Intermittent Fasting a.k.a Fat Loss Simplified

One of the most common reasons people exercise is to lose weight. It’s not hard to see why these days. Obesity has become quite the epidemic over the last several decades here in the United States. The sheer abundance of calorie-rich food that is available in the 21st century  is astounding. The average person today has more options than even the richest of emperors had in the past. Heck even poor people in the USA have more food available to them than any pre-modern monarch in the past ever had.

This abundance of food has also had an unintended consequence however. Because people have so much readily available food to eat and so much variety of food to eat we often get carried away with the amount of food we eat on a daily basis. Not to mention much of the food we eat is often of very questionable quality. The availability of cheap fast food and junk food has resulted in many people becoming obese. Thankfully you are not doomed to be fat for the rest of your life. There are many ways to reduce weight and thankfully none of them are particularly complicated. Difficult yes. But not complicated.

While exercise is often sited as a means of weight loss it is not the only way to lose weight. Exercise alone will not help you lose weight no matter how hard or often you choose to exercise. In order to truly lose weight we have to change our consumption habits in order facilitate weight loss. Only when we change our consumption habits will we start to see better results.

The Iron Law of Weight Loss

If you want to know how to lose weight in one sentence the answer is to simply:

Consume Less Calories Than What You Expend.

This is the iron law of weight loss. Period! I could just end this article right here and leave it at that because for the most part it really is that simple. The reason is because your body is always burning calories. Every action your body takes whether it’s breathing, running your internal organs, or even sleeping consumes calories. Those calories are converted into energy that your body uses so it can function properly. It’s like the fuel in your car. The fat that accumulates in your body is just excess fuel stored away for a rainy day. And just like a car needs to burn more fuel in order to go faster, you need to burn more calories in order to lose that stubborn weight.

Calories come from the food and beverages you consume. With the exception of water, all the food and beverages you consume contains a least one calorie in it. Your body uses those calories you consume to keep you alive. Whatever excess calories you consume is stored as fat for later use in the event that food is unavailable. The quality of the food you eat can also play a role in your weight gain (or loss). In the end it is the quantity more so than the quality of the food you eat the matters the most.

This rule applies to all diets. They are all subject to this rule. The reason your diet is working is not necessarily because of the food you left out. It is because you are consuming less food than you were back when you were fat. That’s not to say that food quality isn’t important, of course it still is. However it plays a complimentary role in the weight loss process. If you want to shed some extra weight you have to consume less calories than you  did in the past. While you’re at it give your body something to do with the extra calories, aka fat, that you’ve been hoarding for so long.

 

The Fast

If you truly want to lose fat your first priority is to reduce calorie intake. This is where you will adopt  intermittent fasting as a habit that you will use as one of your primary means of losing weight. To fast simply means to go without eating for a period of time.  The practice of fasting has a long history which we will touch on briefly to help you understand why fasting works. 

A Brief History of Fasting

Believe it or not the practice of fasting has a very long history. For most of human history, especially before the agricultural revolution (10,000 BC), most humans fasted. The reason being that food was often difficult to come by in those tough hunter-gatherer days. Our ancestors had to endure days, even weeks, without food. Most of their food came predominantly from wild game which was often difficult to catch.

Even after the agricultural revolution food wasn’t anywhere near as plentiful then as it is now. With food being so scarce our ancestors had to learn to go without eating for a long time in order to survive. Now it may seem hard to imagine for people to go without eating for so long a time. This however was the norm for most of human history.  

Our ancestors seldom ever got to enjoy anything even remotely comparable to the overabundance we have today. The plus side for them however was that they rarely ever put on excess weight. And much like our ancient ancestors you too will learn how to get by on less food than you normally are used to eating. Understand like any new good habit you want to adopt and/or like any old bad habit you want to end it’s going to take patience and discipline. The results however will be worth in the end.

How To Fast

There are three main types of fasts you can adopt. The first option is intermittent fasting which involves you fasting for 16-18 hours every day. The second is a 24 hour fast which involves you going every other day without eating. The third option is extended fasting which basically means 24 hours or more without eating . These time frames can vary from person to person as there is no set time frame. As a general rule however an extended fast is any fast that goes beyond 24 hours.

For those of you who are new to fasting intermittent fasting would be the best place to start. If, however you’re up for a challenge you can try fasting for longer time periods. If you are unable to do so that is perfectly fine. You don’t have to go beyond intermittent fasting if you are not interested. What matters is that you are at least able to fast intermittently.

Fasting is Not The Same Thing As Anorexia

People sometimes confuse fasting with anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by abnormally low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of weight. Anorexics will often go to extreme measures to avoid gaining weight even if means starving themselves close to death. Fasting is simply going without eating for a certain period of time (i.e 18 hours, 24 hours, etc.).

The goal of fasting is for your body to make use of your fat reserves to use as energy thus making you leaner over time. The goal is NOT for you to lose too much weight and it certainly isn’t for you to starve yourself to near death just to not be fat. You want to lose fat yes, but you also don’t want to be emaciated. Once the fasting period is over you can go back to eating again. Being lean doesn’t mean reducing yourself to skin and bone because you’re paranoid about getting too fat. Always keep that in mind when you are fasting or are trying to lose weight in general.

With that out of the way it’s also important for you to remember to be very mindful about how you break your fast. Often times people make the mistake of gorging themselves on too much food after completing a fast. This can ruin all your hard earned gains especially if you are not eating healthy food or exercising. You want to eat yes, but you don’t want to eat too much and regain the fat you just lost. Just be mindful of how much you eat when sit down at the table after the fast.

How to Eat Smart

Besides intermittent fasting there are few other things you can do to help you lose weight. If you do these things in addition to intermittent fasting you will get much better results especially if you combine it with regular exercise. These things include:

• Cooking most of your food at home instead of eating out all the time
• Drastically reducing if not outright eliminating low quality food from your diet/home (i.e. junk food, fast food etc.)
• Drastically reducing your consumption of refined sugars
• Getting a good night’s sleep everyday
• Drastically reducing your consumption of alcohol (or, if you prefer, even eliminating it all together )
• Don’t go for seconds or more

Understand this doesn’t mean you can’t make an exception here and there. You can still do so as long as you don’t get too carried away. When you do make those exceptions remember that they are just that; the exceptions to the rule. The rule being you eat a healthy balanced diet (or eat within the parameters of the diet you are currently practicing). If you feel you can’t do that yet than don’t make exceptions to the rules you imposed on yourself at least until you’ve lost the excess fat.

Just Because You’re Dieting Doesn’t Mean Your Food Should Suck

One other thing before we conclude this article. If you do decide to go the diet route be sure that it is still a diet where you can still enjoy the food you eat. Just because you’re on a diet that doesn’t mean your food has to be bland and disgusting. If you can’t see yourself enjoying the keto diet for example or you find a vegetarian diet too bland don’t bother with either of them. Remember that the amount of food you consume and the frequency of your consumption are more important factors for losing weight than the types of food you eat. If you practice intermittent fasting and temper your consumption of food you will eventually lose weight. If you combine these habits with regular exercise you will see even better results.