Intermittent Fasting: Just another F word?
When a friend of mine told me that he was experimenting with fasting my response was, “good for you man, that sounds really interesting.” The thoughts inside my head were “No thank you.. Not for me. I’ll put that in the category of bungee jumping and sky diving”
However, after some research and gentle personal experimentation I have found IF very doable and helpful in my health journey.
In this blog, we will explore the what, why and when of IF.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Fasting is anytime you go without food. Our most common fasting period is while we are sleeping, thus the word Breakfast as that is when we break our fast.
IF takes it a few steps further. An easy way to start would be to eat breakfast an hour later than usual. Then over the coming days, you go a little longer until you’ve completely skipped breakfast and you move into lunch. This is commonly known as 16:8 where you fast for 16 hours and “feed” for 8 hours. Any combination will work. 20:4 is also known as OMAD. I’ve done this a few times and lived to tell about it. Sometimes I think abstinence is easier than moderation for me.
The real beauty of IF is that it can be modified to fit your lifestyle as any combination is helpful. Skipping breakfast gets you out the door faster and it really isn’t the most important meal of the day.
Why? Weight loss.
The insulin theory vs "calories in, calories out." Eat less move more has been done to death for the last fifty years and obviously has not worked as there continues to be an obesity epidemic. The underlying cause of obesity appears to be hormonal rather than caloric. Insulin is released when we eat. More of it is released with carbohydrates than with other foods thats why what we eat is also important. Insulin is a fat storage hormone and part of its job is to store food for later. So the more insulin we have in our bloodstream the more fat storage will occur. That is why diabetics who are put on insulin tend to gain weight which of course is counterproductive for controlling the disease.
The real beauty of IF is that it can be modified to fit your lifestyle as any combination is helpful. Skipping breakfast gets you out the door faster and it really isn’t the most important meal of the day.
Conclusion
It is important to know your body. We are not the same, some of us have won the genetic lottery. Some metabolize better than others. Some are able to do moderation very successfully and some not so much. I like the versatility of IF and how you can make it fit your life. And yes you do get hungry but there are ways to manage that which can be the subject for the next blog.
