Intermittent fasting (IF) has been around for a while but has really taken off in the past few years. There are many good reasons to try it, including the fact that it can help you shed pounds, reduce cravings and improve mental clarity. Plus, you can do it for as long as you want, which makes it perfect for those who like to vary their diet and potentially lose more weight.
Intermittent fasting has been one of the hottest topics in the health world in recent years. The weight loss method, in which you fast for brief periods of time (usually 16-24 hours) each day and maintain a steady schedule of eating, has been shown to be effective in the treatment of obesity and other chronic diseases.
Intermittent fasting is a strategy used by many people to combine fasting with a more moderate eating plan to promote fat loss and weight loss. Intermittent fasting is the practice of only eating during a specific window of time (entitled “feeding window”), which is typically 8-12 hours or longer. Here’s a guide to intermittent fasting.
Chapter 8
A step-by-step approach to intermittent fasting
Many individuals look for specific guidelines to learn how to fast intermittently. However, poring through the “rules” will not get you far. A better approach is to test out a plan and see how it works, gathering data along the way and making changes as required. Here’s a plan to help you get started.
Important ideas
- Experimenting allows you to discover what works best for you. At, we educate our customers (and coaches) how to investigate nutritional concepts by putting them to the test in the real world. Instead than obeying someone else’s rules, you get to experiment with and create your own.
- Experiments with ourselves keep us going ahead. This, in turn, leads to long-term development and growth.
- Have a clear objective in mind and follow a methodical approach for the greatest outcomes. This entails establishing a study topic and progress indicators, keeping a careful eye on your work, and making adjustments as required. Have a strategy in place and be aware of when to alter or abandon the objective.
- Make your initial experiments or activities as easy and straightforward as possible. Maintain consistency in other aspects of your schedule so you can figure out what’s working (or not).
- If at all feasible, seek coaching and assistance along the route. Your learnings are enhanced by outside viewpoint and experience.
At, we believe in what’s known as outcome-based decision making.
It entails making choices based on facts and outcomes.
When it comes to intermittent fasting (IF), we utilize outcome-based decision making to assist clients in determining if a certain IF plan is appropriate for them.
Experiments are a fundamental element of outcome-based decision making.
Our customers improve their chances of long-term success by conducting tests, learning from the findings, and making necessary changes.
These aren’t elaborate experiments. You probably already know how to perform one if you learned about the scientific method in science class. In any case, we’ll take you through the procedure in the steps below.
If you’re still uncertain, try getting some coaching. A coach is better equipped to take an objective perspective of the situation, evaluate the facts objectively, and provide you with suitable advice on what to do next.
Step 1: Decide on a fasting plan that works for you.
You’ll need something to test before you start your experiment, which means you’ll need to figure out which IF schedule you’ll use. (For a full list of all the IF schedules, see Chapter 6.)
As a general guideline, you should choose a timetable that is too simple to follow rather than one that is too difficult.
If you’ve never attempted fasting before, you should start by missing a meal—or even simply postponing one meal by an hour or two.
If you’ve fasted before, choose something that’s just a tiny bit more difficult than what you’ve done successfully before.
You want to end up with something you’re at least 90% sure you’ll be able to master.
If you’re concerned that it’s too simple, remember that you can always make it more difficult in the future.
Use this advise regardless of whatever IF schedule you choose:
- Don’t think of your non-fasting/non-restricted time as an unlimited buffet. You simply want to eat normally unless you’re practicing intermittent fasting (IF) for muscle mass growth or severe body composition alterations. (In step 2, you’ll learn more about this.)
- Avoid the temptation to go above and above when it comes to fasting. As previously stated, greater fasting is not better. Going without meals and nutrition for an extended period of time or on a regular basis increases your risk of deficiency, hormone issues, and exhaustion.
- Make your life suit your schedule, not the other way around. Consider how much time, effort, and planning any given strategy will require. In such case, decide on your IF schedule.
- Remember to drink plenty of water. This is especially important during fasting times.
- Take it easy on the exercises. Remember what you learned in Chapter 7 about working exercise and IF. One source of stress is exercise. Another is IF. If you take on too much at once, you risk running yourself into the ground.
Step 2: Make a decision on what you’re searching for.
What is the most important thing you want IF to do for you? Is it a case of weight loss? Is it possible to have a healthier relationship with hunger? Is there anything else?
When John Berardi, PhD, co-founded our business, he set out to conduct a series of IF experiments, he had many objectives in mind. His most essential goal, though, was to reduce weight.
That was his definition of success (even if the trade-offs might have included feeling mentally fuzzy or annoying his family).
So take some time to consider what you want to learn, explore, and achieve with IF. You should also consider what you’re prepared to give up in order to achieve your objective.
Check out our worksheet “Want, willing, won’t” for more inspiration.
Optional step: Calculate your intermittent fasting macros using our calculator.
It’s not only about when you eat, whether your objective is fat reduction, improved health, muscle growth, or anything else.
It’s also important to consider what you consume and how much you eat.
Some individuals may be able to instinctively consume the appropriate quantity for their objectives, but most of us, at least at first, require a little additional assistance. (See this post comparing macros, calories, hand portions, and intuitive eating for more information.)
(If adding calorie, macro, or hand portion monitoring on top of beginning a new IF regimen seems like too much, feel free to add this aspect later.)
Use the Calculator to figure out how much to eat and receive some recommendations for which foods to prioritize depending on your eating habits.
It will advise you on how much to consume depending on your age, gender, goal, and preferred timeframe (within reason!).
How much food should you consume? Let’s have a look.
Begin now.
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Important note: This calculator will provide you with a daily calorie, macronutrient, and hand portion recommendation.
- You may use the calculator’s findings if you’re performing skip-a-meal fasting or time-restricted eating. Aim for the recommended daily consumption.
- Multiply your daily intake result by seven to obtain your weekly nutritional objectives if you’re following a kind of IF that includes changing how much you eat from day to day. You’ll need to perform some additional arithmetic after that. If your findings indicate that you should consume 2000 calories each day, your weekly consumption would be 14000 calories. If you’re fasting for a whole day once a week, divide 14000 by your six eating days to get 2333 calories. So, on non-fasting days, strive for that amount of food.
Step 3: Decide how you’ll evaluate your results.
What does it mean to be successful? How will you know whether you’re on the correct track and when you’ve arrived at your destination?
Here are a few examples of indications to think about:
- level of energy
- body fat reduction
- performance in sports
- recovery
- happiness and well-being
- blood tests
- pressure in the blood
- Inflammation and/or pain
- joint stiffness and/or mobility
- sleep length and/or quality
And so on.
Decide how and how frequently you’ll measure your indicator(s) once you’ve chosen them.
Is it possible to lose weight? That’s a simple task. Scale weight, girth measures, and/or body fat measurements may all be used. Let’s suppose, though, you wish to boost your energy levels. You can’t simply pick up a “energy scale” at your neighborhood drugstore.
As a result, you’ll have to think of anything. Make a 10-point scale with 0 representing no energy and 10 representing the greatest energy you’ve ever experienced. Then, every day at the same time, you rate your energy by putting an X in the region of the scale that best reflects how you feel.
We recommend that you keep an eye on your indicators as frequently as possible (so you can tell fairly soon if something needs changing).
But keep things simple.
It doesn’t matter how good the indications are if you can’t or won’t check them on a regular basis.
Step 4: Collect proof.
You can definitely start your experiment right away if your objective is something you can readily quantify, such as running a quicker mile.
It’s a good idea to gather at least a week or two of “regular life” data if it’s something less tangible, like energy levels or mood. This will act as a baseline, allowing you to observe what has changed since you began IF.
Spend at least two weeks fasting and collecting data once you’ve established your baseline.
That typically gives your timetable enough time to create a quantifiable effect. The aim here is to stick to your routine for long enough to see a pattern.
And here’s when it becomes very important:
During your fasting experiment, try not to alter any other variables as much as possible.
If you change too much at once, you won’t know what worked—or what didn’t. So, while you’re running your experiment, try to keep your training, weekly calorie intake, stress levels, any supplements you take, and other variables as consistent as possible.
Step 5: Analyze and analyze the data.
Consider the following questions:
- What has been your experience with IF? To put a number on it, take this short and simple quiz.
- Is your schedule assisting you in achieving the goal you set for yourself?
- Was it possible for you to stick to your timetable 80-90 percent of the time?
- And how did you feel at the time? Was this something you thought you’d be able to stick with in the long run? Or did it take all you had to get it through a few weeks?
Step 6: Make a decision on the next steps based on the facts.
Keep doing what you’re doing if the data shows you’re on the correct track. This is clearly working for you.
However, if you found it difficult to adhere to your IF regimen and/or didn’t get your intended result:
Don’t speed down the wrong path just because it “should” work.
The numbers are telling you that it’s time to pivot.
Retrace your steps and begin again from the beginning.
Consider methods to make adhering to a schedule simpler if you’ve had difficulty doing so in the past. Perhaps you should just fast for half a day once a week instead of a whole day.
Consider why you weren’t able to adhere to your strategy but didn’t notice any quantifiable results, as well as what could have helped.
- Was that too much for your body to handle? If this is the case, you should lighten up on the exercise and other stresses in your life, or try a softer fasting approach.
- Was it too simple? Perhaps the IF schedule you tried didn’t provide you with enough variety. If this is the case, you may wish to try a more advanced fasting regimen.
You’ll have a better understanding of what occurred if you’re objective and analytical. You’ll be able to make an informed choice on what to do next from there.
Keep in mind that you may need to try a few different things before you find the perfect IF.
And that’s OK.
Obtain assistance if at all feasible.
Working with a coach is highly recommended.
An expert coach can assist you in determining your objectives and priorities, setting clear and achievable goals, determining how to correctly monitor progress measures, and evaluating your outcomes.
Working with a nutrition expert transforms “self-experimentation” into “directed experimentation,” which generally accelerates the process… It also makes it more enjoyable.
Check out our coaching directory to locate a qualified nutrition coach.
This is a simple yet effective method.
It’s easy to get caught up in the nitty gritty of particular IF regimens, worrying over a set of rules established by someone else that you must adhere to at all costs.
For many individuals, this is a certain way to be disappointed.
Self-experimentation, on the other hand, enables you to create your own rules based on your own facts, in your own life. You may also utilize it to keep learning new things about yourself. There is never a dead end and there is always a following step.
When you master self-experimentation, you become the expert and ruler of your own experience.
You’ll begin to feel in command of your choices and your capacity to modify and improve your own life.
Best of all, you’ll ultimately discover an eating pattern that works for you, whether it’s IF or something else.
Fasting for weight loss can be a tricky beast, as it’s often promoted as the magic bullet for fat loss. However, many people who start intermittent fasting for weight loss stop after a few weeks because they don’t lose enough weight, or they lose too much weight. Fasting for weight loss is not easy, and it can be tricky to figure out what works for you, but if you do it right it can be extremely effective.. Read more about intermittent fasting pdf and let us know what you think.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take for intermittent fasting to work?
Intermittent fasting is a diet that involves going without food for a certain period of time, typically between 12 and 16 hours. It is not clear how long it takes for intermittent fasting to work, but there are some theories about the benefits of this type of diet.
How do I start intermittent fasting?
To start intermittent fasting, you should start by cutting your daily caloric intake in half. For example, if you eat 2000 calories a day, then cut that down to 1000. Then after a few days of this, increase the amount of time between meals to 4 hours.
Why intermittent fasting is bad?
Intermittent fasting is bad because it can cause your body to enter a catabolic state. This means that the body will start breaking down muscle tissue for energy instead of using fat as fuel.
Related Tags
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- intermittent fasting
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