An Introduction To Intermittent Fasting

Have you heard of intermittent fasting? It's a form of dieting that encourages weight loss by reducing the regularity of a participant's food consumption.

We've put together a little beginner guide for any Man Shakers who are maybe just starting their weight loss journey.

Intermittent fasting is a pattern of food consumption when you alternate between fasting and eating. Unlike a conventional diet, this process doesn’t focus on what foods you eat, it’s more about when you eat your food.

According to some researchers, fasting for a certain number of hours each day or eating just one meal every couple of days a week could be beneficial to your health.

The logic is that before the advent of supermarkets, our ancestors would only eat when they could hunt or gather food and thus evolved to function without food for extended periods. 

There are many ways to practice intermittent fasting. Let’s look at some of the common methods.

The 16/8 method involves skipping breakfast and confining all your daily eating to an eight-hour window during the day (e.g. 2pm–10pm). You will spend the remaining 16 hours of the day fasting. This is considered the simplest and most sustainable form of intermittent fasting.
 
The 5:2 diet involves only consuming 500-600 calories on two non-consecutive days of the week but eating normally for the remaining five days. So, for example, you would only consume 500 calories on Monday and Thursday and eat normally every other day.

The eat-stop-eat method involves fasting for an entire day once or twice a week and eating normally for the remainder of the week. 

Assuming you don't binge during your 'eating windows', the theory is you should lose weight with these methods. 

Aside from weight loss, intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce insulin resistance, which leads to increased protection against Type 2 diabetes. Likewise, some studies have shown that intermittent fasting could reduce bad cholesterol and lower your risk of heart disease, while the increased amount of the brain hormone BDNF produced during intermittent fasting may also protect you against Alzheimer’s. 

That’s totally up to you. However, before you start, we strongly recommend consulting a medical professional, particularly if you have a pre-existing medical condition. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

It’s also worth noting that early on in the intermittent fasting journey, you may feel a bit weak and sluggish. This should be temporary, though, as your body adapts to the new regime, but if you’re worried, please see a doctor.