An Easy Guide to Intermittent Fasting

Before a few years ago my eating habits consisted of some sort of uber-caffeinated pseudo-injection of anything I convinced myself was okay, something posing as lunch but not really a meal, and a large dinner, probably with lots of cheese or cheese for dessert. And wine.

In January of 2012 I decided to try the eating six meals a day, or every 2-3 hours thing. Being such a drastic change required some planning for this experiment. I'd set an alarm on my phone to go off at specific times through the day and label them things like "Snack 200" or "Lunch 350" to guide what and how much I should eat. 

After the initial couple weeks of getting used to it, I discovered I liked the control over my hunger & desires that came with this pattern, and I didn't need an alarm anymore. Today I still eat rather similarly, with 5 meals blocked out through certain time frames during the day. 

A little over a year ago, I came across another eating pattern I wanted to try experimenting with too, called intermittent fasting, or IF. Intermittent fasting has been going on since the beginning of time in one way or another, naturally & mostly not planned. Back in Hunter-Gatherer days humans didn't have the luxury of planning appropriate meals scheduled evenly out as they'd like. Keep in mind WHAT they did eat though during this time if you do consider trying IF. They ate REAL food: lots of vegetables, fruit, meat, grains. These foods kept their bodies properly nourished during sporadic times of food consumption. If you think IF is going to be a positive experience while eating hot dogs & cupcakes, you're wrong, and your body will hate you. LOVE YOUR BODY! 

There are quite a few variations of Intermittent Fasting, but we'll just focus on four. They all pretty much have the common theme of eating fairly clean & healthy though. Many vegetables, lots of water, and a focus on protein is generally what you can expect. 

We have  

"Eat, Stop, Eat."

"The Warrior Fast"

And two versions of "5:2"

Eat, Stop, Eat is typically where you fast for a full 24 Hours two days out of the week. It is important to note these two fasting days should never be consecutive. 

The Warrior Fast is where you fast 20 hours of the day and eat all your nutrients within a 4 hour window. This fast is popular among bodybuilder types, and also goes into some detail about what you should eat (high protein) and when you should time your eating before or after workouts.

The 5:2 is also where you fast 2 days out of the week, but has a few variations to it. One version is a reduced calorie day on your two fasting days, typically 500 calories for females & 750 for males. Another version is 16:8, which similarly to the Warrior has you fasting 16 hours of the day and eating during an 8 hour window. Of course if you wanted, you could try 18:6 also, and/ or try combining the two where you eat your reduced calories during your small window - which I played around with infrequently for a few months. I couldn't get into the habitual pattern.

Please note again, in trying any of these fasts, you should never fast two consecutive days in a row. If you have any questions on what you should or shouldn't be doing with your diet in regards to fasting, please consult your doctor or registered dietician.