There is a lot of buzz right now about fasting and its ability to help people lose weight and manage body composition. For good reason; fasting can absolutely be a powerful tool that gets amazing results.
People can use fasting as a way to promote weight loss, to clear their head and help with focus - I even have a colleague who uses fasting as a tool to help clients reverse Type 2 Diabetes.
Fasting can be a gamechanger for folks struggling with weight or blood sugar issues. But it’s not ideal for everyone, and people new to fasting should take it slowly.
How can YOU use fasting to boost your metabolism, mental clarity and fight inflammation? Let’s dive in.
How intermittent fasting works
Basically, during and for a bit after you eat, you are in a “fed state”. This means that your body is turning food into basic nutrients and storing energy away for later. First as glucose then as fat.
When you haven’t eaten in a while, you go into a “fasted state”. Your body is using this time to clean house a bit by disposing of waste and damaged cells. It’s also starting to tap into your energy storage.
Once you burn through your blood sugar, you start to pull glucose out of your liver and muscles. Eventually, after about 12-14 hours or so, you run out of glucose and your body should switch over to burning fat as fuel.
The big problem here is that our bodies just don’t know how to switch from burning sugar to burning fat anymore, so instead of cruising through your morning feeling great, you crash and feel like crap while you crave a donut and a nap.
So as you slowly train your body to be able to switch between sugar and fat as fuel, you’ll be able to remain fasted for longer amounts of time. The longer you are able to fast, the more fat you will burn as fuel.
Benefits of intermittent fasting
The main benefit of fasting that everyone wants to hear is helping with weight loss. There have been studies showing that intermittent fasting and caloric restriction are the same in terms of amount of weight lost.
But this doesn’t take into account that caloric restriction can be quite hard to maintain in the long run, and eventually your metabolism adjusts to the lower calorie intake so you stop losing weight. This isn’t really a concern with fasting, since you’re consuming the same amount of calories.
In between fasts, in your eating window, you’ll probably eat a smaller amount of calories as on a normal non-fasting day, just because it can be hard to squeeze that much food into a smaller window of time. But, the benefit of fasting is that you can eat your normal amount of calories and still see results, assuming “normal” doesn’t mean pizza, pasta, soda, and a meatball hoagie.
Be careful though - it’s also easy to end up eating way more than you normally would because you were starving after your fast and ended up ordering everything off the menu at Chick Fil A.
Fasting’s perks go way beyond weight loss. Once you burn through your stored blood sugar, you start to dip into your long term energy storage: fat.
Your brain LOVES fat as a fuel, so something happens when you switch over from sugar to fat. People report feeling more clear headed and focused during extended fasts. The headaches and sugar cravings drop away. They feel energized, not in a jittery or frenetic way, but a cool, calm steady energy.
After a certain amount of time in a fasted state, your body goes into cellular repair and cleanup mode. A process called autophagy starts, which basically just means your body is breaking down and recycling old cells to be used for new cells (kinda like all those empty Amazon boxes in your garage).
How long should you fast?
That is going to depend on you.
If you’re new to fasting, starting with shorter fasts and easing into longer fasting periods is a good idea.
I suggest starting with a 12 hour fast. This means if you stop eating at 8pm, you don’t eat again until 8am the next morning. Most of that time is spent sleeping, so you just have to avoid late night snacks, then wake up and make a nutritious breakfast.
As that becomes easier, you can extend your fasting window. Stretch to 14 hours of fasting, and then 16 hours. Lots of people find the sweet spot here, at the 14 to 16 hour fast.
Some may want to level up and take a longer fast. Extended fasts like a 24 or even 36 hour fast can really amplify the benefits of fasting. I don’t suggest attempting this unless you have some experience with fasting.
There are a number of ways you can fast, and you certainly don’t need to fast every day. Here’s a few ideas:
Intermittent fasting windows of 14-16 hours fasting, 10-8 hours eating, 3-4 days a week
Replace a meal with bone broth or tea
Alternate day fasts - one day eat as normal, then the next fast for 16-24 hours
Extended fasts - 36 - 48 hours. Do these only once a month or less
Reduced calorie fasts: eat only 500 calories or less on fasting days
Most fasts are considered “water fasts” which means you don’t consume anything other than water, but you can enjoy black coffee or tea as well.
Who shouldn’t fast?
Fasting taps into fat for energy, so if you have a very low body fat percentage, you may not want to fast often or for any longer than 12-14 hours. Everyone is different, so you could do just fine on a longer fast, but some folks report fatigue and hormonal issues.
Women should be less rigid with fasting, especially in specific parts of their cycle or if they’re pregnant or trying to conceive.
Anyone who has dealt with or is dealing with disordered eating or an eating disorder should probably avoid fasting. Fasting can put a lot of pressure on you to do it “right”, and restricting calories or eating windows can put some folks under a lot of stress.
Ultimately, fasting can be a powerful tool for your metabolism and body composition. Like any tool, it is easy to overuse and abuse. Finding your own fasting sweet spot, that challenges you but isn’t a constant grind takes practice, and no fast is going to be the same.
And of course if you’re struggling and feel like crap during your fast, just eat something!
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