Intermittent Fasting for Fat Loss

For those with weight loss aspirations there seems to be a perineal pursuit of the quickest/easiest/most efficient diet program, but my favorite is intermittent fasting.  Why? It is easy to implement, very flexible, and (most importantly) very effective. Intermittent fasting has allowed me to effortlessly lose body fat during my cuts without obsessing about food. Solving the diet equation is the single most important key to achieving most fitness goals, and the tools you choose can make or break your success. Let’s explore IF, its benefits, and any potential hurdles.

What is IF? Intermittent fasting is a meal planning and meal timing strategy. It differs from many popular diet protocols in that there are no restricted foods nor prescribed macronutrient partitioning.  IF requires dialing in of only two aspects of your strategy: Splitting up your 24-hour day into a period of fasting ( fasting window) and a period of eating (feeding window). Once these windows are set, the rest is relatively simple. The premise is that only a small portion of the day is set aside for the fed state and the accumulation of any fat gain while the majority of the day is spent in a fasted state in which the body is primarily burning body fat for fuel.  I find the greatest benefits to be more enjoyable meals, more flexibility in food choice, and less time juggling food details.

Getting started is relatively painless. You only need to determine how long your eating and fasting windows will be and when they end or begin.  A commonly used setup is a 16/8 protocol. In this scenario a person would allow 8 hours in a day for eating and fast for the remaining 16 hours. The windows themselves can be moved to suit your own schedule. For example, I like to follow more of a setup that looks like this:

12PM- First meal of the day

7PM- Final meal of the day

8PM to 12PM next day- Fast

My first meal is usually light and more like a snack. My second meal will typically fall between 2PM and 3PM where I will have a light yet decent-sized lunch.  I finish the day with a significantly larger dinner and maybe an evening dessert. Others may adopt a different setup in which maybe they move the windows up or shift them back. It’s all a matter of preference.

Since intermittent fasting restricts the times in which you can eat, the idea is that less opportunity to consume food will mean less food consumed.  Because of this, cutting out certain foods becomes less necessary as since you are eating less of the food (regardless of which foods) the fewer calories you will consume which leads to a very important point. Losing fat with IF does still require adherence to maintaining a calorie deficit. Let’s say your normal diet is 1000 calories each for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you require 2500 calories to maintain your weight, then you will be eating a 500 calorie surplus which will lead to fat gain. However, if you were to skip breakfast and keep the exact same lunch and dinner then you would be eating a 500 calorie DEFICIT which will lead to fat loss. If you were to skip breakfast but then increase your lunch and dinner each to 1500 calories then you would be eating at maintenance and will see no fat loss. This example is meant to stress that you cannot simply eat whatever you want and as much of it as you want during the feeding window and still see results.

IF has another great benefit. Since you are reducing the amount of food that you eat, it eliminates the need for figuring out new foods to eat that fit your diet.  Another advantage is that you simply don’t have to plan for as many meals freeing up your mind and your time for more important tasks.

There is really only one drawback to IF. Some people find it difficult to keep hunger and cravings at bay during the fasting window. If a person cannot adjust to this then not only will they be miserable, but they will be more likely to overeat during the feeding window as they feel so hungry and food-deprived while fasting. However, there is a solution to this. The feeding window can be adjusted. Can’t do a 16 hour fasting window? Cut it to a 12 hr by 12 hr setup. Conversely if you want to be more aggressive you could do a 20 hr or 24 hr fast. Used correctly, IF is a very useful tool and helps me and my clients easily drop the pounds. Are you next? Until the next one.

-Chris