Lose 125 Pounds With This Intermittent Fasting Diet

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Unless you’ve been living under a keto-friendly rock, the newest diet craze is intermittent fasting.

Story after story about how people are losing insane amounts of weight using intermittent fasting.

In this article, I’m going to share an amazing story about how a Dr. lost 125 pounds using intermittent fasting, then I’ll share with you how YOU can do it too.

How Intermittent Fasting Helps You Lose Weight 

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Intermittent Fasting Helps Doctor Lose 125 Pounds In 18 Months

Dr. Kevin Gendreau watched his sister die of cancer and realized she had no choice in health. But he did. With intermittent fasting, he lost 125 pounds.

As Dr. Kevin Gendreau watched his 32-year-old sister grow sicker and sicker due to an aggressive ovarian cancer, he reevaluated his own health. The then 28-year-old resident physician was 300 pounds at 5 feet 9 inches tall.

“My poor sister, Rachel, she had no choice with her health,” Gendreau, 31, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, told TODAY. “I was choosing to be unhealthy.”

He had first gained 50 pounds as a college freshman and kept binge eating to deal with stress. When his father died of a rare form of melanoma, Gendreau turned to food for comfort. During medical school he gained even more weight.

As Gendreau watched his sister struggle with cancer, he realized his unhealthy lifestyle had led to his health issues, like high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes and sleep apnea.

It was a pretty slow onset,” he said. “I went onto medical school never solving the depression and eating problems that came from my father’s passing.”

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As soon as he realized that being overweight was a choice, something clicked and Gendreau was able to focus on losing weight in a way that he struggled to do before. When he first started in August 2016, he cut all processed carbohydrates and ate about 1,700 calories a day, which he tracked with a weight-loss app. The first 40 pounds just “melted off.”

“When you have a history of binge eating and emotional eating you lose all faith in your ability to control your emotions and hunger,” he said. “I had no idea I was as mentally strong as I actually am.”

When he hit a plateau, he made some changes to his diet. He focused on eating chicken, turkey, legumes, vegetables, black coffee, tea, non-fat Greek yogurt, fruit and raw nuts. This change helped him shed even more weight. But again, his progress stalled at 225 pounds.

“I felt a lot better,” he said. “But as my sister’s condition worsened, it motivated me on the path. I knew I was going to be an integral part of (the children’s) lives.”

When his sister died in June of 2017, leaving behind her children, Henry, 3, and Sophia, 7, Gendreau restarted his weight loss again with the 16:8 diet, also known as intermittent fasting. From noon to 8 p.m. he consumes as many calories he wants. This has helped him lose the last 60 pounds of his 125-pound weight loss, which took a total of 18 months.

“I am shocked it works. There is always a new diet but this is very medically sound, which is why I loved it,” he said.

“Ninety percent of my weight loss … is from diet,” he explained.

Since February 2018, Gendreau has maintained his loss. He no longer takes any medications and has reversed all the health conditions he previously experienced.

1.) Keep Fat Pants and Pictures

When Gendreau is stressed he might try on his XXXL T-shirts and size 44 pants. It is a tangible reminder of how far he’s come and makes him “feel like a million bucks” that he now wears smalls and a size 31.

“Sometimes you need a side-by-side to see what you accomplished,’ he said.

2. Find your reason.

Gendreau’s reason to lose weight was rooted in sadness — his sister was dying and he needed to be around a long time for her children. But he believes that helped him when losing became tough.

“I knew that I had to be healthy,” he said. “That was probably the primary motivator.”

After cutting processed carbs from his diet then using intermittent fasting, Kevin Gendreau lost 125 pounds in 18 months.
After cutting processed carbs from his diet then using intermittent fasting, Kevin Gendreau lost 125 pounds in 18 months.Courtesy Kevin Gendreau

3. ‘Spoil your appetite.’

Even though Gendreau focuses on a healthy eating, he still enjoys going out to meals with friends and family. When he’s not having a cheat day, he chooses salad or baked chicken breast. He never overeats thanks to one trick.

 

“I will purposefully spoil my appetite. I will eat a pile of raw nuts, a pile of carrots and an apple on the way. That way I am really not that hungry so all I want is a drink and a salad,” he explained.

7 Step Plan To Lose Over 100 Pounds On Keto Diet

1. Eat Fewer Carbs and More Lean Proteins And More Fat

You can lose several pounds by following a low-carb diet for just a few days.

In fact, lots of research has shown a low-carb diet is a very effective way to lose weight and improve health.

A short-term decrease in carb intake can also reduce water weight and bloating.

This is why people who go low-carb often see a difference on the scale as early as the next morning after starting the diet.

Additionally, making sure you eat plenty of protein can help reduce your appetite even further while boosting your metabolism.

Try eliminating or drastically reducing all starchy carbs and sugars for the week. Replace these with low-carb vegetables, while also increasing your intake of eggs, lean meats and fish.

Check out this article to learn more about how to set up a low-carb diet and which foods to include.

BOTTOM LINE: Reducing your carb intake can lead to a significant amount of weight loss, from both body fat and excess water weight. Eating more protein also helps.

2. Reduce Your Calorie Intake by Following These Tips

Reducing your calorie intake may be the most important factor when it comes to weight loss.

If you aren’t eating fewer calories than you expend, then you will not lose fat.

Here are a few simple tips to reduce calorie intake:

  • Count calories: Weigh and log the foods you eat. Use a calorie counting tool to keep track of the amount of calories and nutrients you are taking in.
  • Eat only at meals: Reduce all snacks and don’t eat anything after dinner.
  • Cut your condiments: Eliminate calorie-dense condiments and sauces.
  • Fill up on veggies: Fill your plate with vegetables and limit starchy carbs and added fats for the week.
  • Choose lean proteins: Choose lower-fat proteins, such as chicken and fish.
  • Don’t drink your calories: Instead, opt for water, zero-calorie drinks, tea or coffee. Protein shakes are fine if you count them as a meal.

BOTTOM LINE: Reducing your calorie intake is a vital factor for weight loss. You may need to do this aggressively in order to lose so much weight in just one week.

While I don’t recommend calorie counting for life, it sometimes is a good idea to get you conscious about your food quality and food quantity.

3. Eat Whole Foods and Avoid Most Processed Junk Foods

When you’re trying to lose weight quickly then it can be helpful to eat a simple diet based on whole foods.

These foods tend to be very filling, and make it easier to eat fewer calories without getting too hungry.

During the week, you should make sure to eat mostly whole, single-ingredient foods. Avoid most foods that are highly processed.

Eating mostly lean proteins and low-carb veggies can be incredibly satisfying even if you’re not getting that many calories.

BOTTOM LINE: In order to help you achieve the 10 pound goal, then you should try to eat only whole foods during this week. Base most of your diet on lean protein and low-carb veggies.

4. Intermittent Fasting (Combined With Keto) Is Another Simple Way to Reduce Weight Quickly

Intermittent fasting is another effective and proven tool for dropping fat.

It forces you to reduce your calorie intake, since you are limiting your eating to a short window of time.

There are many different protocols, such as a 16-hour fast with an 8-hour feeding window, or a 20-hour fast with a 4-hour feeding window.

If you’re combining fasting with exercise, it may be wise to do the fasting at a different time than your workout.

BOTTOM LINE: Intermittent fasting is an excellent method to reduce calorie intake and lose weight.

5. Use These Tips to Reduce Water Retention

Several other methods can help you drop water weight and appear leaner and lighter. These include:

  • Take dandelion extract: A supplement called dandelion extract can help reduce water retention.
  • Drink coffee: Coffee is a healthy source of caffeine. Studies suggest that caffeine can help you burn more fat and lose excess water.
  • Mind your intolerances: Eating things that you are intolerant to, such as gluten or lactose, can lead to excessive water retention and bloating. Avoid foods that you think you may be intolerant to.

BOTTOM LINE: Other ways to lose water weight include supplementing with dandelion extract, drinking coffee and avoiding foods you are intolerant to.

6. Lift Weights and Try High-Intensity Interval Training

Exercise is one of the best ways to burn fat and improve your appearance.

Resistance training, such as weight lifting, can lead to a similar amount of weight loss as regular aerobic training. It also helps you add or maintain muscle mass and strength.

Full-body resistance training workouts are also a great method to lower your body’s carb stores and water weight, which can lead to a sharp decline in weight.

Lifting weights can also protect your metabolism and hormone levels, which often decline during dieting.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is another very effective training method.

Research suggests that 5–10 minutes of HIIT can lead to similar or greater benefits for health and weight loss as five times that amount of regular exercise.

Like weight lifting, it can quickly reduce muscle carb stores and also boost other important aspects of weight loss, such as your metabolism and fat-burning hormones.

You can perform HIIT three to four times a week after a workout or as part of your normal training regimen. It is very important to do this with 100% effort or intensity. Most sprints should not last more than 30 seconds.

Here are a few protocols you can try. These can be done running in place or outside, or applied to a cardio machine like a bike, rower or treadmill:

Session 1: 10 x 20-second sprint with 40 seconds rest
Session 2: 15 x 15-second sprint with 30 seconds rest
Session 3: 7 x 30-second sprint with 60 seconds rest
Session 4: 20 x 10-second sprint with 20 seconds rest

BOTTOM LINE: Lifting weights and doing high-intensity intervals are among the best ways to lose weight and deplete muscle glycogen stores. They can also boost your metabolism and provide other benefits.

Discover How The 3-Week Intermittent Fasting Diet  Has Helped Over 7,000 Women Get A Fat-Burning Metabolism And Lose 22 Pounds In 21 Days

7. Be Active Outside of the Gym

In order to burn extra calories and lose more weight, you can also increase your daily activity.

In fact, how active you are throughout the day when you aren’t exercising also plays a very important role in weight loss and obesity.

For example, the difference between a desk job and a manual job can account for up to 1,000 calories per day. This is the same as 90 to 120 minutes of high-intensity exercise.

Simple lifestyle changes such as walking or biking to work, taking the stairs, going for walks outside, standing more or even cleaning the house can help you burn a lot of calories.

BOTTOM LINE: Increasing your daily activity is a great way to burn extra calories and lose more weight.

How To Lose 8-10 Pounds In One Week With An Intermittent Fasting

By optimizing your diet and training regimen you can lose a large amount of weight in just one week.

Although this won’t be pure fat loss, it may give you the kick-start and motivation you need to follow a more sustainable diet.

You do not need to follow all of these steps, but the more you apply, the more weight you will lose.

Keep in mind that people who go on “crash diets” often end up gaining all the weight back when they’re done.

When the program is over, you should switch to a more sustainable plan so that you can continue to lose weight and keep it off.

Most people alternate between a intermittent fasting diet and a more sustainable metabolic program, which you can learn more about on the next page

 

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