What Is Intermittent Fasting, And Why Am Trying It?

Because I Find It FAST-inating. See what I did there?

Intermittent Fasting – is it a good idea, even for a guy who doesn’t want to lose weight?

Right off the bat, let me just address one thing that people keep assuming about intermittent fasting (IF): it is NOT A DIET. It’s simply changing your eating schedule, most commonly by skipping breakfast and/or a morning snack. If your eating habits are anything like mine were, it also means no snack right before you go to bed.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get down to it. Fasting basically means that all of the food you have eaten has been processed (8-12 hours after your last meal), and your body goes into a “fasted state” where your insulin levels drop off. From here your body starts using different sources for energy – mostly your own body fat. On a chemical level, all kinds of interesting stuff starts to happen, including a massive increase in human growth hormone (HGH) production, an increased level of cellular repair and a change in gene expression, the genes related to longevity, among others.

There are two types of intermittent fasting: Time restricted eating, where you go at least 16 hours without eating food in a 24 hour period, generally 5-7 days per week, OR doing a 24 hour fast one or two times a week.

I became more aware of intermittent fasting by being bombarded on Facebook with ads for KinoBody. Started by this dude in the Toronto Area named Graham O’Gallagher, it’s basically a workout routine that incorporates time restricted eating. The general consensus is that the routine works. Coincidentally, the workouts I’ve been doing are similar to this routine, and I’ve been seeing some good results as well, without going to the gym often as I used to. Noting that this routine is big on IF, I started reading about the supposed health benefits of intermittent fasting, as well as the benefits of exercising in a fasted state.

Kinobody is a Canadian made workout plan with intermittent fasting as the diet cornerstone.

As it turns out IF as the cornerstone of an exercise routine has been around for a while and KinoBody is just the latest incarnation. This fellow named Martin Berkhan created a program called Leangains back in the early 2000s. He’s also written a book called “The Leangains Method: The Art Of Getting Ripped” which is a hilariously awesome title. Again, a lot of people swear Berkhan knows what he’s talking about and that his program works wonders.

Leangains was one of the original intermittent fasting workout routines. Who knew that getting ripped was an art?

Looking at IF from an evolutionary perspective, a lot of this stuff seems logical to me. Carnivores go out and hunt (with the need to perform well) when they’re hungry, not after they’ve had a filling meal. For humans, not too long ago food was much harder to come by than it is now. It makes sense to me that our bodies won’t fall apart without food. Of course, a lot of the cheerleaders for IF say that not only will your body not fall apart, but it will actually work better than ever.

This list is pretty wild to the point that it may make you roll your eyes, but here are a few of the health claims that caught my eye with some hyperlinks to supporting pages:

Crazy shit, right? It turns out that the fountain of youth has been here all along and all we have to do to access it is not eat breakfast! Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, “Boyd’s lost his marbles. Again.” Well, it’s possible, but there is A LOT of talk, both anecdotally and within the medical community about the benefits of IF, so I’ve decided to give it a go.

Because I’m new, I’ve decided that the 16 hour fasts during my work week are the best option for me. I enjoy a latte first thing in the morning on the weekends, and I’ve been known to suffer from hANGER every now and then (a point that has been of great concern for my wife). From the way I understand it, there are some liquids that you can have in the morning that won’t break you fast, like black coffee and green tea. Americano in the AM it is. Water consumption, of course, is not only fine but encouraged.

As of writing this post, I’m on Week 3 of my IF routine that I’m calling “Fast Five” – 5 days of IF with at least two fasted workouts. I’ll put up a more detailed post next week, but without getting too verbose, my main takeaway so far is that my workouts on an empty stomach have been really good. I feel like it’s taking me longer to get tired, and I’m lifting even heavier than I was when I started. This basically runs counter to everything I thought I knew about exercise and food. My hANGER also hasn’t been and issue, mostly because I’m just saying “no food until 11:30AM” to myself. It’s really pretty easy when you know you just have to wait for a couple of hours to eat, especially at work when you’re busy. As well as showing off my workout routine, the image of myself I posted from last week can also work as a “before IF” shot.

So, wish me luck, and let me know if you have any questions or tips for me as I get into intermittent fasting.

I’m off to sip a non-caloric tea and tell everyone I know that I’m doing IF. Ha!