What is intermittent fasting?
For those that may not be familiar to the term, intermittent fasting is just taking times of fast (no food) and working them into your lifestyle. This can be either daily or a couple times a week (will get into that more below). Benefits include improving insulin resistance (which you will hear alot about as being the #1 key marker in so many health factors including weight loss, muscle gain, performance, recovery, anti-ageing and disease prevention) and giving the body a chance to do some internal cleaning (or housework), which can lead to improved immune function and overall health.
How do I begin to do intermittent fasting?
Is there only one set way in which to do intermittent fasting? No. I could easily come up with 10 different intermittent fasting protocols based on 10 people’s individual’s needs, lifestyle, exercise, goal, macronutrient ratios, and so forth. We will keep it simple and give the 2 most frequent and basic options.
- Daily Fasting: Typically done every day and only giving the person a smaller eating window in which to get their calories. (for example, a 18hr daily fast would mean someone would only eat every day between the hours of Noon and 6pm). You will see varying times from 15-19 hours for daily fasting as seen with theWarrior Diet, Leangains, and Fast-5 approach.
- Fasting 1-3x a week:This could also be called alternate day fasting/calorie restriction (for those doing it every other day). This is just fasting of usually longer periods 18-24 hours but only 1-3x a week. Many variations to play with here like the Eat Stop Eat method (24 hr fasts 1-2x a week).
“But which one is better and how to I do it now if I want…….”
Whoa, slow down. I know many have questions but let’s still try to keep this simple for now and expand into more specifics later. So far many people have experimented with both types of intermittent fasting and have seen great results. But you also have to take into account all the other variables such as what is the person eating in that window? Is is junk food? Is it low carb? How many times a week are they doing it? Are they overweight and wanting just fat loss? Are they lower bodyfat but looking for improved performance and health? How many times a week are they exercising? What kind are they doing and what intensity? The list can go on and on, but let’s start to analyze the 2 types of intermittent fasting and let you decide which one best suits your lifestyle.
More Frequent Fasting (15-19 hours):
The Advantages are:
- simple eating strategies for every day
- even people that may not eat 100% clean foods can see weight loss due to the smaller window and lower calorie total per day
The Disadvantages are:
- Can possibly lower metabolism if calories are too low for too long (not what you want if your #1 goal is weight loss)
- Not getting enough food in the smaller window may also lead to muscle loss for more active people (not good)
- Can increase anxiety, depression or other emotional feelings. If you have a history of these you need to start SLOW and see how you feel. Once you start to feel too much anxiety, depression or other emotional response, STOP your fasting and go back to normal all day eating.
Extended Fasting 1-2x a week (up to 24hrs):
The advantages are:
- Allows a person to make sure they are getting enough calories on the non-fasting days, and then just keeps to a simple small feed window (if any) on the IF days.
- Simple thinking for people who do not have experience in how to eat clean to eat one day, and then eat in a smaller window the following day (alternate day fasting/CR). This can achieve fat loss for people who are mostly overweight and may not be too active. (of course don’t get me wrong, that eating healthy is our main goal but this can be a good step for some people to start their weight loss journey and learn how to make better choices as they go)
Disadvantages:
- Doesn’t force a person to make better choices with their food (as one could probably eat junk one day, and then fast the next and still lose weight). Not something we want long term because this is not going to improve your other health markers (diseases prevention, insulin resistance) like a good IF program on healthy foods.
Again I can’t say it enough, as there are so many variables to play with in anintermittent fasting program (or should I say lifestyle). Some people may say “well it didn’t work for me” or “I didn’t gain any muscle”. Well unless I know everything about what you do for exercise daily, your total calories, when you eat and your macronutrient ratios (protein/carbs/fats), I can’t even begin to help. Intermittent fasting is a simple tool to start with, but you have to take full responsibility for your own health and progress and learn when it is not working and when to change things up! Like I said, if it is NOT working then stop your current intermittent fasting program and rethink your attack plan .
To Sum Up
Here are some examples of what you can play with:
- Fasting of 15-19 hours. I would highly suggest that if you do this make sure you are recovering from your exercise and start only 2-3x a week, not every day.See your how body responds physically and mentally and then go from there. If you choose to do it more frequently (such as every weekday) you can also give yourself the weekends to eat all day (hopefully with healthy choices of course)
- Fast 1-2x a week to start if you have never done any fasting or do not know how to eat healthy and control your macronutrients. Start with 1-2 days a weekwith fasts of 18-20 hours (I wouldn’t start with 24 hr fasts to begin as most people can not handle the hunger cravings and in turn will just end up eating all the wrong foods when they do eat) and say eat only from say 1pm-6pm for example. Drink lots of water (add lemon, your liver will appreciate it! and it will help with the hunger). For example, fast Wed and Sun (or whatever days fit into your schedule)
- Or you can do a mixed approach and fast every other day for a small eating window. For example eat all day Mon, only 12-6pm on Tues, all day Wed, 12-6pm on Thurs, etc. Start with bigger eating windows and make them smaller as you get used to fasting. This approach may work for people who have alot of weight to lose and can not (I should really say “will not” as everything is a choice!) eat 100% healthy for the moment. This approach may not work for more advanced people who have a high activity level unless you are getting a ton of health calories in that fasting window.
- If what you are doing is NOT working for you. STOP, and rethink your approach. Intermittent fasting is just a tool to use and there are plenty of variables to be modified such as how often you IF, how big or small your eating window is (how long you fast), what are you macronutrient levels and total calories, what are your activity levels (as you may need to eat more on workout days), and more. Start slow and see what is working. You can always change something up and remember that in the end it is just a tool, and you may need to tweak it to make it for specifically for your lifestyle and needs
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