The mainstream concept of having to eat small meals every 3-4 hours for a supercharged metabolism, weight loss, and overall optimal health might not be so necessary after all. The concept that has been accepted and preached by health and fitness professionals for the past decade is being challenged by a new health trend – intermittent fasting.
Fasting goes completely against everything we have been told about weight loss. It’s been hammered into our brains to avoid “starvation mode” by eating first thing in the morning, and eating small meals every few hours to fire up the metabolism and keep it going strong all day. Eating every few hours is also believed to regulate blood sugar levels, which in turn helps to avoid crashing, binging, and storing fat. So where does fasting fit in, and why all the new attention on it?
Intermittent fasting is simple – go 16-24 hours without eating, anywhere from once a week to every other day. So, for instance, if you eat dinner at 6pm, you wouldn’t eat again until about 6pm the next evening. Proponents of this type of fast say instead of fussing over what you’re eating every few hours and having to make sure each meal fits your diet plan, you don’t have to think about food at all. There is no calorie counting or measuring, either. Even if you ate a huge meal at 6pm, unless it’s 2,500 calories, you aren’t going to undo the benefits of fasting.
Not eating all day can seem a little daunting, even though you get to eat dinner. If you’ve been following the rule of eating breakfast first thing in the morning, and eating every 3-4 hours, it can seem even worse. When your body is used to eating all the time it can be a tough adjustment to make. So, there must be some pretty great benefits to intermittent fasting, right?
Well, according to IF supporters, intermittent fasting makes sense from both health and fitness perspective. Studies have shown that short-term intermittent fasting decreases body fat while maintaining muscle mass, decreases insulin levels and increases insulin sensitivity, decreases blood glucose levels, increases fat burning and growth hormone levels, and helps prevent chronic disease. Those who swear by intermittent fasting says they have more energy and mental clarity on fasting days, and also say they’ve never been as strong and lean as they are now. It seems like those who do it LOVE it – they love how they feel and love the results. Can you say the same for everyone else who’s on the 6-small-meals-a-day plan?
Fasting is also believed to give the digestive system a much needed break. The digestive system requires a ton of energy to constantly break down food, taking away energy needed for healing, repairing and general maintenance of the body. So the body can direct more energy to removing toxins and other detoxification processes instead.
Metabolic rate is actually increased in short-term fasting. Studies have shown an increase of 3.6% – 10% after 36-48 hours (Mansell PI, Zauner C). According to “fasting experts,” the metabolism doesn’t slow until after this time frame. While I’m still skeptical about that, intermittent fasting does make sense from an evolutionary perspective. Humans didn’t always have access to food. In fact, sometimes it was days before food was found or hunted. So the human body evolved to have times of being without. So going long periods of time without food isn’t necessarily unnatural – in fact, the amounts we eat now is what’s unnatural.
Some people recommend fasting once or twice a week for 24 hrs. This is like the “Eat Stop Eat”plan by Brad Pilon, who has a huge following. Check out his blog below. He has a lot of really interesting things to say: “While learning about the science of weight loss is fun and interesting, the most important part of any weight loss plan is dealing with our habits, environment, perceptions and stressors. With this being said, the most important part of Eat Stop Eat isn’t the effect on growth hormone or insulin, but rather what you learn during the 24 hours that you are fasting.”
Then there are those who follow a daily fast, with a smaller eating window (an 18hr daily fast would mean someone would only eat every day between noon and 6pm). If you simply HAVE to eat breakfast every day then this is the plan to try. Instead of eating breakfast at 8am you’re eating it at noon.
Both daily and weekly plans are similar in that you want to eat that first meal after your fasted workout. So, if you work out in the morning this might be a little tough, but you can work around it. BCAA’s are recommended before your workout to minimize any muscle loss. You also want to eat the biggest meal as your first meal. For some, it might be just one big meal on fasting days like in Eat Stop Eat. For daily, shorter-term fasts, like Lean Gains, your first meal should be 60-70% of your calories, decreasing carbs and calories in the next two.
Both plans have similar benefits. It’s a matter of preference and listening to your body. Furthermore, fasting simply is not for everyone. If you’re managing to overeat during your eating window, then intermittent fasting isn’t for you. The idea is to still eat a nutritious, healthy diet most of the time. And if eating 5-6 small meals a day is successful and enjoyable for you, by all means, keep at it. But if you’ve hit a plateau, or just want to challenge your mind and body, give intermittent fasting another look. For more information check out the links below!
http://bradpilon.com/brads-blog/
http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html
