Truth About Intermittent Fasting

I'm sure a lot of us have heard about the big promises that intermittent fasting can bring to you during your weight loss journey as well as the miracles it can perform on your health. However, with all the floating skepticism on this latest fad, we question if it is even worth trying. If this is you, keep reading!

But first....

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent Fasting (AKA IF) is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It doesn't necessarily tell you what foods you should eat, but WHEN you should eat them. Often times IF is confused for a type of diet. However, this is not the case! IF is simply a pattern of eating. A common pattern of eating when Intermittent Fasting is fasting for 16 hours, leaving you an 8 hour eating window, and during your fast phase you consume no calories.

Whats the point of IF?

For those new to the idea, it can sound a bit weird as to why someone would want to do IF. What is the point exactly? Well, within the past year, there have been quite a few studies shown as to why you should do IF. Here are the facts:

The most popular topic: IF for Fat Loss

Let's take a "normal" diet of someone eating 3 meals a day and doesn't snack. (Let's assume that this person is eating a well balanced and healthy diet). In between meals, as long as you don't snack, your insulin levels actually drop. The idea with intermittent fasting is to let our insulin levels drop dramatically during our fast. When our insulin levels drop enough, our fat cells can then release their stored sugar or fat, to be used as energy. Therefore, we lose weight if we let our insulin levels go down enough. The best way to enhance this fat burning process is to perform your workout at the end of your fasted state. Think about it, your insulin levels are already low, and you need energy to perform your workout. If you limit the amount of carbohydrates your body can pull from (carbs are your body's first energy source), it will turn to your fat stores for energy quicker, expediting your fat burning process. Then after your workout, you break your fast with your first meal.

Don't get me wrong. This is HARD. The first 3-4 days of fasting and working out in this pattern are the hardest. However, you don't NEED to do it this way, but like I said in my "Ending Exercise Myths: Fasted Workouts" blog, it would be my preferred way if I were to do intermittent fasting.

If you want to hear a personal opinion and see what it is like to fast this way, I recommend following fitness mogul, Whitney Simmons on youtube. She went through a period of time in which she did IF this way. Want to know what to eat post workout? Read my "Sneaking Sugar into Your Diet" blog post. (That concludes our brief commercial) lol.

There are many other claims that Intermittent Fasting offers such as:

1. Increasing heart health

2. Increasing brain health

3. Cancer Prevention

4. Anti-aging

Blahh blahh blahhhhhhhh

However, there aren't any hard pieces of evidence that I could find from a valid source that proved this to be true, so I will leave this to your own discretion.

What are my thoughts?

I believe that you should chose the eating method that works best for you and your schedule. For some people, this eating patter will help them remain more consistent with their caloric intake. For others, (like myself) it would be extremely difficult with the schedule I have between work and family events. You can still lose weight eating throughout the day and snacking (appropriately). The key is eating in moderation and consuming the appropriate amount of macros for your body type and your current physical activity. If you would like to know more about what kinds of foods to start with and the basics to macro tracking. I have a FREE downloadable ebook located on my website for your convenience. Have more questions? Feel feee to always contact me through my website form or comment below :)

Until next time!

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Sources:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-nutr-071816-064634?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3Dpubmed

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide#weight-loss