This will help you gain a better understanding of how to readily incorporate Intermittent Fasting into a fitness and weight loss plan. You will finally achieve your goals and get your energy levels and metabolism back to a state of maximum benefit to you!
Intermittent fasting is heralded as one of THE most effective ways to lose weight and get your body into shape.
Simply put, Intermittent Fasting is not a diet – it is an eating pattern.
Where Did it Come From?
Believe it or not, Intermittent Fasting is derived from the eating patterns of our ancestors, the hunter-gatherers.
Their eating patterns relied on an ever-changing (and often unreliable) abundance of food, and as such, they often went long periods of time without eating. When they DID make a kill, they often ate and shared their catch amongst the entire tribe in one go – keep in mind also their lack of preservation methods or spices. Some days would not yield a catch or kill for them to eat, thus creating unintentional periods of ‘fasting’.
The following day they would have to trek, hunt, and search for unknown lengths of time in order to try and produce some catch -a level of activity combined with food intake which kept them lean and agile throughout their whole lives.
These eating patterns are thus ingrained in our DNA – part of us KNOWS that overeating is never, and was never, a sustainable or natural thing to do. Surprisingly, our bodies actually react positively to lengthy periods without sustenance, provided there is no mental stress or tension involved during these times.
Thus, the ‘new’ phenomenon of Intermittent Fasting is actually based on centuries of the evolution of humankind – a good argument for anyone trying to coin it as a new ‘fad’ diet. There are numerous studies that show the benefits of diets based on Intermittent Fasting – yet as with any eating pattern, it doesn’t come without its shortfalls.
We’ll be outlining the advantages, disadvantages, and more of Intermittent Fasting.
Try to maintain an open mind and please get ready to learn as much as you can before deciding if it’s for you!
How does it work?
IF (Intermittent Fasting) generally involves varying periods of fasting interspersed by shorter windows of eating, during which calorie deficiency for the period of fasting time is accounted for. There are several cycles of this which have been proven to work for those seeking to lose weight.
By adjusting the pattern and frequency by which you consume your meals, you prolong the period of ‘fasting’ generally reserved for night time, and restrict your eating hours to a shorter period during the day.
Calorie-Deficiency
As a general rule to which all weight-loss programs will agree, the best way to create weight loss is to restrict the number of calories consumed about the amount of activity partaken. Intermittent Fasting is no different, as the ‘restriction’ of calories takes place between the fasting hours and helps the body to digest and assimilate what was consumed during non-fasting hours properly.
The important part of this cycle is to ensure that the meals you eat in between fasting periods are balanced and contain enough nutrients and minerals to see your body through the next period of ‘fasting.’
There are numerous arguments both for and against these patterns of eating that are still causing disagreement and discontent in the diet and fitness world, so it’s worth learning as much as you can to see if they suit you, your lifestyle, and weight loss goals before committing to a period of Intermittent Fasting.
The following article outlines some factors to consider before committing to IF:
Intermittent Fasting: Who’s It For? (And, if It’s Not for You, What to Do Instead) | HuffPost Life
Some aspects of Intermittent Fasting that the media has directed attention to is the fact that almost all people undertaking a period of Intermittent Fasting have experienced the following:
- Lower instances of cardiac complications
- Lower risk of developing diabetes
- Lower levels of inflammation and joint pain
- Loss of excessive belly fat
In addition to these positives, it can help to regulate imbalanced hormonal and cellular function.
This can be observed when after not eating for a period of time, your body initiates important cellular repair processes and changes hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible.
While fasting for a certain amount of time inevitably sends the body into ‘weight loss’ mode, as existing fat cells and hormones are called into use to replace the depleted amount of energy the body is receiving (in the form of calories), the sustained period of time with NO caloric intake followed by a significant intake sends the metabolism into overdrive and as such burns more during digestion than would usually occur on a normal diet.
Downsides and disclaimers
While the overall benefits of Intermittent Fasting seem to be largely positive (and it’s even recommended by some medical professionals), there are (as with most weight loss programs) some downsides to be aware of, too.
One of the most appealing factors of Intermittent Fasting is that during the non-fasting hours, the meals you eat aren’t necessarily specified as having to contain any particular amounts of calories. However, they do have to be balanced.
This means that while meal-prepping everything isn’t a requirement, you still need to be relatively smart about the foods and portions you consume during the non-fasting hours.
Just because you’ve built up a calorie-deficit over the fasting period doesn’t mean you can eat anything you like for 8 hours and have there be no consequences! This is where most people fail with Intermittent Fasting, so it helps to be aware that it’s not only during the fasting hours that awareness of the body’s hunger cues must be observed.
Eating Issues
Intermittent Fasting can also elevate the likelihood of developing or worsening eating disorders. As so much of IF revolves around controlling and maintaining certain levels of food intake, there’s a fine line between when obsession overeating and not-eating during your fasting/non-fasting days becomes heightened enough to become similar to eating-disordered thinking.
If you’re concerned about your attitude to food and whether or not it’s healthy, there are some good online tests you can take to determine this:
https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/eating-attitudes-test/
16:8
Perhaps the most well-known version of the intermittent fast was originally
suggested in the book ‘8-hour diet’ by David Zinczenko. In this book, he suggested that leaving longer periods between meals allows the body to process food and break down any excess fat cells properly is preferable to eating more numerous, smaller meals during the day.
Good News??
The good news is that for those sticking to the 16:8 diet, you sleep through most of the 16-hour fasting window!
The idea is that you follow a pattern of not eating early in the morning, and then eating at 11 am or 12 pm, and then confining any subsequent meals to within an 8- hour window. Leaving 2 hours AFTER your last meal before bedtime and following the same pattern the following day.
Simply put, the 16:8 method pretty much involves you just skipping breakfast, and then ensuring your last meal is consumed at least 2 hours prior to when you go to sleep.
Sounds easy, right?
It is! The main challenge people face during a period of 16:8 dieting is during the window of fasting in the morning. For anyone who has become accustomed to the ‘breakfast like a king’ rule, the fitness media has shared with us for years; this might present itself as a challenge. However, if the other meals the previous day have been nutrient-dense enough to provide both enough nutrition and also to satiate hunger, the morning fasting period should prove to be easier.
It takes time to figure out which kinds of foods will successfully see your energy levels through until the following afternoon, so don’t give up if you find it hard for the first few days!
The biggest question on most people’s fast-hungry lips is what can they EAT during their 8-hour eating window.
I have recipes for you once you decide that this is what you want to do.
Another positive element of this diet is that calories are not restricted during your ‘eating’ hours. Both meals and snacks can be consumed, with the only guideline being that they consist of healthy, balanced, and portion-controlled.
There are NO ‘forbidden foods’ on this diet, but professionals would recommend only that you avoid overindulgence as much as possible. The urge to overeat or binge can arise after a period of fasting, and so 16:8 dieters much be aware of this danger to lower the likelihood of them binging. If it helps for you to break your fast initially with a light snack instead of a heavy meal, this can help with avoiding urges to binge later on.
During the 16-hour fasting period, non-calorific liquids can be consumed (such as tea, black coffee, or water). Making SURE they contain NO sugar is key to a successful 16 hour fast.
It helps to take your time while eating, savor each bite, and maybe even take few minutes to break in the middle of your meal to allow digestion to begin as studies have shown this is beneficial for overall gut and mental health, as well as weight loss.
An interesting REVIEW of the 16:8 diet and an example of some foods that are good to incorporate:
Contradictions
The fact that the author of this diet states that types of food ‘don’t matter too much’ seems to vastly contradict pretty much every other kind of healthy diet plan we’ve ever seen.
I’m sure that eating 3 meals of fried, sugary, and fatty foods during your ‘eating window’ would lead to different results after a period of following this diet, so some common dieting sense is advised during this time!
As with all intermittent fasts, this diet is not suited to anyone with unstable or unreliable blood sugar, as the low levels during fasting hours can lead to complications.
So many studies in recent years have indicated the benefits of consuming breakfast within an hour of waking, and so it can be hard to change thought and habit patterns to suit this new mindset. The trick is just to try it – and if it works without too much anxiety involved, then you can hope for more success with 16:8. Repeated eating patterns become easier for the body and the mind to adjust to, as with any diet plan, so 16:8 can prove challenging at the beginning.
During the fasting days, dieters are recommended to only drink water and non-calorific liquids and refrain from over-exertion.
The other days of the week can be considered much alike to the ‘eating window’ of the 16:8 diet – that is to ensure that all meals taken during this period are healthy, balanced, and not used as an excuse to overeat after a period of non-eating
Also known as the ‘Eat-Stop-Eat’ diet, the theory here is that the days where food is not ingested are seen as a means of letting the body properly absorb and ‘rest’ from digestion.
The negatives here include long-periods of fasting being initially extremely challenging for new dieters, so if this is the case, the instigators have allowed for gradual weaning on to the diet to ensure maximum effect.
Anyone with existing anxiety, sleep, or blood sugar issues should avoid this diet.
The longer fasting periods can also make it more tempting to binge after a fast, and so it’s worth noting that this takes a lot of willpower to control.
Is this diet something you’d consider trying?
This is exactly what it sounds like – fasting on every alternate day as opposed to set days a week. Many doctors will advise against this method for anyone completely new to the fasting technique, as full-fasting, every other is a bit extreme for bodies unaccustomed to the effects.
There are many different versions of this kind of fast, however, some of which allow up to 500 calories per day on the fasting day. Many health professionals maintain that this method is inadvisable for long-term weight loss pursuits, as the frequency of the fasting periods lean towards unhealthy habits and shouldn’t be attempted without having tried fasting.
A full guide to alternate-day fasting here:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/alternate-day-fasting-guide#section4
The Warrior Diet consists of fasting completely during the day and eating one large meal at nighttime. The thinking behind this one comes from a similar origin to the 16:8 diet the ‘warrior’ reflex of the human body having been accustomed to long periods without food in times before ready-made meals and grocery stores were commonplace and easily accessible.
Ori Hofmekler was the first person to popularize this diet, and he emphasized the importance of consuming light, low-calorie snacks during the day – such as plan fruits and vegetables, and then eating one large, balanced meal at night time. The permitted or recommended food groups for the large balanced meal should include ingredients similar to those consumed on the PALEO diet unprocessed, natural whole-foods that would have been accessible by some of our earliest ancestors in the Paleolithic period.
The following is a link to a podcast chat with Ori, where he answers probing questions about ‘The Warrior Diet’ and his journey with Intermittent Fasting.
(HINT: Podcasts are a GREAT way to take your mind off exercising while walking, running or in the gym!)
A large part of successful intermittent fasting is centered around creating the right mentality.
As with any new ‘diet’ or eating plan, you can’t expect to see immediate results – human beings are creatures of habit and shifting away from your normal eating/exercise regime (or lack thereof!) can take time to adjust to.
This is more of a mental thing than physical, as the recent studies on getting rid of the ‘diet mentality’ suggests! But intermittent fasting needn’t be so hard. It’s important, however, to understand that you can’t just decide you’re ‘fasting’ if you accidentally miss or skip breakfast or another large meal. This kind of false justification rarely works, and generally results in severe troughs in energy levels or even binges and spikes in blood sugars.
The best way to go about starting an intermittent fast is to PLAN ahead of schedule – start your eating pattern on a Monday, for example, and spend the Sunday prior to it getting yourself more educated on what exactly it is you’re getting yourself in for – make yourself aware of all potential outcomes, and potential reactions (both negative and positive).
If you’re in any way unsure about whether or not intermittent fasting is something that could work for you, seek your doctor’s advice beforehand. The following conditions are signs that you probably should NOT try intermittent fasting:
- If you are pregnant or breastfeeding
- If you have or have a history with an eating disorder
- If you have diabetes or issues with blood sugar levels
- If you are prone to experiencing anxiety
- If you are prone to fainting
As so much of dieting is focused around negative emotions and ‘punishment’ for slipups or deviations from the diet, it’s SO important to establish a healthy mindset surrounding weight loss before trying intermittent fasting.
Successful weight loss (and that means sustainable, long-term weight loss that STAYS lost), generally centers around creating positive lifestyle changes that incorporate healthy eating and automatically lend themselves to weight loss. This involves not only diet, but also activity levels, environmental factors, and most importantly – MENTALITY.
Intermittent fasting can be used as one of these lifestyle changes a simple eating pattern that you can follow several days of the week or month that helps to regulate metabolism and slowly return your body to its most natural and balanced state.
But keep in mind how you view the process of Intermittent Fasting in your head – if you are expecting it to work as a quick-fix, just know that this is not sustainable, either.
Trust Your Body
A huge element of successful weight loss involves learning how to listen to your body correctly.
This means feeding, moving, and being kind to your body when it needs you to be. A lot of health professionals over-complicate weight loss by cornering it into one small element of a pie-chart that relies on the entirety to achieve wholesomeness.
Anyone who has experience achieving weight loss and gaining it back will tell you that the satisfaction was fleeting. Only by listening to our bodies and providing them with the nutrients, environment, and movement necessary to cultivate a balanced lifestyle can we hope to achieve our ideal weight.
If Intermittent Fasting helps you reach this point – great. View this as a tool which has helped you reach full awareness of your body. Do not get addicted, don’t constantly fast, and don’t expect to see changes overnight.
Studies have shown that Intermittent Fasting can affect the functioning of your cells, genes, and hormones, as the altered pattern of your eating will ultimately release the hormones necessary for cell growth and repair.
Intermittent Fasting is particularly effective regarding the hormones that have to do with your hunger, blood sugar, and metabolism.
Reducing insulin resistance is extremely effective in lowering blood sugar levels, thus lowering your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
It has even been suggested that periodic fasting can trigger improved cell regrowth and immune system repair, assisting the body’s recovery from treatments such as chemotherapy.
As well as using stores of glucose, prolonged periods of fasting also breaks down significant portions of white blood cells.
This then triggers stem-cell based regeneration of new immune system cells.
Fascinating article about fasting-induced cell regeneration:
https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-oldimmune-system/
The Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is known to be one of the most highly affected hormones in the body during a period of fasting.
After 6 hours of a fast, this hormone goes into overdrive and starts producing physiological results in the form of increased metabolism and fat-burning.
The proteins it produces – amino acids – are used to improve brain and neuro functioning, also repairing collagen and helping with skin growth and repair while it does so!
Insulin and HGH work as opposites in this function.
Read more about this in the article here:
https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-oldimmune-system/
As fasting helps to reduce instances of inflammation, contributing to lowered cholesterol, blood pressure, and overall weight, there are benefits for those seeking to improve their heart health. However, doctors also advise caution to these patients, as electrolyte imbalance can occur, giving rise to arrhythmias.
The doctor in the following article also states however that there is still a lot of research to be done in this area regarding heart health and Intermittent Fasting, so for those unsure or wary of trying it, he advises consulting medical professionals before embarking on a period of fasting.
BOTTOM LINE:
It seems that the same goes for any existing medical condition -if you wish to try losing weight with Intermittent Fasting, it’s best to consult your doctor first.
Heart health article: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2017/07/fasting-how-does-itaffect-your-heart-and-blood-pressure/
IF in Males vs Women
Curiously, there have been studies to show that Intermittent Fasting has more successful rates in men instead of those in women.
This has to do with hormonal rates involved in metabolism and fat storage and takes into account centuries of women’s activity levels being lower than those of men.
If we’re considering the origins of Intermittent Fasting from the perspective of ancestral habits, this definitely should be taken into consideration when analyzing the difference in results between men and women.
The idea is that because men were traditionally involved in the more active ‘hunting’ and sourcing of sustenance, women’s bodies developed differently with a higher reliance on fat storage and muscle stability for tending crops, children, and housework.
Hormones
Males and females inevitably also require and process hormones differently to one another. As we’ve already discussed the effects of Intermittent Fasting on hormones, it follows that different initial levels and types of hormones will produce different effects in response to fasting.
The following is a very interesting read on how fasting affects men and women uniquely: http://www.drhardick.com/intermittent-fasting-men-vs-women
Overall, In terms of ‘dieting’ and ‘losing weight,’ it’s best, to be honest with yourself about WHY you want to achieve what you’ve set out to do by trying Intermittent Fasting. You’ll find that motivation can come simply from taking the time to find this WHY.
The same goes for any kind of weight-loss plan.
If you have a clear goal, with clear motivation, and clear steps to achieve it, it’s difficult to fail.
While there’s still relatively little research done on the long-term effects of
Intermittent Fasting, it can’t be denied that enough people have experienced positive results from using the methods we’ve discussed here for it to have become as widely discussed as it has. Being honest with yourself about these factors is also important – honestly noting reactions or responses your body might have to fast and seeking medical advice if
you’re unsure of what you experience.
Take this next few minutes to consider what your goals are and how you feel – WHY do you want to try Intermittent Fasting, and what do you (realistically) think you will receive from trying it? Are you uncertain about any aspects?
Let me know once you are ready to get started.
XO,
Viviane
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