What is Intermittent Fasting
Essentially, Intermittent Fasting is when you limit the days, or times of day, that you eat. It’s not necessarily about calorie restriction, since you are not skipping meals. You are simply eating two meals a day (or one) instead of the “standard” 3 meals. There is also no snacking.
There are two methods of Intermittent Fasting. Some people fast for longer periods throughout the week, exceeding 24 to 48 hours fasting periods followed by days of “regular eating”. Others choose to fast for periods throughout out day, every day, aiming for 18-20 hours of fasting. The latter option is more popular, since it can be easily incorporated into modern life. You may sometimes hear it referred to as 18/6 or 20/4, calling attention to the hours fasting and the eating hours.
Health Benefits of Fasting
- Regulates insulin levels, which has been shown to help overcome diabetes. Regulated insult levels will also lead to more effective fat burning. [1]
- Can actually increase your metabolism [2]
- Helps the body heal itself, which is cardio and neuroprotective and has been shown to help prevent and treat neurodegenerative disorders [3]
- Increased mental clarity
Where to Begin
If you are new to intermittent fasting, and would like to give it a try, we recommend starting slow. In the evenings, finish eating and go to bed. When you wake up in the morning, don’t rush to eat. Take your time, have some coffee or tea, maybe some lemon water, and push back that first meal as long as you can. Every day, push it back a little further, until you are at 12, 14, 18 or 20 hours fasting.
Not having to think about food as much throughout the day can be very freeing and you may find yourself being more productive. If you do a 20/4 fasting schedule, you no longer have to prep a “lunch” for work.
Don’t worry about exercising in a fasted state. Exercising in a fasting state is very beneficial and may make your workouts more effective, as it essentially forces your body to shed fat, since your body’s fat burning processes are controlled by your sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and your SNS is activated by exercise and lack of food. [4]
Tips:
- Drinking lots of water, and some unsweetened coffee/tea throughout the day while you are fasting
- Sticking to a schedule every day including weekends
- Artificial sweeteners can break your fast, so try to avoid them
- Some days will be harder than others, if you can’t make it to 18 hours, and you need to end your fast early that’s ok.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193152441400200X
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10837292
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106288/
- https://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/09/13/eating-before-exercise.aspx
Phot0 credit by Hannah Busing
