Most people that want to lose weight want to lose it quickly. After all, who wouldn’t? But have you ever heard of the saying,

“Rome wasn’t built in a day?”

In other words, it takes time and dedication to build the body you want. That being said, there is a weight loss technique that you can use to speed up the process, and it’s called intermittent fasting.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is more of an eating schedule than a diet. In other words, it doesn’t involve restricting what you can eat, just when you can eat it, and there are a few different methods of doing it.

• 16/8 Method – This is the most popular method of fasting, and involves a 16-hour fasting period, followed by an 8-hour eating period. For example, you might fast from 8pm to noon the next day and then you would eat lunch, a snack and dinner and then go another 16-hour period without eating. A lot of people who use this method start at 12 or 14 hours of fasting and work their way up.
• Eat-Stop-Eat Method – This process involves longer, 24-hour fasts once or twice a week. So, you might eat normally for a day and then not eat from dinner that day until dinner the next day.
• 5:2 Method – This method is a little different and involves restricting what you eat to 500-600 calories for two nonconsecutive days a week and then eating normally the other days. For example, you may restrict your calories on Tuesday and Friday and then eat normally the rest of the week.

The method of intermittent fasting that you use doesn’t matter as much. Just use whatever method works best for you and you will still reap the rewards.

There are a lot of people who also consider exercise as an important part of intermittent fasting, although it’s not required, and it’s recommended to complete your workout at the end of your fasting period. By this point, your body has had to reach into your energy reserves to get through your daily processes, so if you can manage to get a workout in at this point, your workout is more effectively burning stored fat (the fat you really want to get rid of).

Ironically, many people who workout while fasting intermittently also notice that they have increased energy levels and feel like they’ve gotten a better workout.

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

So what are those benefits? Why would someone want to go without food intentionally? And I thought the key to losing weight was to eat more often, not less.

Well, it turns out that controlled fasting is actually more beneficial to your health and weight loss efforts than previously thought.

When you fast for longer periods of time and then eat for shorter periods of time, your body starts to learn this pattern of eating and prepare for it. If you think about it, it makes sense with how our ancestors ate. They didn’t have grocery stores or gas stations open 24/7 that they could just stop in and grab something to eat. They often went days or longer periods in the day without eating simply because it wasn’t available to them.

Consequently, your body responds accordingly and starts to break into it’s fat reserves because it switches your body to survival mode. You’re not giving your body food for energy so it has to fend for itself.

There are other benefits from intermittent fasting that other weight loss methods don’t offer.

• Reduces Insulin Resistance – Insulin resistance basically occurs when you eat too much junk food that raises your insulin level. When you eat these foods too often, your insulin level remains at a higher state and stops responding like it should by raising and lowering with your meals. Over time, this can lead to Type 2 diabetes and other health complications. Intermittent fasting helps lower insulin during your fasting state, so it forces your body to maintain the ebb and flow of your insulin level, reducing resistance.
• Reduces Inflammation – Intermittent fasting can also reduce chronic inflammation in your body, which can lead to tons of other chronic illnesses.
• Improved Heart Health – By reducing bad cholesterol, blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, fasting intermittently improves the overall health and function of your heart.
• Improved Brain Function – It may seem counterintuitive to “starve” your body and expect your brain to work better, but it actually does. Once you adjust to the new eating schedule, your body will increase it’s production of a brain hormone called BDNF, which helps increase new nerve cells and may protect against diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
• Prevents Against Cancer – Intermittent fasting has been proven to reduce the risk of developing cancer in animals that were tested.
• Extends Life Expectancy – Intermittent fasting also proved to extend the life expectancy of rats by 36-83%.

What Are The Risks Involved With Intermittent Fasting?

There are certain risks Involved with intermittent fasting and it’s not for everyone. For example, if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, it is not recommended because during either of these activities, you are supporting the life of another little baby and your body needs consistency in how often you take in calories and nutrients.

It may not be for best for women because it does switch your body into survival mode, which does not always work well for maintaining monthly cycles and fertility.

Also, if you have previous health conditions that would prevent you from doing any kind of diet or weight loss program, intermittent fasting isn’t for you.

If you are under weight, or have a history of eating disorders, intermittent fasting is not recommended for you because first of all, you don’t need to lose any weight, and secondly, people who have a history of not eating or starving themselves and then binge eating may not be able to manage the eating schedule of intermittent fasting without sliding back into old, unhealthy eating habits.

Regardless of your current physical state, ALWAYS consult a physician before attempting any new nutrition or fitness program.

What Intermittent Fasting Did For Me

I have tried intermittent fasting and it actually was completely unintentional, but it worked wonders for me. In college, there was a point where I felt so stressed out and overwhelmed that I decided to just take a break from my usual routine and regroup. I was not getting a lot of sleep, spending long hours on school work and still trying to go to the gym and workout regularly. I was exhausted and not getting any of the weight loss results I was after.

I decided to take a break from working out and just focus on getting enough rest and good nutrition. Here’s a peek at what my daily schedule was like.

7am – Wake Up, Breakfast (Usually oatmeal or an veggie omelet and fruit)

8am-10am – Class

10:30am – Nap, Snack (protein bar)

12pm-2pm – Class

3pm – Dinner (extra large grilled chicken salad with piles of veggies)

3:30pm – Snack (apples, natural peanut butter, glass of unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

4:30pm – Homework

10pm – Bedtime

Now many people that try intermittent fasting skip breakfast to get their hours of fasting in, but I love breakfast and it worked better for me to eat a really early dinner and give my body plenty of time to digest my food before bed. It also helped me sleep better because I wasn’t eating and then trying to go to bed right away.

I maintained this schedule for about 2 weeks and I was very surprised at what I found. In the first 10 days, I had lost about 10 pounds, which was great, but like I said, at the time, that was not my intention. What I noticed more was that I finally felt rested. I felt less stressed and more positive. I had more energy and focus when it came to my school work, which helped me get my homework done sooner and gave me more free time to myself.

After the first two weeks, I did start working out again, but I didn’t maintain the fasting schedule I was on. I was able to maintain the weight loss for some time after finishing the fasting and I still felt great at the end of the day.

Let’s Sum It Up

Intermittent fasting is a great way to reset your body. Just like I had used it in college to refocus on nutrition and getting my body back to feeling great. It’s a great method to use after the holidays, or periods in your life where you’re eating all the time and eating foods that are not good for you. It helps clean our your system and get it back to functioning like it should, but I have found it best to use sparingly. In other words, I wouldn’t do it for more than a month at a time. I think part of its effectiveness is from the shock it provides to your system. So, if you’re doing it for longer periods of time, it looses some of that effectiveness.

While it’s not for everyone, if you don’t have any health conditions that would prevent you from being successful with it, I recommend that you try it. You may find that it works really well for you, especially if you’re one of those people who hates the weight loss method of eating every couple of hours to keep your metabolism going. It does take some of the prep work and thinking out of weight loss because there aren’t any points or calories to count, which is why many people like it. And you can still indulge a little because there is no restriction on what foods you can have, so it works well for people who don’t like to keep themselves from eating carbs or dessert.

Just remember, intermittent fasting is essentially effective as calorie restriction, so if you overindulge during your eating hours or eat all junk food, you won’t be doing your body any favors and you won’t be able to reap all of the benefits that intermittent fasting can offer. On the other hand, if you focus on a variety of healthy, nutritious foods and maintain portion control, you may find that intermittent fasting really works for you.

Try intermittent fasting today and let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear from you!