Lose Weight with Intermittent Fasting

Are you interested in losing weight and/or reducing fat? If your answer is yes, then Intermittent Fasting is your answer!

How to do intermittent fasting for weight loss

Here's a little breakdown of what Intermittent Fasting is if you didn't already know about it.

Fasting means you aren't eating for an extended period of time. If you think about it, fasting isn't all that unnatural. Your ancestors evolved to thrive in situations when food was scarce.

Intermittent fasting - cycling in and out periods of fasting and eating - is a simple eating plan that makes the most of your body's own fat-burning systems. Research shows that Some research suggests intermittent fasting may support weight management as part of a balanced lifestyle.

How weight loss works with Intermittent Fasting

When you're intermittent fasting, you eat all the food your body needs, but during a shorter period of time. There are many methods, but the most common involves eating during a six to eight-hour window and fasting for the remaining 14 to 16 hours. It's not as bad as it sounds.

Intermittent fasting is associated with a range of metabolic changes that some research links to weight management.

How does it work?

Reduces calories: If you're a snacker or tend to grab food on the go, you may be eating more calories than your body needs - and that will show up on the scale. In general, you tend to eat less when you limit the amount of time you can eat during the day.

Some people use intermittent fasting as part of a dietary approach that may be associated with changes in how the body uses energy; individual results vary.

Lowers insulin levels: This happens in two ways.

First - some research suggests fasting may be associated with changes in insulin sensitivity; speak to your healthcare professional for personalised advice. Second - Some research suggests fasting may be associated with changes in insulin levels and how the body uses energy stores.

Some studies have explored how intermittent fasting may be associated with changes in metabolic activity and hormone levels; individual results vary and a healthcare professional should be consulted.

Intermittent fasting isn't just about achieving a healthy weight. Here are some additional benefits you'll experience along the way:

• Some research has explored potential associations between intermittent fasting and cardiovascular markers; consult a healthcare professional for personalised guidance.
• Some research has explored associations between fasting patterns and inflammatory markers; speak to a healthcare professional for personalised advice.
• Some research has explored how fasting may be associated with cellular processes; individual results vary.
• Some research has explored potential associations between fasting and longevity markers; consult a healthcare professional for personalised guidance.

There is more than one way to start intermittent fasting, which is great because every BODY is different. You can do some more research and even try fasting just once or twice a week, and build up from there. The key is to experiment and listen to your body to see what works best for you. But what we have just learnt is that research shows intermittent fasting to be a powerful tool for helping you reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Does intermittent fasting work better than other diets?

No, and this is the most useful thing to know about it.

Studies comparing intermittent fasting against continuous calorie restriction, with calories matched, consistently find similar results. Fasting is not metabolically superior. It works because it is a structure that helps some people eat less, not because of anything special about when the food arrives.

That is not a criticism. A structure that makes a deficit easier to hold is genuinely valuable, and for people who prefer fewer, larger meals it can be much easier than counting all day.

But if someone tells you fasting burns fat that other approaches cannot, they are ahead of the evidence.

Why 16 hours?

Mostly convenience rather than a physiological threshold.

16:8 became popular because it fits a normal life: stop eating after dinner, skip breakfast, eat from midday. Most of the window is spent asleep. There is nothing magic about the number, and studies use a range of protocols with broadly similar outcomes.

Shorter windows are not obviously better, and very long fasts bring their own problems with adherence, training quality and muscle retention.

How much weight can I lose with it?

Exactly as much as the calorie deficit it produces, which is the only honest answer.

If fasting leads you to eat 500 fewer calories a day, you will lose roughly what anyone eating 500 fewer calories a day loses, around 0.5 kg a week. If you eat the same amount in a shorter window, you will lose nothing.

That last case is more common than people expect. A compressed eating window can become two very large meals, and the deficit disappears.

Who does it suit, and who does it not?

Who it suits

People who are not hungry in the morning, prefer fewer larger meals, dislike tracking, and have a routine that fits it.

Who it does not suit

• Anyone training hard in the morning. Training fasted then not eating for hours makes recovery and performance harder.
• People who get very hungry and then overeat. Common, and self-defeating.
• Anyone with a history of disordered eating. Rules around when you may eat can be genuinely harmful. Worth discussing with a professional first.
• Pregnant or breastfeeding.
• Anyone with diabetes or on medication requiring food. A GP conversation.

The protein problem

The most common practical issue, and it is rarely mentioned.

Fitting adequate protein into a shortened eating window is harder than it sounds, particularly at higher body weights. If you are aiming for 140 g and have two meals to do it in, that is 70 g per meal, which is a lot of food.

If you fast and lift, plan protein first and build the meals around it. This is the most common reason people lose muscle alongside fat on a fasting protocol.