Intro to Intermittent Fasting
Lose weight. Build muscle. Reduce gas. Sounds like the start of a cheesy infomercial. Yet that’s exactly what I experienced with intermittent fasting.
For most of my life, I’ve been the guy who had to eat every 2 hours. I was always working on a snack and I always had food on me. And I’d stuff myself silly if I knew it’d be a while until my next meal.
I started intermittent fasting in October 2017. Over the following 6 months, I lost 15 lbs (most of it fat), felt better, had a calmer stomach, and generally felt like I had more control and willpower.
Now this isn’t a weight loss blog and I wasn’t trying to lose weight (that was a side benefit of me trying to understand what was bothering my stomach). I’m only posting about IF because it materially improved my life. And the kicker?
Life was easier and better with intermittent fasting (that’s why I’m still doing it).
Why Do it?
It gets results (I feel better). And it’s easy (I could continue indefinitely).
I want you to read the reasons of my friend M (who’s just starting IF) for why he’s doing it (bold is my emphasis):
I like IF a lot so far, some mornings it’s a struggle but I think a good one. I can sort of feel my willpower being tested and becoming stronger with each success. I’d spent too long just not needing to make strong willed food choices, and that’s a pit that you need to make a conscious choice to climb out of, I think… sort of recognizing that trying to change individual eating habits is like treating symptoms; lessening carbs or cutting out X, etc… I think the fundamental issue is just taking control of your relationship with food and making eating a choice rather than a compulsion, which is mostly just forcing yourself to exercise your willpower. Not eating is great for that because it’s the easiest choice, logistically, to make. I don’t need to plan or have anything special on hand, but I get to fight myself daily and make a willful choice.
My story is similar. I was eating all the time for emotional reasons (and boredom). I needed to reset my relationship with food and give my stomach a break.
Okay. What is it?
Intermittent Fasting is simply occasionally taking a break from food. That’s it.
There’s two common ways:
Have a “feeding window” every day (I usually use noon to 8pm). You don’t consume any calories outside of the window.
Once (or twice) a week, you don’t eat from the end of dinner until dinner the next day.
The simplicity is key. I’ve seen so many fad diets come and go and they’re all complicated.
Intermittent fasting has just one rule: Eat during your eating window and fast otherwise. That means: I cook less. I buy less. I eat less. I weigh less. And I have more time.
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
The benefits are legion. See below from my science-geek friend and intermittent fasting guide, G:
Intermittent fasting is extremely effective for losing fat (which is usually what people mean when they say they want to lose weight). Intermittent fasting results in lower insulin levels, lower blood glucose levels and it causes a state of lipolysis (fat release) and oxidation (fat burning). In addition, it creates an increase in growth hormone which supports lean body mass development, and drives why the muscles get switched on to burn fat. All of this is research based.
It’s a myth that you’ll wither away and lose muscle when you fast.
My biggest benefit was having a calmer stomach and not needing to be afraid of two hour meetings (although they’re still not my favourite).
There are some other less well researched potential benefits (increased memory function, increased longevity) that I won’t go into. Consider them bonus if they exist.
If your goal is to lose fat, intermittent fasting is an excellent aid. When you work out in a fasted state, your body is using fat as fuel. If you’re lifting weights, you’re also taking advantage of the metabolic boost of working out and the growth hormone boost of fasting. You’ll still need to watch what you eat (calorie surplus still becomes fat), but it does give you the advantage of training your body to use fat as fuel.
G (who fasts for a full 24 hrs once a week) says that his fast days are “more productive (no breaks for food), cleansing (I drink so much water and herbal tea those days that I feel like I ‘flush’ my system), and that on days after a fast, I eat slightly (very slightly) more moderated food quantities because I sense myself getting full faster.”
Which Fast Should you Try?
24 hr fast, once a week. As my friend G points out, most of the scientific benefits of fasting come after you’ve been fasting for close to 24 hours. If you want to get the most benefit possible, use this method.
16(ish) hr fast, every day. If you love having a daily routine, you’ll likely prefer the daily fast. This seemed easier to me, although I’ll likely try the 24 hr fast at some point. Some days my fast gets closer to the 20 hr mark and some days it’s a lot less. Because of my routine, I often don’t feel hungry before noon, even when I stopped eating at 7pm the night before. Now, it didn’t start that easy, but it got that easy fairly quickly.
Or both. It’s possible to use both strategies to great effect, as this professional eventually concluded (if you read all the way through his experiences).
Fitting Intermittent Fasting Into Your Life
Try working out in a fasted state, as described by the popular Leangains Method. After 16 hours of fasting, my body uses fat as fuel. I think this was one of the key drivers of my fat loss.
If you want to dip your toe in, move breakfast back by 20/30 minutes every day until you hit noon. I found it easier that way.
Have water with you at all times. It will help you ignore hunger.
Insulin promotes water retention. As your body gets rid of the insulin in its fasted state, you’re going to stop retaining water. Plus you’re going to be drinking (see #3 above). So be prepared to pee. A lot.
It may affect your mood at first. This passes.
If you’re like me (and my friend M), you’ll gorge from time to time. Maybe this is a habit for you, or maybe you’re over-reacting to restricting yourself. It’s normal. If you’re like us, you’ll do this less as time goes on.
Try to create a sustainable experience. Don’t run calorie-deficits that you can’t sustain indefinitely. Make this a way of life (and not a diet), and there will be nothing to bounce back from.
Even a little bit can make a difference. My friend A does a 15/9 split and lost 10 lbs over the last 6 months without making any other changes. She also feels more energetic in the morning and she sleeps better at night.
If you plan on trying intermittent fasting, check out these documented experiences. He’s a nutrition coach and he’s got some good tips (e.g. he got better sleep by starting his fast after dinner instead of lunch (no hungry midnight wakeups)).
Also, be flexible about it. Got a social evening? Push your window later. If you like brunching on the weekends like my friend M, don’t fast that day.
This should enhance your life, not rule it.
Conclusion
I’m not saying intermittent fasting is the only way to feel better, nor the only way to lose fat. But, if you’re at all like me, you’ll find that your life is far better incorporating some form of a voluntary fast.
I feel better in my body and I feel better about my body.
Give it a shot. Let me know how it goes.