Since Intermittent Fasting has been successful for me I get asked about it a lot. Just because it works for me doesn't mean it will work for you. Let's discuss.

 

First let's say what Intermittent Fasting (IF) is NOT.

 

It's not starvation. When people hear the word fasting that's what they automatically assume. People of many religions have been practicing this forever. In the hunter/gatherer days they would hunt for their food in the day and only eat at night. If you feel starved, dizzy, weak, moody then the implementation of IF is wrong.

 

It's not a magic fat burning tool. Despite what you may have heard this no better than eating 5 meals a day. To lose weight you still need to be in a caloric deficit. IF is simply a preference. I will explain below who it can benefit.

 

It is not proven to cure cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes or any other chronic illness (yet). There have been positive evidence based studies but all have been done on rats. Nothing conclusive on humans yet. But I will tell you my positive anecdotal experiences below.

 

Ok so what is Intermittent Fasting? It is simply a method that restricts your eating time and the rest of the time you fast. During the fasting period you are only allowed to have zero calorie items. Water, Black coffee, diet sodas are all acceptable.

 

There are many types of fasting but I will talk about the one I do and why. It is called 16:8 or the LeanGains method.

 

In this method I would only eat in an 8 hour window and fast for 16. A typical day for me would be to eat my first meal at noon and then a final meal at 8pm with maybe a little snack in between those times. From 8pm until noon the next day I would consume zero calories. So my eating window is 12pm-8pm (8 hours) and fasting window is 8pm-12pm (16 hours).

 

Let me be clear that during the eating window it is not a license to binge. It's still calories in vs calories out. You eat more than you burn it doesn't matter if you eat one meal a day or 5 meals a day you will gain weight.

 

So why the heck would anyone even bother with this?

 

The beauty of IF is being able to enjoy bigger meals AND still lose weight. This is especially true for people who can only have minimal calories like myself in order to keep leaning down.

 

When eating 3-4 smaller meals a day I would always feel hungry and start STRESSING and thinking about the next meal.

 

In addition eyeballing food is much easier doing IF. By only worrying about 2 meals a day I could easily track in my head what I was eating. But imagine if I ate 4 meals a day. What a NIGHTMARE and STRESS it would be to try and track that in my head. A lot more room for ERROR.

 

It's a huge time saver. By eating fewer times a day I can get a whole lot more done. To this day I get so much more work done before noon. On vacation it's amazing as I don't have to worry about food. Just get up and go. No wasting time or stressing about food.

 

The best part of IF for me is the psychological factor. In the past my problem was the control food had over me instead of me controlling food. I always thought I NEED to eat, or I HAVE to eat instead of I CHOOSE to eat.

 

Psychologically I always thought I NEEDED to eat at least 3-4 meals a day and I HAD to eat breakfast. That alone was stressful as I could never start the day or leave the house without eating. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day is just a marketing sham from the food industry. If I worked out I FELT I HAD to eat or else my progress would be lost.

 

These words: STRESS, NEED, HAVE TO, FELT made food control my life. If you say these words a lot and associate it with the word HUNGER and/or FOOD then you may have a problem too.

 

I will never push it on anyone, but Intermittent Fasting has really helped ME gain CONTROL over food. Now I CHOOSE when I eat. I never FEEL I HAVE to eat or else I will starve, die or not progress. It is so much LESS stressful, I don't get hangry anymore. And the whole premise is simplicity. Reducing meals so I don't have to worry about eating every few hours. And also as stated I can enjoy bigger, enjoyable more satisfying meals with beer while still leaning down.

 

Bonus: you get visible abs so much easier 

 

 

Anecdotally I have clients who have used IF and have been really successful. I have 4 specific cases I want to highlight. I had one client with a thyroid problem and could never lose any more weight. IF helped her pass that barrier. I have one guy who has asthma and doesn't require his puffer as much anymore. I have a diabetic now in my mens group and he is reducing medication. And the greatest one of all is a friend who completely got off all his diabetes medication. No more metformin!

 

Again no evidence based studies show IF is a medical miracle. Just telling you my experiences!

 

Intermittent Fasting is NOT for everyone. If you enjoy eating 5 meals a day and are having success then stick with that! Don't introduce a problem to a solution you already have 

 

But if you are struggling and hitting a plateau, Intermittent Fasting may be something for you to consider.

 

SEE ALL OUR PROGRAMS »