My Experience With Intermittent Fasting: Yes, It Can Work
Intermittent fasting has been a “dieting” trend that has made its way up to the Mount Olympus of diets. Today, it sits at its thrown next to Keto, Paleo, Whole30 and other popular diets. From my personal experience, I have found intermittent fasting to be the easiest to implement and maintain compared to other diets.
So, what is intermittent fasting?
For those unfamiliar with intermittent fasting — in a nutshell — you are given a period of time every day in which you can eat whatever you want. For me, I have always done 12 to 8pm and have had pretty good success with it. Some prefer to fast a few hours longer, while others fast for a shorter amount of time. The first time I did intermittent fasting consistently I lost 12 pounds in the first 2 months. This included regular weight lifting, which may have skewed my weight loss with some muscle growth. The attractive aspect of intermittent fasting is its flexibility. As someone who loves food, it has always been difficult to maintain a strict regime of what I can and cannot eat. I no longer had to cut off the occasional snack or lunch out, just when I could eat.
A common assumption with intermittent fasting is that because you have a limited number of hours a day to eat, you will just end up binging to make up for the lost time of eating. And for some, this may be true. However, for me I ended up eating a normal amount of food during my eating hours and would try to eat a small snack right before my fast would begin. This is something I would try to avoid or else you will offset some of the benefits of fasting and constantly be switching between a state of being hungry and very full.
Did you have any side-effects when you first started fasting?
When I first started fasting, it took my body a solid week to really adapt to not eating late at night or early in the morning. I had small headaches and a craving for sugar. Eating cereal or have a glass of tequila at 9, 10 or even 11pm was common for me, so this took some time to adjust to. Once I got in a habit of not eating past 8pm, I really had no desire to snack at night. Instead I replaced my urge to eat at night with water, tea, and sparking water. Because of this, my overall water consumption went up as well. Before I would drink a few glasses of water a day — after I started fasting this turned into over a 100oz a day. I found myself caring more about what I put into my body during my eating times as well. After my cravings went away, I became more aware of the nutrients and calories of what I would eat. I never counted calories, I just got a weird desire to check more.
Oddly enough, I also felt less guilt when I did eat something unhealthy. It was like my mind was telling me it was okay to splurge a bit because of the fasting it had gone through. Eating became something that I did when I was actually hungry, not something I did out of boredom. I started noticing how often I ate just because I was bored, not because I was actually hungry.
But what about Coffee?
Like many Americans, I drink coffee every day. Sometimes multiple times a day. I admit that I am hooked on caffeine. I look forward to drinking coffee when I go to bed and when I wake up. I have issues. Because of this, this was my one “cheat” that I added to my fasting schedule. It helped me stay motivated and stay on track. Caffeine can also act as a food suppressant, which helped on particular mornings when I happened to be really hungry.
I drink coffee black, so there is never sugar or creamer in it . Many fasters even support the notion that coffee without sugar or creamer doesn't actually affect or “break” your fast. Ultimately, from my experience, if something small like drinking coffee in the morning will help you stay on track, go for it. If you drink coffee with sugar and creamer, perhaps you should consider an earlier start time for breaking your fast or a 14/10 fasting schedule. When it comes to fasting, to each their own.
My final consensus
At the end of the day, I would chalk most of my weight loss to having a lower caloric intake and consistency. Some argue that there are other benefits to intermittent fasting like extreme fat burning zones and better brain functioning, but for me my main goal was to eat less and fasting was my way of doing so.
Keep in mind, intermittent fasting isn't for everyone. For some, regulating what food they eat is more important than the amount of food or when they eat. Others may have health problems that restrict them from a fasting lifestyle. Like all things in life, every person is different and can find success in contrasting ways than oneself. My biggest advice is to listen to your body, especially when changing a habit or routine. If intermittent fasting does peak your interest, I would highly recommend giving it a shot for at least a week. Who knows, you may find that fasting could revolutionize the way you think about and look at food. Or at the very least, cut back on some of those extra midnight snacks like I did.
If you are wanting to learn more or start intermittent fasting, I would highly recommend the Zero app. Zero offers an easy way to track your fast and establish a sense of accountability. I would also check out this blog post from the Harvard Medical School about intermittent fasting. If you do find success with fasting, let me know with a comment below!
