The Pros and Cons of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is all the rage right now, which may make you wonder if you need to start skipping meals for your health.

Our short answer? It’s not worth it.

Do we ever recommend intermittent fasting to our clients? No. Do we think that intermittent fasting is absolutely horrible and has no benefits whatsoever? Also no. But you need to understand what it is and how it works to determine if it is appropriate for you!

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting can be done in multiple ways, but it always puts a restriction on the timing of eating. Other diets, like keto, emphasize cutting out certain foods and food groups. Intermittent fasting is unique in that it doesn’t tell you what to eat, it tells you when to eat.

Some people will have eating windows as wide as 8-12 hours, while others might limit their eating to only a 2 hour window. Some people also might incorporate 24-hour fasts every once in a while, every other day, or multiple days in a row. It often looks a little bit different for everyone.

Technically, unless you are waking up in the middle of the night to eat, most of us are doing a version of intermittent fasting while we sleep. There are likely some benefits from this type of fasting. When your body can take a break from eating and digesting food, it has the ability to use that energy for other things like recovery, repairing cells, and more!

By expanding this fasting to longer periods during the rest of the day, not overnight, people are hoping to capture more of these benefits of being in a fasted state. However, this way of eating is usually going against what your body needs, making it a really difficult diet to stick to.

Does Intermittent Fasting Help with Weight Loss?

Most people start doing intermittent fasting as an attempt to lose weight, and some are successful. However, in terms of weight loss, intermittent fasting is not better than just eating in a calorie deficit. Most people that are fasting are in fact eating in a calorie deficit because they are restricting the time period that they are consuming calories.

So, if it works, then what is the problem? Well, let’s define what we mean by “successful weight loss.” Although you might lose the weight at the beginning, most people will regain the weight since intermittent fasting is such a hard diet to stick to. And if you just end up re-gaining the weight back in a few months, is it even really successful?

Is Intermittent Fasting for Me?

If you are having a hard time sticking to intermittent fasting, that makes you normal… congrats! Let’s talk about why this is such a difficult diet to stick to and why I don’t recommend it.

Remember how I said intermittent fasting is going against what your body needs? In order for your body to function properly, it needs regular fuel for energy. Fasting is literally the exact opposite of what your body wants and needs. So, if you feel like fasting is just extremely hard to do, it is because your body actually needs food throughout the day! Imagine that!

I know there are some people out there that can do intermittent fasting correctly and experience the long-term benefits, but this is not the majority. For most people, going long periods without eating can lead to whacked out hormone levels, fatigue, gut issues, overeating, and obsessively thinking about food. Not to mention, the cycle of losing weight, regaining, and losing again has been shown to be really bad for your health.

So, What is the Best Diet to Follow?

The good news is that you don’t have to follow some crazy diet to see results or to be healthy. Rather than dieting, stick to eating regular, balanced meals and always focus on giving your body what it needs, when it needs it. This means…

You eat a solid breakfast so that your body isn’t trying to go full speed without any fuel in the tank.

You are eating at least every 4-6 hours, and checking in on your body regularly to make sure you aren’t missing hunger cues.

You eat before and after exercise (and during, if needed!) rather than doing fasted workouts.

You eat until you feel satisfied. You know you don’t have to stuff yourself because you can just eat again when you feel hungry!

You don’t follow arbitrary food rules. You just listen to what your body needs and honor that.

You look to make your meals and snacks balanced with carbs, protein, and fat for sustained energy and satiety.

It is important to do what works for you and your body. Always focus on nourishing and fueling your body rather than restricting and cutting things out. You don’t have to complicate nutrition by trying to follow a difficult diet!

At Salt Lake NutriCoaching, we can help you figure out what works for your body without putting you on some restrictive diet that will make you miserable and feel like a failure. Our dietitians are all skilled at helping everyone from teenagers to seniors, competitive athletes to weekend warriors, people with health issues to people who just want to reach their weight goals. Sign up for coaching today!

– Jessica Ashton