Intermittent Fasting 101

Are you scared by the idea of fasting? Don’t be. Fasting is SO good for the body. And doesn’t have to be a super intense water fast, juice fast, or lemon water-mayple syrup-cayenne pepper fast (anyone ever tried the Master Cleanse? Not fun). Fasting intermittently is a great way for the body to enjoy all the physical benefits of fasting by just making some small changes to your everyday routine. And unlike caloric restriction (no thanks!), interittent fasting is actually sustainable. It makes our bodies more metabolically efficient, whereas caloric restriction results in the decrease of your metabolic rate, making you burn less and less calories at rest. Not what we want! There are hormonal changes that happen during intermittent fasting that don’t happen with caloric restriction or constant food intake. It increases Human Growth Hormone, helping you gain and retain lean muscle mass as well.

IF- the process of cycling in and out of periods of eating and not eating.

how it works and why:

Insulin is a horomone that is present when you eat. It is released by the pancreas to bring glucose (read: sugar) from the blood, into the cells. When you eat highly refined, carbohydrate, sugar heavy foods, the amount of required insulin is higher than higher healthy fats/proteins. We use this shuttled glucose in the cells for energy/movement/function. If you are eating more than you are moving, excess glucose is stored in fat cells for use later on.

In a fasting state, instead of secreting insulin, you secrete glucagon. Glucagon causes the liver to release stored glucose into the bloodstream, bringing your blood sugar back up. This keeps it balanced, and we also use this as an energy source. In short, when you fast, your cells release stored body fat to burn for energy.

Your body is designed to transition between ‘fed’ and ‘fasted’ states all the time. If you snack and eat all day (with only a short break to sleep), you don’t give your gut or digestion a break OR your body the chance to burn any stored fat.

Intermittent fasting a great way to train and help the body to mobilize free fatty acids from your fat stores, and burn them off.

Benefits of intermittent fasting:

• Balances blood sugar and lowers insulin resistance

• Curbs cravings

• Helps promote weight loss by improving metabolism flexibility (to burning fat instead of sugar)

• Lowers inflammation in the body, which helps with gut issues

• Improves cognitive function and brain fog

• Increases energy levels

• Improves athletic performance

• Increases heart health due to its ability to lower triglycerides and blood pressure and raise beneficial HDL cholesterol

• Improves autoimmune conditions

How to start:

Don’t just jump right in and decide to start skipping breakfast. That is almost always a recipe for disaster (headaches, irritability, your body just all around wondering what is happening and telling you to nap). The best way to start intermittent fasting is to simply stop eating after dinner. Give your body a break from food early evening until breakfast. The body pretty much stops digesting while you sleep. Its the time for your liver and other detoxification organs to do their thang, so our energy goes to that. So that food you eat just sits there not moving. A nighttime/evening fast allows your body to ease into becoming familiar with a fasting state, giving you a chance to modify your routine and allow the body to heal/repair while you sleep.

And if you want to explore intermittent fasting further (more hours) you gotta work to balance blood sugar in advance. Your success rate will be higher.

Types of “IF”:

16/8 method

• You eat all of your daily calories within a shortened period — typically 6 to 8 hours of the day— and fast for the remaining 14 to 16 hours. You can do this every day, or a few times a week. Eating meals between 8am and 6pm will give you a 14 hr fast to start with.

• From there, you start to push out breakfast to a later time. Be mindful of how you feel throughout the day. How is your energy, mood, cravings? If negative reactions, please eat sooner!

• Don’t complicate things. Some days, your window will be shorter, others longer. Sometimes you sleep more or less and the times change. On heavier work out days I would just focus on eating properly instead of fasting for very long.

5:2 method

• This method allows you to eat normally five days a week. The other two days are your full fasting days, when you restrict your calorie intake to a maximum of 600 - 700 calories.

• This is consumed with two or three smaller meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) that include high fibre and quality protein foods.

Eat-stop-eat method:

• You restrict all food for 24 hours, once or twice a week. This is a true fast and we don’t recommend unless you are working with a practitioner on guidelines and a specific goal or condition. For example, a spirulina fast can be helpful for cholesterol, and a bone broth fast for helping heal the junctions on the gut lining. However, it is person specific and the best one for you specifically can be dictated by seeing a nutritionist.

fasting isn’t for everyone

We all know that we all have unique biochemistries. What works for one person may not be the best solution for another. With that said, here are some situations where you need to be cautious with intermittent fasting:

• Food sensitivities (to relieve food sensisitives and reduce inflammation, you need to be eliminating certain foods, not just fasting)

• Gut issues (dysbiosis = inflammation)

• Eating Disorders (a posivite food relationship is critical to fasting)

• Someone dealing with a lot of stress, anxiety or adrenal fatigue (hunger amplifies stress response). Fasting is a stressor on the body, and you don’t want to increase your cortisol levels even more to the point where your adrenals are being overworked. Read about adrenal fastigue here.

• Thyroid Issues (a no no for severe hyperthyroidism, or Graves disease)

• Hypoglycemia (you must go into this with relatively balanced blood sugar to start. Low levels of insulin are good, but not for someone with blood sugar issues)

• Pregnancy

stop fasting if:

• You have trouble falling asleep or sleep disturbances

• You can’t recover from workouts easily

• You see significant changes in your menstrual cycle

Tips and tricks to succeed

1. Stay Hydrated! You should be drinking half your body weight (lbs) in oz of water every day! (130lbs = 75oz of water)

2. To curb morning hunger if fasting until lunch, herbal tea or coffee can keep you going especially if you add medium chain triglycerides, grass-fed butter and/or collagen. No dairy or sugar added.

3. Ensure your meals - especially your first meal after you break fast - are full of healthy fats! Do not break your fast with simple carbohydrates! That will just spike your blood sugar and bring insulin back up again. Hint: just add avocado. To anything :)

4. Working out in the morning before you break your fast will help the fat burning. Taking around 10g of BCAAs (branch chain amino acids) during the workout will help maintain muscle while fasting

5. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! If you are hungry before your alloted breakfast time, eat! Its all about becoming in tune with your body and listening to what it needs.

Prepared by Maddie Battle and Vanessa Bond