If you’ve caught me at the gym for any period of time, you know I love to talk about nutrition. Give me more than 60 seconds, and you’ll probably get my spiel on intermittent fasting (IF). After many desperate attempts to find an eating lifestyle that would not only help me with my short term goals, but that would be sustainable for me in the long term, I landed on giving IF a go.So what exactly is intermittent fasting?Allow me to give an oversimplification: intermittent fasting is cycling between fasted and non-fasted periods. In a normal 24-hour day, we wake up and eat breakfast around, say, 7:00 AM. And eat all the way through your pre-bedtime snack around 9:00 PM. This traditional way of eating has a 10 hour fasted period (when we sleep, and the time awake before breakfast) and 14 hour “feeding” window (also known as, a traditional American workday). Even simpler, feeding = eating, fasted = zero calorie consumption. With an intermittent fasting model, a general schedule may have a 16 hour fasted period with an 8 hour feeding window, or a 14 hour fasted period with a 10 hour feeding window, or a 12 hour fasted period with a 12 hour feeding window, and so on and so forth, until you discover your fasting/feeding sweet spot.I’ve never really been a breakfast person (do not @ me), and I prefer my coffee black; so shortening my feeding window made eating in a deficit in order to achieve my short term goal feel so much less restrictive. In my previous attempts, I was spreading my allotted calories over a typical feeding window (a 14 hour day) and was always starving. So when it came to shortening my window, I found having coffee “for breakfast” and maintaining satiation over 8 hours a much better system for me.
Okay, and what is the big deal?Firstly, IF is not for everyone. And that’s okay. If you type into the Google machine “what is intermittent fasting”, you will surely get a myriad of mixed reviews. My nutrition journey led me to IF by way of trial, error, and a willingness to explore corners of my nutrition under the guidance of a nutrition coach and my neurotic way of investigating. But in the interest of giving more context, here are a few of the benefits of IF (you can also read about one scientist’s straightforward experiment with IF here):
While this all may sound like a dreamy cure-all, remember that every body is different -- and what works for me may not work for you. To balance it out, here are some of the drawbacks to IF that you should take into consideration:
Regardless of what nutrition methodologies you adapt into your lifestyle, moderation and consistency over long periods of time is the key to overall health and wellness success. There is no long-term solution that is fast (even though it’s in the name). If you’re curious about whether intermittent fasting is right for you, let’s set up a time to talk. Whether you’re the next IF ambassador, or you decide it’s not sustainable for you, discovering these nutritional paths is best done with a coach by your side, and I’m here to help. You can set up a quick, free intro session with me here!