Quick Guide: Intermittent Fasting

Have you heard about intermittent fasting? Does it sound like a crazy fad? Or just plain torture? Those were my first thoughts when I heard about it. It took me a long time and a lot of convincing to believe otherwise.

Even now that I’m pretty convinced it can be a really good thing, I’m hesitant to talk about it, because I still feel like it just sounds a little crazy. Plus, it’s counterintuitive to what I’ve been so adamant about- eating within an hour of waking and every 2 to 3 hours after that!

I’m obsessed with clean eating and I love reading nutrition stuff. I’m also very skeptical about fads that pop up, things that offer quick fixes, things that will be difficult to stick with long-term. I believe that wanting to be healthy has to come before wanting to be skinny. And I believe if it’s too good to be true or too hard to stick with- like forever- we should probably run the other way. So anything with the word “fasting” in it raises red flags for me.

I also know that a quick Google search about intermittent fasting can lead you down a rabbit hole of serious scientific stuff or ultra-fit hard-to-relate-to fitness people. It’s hard to know what to believe. My aim here is to give you the gist of intermittent fasting, how I’ve seen it work, and a few resources that I trust to give you more information if you decide to look into it further.

My Crazy-Runner-Husband’s Experience with Intermittent Fasting

I am not a nutritionist or a registered dietician or a doctor or a PhD candidate. There are lots of those informed, smart people who have written things about intermittent fasting that will give you a fuller understanding. (I’ll share some links below!) I have read a lot about it, enough to know that I think it’s definitely something worth exploring. Whether you want to lose weight or not, it’s worth trying just for the health benefits. I’ve also seen my crazy-runner-husband’s experience with it, and that’s convinced me, too!

I first heard about intermittent fasting from a PBS special. The science was interesting but I had no desire to give it a try. My husband was very intrigued, though. Then he started hearing more about it on the podcasts he was listening to and decided to see how it worked for him. That was a few years ago. And he hasn’t stopped. He loves it. He feels better eating this way and he’s definitely seen physical changes. He never really needed to lose weight, but he has gotten leaner and loves the way he feels when fasting.

While I emphasize the health benefits, I will say I’ve seen evidence of the more visual physical benefits of fasting. My husband never needed to lose weight. And he’s always been pretty lean. But he looks fitter now at 42 than he did 6 years ago when he was running 60+ miles a week training for the Boston Marathon. He has abs now that he never had when he was running 60+ miles a week training for the Boston Marathon. Now, I’m not after shredded abs (more like lack-of-a-muffin-top abs), but seeing the physical changes that can happen is a nice perk of this fasting business 🙂

So in the midst of my 5-small-meals-a-day frenzy, I saw how good Luke was feeling doing his thing. I reluctantly tried it and grudgingly came to like it. It wasn’t as hard to start as I thought it would be, and once you’ve done it for a little while it feels natural. I like not eating first thing in the morning now. While I did not notice significant changes in my weight at first, I do feel leaner when I’m practicing intermittent fasting. I also have come to believe that it might be something that takes a while before you see the benefits.

What You Need to Know

So what is intermittent fasting? Well, you know a fast is a period without food. (The word “breakfast” comes from it being time to break the fast, the period of time at night when you’re sleeping and not eating- I just learned that a few years ago! Never put it together before then!) So intermittent fasting is fasting periodically, not necessarily a long period of fasting like we might think of when we think of religious fasts or something.
There are different types of intermittent fasting. The first one I heard about was having two days (not necessarily in a row) of eating somewhat fasted (really restricted calories- like 600 for the day) and five days of eating normally (completely unrestricted). The other most popular one I’ve heard about is having a “window” of time in which you eat, and having a fasting period. The length of the eating window can vary. You may have heard of the 8-hour window. So you eat all your food within an 8-hour period and fast for 16 hours. Keep in mind half of those fasting hours are spent sleeping, but they count! This is the method I’m referring to in this blog post; it’s what I am most familiar with and what I feel is the easiest method for most people. Some people fast one day a week. It seems you can reap the benefits of fasting no matter which method you choose.
Studies have shown some pretty amazing health benefits. It seems like intermittent fasting can cut your risk of all types of cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure. It’s good for your brain. It can help you lose weight. It’s healthier on a hormonal level. It ‘s good for the metabolism, can slow aging, and make you live longer. And that’s off the top of my head!
Your body needs a break from eating to do all sorts of stuff. So your body will benefit from fasting. It has time to do that important stuff. How’s that for scientific?

What You Need to Consider

Of course, if you have medical conditions that require you to eat at certain times this might not be for you. (Though there is evidence to suggest it can be beneficial in people with Type II diabetes!) Also, if you have had serious issues with food (eating disorders or being obsessed with food) you’d want to proceed with caution.
This way of eating does have a sense of freedom and flexibility with it. You don’t need to count calories or cut out entire food groups. Though of course, you should still look to eat nutritious food! Some people may be able to fast for 16 hours and pig out on anything they want for the other 8 hours and lose weight, but I definitely don’t think that’s the health-minded intermittent fasting we should aim for.
If you’re looking for an easy meal plan this might be a great fit for you. If the thought of eliminating food groups, measuring portions, counting calories, or calculating macros makes you cringe, this might be a good fit. Keep it mostly healthy and just eat within a reasonable window!
You might hear about fasting with certain ways of eating (like paleo or ketogenic or high fat-low carb diets) but it does not require any particular type of eating. Eat healthily!
If you don’t eat well now, you might want to consider getting your nutrition in order before you start fasting. I imagine it can be easy to go overboard on crap if you’re not eating nutritious stuff to begin with.

How to Get Started

If you’d like to give intermittent fasting a try, the first step is to cut out nighttime eating. I know this can be challenging, but it’s really an important step in becoming healthier. And losing weight!
Once you’ve given up the nighttime eating, just start to push your breakfast later in the day. My typical eating window is 10:00-6:00. So I’ll eat breakfast around 10 or 11 o’clock in the morning and I’ll eat dinner around 6:00. My husband usually doesn’t eat until 12:00, sometimes as late as 2:00. You can play around with what feels right once you get used to things. When I’m getting back to intermittent fasting after not having done it for a while (like when I was doing 80 Day Obsession) I’ll push it back gradually, a half hour or hour every few days until I get used to it again, slowly increasing the time of fasting.
During the morning you can drink lots of water. I drink black coffee, too, though some experts feel that drinking coffee makes it not a real fast. You’d have to judge for yourself. I feel like the coffee curbs my hunger and has a (from what I’ve read) minimal impact on the health benefits I get from the fast.

The nice thing about it, too, is that you don’t blow it if you have an off day. If you have a day where you need to eat earlier for some reason, you can. Just get back to it the next day. If I have a day where I’m really starving at 9:00, I eat at 9:00. It doesn’t have to be super rigid.

I’ve found some unexpected perks with fasting. I like the freedom of not feeling like I have to eat right away! I also like the way I feel in the morning before I eat. I have always been a breakfast eater; I always woke up hungry and ready to eat. I never skipped breakfast. So I thought it would be really hard for me. I thought I’d feel shaky and cranky and sluggish. I actually feel pretty energized. It also gives you freedom from having to eat when it might not be convenient for you. You become more comfortable with hunger, in a good way. On the car ride down to Florida, my husband can go a long way without eating and feel fine. It’s just easier to not eat then, and he’s ok with it.

The takeaways:

Intermittent fasting is more than a fad and there’s lots of scientific evidence about its health benefits.
A lot of the evidence in favor of intermittent fasting comes from scientists, not just people looking for “shredded abs” or something.
Intermittent fasting isn’t a form of torture; it’s very personal, too. You can experiment and find what feels right for you.
If you take one thing from this post, and never give fasting another thought, do try to give up the nighttime eating.

Where to Go to Learn More:

Joe Rogan has some great interviews with Dr. Rhonda Patrick on his podcast. She is crazy smart and an expert on intermittent fasting. My jaw drops slightly in awe when I hear her get all science-y. She’s the one who convinced me (along with my husband) that this wasn’t just a weight loss fad. I’m not sure which of the interviews are ones I’ve listened to, but I bet they’re all pretty good and most probably touch on intermittent fasting. She talks about a lot of out-there fitness stuff, but I love that her approach is so health and performance based. You can find links here on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast site.
Dr. Rhonda Patrick also has her own website, Found My Fitness, you can find here.
Marks Daily Apple is a website that has lots of information on health and fitness stuff. My husband listens to Mark Sisson’s podcast, too. You can find his take on intermittent fasting here.
Prevention has a quick little article and infographic on the benefits. Find it here.

I hope I gave you a helpful overview of intermittent fasting. The science behind it is really intriguing! And I think the ease of it (once you get past the first few hungry mornings) might work for a lot of people.

Have you ever tried any form of fasting? I’d love to hear your experience!