Is intermittent fasting (IF) good for you?
Does it work?
What are some tips for success?
My readers are aware that I have written about diets and nutrition in the past. Our family completed the Whole30 diet in October of 2019 and my wife and I were successful in sticking to the rules for the entire month. The kids couldn’t stick with it. They needed more carbohydrates and got very tired of stir fry’s and curry. Although we aren’t currently eating such a restrictive diet, much was learned during that month with regards to eating and how your body can feel differently when only whole foods are consumed.
Intermittent fasting (IF) was introduced to me by a pharmacist colleague a couple of years ago. He sent me some information via email and I decided to give it a try.
IF is a pattern of normal food intake combined with extended periods where little to no food is consumed. Restricting food intake to a time window of eight hours or less per day is also known as time-restricted feeding (TRF). As you can probably imagine, there are many ways to achieve this.
Alternate Day Fasting
During this plan, you can eat normally on even days and fast on odd days. During your fasting days you may drink non-calorie beverages such as coffee, tea or water. There are many books explaining this method. Probably the most popular is “The Every Other Day Diet” by Krista Varaday. The premise is you can eat all you want, half the time, and lose weight.
The 5:2 Diet
The 5:2 method involves eating normally for five days of the week and consuming only 500-600 calories on two consecutive days after that. I am unable to do this. Eating a few calories makes me hungry.
Lean Gains Protocol
This is also called the 16/8 method. This plan involves restricting your calorie intake to an eight hour period. In my opinion, this is a great place to start. Just pick an eight hour period during the day where you are allowed to eat, and fast for the rest of the day. You could eat from noon until 8:00 PM, for example.
The 20:4 Plan
This is the plan I follow. It is the most restrictive single day fast. This regimen allows for one meal per day. Many find this best for weight loss, ketone production, and mental sharpness. I do not recommend starting here, but you can work your way towards this goal. I suggest starting with the 16/8 method as mentioned above.
There are many more possibilities to choose from. Just google “intermittent fasting” and you will find many ideas. There are also several apps available for the iPhone to help you. Some of these include:
- BodyFast Intermittent Fasting
- Zero-Fasting Tracker
- Simple: Fasting & Meal Tracker
- MyFast Intermittent Fasting
If you own an iPhone and want to try IF, I strongly suggest downloading one of these apps. It makes the process much easier. These apps also contain a ton of useful information on the subject.
I have been an “intermittent faster” my whole life. I very rarely eat breakfast because it tends to make me sluggish and hungry, and I find it causes unwanted GI symptoms, dizziness and increases my sugar cravings.
I have always read that you shouldn’t skip breakfast, but this strategy has never worked for my body. I have started using the intermittent fasting plan during the last couple of years where I only eat during a four hour window on weekdays. I do not do this on weekends because I find it too hard to accomplish.
I decided to write a post about the IFD because I wanted to report the available research to my readers. There are many benefits to this diet and I find it to be an effective method to keep my weight stable.