Intermittent Fasting: Finding Your Personal Protocol for Sustainable Results
Many people are interested in intermittent fasting because they want to lose weight.
One mistake people make is thinking intermittent fasting is some kind of magic bullet for weight loss.
Spoiler: it's not.
You won't automatically lose weight just by doing intermittent fasting. You still need to be in a calorie deficit.
Another issue is trying to dive head-first into some kind of extreme fasting protocol that doesn't suit them. This results in a negative experience that makes people give up on fasting altogether.
This is a shame because if intermittent fasting helps you achieve a calorie deficit, then it can be a great option for weight loss. There are also many other health benefits to fasting that are worth experiencing.
In this article, we'll dive into the art of making intermittent fasting work for you.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is essentially compressing your feeding window, or the time you spend eating, giving you more time during the day to be in a fasted state.
Doing this provides many health benefits including improved insulin sensitivity, reduced inflammation, and cognitive benefits:
IF can improve blood sugar levels and reduce insulin resistance, which is a key factor in type 2 diabetes
IF can reduce inflammatory markers, which are linked to heart disease and other chronic conditions
Some studies suggest that IF may boost working memory and verbal memory in animals and humans
Longer duration fasts can have additional benefits, such as enhanced autophagy and a reset for your gut.
Intermittent fasting can also offer potential weight loss benefits if done correctly.
Think of it as a tool. If it helps you achieve a calorie deficit, it can be a good addition to your weight loss toolkit.
In order to realize the benefits of intermittent fasting, you need to do it consistently in a way that works best for you.
To start, we must consider a few variables.
How often and for how long do you want to fast?
Some people may only want to fast 1-2 days per week while others will prefer to fast daily.
A daily fast could be anywhere from 12 to 24 hours.
A 12-hour fast might simply mean not eating for a couple of hours before bed and a couple of hours after waking up. This mild form of intermittent fasting is manageable for most people and may be a good starting point.
Going beyond a 12-hour fast into a 16 to 18-hour fast will be more challenging if you've never done it before. It takes some deliberate thought and planning to compress all your eating into an eight-hour window, for example.
What this might look like is if you wake up at 7 am, you would fast until 11 am or noon, skipping breakfast, and then eating all your meals from 11 am to 7 pm or noon to 8 pm.
You could also eat right after waking up, but stop eating by 3 or 4 pm, skipping dinner (this type of schedule would be more difficult in social situations).
How many meals per day do you want to eat?
You could have one, two, or three meals in your feeding window, depending on your meal size preference and goals, such as hitting a calorie or protein target.
Anything more than this is not ideal because then you'll spend all your time during your shortened feeding window "grazing."
If you're trying to lose weight, sticking to two meals a day might be easier for cutting calories. You could have a smaller meal for lunch and a larger meal for dinner so you don't feel deprived.
If you're trying to gain weight, you may benefit from eating more than twice per day. I also find it easier to hit my protein target eating 3 times per day vs. twice per day.
On occasion, I'll only eat one meal a day, but I typically don't do this more than once or twice a month. Usually, this is after I have a big weekend lunch or brunch and don't eat the rest of the day. This isn't too hard for me to do when I am full from a large meal.
Sometimes, I'll skip my morning meal the following day, resulting in a 24-hour fast.
If you want to try a longer than a 24-hour fast, consult with a doctor or medical professional, as there are other considerations like electrolyte balance you should be aware of.
My current fasting protocol
I've been practicing some form of intermittent fasting for over a decade now. I've experimented with a variety of different lengths of fasts, feeding windows, and number of meals per day.
Currently, I fast daily for about 16 hours, with my eight-hour feeding window starting around 10 to 11 am and ending by 7 pm. I'm flexible on my starting time because some days I feel like eating earlier than others. But I'm pretty strict about cutting myself off from food by 7 pm because I've found that not eating a couple of hours before bed has noticeable effects on my sleep and recovery.
I usually eat three meals a day, sometimes two, depending on my schedule. On weekends when I have more family stuff going on, I find it easier to eat two meals, while on weekdays when I'm in my work day routine, I typically have three smaller meals.
This flexibility helps me lean down or bulk up as needed, while giving my digestive system a break every day.
If you've never fasted before, here's what I'd do:
Start with an easier 12-hour fast to acclimate
Progress to 16-18 hours as you become comfortable
Experiment with your feeding window (e.g., 11 am to 7 pm)
Adjust your meal frequency (2-3 meals) based on preference
Always maintain proper calorie and protein intake for your goals
To be sure, we do not recommend IF for all patients. For example, it may not be right for those with hormone imbalances or those with a prior history of eating disorders. But for many, there are significant benefits.
Conclusion
Intermittent fasting is a tool, not a magic bullet.
There are many ways to fast: you can skip breakfast or dinner, do longer or shorter fasts, and have smaller or larger meals during your feeding window. It will likely take some self-experimentation to find a protocol that works for you.
Consider how easy it is to incorporate intermittent fasting into your lifestyle. You don't want to force yourself into something that doesn't feel right. After your body adjusts to it, fasting should feel easy and natural. Ultimately, it should be a positive experience.
In traditional medicine, the topic of intermittent fasting won't even come up with your PCP. But a partner like Velocity Health will help you experiment with different fasting protocols as well as other lifestyle strategies and most importantly, measure the results to ensure you are benefiting from it.
Schedule a call to learn more about how we can help you.
