intermittent fasting meal – Christian Vitality | Christian Weight Loss | Christian Health & Fitness

Fasting for Fat Loss!

Fasting for Fat Loss & Spiritual Growth

In modern-day church circles, at least in the USA, fasting seems to be an almost dying art. A mysterious custom from the days of yore, which most if not all Christians don’t practice and may not even understand the concept behind it.

I don’t kid myself to think that I know all there is to fasting, but I thought I’d do a little Bible study on fasting to give you the Biblical perspective of fasting and also give you a brief overview of all the benefits that modern science has determined in recent research. Turns out God has it right, fasting is good for you.

Biblical Wisdom about Fasting

Isn’t fasting only Old Testament stuff? It’s truly not for people in this day and age, right?

Wrong. There are almost as many references in the New Testament as Old Testament about fasting. Since we take most of our current Christian customs and practices from the New Testament to model the early church…it is absolutely for our day and age.

Why, Biblically, should we fast?

Fasting is a sign of submission to God’s authority and a way to honor him by following his commands. It is a way for us to also humble ourselves before him. James chapter 4 has a great promise that comes as a reward for humbling ourselves. “God will raise (exalt) the humble”.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10 ESV

Jesus went without food for 40 days in the desert. So, if you want to know what Jesus would do. If he was around today, he would be praying and fasting.

The early church is also an example for us as they often “prayed & fasted” during important times in the church.

Fasting is absolutely something for the Christian in 2014 and beyond from a Biblical perspective.

How should we fast? It’s a personal one-on-one (secret) expression of your faith and God will reward you.

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:16-18 ESV

Why should we fast? To humble ourselves before the Lord. For a sign of repentance when we return to his ways.

When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. Psalm 69:10 ESV

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; Joel 2:12 ESV

When should we fast? In times of preparation. During times of prayer. When we are trying to get closer to God. During special times of commitment to God and asking for God’s mercy and blessing.

I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. Daniel 10:3 ESV

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Acts 14:23 ESV

Modern Science Backing the Benefits of Fasting

Why should we fast from a modern science perspective?

Fasting has been researched significantly for many years and some of the findings and positive ramifications it can have for our long-term health is astounding.

I could right volumes of books just going through all the research, but I’ll just ask that before you do any fasting that you research it yourself and absolutely, before you engage in longer-term fasting you consult with your doctor. For the most part, fasting in the Christian Vitality program and Christian Fatloss Program means skipping a meal, or refraining from eating after 8:00pm which is a commonly a held belief and encouraged practice by even the most conservative health practitioner.

For people in their later Christian Fatloss Cycles an option to increase the amount of fat loss is to implement what is commonly called Intermittent Fasting. It is typically refraining from eating for 12+ hours. It’s typically not recommended to fast for longer than 24 hours in most circles, but in VERY recent research it is deemed okay to go longer. Do your research and consult your doctor before doing so.

I implemented Intermittent fasting for 6 out of 7 days for cycles 2 – 5. In cycle 2 I was a little hit and miss, but was able to train my body to adapt to it and consistently, without fail, fasted for 16+ hours for 6 days per week in cycles 3-5.

There are several ways to implement it, that have been proven to be effective, both for increasing health and for increasing fat loss.

Some kinds of fasting can be every other day (called alternate day fasting), every day for short periods, fasting after a workout or exercise to help increase growth hormone production (to keep you young and vital) and variations. A popular one recently was called the 5/2 diet. Where your fasting for a couple of days and ate normally for the others.

The Christian Vitality Diet & Christian Fatloss Program is typically 12 hours or more if you are in later Fatloss Cycles. Some mainstream people would call this a “condensed eating window”. So, that’s the sustainable and practical version of what I did.

Here are just a few of the scientifically documented health benefits of fasting:

Longevity: It can help you live longer
Blood Lipids: It can help with you bad cholesterol levels.
It has been proven to be as or more effective than calorie restriction in overweight women to help repair damage from metabolic syndrome
Every other day (alternate day) fasting has been proven to lower LDL-c numbers and also reduce LDL particle size.

[MUST READ] The “Metabolic Winter” Hypothesis…

Just released to me on his “Private” email list is an amazing article backed by 103 research studies & publications about metabolism, fasting, nutrition, fitness, and the rest of what’s important to you and me and our health. A must read. Warning it is very technical and some of it may be tough to get through for the non-medical types. I think the average person would find HUGE value in reading at least the ‘Putting it altogether” and “conclusion” sections. Let me know what you think in the comments…

P.S. I’ll be writing up my top take-aways from the Metabolic Winter and sharing them with you soon. What’s your biggest ah-ha moment? Please let me know in the comments

Shared with permission of Ray Cronise, BS

Download Metabolic Winter Hypothesis for FREE here:

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/met.2014.0027

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Breakfast, lunch, or dinner you’ll love this Samson-sized low calorie meal!

This recipe is great for high nutrient dense low-caloire meals

One of my favorite parts of Saturdays is that I take a break from my Intermittent Fasting. I make sure that I not only eat breakfast, but I eat a Big Breakfast that any one would be proud of.

The overall plan of all of my meals if you haven’t already figured it out, is to eat only good fats, a ton of protein, and a ton of veggies.

One of the things that helps me do that on Saturday mornings is one of my favorite dishes (have to say my wife even likes it as long as I omit the mushrooms).

So, here’s the recipe and how to prepare it. There are many variants as far as the veggies are concerned, so I generally use what I have on hand at the moment. For me it typically consists of Zucchini (or yellow squash), purple onions (or shallots), green chiles, jalapenos, bell peppers, and some specific spices and of course Omega-3 eggs (cage free if I can get them).

Step 1) I set the pan to medium heat on our gas stove-top and throw about 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in it. I use coconut oil for all of my cooking. I stay away from Olive oil for cooking and generally only us it uncooked. (the reason being is that olive oil and other oils tend to oxidize when they are heated…it changes their chemical make-up and they are no longer as good for you after you heat them). Coconut Oil (especially high-heat coconut oil) isn’t as susceptible to heat damage (oxidation) compared to other oils and it has some very unique nutritional benefits that are great for you.

Eat Purple Onions for awesome health benefits — Purple onions have polyphenols & flavanoids. Antioxidant miracle veggies.

Step 2) Chop your hot chiles, jalapeno, onions (shallots) and throw them in first. Cook for 5-7 minutes (constantly turning or tossing over the heat) or until they start to show some carmelization. I do so with these guys first because the heat tends to knock of some of the spiciness of them.

Step 3) Throw in your zucchini & yellow squash…the sliced (or chopped) bell peppers and chopped celery.

Celery is great for your health — Celery’s components have been scientifically proven to kill cancer cells in a lab

Step 4) While the veggies are cooking throw in garlic powder, low-salt (or salt free) multi-spice, paprika, ground black pepper, and salt. Sometimes I throw in yellow curry which has Tumeric in it and is highly nutritious.

Step 5) Once the veggies have reached your desired tenderness throw in 3-5 Omega-3 eggs and stir in until eggs are completely cooked and water has evaporated.

Step 6) Serve and Enjoy! Knowing you are feeding your body with some great fuel and signaling your body’s DNA to keep you healthy & strong.

Ingredients:

1-2 zucchinis or yellow squashes
1-2 green chiles
1-2 jalapenos
1/2 a purple onion
2 stalks of celery
1/2 purple onion (purple has a higher nutritional value) or equivalent amount of shallots
2-3 cloves of garlic (to replace garlic powder if you have it)
1 red/yellow/green bell pepper
3-5 eggs
1/2 tsp of Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Power (if you don’t have fresh garlic)

How many calories in this dish? Well, the coconut oil is about 100 calories (minus what you lose to cook off). The eggs are about 70 calories each (I use 5 of them for 350 calories). The zucchini and squash are about 20 calories each. Celery is 10 calories per stalk. After all is said and done I have a HUGE plate of food worth about 600 – 750 calories. It’s so much food that I often give Diana half and still have a decent meal, but honestly…I most often eat the whole plate and am full for most of the day and half to force myself to eat lunch.

Please try this. I had it this morning for Breakfast.

You’ll love the ability to have a guilt-free pig-out-party and can feel good about feeding yourself full of an endless list of healthy nutrients.

If you do try it, please comment & share. I’d love to hear you feedback. Or please share your variation. I’m always trying news things and will give YOUR recipe a try.

Side note: If your are implementing Intermittent Fasting (like I did by only eating between 1:00pm – 7:00pm) this is a great way to get to fill yourself up with a relatively low number of high nutrient density foods and not feel hungry at all.

Will you try this? If you have, what do you think? Easy huh? Have any favorite low-calorie recipes to share with us? Please share your comments below…