Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting

First off, consult your doctor before trying any diet. With that being said I've been trying intermittent fasting lately. As I am writing this I haven't eaten in 18 hours and I feel fine. In fact I just got done working out where I did some heavy lifting and a metcon and I feel fine. There has been a bunch of studies out there that study the advantages of Intermittent fasting. Some of the studies suggest that there are some awesome benefits to intermittent fasting. Like weight loss, better brain function and longer life expectancy. With that being said those studies have been mostly done on animals and there haven't been any long term studies done yet. That being said the studies look promising but really the jury is still out but thats not what I'm here to talk about. Beyond what the studies say I'm just speaking from what I've done and how I feel.

A lot of these studies on intermittent fasting are pertaining to weight loss. Weight loss is a common goal for a lot of people but it's not my goal. In fact I would like to gain more muscle and put on weight as long as I'm healthy. So why would I not want to eat for 24 hours, thats a good questions? 

1)Gail! Over the last year I have gotten into this habit of wanting and eating a piece of chocolate after every meal. Katie gave me the nick name Gail after I started digging in the pantry for a piece of chocolate after dinner. Gail being a name of older women who loves chocolate, Katie thinks that name fits my habit. I felt these urges and callings to have some candy or chocolate after every meal and they were powerful. Now, one piece of candy or chocolate after a meal isn't going to hurt me. It's really not a big deal, but I realized when people say sugar is addicting they aren't kidding. The cravings and drive to have sugar are very real and powerful. A study done by Princeton concluded that sugar can be addictive(1).

2) Dependence. Over our existence as humans, people have been fasting for many reasons like religious fasting or food shortages. The human body has adapted to being able to survive without a lot of food. In the Hunter Gatherer time period people went out and got food and if they were unsuccessful on a hunt they didn't eat. Or if it was during a drought or the winter when food wasn't readily available you went with out food. Life was obviously more difficult during those time periods but life went on. In Today's times we've become so used to food being everywhere that we can forget what it feels like to be hungry and have hunger pangs.

3) Perspective.

So how many times have we gotten hungry at 2pm because you haven't eaten lunch and we use this as an excuse to go to a fast food restaurant. We eat something that is horrible for us because it's fast, convenient and you think you are super hungry. I really really dislike the word "Hangry", this implies that just because I'm a little hungry I can act like a child. Sorry if that offends you, wait I'm not sorry if you're reading this you're probably an adult and shouldn't be acting like a child. People can go weeks without eating but you can't go 6 hours with out getting grumpy from being a little hungry. If you are hungry and there is nothing around that is healthy to eat how about try just not eating for a couple hours or until you can get something that is healthy to eat. For me intermittent fasting helps put things into perspective and helps me realize I can longer than I think with out eating and it's really not that bad being a little hungry!

Trust me I like to eat and I can be as weak as the next person when it comes to junk food and I'm not special. Beyond what the studies and science say what I have found personally is that I feel better after fasting and I like how it seems to reset my body and cuts down on my cravings. I'm not saying you have to try it or go 24 hours but at least think about fasting next time when you're hungry and the only thing around to eat is junk food. Below I've posted some studies and articles about fasting and sugar.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29063418 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29039412

(1) https://www.princeton.edu/news/2008/12/10/sugar-can-be-addictive-princeton-scientist-says

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17617461

http://news.mit.edu/2015/decoding-sugar-addiction-0129