Intermittent Fasting - Unlock Your Secret Weapon to Weight Loss! Or does it?
Most of you know I'm an advocate of intermittent fasting. I love the energy I get from it, I love to eat larger portions of food when I do eat, and I love working out fasted. I have used IF for 21 months and counting. Since I started using it in April 2013 I have just fallen in love with the concept. It's easy. Train fasted in the morning using BCAA's before, during and after, then every two hours until it's "time" for me to eat. Then, when it's time to eat, I EAT! If I'm not working out that morning, or if I want to drink something other than BCAA's I have the option of drinking calorie free beverages (coffee, tea, calorie free sodas - if you must) and keep insulin levels low to remain in a "fasted state". It's easy, uncomplicated and I love it. At the same time I also know that there are those out there who are preaching that this is the secret to your weight loss. This is simply not true.
The "secret" to a better you is energy intake. It's getting your macros and calories right. Enter #FlexibleDieting , #IIFYM. The scary trend that's happening to some women is that in their desperation to lose weight they are taking fasting WAY too far. Scary far. In hopes to look like those who are saying it's a diet God-send and find their skinny. Some even also resort to using it as a punishment, fasting for longer times because they overate the previous day.
If you have a lot of weight to lose and would prefer to lose it faster than average, following the Alternate Day Diet has been proven to be an effective but temporary approach to calorie restriction, to get the dieter to their goals faster (a much as I don't care for it). Yes there are health benefits to fasting and long duration fasts. But it becomes dangerous when the user is doing so out of desperation. I hope that this post reaches as many women out there who are feeling frustrated and lost when it comes to IF, I hope they read this and come to understand that at the end of the day a proper distribution of macros, strength training and eating daily are important when it comes to losing weight, building lean muscle and ultimately maintaining sanity, emotional and psychological health and achieving their fitness goals - not an eating window.
If you want to use IF as a tool in your health and fitness arsenal then great. But with any health plan be reasonable with it. And if you discover it's not for you then know that a) you're not alone and b) there's more than one way to skin a cat A.K.A. there's more than one way to achieve your weight loss goals and it all comes down to what you eat and how much of it. NOT an eating window. And one more thing - DEFINITELY do not feel like less of a person if you've tried fasting for 36 hours and it has sent you on more than one occasion straight into a binge. Know when something is ludicrous and not practical for you or your long-term health and fitness goals. No matter how much someone promotes something. This is why you don't see me heavily promoting Intermittent Fasting because I won't tell you it's what has given me my results. Time, consistency, proper macronutrient distribution, a reverse diet (which can also be classified as a diet break) and strength training have given me my results.
Until next time, I wish you health, Happiness and heavy lifts!
-XOXO
