Changing Your Life with Intermittent Fasting
What if I told you that there might be a way to lose weight, get in shape, and simplify your life all at once? There’s a saying about things that sound too good to be true, but when it comes to intermittent fasting, the truth might surprise you.
Maybe you heard of intermittent fasting from friends, on blogs, or in the news but thought it sounded too hard or uncomfortable. You might not have read all the science behind it. Is it worth it? Can it really do everything they claim? Is it just one more diet to add to a long list of failed diets? After all, most people do regain the weight they lost on a diet: Is that something you want?
In reality, intermittent fasting might just be what you’ve been looking for all along.
I would like to suggest that intermittent fasting is a natural way of life. Our bodies gravitate towards fasting because it’s how our ancestors evolved, and our metabolisms work better when operating on a fasted/fed schedule. Many of our modern health problems can be directly linked to eating too much and too often. Fasting solves that by limiting the window during which we can eat.
If you’re interested in learning more about IF, here’s everything you need to know to get started.
Intermittent Fasting: It Will Change Everything
It’s been called the most popular diet to appear on the horizon in recent years, but intermittent fasting is more than just another diet. It’s a way of life.
Contrary to popular belief, intermittent fasting is not a new trend. Humans have been fasting since our ancient ancestors hunted and gathered their way into a more agricultural lifestyle, which led to our modern eating habits.
Our modern diet, unfortunately, is not without its problems. We spend our days eating highly processed foods, nibbling and grazing all day like it’s an Olympic event. It’s not just what we eat that’s a problem, either. It’s also how and when we eat that causes trouble.
That could be due to how our bodies have naturally adapted.
Humans have not always had access to the plentiful food supplies we have now. Our ancestors had to work hard for every morsel. They would hunt for meat, fruits, nuts, roots, or other food every day. They might have gone many hours or even days between good meals and feast well when food was in good supply. Their bodies were supremely adapted for the task, drawing energy from their fat stores when food supplies ran low and turning food directly to energy during times of plenty.
As ancient people began to develop more advanced agricultural methods, their access to food began to improve. However, many cultures still kept in touch with their fasting roots. Fasting tended to be closely tied to religion, with groups skipping meals for days or weeks at a time for religious reasons.
While intermittent fasting feels like a “new and improved” way of eating or “the latest dieting trend,” it’s not. It is a way of eating that harkens back to our earliest days. Research indicates that intermittent fasting might just be the healthiest way of eating. Fasting enables us to get back in touch with our primal roots and tap into our body’s natural healing powers.
Why Choose Intermittent Fasting?
When you make intermittent fasting a part of your life, you are making a deliberate choice to eat as our ancestors did. By using alternating cycles of eating and fasting, you can help your body function optimally. Studies show that intermittent fasting can help stimulate weight loss and keep your cardiovascular system at its best.
Fasting is not a new concept for humanity. It is also not a new concept for modern humans. We’re already fasting when we sleep. When we wake up, most of us typically “break” our fast with breakfast. For most of us, though, that overnight fast is fairly short. With intermittent fasting, you simply opt to extend that overnight fast by delaying your first meal and breaking your fast later in the day. You can also break your fast early in the day and stop eating earlier in the afternoon or evening.
With IF, it’s all up to you.
How long you fast depends on you and your goals, needs, and eating style. The most common type of IF is 16/8, which refers to fasting for 16 hours and eating during an 8-hour period. For most people, intermittent fasting is a natural style of eating. You might feel hungry initially, but once you adapt, you will likely notice increased energy, clarity of thought, and a better perception of health.
While intermittent fasting typically refers to food, some people also dry fast. This means skipping liquids, too. Dry fasting can help improve immune function, combat inflammation, and speed healing. However, your body needs fluid to function properly, so make sure to hydrate with plenty of fresh, filtered water when you break your fast.
Intermittent Fasting Will Change the Way You Eat
When you practice intermittent fasting, you alternate between periods of fasting and feeding. What this looks like can vary from person to person and even from day to day in the same person.
Keep reading to learn more about some of the most popular approaches to intermittent fasting.
Types of Intermittent Fasting
Most IF styles are named for the amount of time you fast versus the window in which you can eat. In other words, a 16:8 fast means that you fast for 16 hours and have an 8-hour window during which you can eat. There are a variety of fasting styles from which you can choose.
16:8
Perhaps the most popular method, the 16:8 method of IF is a time-restricted model of eating. It takes the guesswork out of fasting. For many, using 16/8 is a natural extension of the overnight fast. They simply incorporate it into their normal routine and skip breakfast. They then break their fast with lunch and dinner and re-enter their fast before bed.
You can use the 16:8 method daily if you want. It’s a great IF method for beginners because it’s easy to incorporate into your day and brings minimal side effects. Although it’s a conservative version of intermittent fasting, it’s still effective and a great introduction to the lifestyle. Most people experience minimal hunger, and there is no real need to plan your days around your fasting or dietary needs.
20:4
For a more intense fast, you can try 20:4. With this way of eating, you’ll have a 20-hour fast and a four-hour window in which to eat. Most commonly, people who use the 20:4 IF way of eating will eat in the afternoon or evening. However, you can break your fast whenever it’s most convenient for you.
You don’t necessarily have to count calories: It would be difficult to overeat in a four-hour period. You can split your daily calories into one meal and a snack or two meals during this period. It’s all about what works best for you and your body and schedule.
24-Hour fast
During a 24-hour fast, you’ll fast for a full day. Many people who fast for 24 hours will only do this once or twice a week. On non-fasting days, they eat as usual. Some people continue on with this way of eating long-term, however, and practice the one meal a day (OMAD) diet, which can also be extremely beneficial to your health.
The 24-hour fast can be a pretty intensive fast, which means that it can bring more side effects, such as:
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Hunger
- Irritability
Some people modify this type of fast with a significantly reduced calorie intake on their fasting days. Also known as the alternate day fast, this can reduce the risk of side effects.
Intermittent Dry Fasting
An intermittent dry fast might just be one of the most intense versions of intermittent fasting. When you dry fast, you don’t consume food or water during your fasting period. While that might sound extreme, there are some pretty serious benefits if you’re willing and able to stick it out.
Every cell in your body contains water, and more than half of your body is composed of water. Every single bodily process uses water. You need water just to function, so why dry fast?
During a dry fast, your body’s ability to detoxify is ramped up significantly. The autophagy process is increased as your body torches through toxins and old or diseased cells, and your body’s production of human growth hormone speeds up. You’ll be repairing, healing, and energizing like never before.
Still, a dry fast should not be entered into lightly or for long periods. You can enjoy most of the healing benefits of a dry fast on a simple 16:8 or 18:6 dry fast. Try not to go more than 48 hours without liquids, especially if you’re a beginner, and make sure to rehydrate with pure filtered water after your fast.
Choosing a Diet on IF
Intermittent fasting is a flexible lifestyle that can work with virtually any style of eating. However, eating nothing but junk food, empty calories, or simply too much food will leave you feeling sluggish and could make it harder to achieve your goals.
If you want to get more out of your IF lifestyle, you need to eat to fuel your body.
That means choosing an IF style that works for you.
Some of the most popular IF diets include:
Keto
The ketogenic diet has been around in various forms for years. Numerous studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in weight loss, and when combined with IF, it can supercharge your diet. With the standard keto diet, you’ll get about 75 percent of your calories from fat, 20 percent from protein, and just 5 percent from carbs. The goal is to push your body into using fat rather than carbohydrates for fuel.
Low Carb
A low-carb diet is a variation of the keto diet. Limiting carbs can help control blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, and improve cholesterol and blood pressure levels. Most low carb diets limit carbohydrate intake to fewer than 100 grams a day. When dieting for weight loss, these limits tend to be much lower.
Paleo
The Paleo Diet dates back to our ancient ancestors’ eating styles. When you follow the Paleo diet, you can eat some carbs and animal foods. The primary goal is to eat like paleolithic humans ate, which means avoiding processed foods and grains, legumes, and dairy products. Instead, you will be enjoying a wide range of natural foods, including:
- Meats
- Fish
- Eggs
- Healthy fats and oils
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Herbs and spices
The Carnivore Diet
On the Carnivore Diet, you’ll eat primarily or exclusively animal products, including meat, fish, eggs, and some dairy products. You will need to avoid non-animal products, such as legumes, vegetables, fruits, and especially grains. By maximizing your protein and fat intake, your brain and muscles still get all the nutrition they need, and you will be left with little waste and less inflammation.
A Word about Ketosis
Intermittent fasting and most of these eating styles work based on ketosis. Ketogenic diets date back to the early 20th century when they were used to treat epilepsy. More recent research indicates they could be useful for treating other neurological disorders, too, including neurodegenerative diseases and headaches, with few or no side effects.
How does a ketogenic diet work?
In a fed state, the human body runs on glucose. The carbohydrates you eat are broken down into glucose. Glucose is an easy-to-use energy form; any excess glucose is stored in the liver or muscles.
When the levels of glucose drop, such as on a ketogenic diet or during fasting, your glycogen stores are depleted quickly. The brain cannot use fat for energy, so the liver uses fatty acids from your body or your diet for ketone bodies. The breakdown of ketone bodies creates glucose to fuel your brain.
Many of the brain benefits associated with ketosis can be directly linked to fueling your brain through ketosis, including less inflammation and oxidation.
Ketogenic diets have not been associated with any serious long-term side effects. However, there can be an increased risk of micronutrient deficiencies, constipation, and dehydration. You must consider these as you design your ketogenic diet and fasting lifestyle.
Intermittent Fasting Will Change Your Health
You’ve probably heard that diets don’t work. Many people who diet lose weight initially, but they gradually regain weight over months or years. The diet causes changes in their metabolism, hormones, and even their brain. This changes the way their bodies work, and it increases the risk of weight gain. It’s one big reason that so many people end up heavier than when they started dieting.
Intermittent fasting is not just another diet. It’s a way of life.
Research has shown that IF can help you lose weight, but it does more than that, including:
- Transforming metabolic health
- Lowering blood pressure
- Improving blood sugar
In other words, not only will you lose weight but you will transform your health.
The Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Although human studies lag, the studies on rats and IF offer exciting results. Rats that are fasted lose weight, and their blood sugars, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure improve dramatically. The human studies that have been done are equally promising, and IF is safe and effective. Experts believe that it might be more effective and sustainable for both weight loss and diabetes prevention.
The benefits of IF don’t end there, however, and that’s partly due to a process known as autophagy.
“Autophagy” literally means “self-eating.” The body’s natural waste removal process, autophagy occurs when cells break down protein buildup and damaged cells so that new cells can regenerate. The process may have a protective effect against a variety of serious health issues, including Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. IF initiates and speeds the autophagy process, potentially offering further protective benefits.
IF can also help protect against oxidative stress, an underlying factor in a variety of chronic health problems. Oxidative stress is a natural part of the aging process. Our bodies typically produce free radicals as a part of the metabolic process, and these are balanced and neutralized by antioxidants that we also produce. The process can become imbalanced over time as a result of:
- Aging
- Lifestyle
- Diet
- Inflammation
- Health issues
- Pollution, radiation, and other environmental factors
IF combats both inflammation and oxidative stress, essentially putting the brakes on the aging process and promoting better overall health.
Intermittent Fasting Will Change Your Mind
The mind and body are inextricably linked. When you do something good for your body, it will also be good for your brain. Intermittent fasting is, therefore, good for your brain.
However, it goes deeper than that. Intermittent fasting plays a direct role in improving the health of brain cells. IF combats inflammation and oxidative stress and improves metabolic health, but it also promotes the growth of healthy new nerve cells, according to rat studies.
IF might also help improve your mood. It does this by regulating the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Also known as BDNF, this hormone is critical to a variety of important brain functions and can help protect against depression.
Researchers have found that exercise can help boost levels of BDNF in the brain, but IF can as well while also ensuring proper glucose metabolism in the brain.
Neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease can rob us of years of healthy function and life. There is no cure for these conditions, but there is evidence that IF offers powerful protection. In one study, 90 percent of Alzheimer’s patients who had short daily fasts enjoyed significant symptom relief. Animal studies have shown similar benefits for Parkinson’s disease.
Intermittent Fasting Will Change Your Body
One of the biggest reasons many people start fasting is to transform their bodies. They want to lose weight, drop pounds, or trim fat.
Few, if any, diets are as effective for changing your body as IF.
For one thing, IF just makes sense. When you eat, your blood sugar levels increase, and your body churns out insulin to help push that energy into cells. The foods you eat play a role in what is stored and what is used, too. Simple carbohydrates, such as sugars and grains, are broken down into glucose, which is a form of fast energy. Anything that isn’t used right away for our brains or bodies, is stored.
Frequent meals, constant snacking, and grazing will all lead to chronically high blood sugar levels and high insulin levels. You might be on the road to metabolic disorders and insulin resistance before you even know it.
When you fast, insulin levels start to decline. Cells release their stored energy, and fat begins to melt away. You’ll look leaner, and you’ll feel more energetic.
IF works because your insulin levels can decline to a level that enables you to supercharge your metabolism and stoke your inner fat furnace.
Exercising and IF
Exercise is a cornerstone of any healthy lifestyle. From our circulatory and respiratory systems to our muscles and joints, our bodies were made to move with beautiful fluidity. When we stop moving, either due to a sedentary lifestyle or for health reasons, our bodies can suffer. We develop stiff joints, excess weight, and poor cardiovascular health.
Moving keeps us healthy, and it keeps us happy. Even if you have some limitations for health or ability reasons, exercise is essential for good health. Luckily, exercise works well with IF, too! There is even some evidence that exercising in a fasted state can boost insulin sensitivity and help keep your blood sugar levels stable.
Many people notice that they feel sluggish when they first change to IF, and that’s normal. You might not want to exercise or feel much like exercise. Take the time you need to adjust as needed. Once you adjust, however, you should be able to exercise as usual.
For the best results, here’s what you need to know before working out while fasting.
1. Watch your protein intake.
While IF is less likely to affect muscle mass than other types of diets, make sure to eat plenty of protein when you eat if you’re worried about losing muscle. Resistance training is also a great way to keep your muscle mass at its peak.
2. Eat to fuel your workouts.
What you eat before your workout will get you through your workout. Eat more carbs to fuel you through calisthenics and strength training and fewer carbs to get through HIIT workouts, interval training, or cardio. Eat protein after strength training to renew your muscles.
3. Stay hydrated.
Do not dry fast immediately before a workout session. Dry fasting has its benefits, but fueling you through a workout is generally not one of them. There are exceptions though. Once you are a very experienced faster, and experienced with dry fasting, you can attempt to do some light workouts during the dry fast. This will speed up the fat burning and healing effects of the fast. But the average person needs fluids and electrolytes on board to workout safely. Coconut water, filtered water, and similar drinks are great choices. Skip out on most store-bought sports drinks, which tend to be high in sugar and other unnecessary ingredients.
Finally, pay attention to how you feel. If you feel dizzy, weak, or nauseated during a workout, it’s probably time to call it a day. You may have low blood sugar or are dehydrated. Have a drink and get an energy-dense snack.
Intermittent Fasting Will Improve Your Sleep, Reduce Inflammation, and Burn Body Fat
Eating at the wrong time of day, such as late at night, will prompt your body to churn out large volumes of insulin at a time when it really should be resting. You don’t need the energy, and your circadian rhythms can get thrown off. Over time, you could experience serious disruptions in your mood, quality of sleep, and energy levels.
Intermittent fasting is about more than just skipping meals. When we eat the way our ancestors ate, we are working with rather than against our natural physiology and ensuring that our bodies are functioning properly on a cellular level. We switch from a fed to the fasted state, torching calories, melting fat, and losing weight. Blood sugar and insulin levels are reduced, and we decrease inflammation throughout our bodies.
Whether losing weight or cutting fat is your goal, IF can help you do it. A University of Alabama study demonstrated that when men practiced 16:8 IF, they were less hungry, had lower blood pressure, and enjoyed greater insulin sensitivity than the group of men who extended their meals over a 12-hour period.
Skipping one or more meals or switching to one meal a day, or OMAD, can leave you feeling hungry. What’s the best way to stay motivated? Focusing on the changes taking place in your body might do the trick. IF is far more than just another weight-loss method. It can transform the way your body functions on a cellular level.
Here are just a few of the things that IF can do:
- Eliminate waste buildup inside the cells through enhanced autophagy
- Reduce insulin levels and improve insulin sensitivity
- Improve fat burning
- Boost levels of human growth hormone
- Heighten muscle gains
- Protect against kidney damage
- Lower blood sugar levels
- Offer critical protection against disease
- Fight inflammation
- Combat free radicals
- Improve your immune response
- Reduce oxidative damage
- Boost metabolic rate
- Promote healthier blood pressure
- Reduce total and LDL cholesterol
- Clear skin
- Send energy levels soaring
- Ease joint pain
Of course, IF is also a powerful weight-loss method. It can help you lose 4 to 7 percent of your waist circumference, which means that it can help you trim the most harmful kind of belly fat. Furthermore, it can help you lose weight while protecting against muscle loss.
Intermittent Fasting Will Change Your Life.
Believe it or not, fasting is not all about the food.
It is also about your life.
When you fast, you’ll probably focus almost entirely on your diet: what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat. That’s normal.
Gradually, however, you’ll notice a change. This is because a fasting-focused lifestyle will free up your time. No longer will you spend countless hours on meal planning and meal preparation. You’ve streamlined your days and freed up your nights. There’s no more snacking, no more grazing, and less sluggish post-meal periods wondering why you ate so much.
With more time (and money) on your hands, how will you spend it?
You can take that newfound freedom and pursue other passions. What has gotten shoved to the back burner before now: advanced education, hobbies, work pursuits, family? Now that you’ve got extra time in your days, you can spend it on anything you’d like. You might even find some new avenues to explore.
Time isn’t the only thing you’ll have on your hands. The digestive system uses up a lot of energy, and once you are spending more time in a fasted state, your energy levels are likely to soar. Your body will turn into a fat-burning engine, fueling your body and brain on ketone bodies rather than glucose. Your thinking will be clearer and more focused.
You will also likely save money. By cutting out snacks and one or two meals per day, you are much more likely to spend less money on food. Intermittent fasting can be a life-saver for people who are on a tight budget.
The sky’s the limit, and IF will open up not just a new world but a whole new universe of opportunities.
The Bottom Line on Intermittent Fasting
If you are trying to lose weight, improve your health, or get control of poor eating habits, intermittent fasting is an excellent way to do it.
Proven Benefits
While researchers are still unraveling all the ins and outs of intermittent fasting, they have been researching IF for decades and have found that it has extensive benefits for both animals and people, including:
- Better health
- Lower weight
- Disease resistance
- Improved mental and physical performance
Then there are the less tangible benefits that make IF so attractive to so many people.
Versatility
Intermittent fasting can work with any eating style, any schedule, and any lifestyle. You can fast for a period every day, such as 16:8, or you can fast a couple days a week, such as the 5:2 method. You can eat paleo, keto, vegan, or another diet altogether, and you can eat and fast when it works for you.
Convenience
IF works with any schedule, any routine, any diet plan, and any body type. There’s no need to buy special meals, food, or equipment. It’s easy to get started whenever you’re ready. Just dive in!
Simplicity
Food substitutes, appetite suppressants, and even surgery: People have tried it all in the quest to lose weight and reach optimal health. What if it were as easy as getting back to humanity’s roots?
Maybe it is. With intermittent fasting, you simply eat the way your ancestors did, and your body will respond.
Putting It All into Action
Changing from three meals a day plus snacks to intermittent fasting is a big change. You might not know where to start. However, IF has few rules: You do not have to eat any specific foods or at a specific time. If you want to simplify your life, lose weight, improve your health, save money, and enjoy everything IF has to offer, here’s what you need to know to get started.
1. Decide on your goals.
Most people who decide to change their diets do so because they want to lose weight. IF is a great way to get control of your weight, lose fat, and transform your body. However, it can do so much more than that. You can also lower your blood pressure, improve your cardiovascular health, and improve your lipid profile. Your goals for your body and life will play a big role in what approach you take towards IF, including the number of calories, macronutrients, and fasting method you choose.
2. Choose your style.
You need to pick an IF method and stick with it for at least a month or more to see results. Jumping from method to method can leave you feeling frustrated and burnt out, and your body might not get a chance to get into its optimal fat-burning mode.
For the best results, choose a method that you can stick with not just for a few days or a week but for the long haul. This might mean choosing a more conservative fast initially before moving onto a more intensive fast, such as an alternate day fasting or intermittent dry fasting routine.
3. Decide how much you need to eat.
While IF places no real restrictions on your diet, calories still count to some degree. If you are trying to lose weight, you will need to ensure you are eating on a deficit.
In other words, you need to burn more calories than you’re taking in.
There are a variety of calorie calculators, tools, and equations online to determine how many calories you should be consuming daily to help you decide how much to eat. You can also talk to your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian to find out the right amount of calories for losing weight.
If you have other goals, such as cutting fat or improving your metabolic profile, your dietary needs will be different. Talk to a dietitian for the most personalized recommendations. I personally recommend cutting carbs drastically while intermittent fasting for the most effective weight loss and fat burning. This strategy has even shown promise when compared to just cutting calories alone. But in general, the less calories and carbs you eat, and the more you burn (through exercise and building lean muscle), the better off you’ll be when it comes to your body weight and overall health.
4. Make every calorie count.
As stated earlier, fasting is more about when you eat than what you eat. Still, you are eating to fuel your body. That means you need to make every calorie count. Focus on eating nutritionally dense foods.
Look for foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and protein rather than empty calories. Occasional splurges or the once-in-a-while dinner at a fast-food restaurant won’t throw you completely off-track because of the nature of IF, but good choices and moderation will help you better achieve your goals. That might mean choosing a salad, or a burger without a bun.
Either way, sticking with your fast and eating plan even when out and about can help you stay motivated and on track for success.
5. Plan your meals.
With IF, you’ll spend less time on meals, snacks, and preparing for both. Planning your meals can save you even more time and take the guesswork out of your eating. Decide on the eating plan you’ll be using, and then plan a varied set of meals that ensure you’ll stick to your calorie count while still getting the right macronutrients and micronutrients you need for good health every day.
The Fine Print on Fasting
Most studies show fasting to be both safe and effective for the average, healthy adult. Side effects are uncommon, and most people enjoy extensive benefits once their bodies adapt. You might feel hungry, sluggish, or tired for the first few days, but after a week or so, you’ll be feeling energized and ready to go.
However, for a few people, fasting might not be the best lifestyle for their needs. You should talk to your doctor about fasting if you are:
- Pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to conceive
- Have difficulty regulating blood sugar levels
- Have low blood pressure
- Suffer from an eating disorder
- Are underweight
- Use medications
Your doctor can help you decide if fasting is right for you and the best type of fasting or meal plan to use.
Changing Your Future One Day at a Time
Fasting will change how you eat, your health, your body, and your brain’s function. When you choose intermittent fasting, you can free up more time in your day to pursue healthy habits or professional accomplishments. You can finally create the life you have always wanted.
What fasting really comes down to is you.
This is a journey, and it’s all about you. What do you want from life, and where do you want to go? Do you want to spend your days grazing from a buffet of unfulfilling foods and a body that gradually becomes more tired, sore, and aching? Or would you rather torch the damaged cells naturally, curb inflammation, eat to fuel healthy function, and power through your life, full speed ahead?
Intermittent fasting puts that choice firmly in your hands.
There is no better time than right now to make a change that could transform the direction of your life forever.
Remember that it isn’t so much what you eat but when you eat.
It’s time to give intermittent fasting a try and find out just how far it can take you.
