscle mass.

In addition, safe fasting improves the balance of several important hormones. Healthy fasting keeps insulin levels in check and boosts levels of norepinephrine (which mobilizes more fat for the body to burn).

Better yet, modified fasting lowers levels of the appetite hormone, ghrelin, and increases leptin, the hunger-blocking satiety hormone.

Not only that, it can also increase overall metabolism by up to 14 percent.

According to Harvard University, “There is some good scientific evidence suggesting that […] fasting, when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle, can be a particularly effective approach to weight loss, especially for people at risk for diabetes.”

The Almased 14-Day Fast

Fortunately, the Almased 14-day modified fast can help get rid of some of those pounds and inches. The 14-day fast with Almased is a structured diet plan that can help you lose up to 10–15 lbs.

On top of that, with Almased’s ideal 2:1 ratio of protein to carbs, your body is able to utilize protein with maximum effectiveness.

Here’s a low-down on how it works:

During the first week, replace your meals with nutritious Almased shakes. Surprisingly, the low-calorie shakes can keep you satisfied.

Then, in the second week, replace two meals each day with Almased and eat one healthy solid lunch or dinner.
At the end of the 14 days, people often feel motivated to ditch unhealthy eating habits and embark on a new healthy diet path that fights cravings and supports healthy weight loss.

Modified fasting is a safe way to fast, partly since we don’t starve ourselves like with other diets. This way, we get all of the nutrients we need for our metabolism to naturally support good weight loss while, at the same time, holding on to muscle.

Preserving muscle mass is vital during any diet, and especially during a fast, as it ensures that the metabolism stays active so the body can continue to lose unwanted pounds.

This is especially important to get right, since research suggests that as much as 25 per cent of the weight that is lost by regular diets is actually from muscle.

Keeping metabolism at an optimal level and retaining muscle mass also helps to ensure that you sustain your weight loss once the fasting period is over, even if you believe you have a slow metabolism.

In fact, very often people think that if they have a slow metabolism — or slower than they would like — then they’re doomed to a lifetime of wild food cravings, feeling sluggish and being overweight.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Whatever your health and wellness goals, with the right changes to your diet you can get your metabolism and energy levels back on track with foods that boost your metabolism (such as protein) and metabolism boosting supplements (such as Almased).

How It Works

Step 1 of any fast should begin with preparing to bring healthier foods that you love into your new life.

Empty the junk foods from your cupboards and write out a new shopping list. Keep healthy foods readily available, shun sugary beverages, and processed foods in favor of whole food sources.

Stock up on your favorite spices, extracts, and flavorings to blend with your Almased shakes. Everything from cinnamon to peppermint works – for ideas and inspiration, you can check out our delicious smoothie recipes. The visual inspiration will show you why modified fasting is more fun with Almased.

How Do I Get Through the Fasting Phase?

In between shakes, it’s crucial that you drink plenty of water to help get rid of toxins, including a minimum of 4 cups of vegetable broth daily.

In between meals, drink plenty of water, including a minimum of 4 cups of veggie broth each day to help curb cravings and reduce any extra water weight.

The real solution for losing weight and staying healthy includes a solid change in eating habits. Anything less is a “band-aid” fix and not a good solution.

The good news is that you can fit healthy hacks into your life with as little disruption as possible. You can change a little or a lot; it all depends on your goals.

And what matters most is the end goal of establishing new healthier choices that last for the long-term.

The Almased Diet Program: Your Key to Weight-Loss Success and Metabolic Mastery

But we want to assure you of this: Almased is not your regular diet program. With Almased, including Phase 1 fasting, you prime your body for optimal weight loss without depriving yourself of nutrients, vitamins, or energy.

Almased Phase 1 fasting is safe; it’s not a starve-yourself weight loss fad. Phase 1 is a scientifically-researched process that prepares your body for the health journey ahead.

Because Almased is protein-rich, when you start your Almased Weight Loss Diet Plan with a fast, you can feel full for 4–6 hours and retain your muscle mass as you lose weight. The majority of people lose the most weight at the start of the plan and maintain weight loss throughout the successive phases.
Although hunger is rare with Almased, if you do feel hungry we encourage you to review the directions on your Almased package to make sure you’re supplementing with the right amount. Additionally, the plan asks that you drink filtered water and homemade vegetable broth throughout the fasting phase. Pick high-quality and exciting vegetables to make your broth.

As you sustain Phase 1, your hunger signals can reset. When you follow our four-step Figure Plan, including recipe suggestions, you can feel full and energized, without stimulants, and likely without the cravings that you have with most diets.

There are no complicated recipes, no counting calories, no distractions. The Almased fast, as part of the Almased Figure Plan, is as easy as it is effective!