Fitness Friday - Intermittent Fasting

IF (Intermittent Fasting) is a big trend in the fitness world today, but it’s not really a “new” idea, this method has actually been used for centuries! Why? Well people who champion this trend claim it can help you gain mental clarity, focus, help you burn more fat, help you lose weight faster and help you keep more muscle mass... there have even been studies to show that intermittent fasting can help you live longer and save off cancer!

By Fasting your body is able to take a break from eating and processing food and can actually focus on repairing itself on a cellular level. It kind of “shocks” the body and changes the hormonal response which might in fact help you burn more fat!

There are also claims that working out on an empty stomach is beneficial because it helps you to burn off the excess fat on your body rather than calories you have recently consumed.

With all of these claims you know I just had to see what all this excitement is about.

WARNING: Before I get into the details of IF please keep in mind that this fitness trend may not be suitable for everyone and, in fact, it could be downright dangerous for some! If you find yourself among the group I will outline below please steer clear from Intermittent fasting!!

Please do not try Intermittent Fasting:

If you have a history of eating disorders
If you are underweight
If you are a female who is trying to conceive and/or are pregnant or breastfeeding
If you have any medical conditions such as diabetes, low blood pressure or low blood sugar issues
If you are taking medication that requires food to be taken with it
Or if you have a special dietary requirement

Okay... with all that out of the way let’s get down to the how's and to’s of Intermittent Fasting:

There are 3 “popular” methods currently:

The 16/8 Method or “Leangains” Method: This seems to be the most popular method. This method requires you to “fast” for 16 hours of the day and only consume your calories for 8 consecutive hours during the day. If you want to ease into this method you can try the 14/10 method first (fast for 14 hours and eat for 10). During your “fasting” period you consume no calories but you are allowed some calorie free beverages like coffee, tea and water, just be sure not to add sugar to your beverages and maybe just a splash of milk is okay. You are not really "restricting" your calories in this method, instead you are simply shifting them to a 8 or 10 hour "eating" window.
The Eat Stop Eat Method – This method requires you to fast for 24 hours, one or two times a week but not on back to back days!
The 5:2 Diet – This requires you to eat only between 500-600 calories for two days a week (again not on back to back days) and then eat “normally” the rest of the week.

If these methods seem a bit extreme to you, you can build your way up slowly to the plan you want to achieve. Just be extremely cautious if you try any of these methods!

Remember a few key things here... this plan is not an excuse to eat all the junk food you can during your “eating periods", you still need to make sure you're getting all of your macro nutrients into your diet. It is also not an excuse to replace your workouts with a “fasting” ritual. There are specific ways to workout when you are following one of the IF methods above and you have to be careful not to over exert yourself!

While this might seem like the “magic bullet” for some, I'm not ready to jump on this bandwagon just yet. I think I will be sticking to my 3 balanced meals a day with 2 snacks in between. Because there are also many studies showing that this is healthful to the body long term as well. I might try this IF method later on in my fitness journey but today is not that day, lol.