How?
First of all it's not technically fasting which means a complete lack of eating, but rather a periodic intake restriction to 1/4th of normal consumption (~500Cal). You will still eat!
Interval Fasting is simply alternating the amount of food calorie intake between days in a week. Mine is as follows:
Fig.1 - A graph of 4:3 Intermittent Fasting lifestyle
It is also called the 4:3 IF which is my optimum combination between Fast/Feast ratio and social need as I like to have nice family meal time on Saturday and Sundays.
On the fasting days I eat one 500-Calorie dinner (examples). I get through the day by black tea and actually do not develop any feel of hunger. Avoid simple carbs like rice and bread. Avoid also fruit juice, they are not healthy due to high sugar level and glyceamic index.
On the feast days I can practically eat anythingref ,although I still prefer to eat non-fatty food. It's important that you do not diet on the feast days. Your body needs to recover and the brain/appetite needs to be satiated.
There are other variants of Interval Fasting such as the 5:2 regime which simply means 2 days of fasting in a week.
There are other variants of Interval Fasting such as the 5:2 regime which simply means 2 days of fasting in a week.
Why it works
- With 4:3 IF you reduce the amount of Calorie intake by 4,500 Cal over a week period. This equals to 900 Cal/day if you were not fasting -- and roughly equivalent to 1.5hr of jogging every day of the week!
- During fasting days, insulin level is kept very low. This promotes the body to use fat as fuelref
- The body react with increased metabolism when denied food or hungry. In evolutionary term it is a preparation for the body to hunt for food.
Fluid loss, Fat Loss, Plateau
The first 1-2 weeks of following IF, you will experience rapid weight loss due to fluid loss
Then it will be followed with progressions of fat loss
After a while it will reach a plateau. This is normal
Other benefits
There
are numerous human and lab studies related to Interval Fasting. The
most recent are covered in BBC documentary 'Eat, Fast, and Live Longer.
It is no longer available for viewing in BBC but you can watch a copy here. The film is also available in bittorent networkref
There are some interesting findings:
- In human studies Interval Fasting reduce weight, LDL, and triglyceride levels which are indicators of cardio-vascular conditions.
- Fasting reduces human growth factor IGF1 which slows down the effect of agingref
- It may not matter whether the Feasting days are 'healthy' or fattyref
- In animal studies, Interval Fasting is shown to increase life-spanref
My personal experience
I had tried other forms of lifestyle changes before. In the past I had been hovering around 88kg and for a 170cm guy this is borderline obese and clearly at risk of diabetes and other cardio-vascular diseases.
Interval Fasting is very easy to follow compared to other forms of dieting. Mainly because you are only a day away from nice fulfilling meals.
I started Interval Fasting mid-May 2013 after a business trip which saw my weight jumped 2 kilos in a week.
The result speaks for itself. The first 2 weeks were dramatic as it is due to fluid losses as with any other dietary changes. But then it decreased consistently.
I started Interval Fasting mid-May 2013 after a business trip which saw my weight jumped 2 kilos in a week.
The result speaks for itself. The first 2 weeks were dramatic as it is due to fluid losses as with any other dietary changes. But then it decreased consistently.
Fig.2 - Weight loss over 3 weeks of Intermittent Fasting
In the proceeding 3 months I had lost a total of 7.8kg
Update: 1 month, 2 months, 3 months
4 moths (plateau)
In the proceeding 3 months I had lost a total of 7.8kg
Update: 1 month, 2 months, 3 months
4 moths (plateau)
Will it work for you?
People respond differently to different dietary regime. And for sure there are millions who are successful in managing their health through other means.
What I can suggest, though, is to try it yourself for 3 months. Weigh and measure your hips daily and be disciplined. For me it became an easy habit before long.
Most importantly don't view Interval Fasting as a temporary or quick/crash diet. It should be a consciously chosen lifestyle.
.oOo.
