Intermittent Fasting: What’s The Deal?

I have been intermittent fasting for almost ten years. During this time I have fallen off for a couple weeks, tried different variations, but have ultimately kept on this eating protocol for most of the time. This article, in addition to the video above, will talk about what intermittent fasting is, the pros and cons of it, and if it could be right for you.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

If you aren’t familiar with what intermittent fasting or time restricted eating is, I’ll give you the quick run down. Intermittent fasting is when you fast or restrict eating your food for a small portion of the day. Usually, individuals will either skip breakfast or dinner, forcing them to “fast” intermittently of about 12-16 hours every single day. This has become an incredibly popular tool for individuals to use to try to lose weight in a quick and easy way. With all the hype behind intermittent fasting, I wanted to give it a shot in high school. Through the years, I have learned a lot about intermittent fasting, both good and bad. Let’s see what they are from my eyes. Keep in mind these are all things that I feel personally about the style of eating, and may be completely different to another individual.

Pros Vs. Cons of Intermittent Fasting

Pros

1. Improved focus during times when “fasting.”
2. Easier time monitoring calories throughout the day (maintaining weight was easier.)
3. Less stress when not able to hit “perfect” meal times.
4. It gave me the ability to not feel the need to eat, just because others are.
5. I was able to skip eating less quality food when I was out and about, even if I was hungrier.
6. Improved ability to understand hunger vs. boredom.
7. Different way to challenge yourself.
8. I was more satisfied eating bigger meals, less often.

Cons

1. Feeling cold during fasts.
2. Social obligations are awkward (not eating breakfast when out with people at breakfast.)
3. Anxiety about food increased (obsessive tendencies.)
4. Becoming too rigid with fasting schedule.
5. Constipation.
6. Peeing a lot during fasts.
7. Discomfort
8. Increased judgement of others for not fasting.

Would I Recommend Fasting

For starters, fasting is a great tool that can be used for individuals who struggle to lose or maintain weight when dieting. Many individuals, including myself find great success in implementing intermittent type fasting diets into their life. With that said, intermittent fasting is not the only way one can lose or maintain weight. I find that it gives me a large amount of flexibility when eating in my day to day life, that makes it incredibly easy to stick to. Others, who enjoy three square meals a day, might not enjoy it as well. My mom is someone who likes eating right when she wakes up, while I personally enjoy waiting a couple hours anyway. So do I recommend it? I recommend that you at least try it and see if it works for you. One of the things that I will say, is that if you do have compulsions on obsessions with food, intermittent fasting could increase these tendencies. When I first started getting into health and fitness and counting calories in particular, I took both of these to the extreme. I am still recovering and working towards not looking at “every food as a number,” and at times, intermittent fasting doesn’t make this easier. With that said, this isn’t to say you will have any psychological issues with intermittent fasting. I think the biggest thing to consider is if you can stick with it in your normal life well. If you are someone who doesn’t enjoy breakfast, doesn’t have social obligations tied to breakfast (family breakfast time), and is trying to find a different way to maintain their weight, intermittent fasting might be worth a shot.

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