January 8, 2019 - Selina Rose

It can be tempting to jump on the latest diet trend, especially if you need to lose weight. It’s not very often that I’ll recommend a diet to one of my coaching clients. My philosophy is usually to stick to whole foods and nutrient-dense meals that keep you full and satisfy your cravings.

In this post I share about intermittent fasting and some research to suggest that it helps with weight loss, particularly belly fat. It’s important to note that there are other ways to lose belly fat (which tends to have a lot to do with stress, hormones and lifestyle) than by fasting. The intermittent fasting approaches outlined below may be helpful for someone who is obese and needs to change their lifestyle.

Intermittent fasting is also recommended during a healing period for those with gastrointestinal irritation and inflammation because it provides the GI tract with a break from food.

For the majority of you reading this, my suggestion is rather than intermittent fasting, stick with whole foods, make nutritious choices and stop eating for the day 3 hours before you go to bed. 🙂

In a nutshell, intermittent fasting is just that: fasting intermittently.

It’s limiting calorie intake during certain hours/day or days/week. It’s more of an eating pattern than a diet. It limits when to eat, and not so much what to eat. And that’s part of it’s appeal to people who don’t want to count calories or use a food log to track what they eat.

Some would say that it’s a more natural way to eat because humans evolved without refrigerators, drive-throughs, or 24-hour convenience stores. We now have access to food (including junk food) all day long, so eating several meals per day plus snacks may be less natural than fasting from time to time.

There are lots of variations on this theme. They include:

16/8 which is 16 hours of fasting, and eating only within the other 8 hours (often 1:00 pm. – 9:00 p.m.);
5:2 days of fasting, where you eat regularly for five days of the week, then take in a low number of calories/day for the other two (non-consecutive) days.

Is intermittent fasting effective for weight loss?

Intermittent fasting can help to lose weight because it can help you to eat fewer calories, and burn more calories too.

Lots of people say they have success with it. But what do the studies say?

According to one review study, intermittent fasting helped people to lose 3-8% of their weight over 3-24 weeks. In this study, people also lost 4-7% of their waist circumference (i.e., belly fat).

Another study of 100 people with obesity showed that after a year, the people who fasted on alternate days lost more weight than people who didn’t change their eating pattern. But, (and here’s where it’s interesting) they didn’t lose any more weight than those on a calorie restricted diet. Out of the people who were to follow the intermittent fasting protocol, 38% of them dropped out.

Sticking with a plan is one of the keys to weight loss success. So, if you can’t stick to a weight-loss plan, you’re less likely to lose the weight and keep it off.

Before you consider intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is not for everyone. I want to make that very clear. Often times I have clients who are busy professionals ask me about intermittent fasting because they’re looking to get out of preparing breakfast in the morning. Intermittent fasting is a strategy that can help you lose weight if you need to, or it can be helpful for those who have digestive irritation and need to give their bodies a break from food. I don’t recommend using it as a way to encourage laziness—as in not preparing breakfast before you leave for work in the morning.

With that said, people who are underweight, or have eating disorders, also shouldn’t fast. Neither should women who are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or are breastfeeding.

Certain medical conditions can be worsened with longer periods of fasting. Also, people taking certain medications can be prone to side effects with intermittent fasting as well.

One of the reasons people drop out of the intermittent fasting eating pattern is that it’s hard to stick with the fasting part, especially when you’re doing fasting days. They eat more than the allowed (low-level of) calories when they’re supposed to be fasting. And when they finish fasting, they may overindulge due to the reaction of the appetite hormones and hunger drive while fasting. This sets up a restrict-binge cycle that’s not healthy for your body or your hormones, nor will it help with weight loss. If you have the tendency to restrict your eating as a means to control your calorie intake, intermittent fasting is not recommended for you.

Also, the hours and days of fasting can be very difficult. So having strong social support will be key to those intermittent periods of fasting. Sticking to a (healthy, nutrient-dense) diet designed for weight loss is the key to success, and intermittent fasting can be difficult for many people to stick with.

Conclusion

Intermittent fasting is a weight loss diet that may work for some people. It can help you to lose weight and reduce belly fat. But, it isn’t safe for everyone. Many people should not try intermittent fasting because it can be risky. It can also be difficult to stick with.

For the best chance of long-term weight loss success, finding a diet, you can stick with is key.

What about you – Have you or someone you know tried intermittent fasting? What were the results? Let me know in the comments below.