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Writer's pictureTimothy Stiroh

Should you do intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a popular eating style you may have seen online.


Intermittent fasting is said to help with weight loss, inflammation, cardiovascular health, brain health, and even metabolic health.


You may be wondering, if intermittent fasting is right for you?


Keep reading to learn a little more about intermittent fasting and how it works, and if it is something you can see yourself trying.


The purpose of Intermittent fasting


Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that helps you control the amount of food you eat in a given day.


IF separates the 24 hours in a day into eating and non eating windows.


For example, a common intermittent fasting split is an 8 hour eating window, and a 16 hour fasting window.


How to do intermittent fasting


IF works by giving you boundaries of when you can and can't eat.


For example, let's say you start work at 9 am, and you want to be done eating at 7 pm.


Using, the 8:16 split, you would when you are hungry between the hours of 11 am and 7 pm.


The following 16 hours, 7 pm to 11 am, you would not eat.


The only thing you can consume would be black coffee or tea.


Does intermittent fasting work?


Intermittent fasting certainly can work!


Especially if your goal is to lose weight and you are trying to reduce the total calories you are consuming each day.


However, intermittent fasting is not magic. It is not any better than simply lowering you food intake with 24 hours.


In the research, intermittent fasting and reducing calories over a 24 hour period led to people loosing weight.


Thus, intermittent fasting is not superior in terms of weight loss, but it may help people feel more in control of their hunger and food choices.


Which can be a huge psychological boost to those that have been trying to diet for so long.


My thoughts on intermittent fasting


Personally, I think IF is a great option.


Out of all the trendy ways to eat, I do think that IF is one of the better options out there.


If your goal is to lose weight and get better control of your health, then intermittent fasting may be worth trying for you.


I do suggest picking a fasting window that you can stick to.


If you have never done prolonged hours of fasting, it may feel uncomfortable.


Using the 8:16 split as an example, start with something like a 10 hour eating window and 14 hour fasting window. And each week add extra hour to the fasting window, and decrease the eating window by an hour.


Intermittent fasting can be a viable strategy to help with your nutrition!


If you have any questions about setting up an intermittent fasting protocol for you, send me an email with intermittent fasting somewhere in the subject line. I would love to help you get started!



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