During even a brief period of fasting, your metabolism can rapidly change.

For example, let’s look at the macronutrient carbohydrate, like those found in rice, breads, and fruit. The storage form in our bodies, glycogen, generally decreases, which can shift metabolism from burning carbohydrates to burning fat for energy.

This occurs in multiple tissues including the one responsible for movement, muscle.

This challenge involves Intermittent Fasting to speed up metabolism and aid in fat burning. A recent study confirms fat burning is vastly increased during fasting, but even more interesting is its effects on muscle.

Muscle can use both carbohydrates and fat for energy and can adapt to different nutrient intakes including fasting (2). This occurs through a complex, energy and nutrient-sensing pathway that is involved with many different energy states, like being full or fasting (3). Understanding this pathway under different dietary conditions is very important as it can affect how genes are expressed and regulated (1).

Not surprisingly, during short duration periods of fasting there is a rapid decrease in carbohydrate oxidation (sugar burning) with a large increase in fat oxidation (fat burning) mostly in muscle.

Insulin and leptin (a hormone involved in appetite control) levels also decrease as free fatty acids and growth hormone levels increase. 

Additionaly, 23 genes involved in the regulation of metabolic processes, have been found to be significantly affected by fasting at both early (10 hours) and late (24 hours) time points. Many of these genes helped move metabolism to fat oxidation (fat burning) at the whole-body level.

In relation to fat burning in muscle tissue, short-term fasting is quite effective. However, prolonging the daily fast or fasting too often to speed up fat loss is not advisable as fasting for too long can cause a loss in muscle mass and negatively affect metabolism (2;3).

Having worked in fitness & nutrition for half a decade with some of the smartest, most qualified experts in the industry, these products are from what is by far the cleanest and most ethical supplement line out there that we have ever come across. We were first introduced to Isagenix by Licensed Master Sports Nutritionist, Natalie Jill, creator of Natalie Jill Fitness — and we’ve used these products ourselves daily ever since.

Because we constantly receive messages from people asking how to eat well even in the face of lifestyle challenges, like:

• Being very busy, stressed, overworked,
• Isolated in an area without many healthy food choices,
• Having to travel too frequently and not always having access to a kitchen,
• Not having a support system (family, friends, etc.) living the same lifestyle,
• Not knowing how to cook healthy or
• By just being burnt out in general with meal prepping and having to cook all the time,

we have partnered with Isagenix, a high quality superfood nutrition company, to help people overcome these obstacles and more both easily and effectively.

As Certified Sport & Exercise Nutrition Specialists ourselves, we’ve carefully selected the 30-Day Healthy Aging System to combine with this challenge because it incorporates all of the best, most vital components of optimal sports nutrition and easy clean eating success, regardless of where you’re at in your nutrition routine.

And the best part? It also helps your body slow down, and in some cases reverse, the effects of aging on the body. Look better, feel better and perform better with this system. It’s as easy as that.