Intermittent Fasting 101: What You Need To Know
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Intermittent fasting is a term that’s thrown around a lot in the health and wellness world. In the last decade alone, IF has become a popular trend amongst those looking to lose weight, regulate digestion, and improve overall their health.
Whether you have considered doing intermittent fasting or have never heard of it before, IF has a lot of potential health benefits to offer you—and it’s an effective tactic for women who want to lose unwanted weight after menopause.
Below, I’ll give you the skinny on intermittent fasting—from what it is and the benefits it offers, to how to do it and the precautions you should take.
What is intermittent fasting?
Let’s break this down. Fasting, as you probably know, means going without food. Intermittent means periodically. So, in basic terms, intermittent fasting means not eating for a specific amount of time… but there’s more to intermittent fasting than just that.
The focus of intermittent fasting is time. In other words, it’s not about what you eat so much as when you eat it. Some people consider it a diet, while others see it as a lifestyle or eating habit. Either way, the principles are the same: You eat during certain times and fast during others. To do this, you have to decide on an “eating window” and a “fasting window.”
Choosing your eating and fasting windows
Intermittent fasting is “customizable” in the sense that you choose:
How many hours you go without food
Which exact hours you designate as your eating window and fasting window
How many days you do this out of the week.
Your eating and fasting windows can be any time—they just have to add up to 24 hours. The most popular IF method is the 16:8 window (16 hours of fasting with an 8 hour eating window), but people have been known to do 14:10 (14 hours of fasting and 10 hours of eating) or 20:4 (20 hours of fasting with a 4 hour eating window). Some people even prefer to do an “eat-stop-eat” method, which involves fasting for a full 24 hours one or two days a week, and eating normally the rest of the days.
Now, let’s get clear on something: There is not one “more effective” way to do intermittent fasting. If you’re trying to lose weight, your brain might go straight to the 20:4 or eat-stop-eat method, because you may think that the less time you spend eating, the more weight you’ll lose. This is not the case. Intermittent fasting has a lot of benefits, but there are also risks and downsides you can experience if you take it to the extreme. We’ll get to that, but first let’s talk about the benefits.
Benefits of intermittent fasting
When done correctly, intermittent fasting has a host of benefits to offer those who do it.
The first benefit of IF is weight loss. Menopause is known for being a high-risk stage for weight gain in a woman’s lifecycle. This is because of hormonal changes, namely a loss of estrogen, as well as a tendency to become more sedentary as we get older. Intermittent fasting, though, can help combat menopausal weight gain.
Weight loss, as we know, is primarily about calories in versus calories out. The idea behind intermittent fasting is to restrict the amount of time you spend eating, which gives your body more time and energy to burn calories, detox, and heal itself. This only works, however, if you are consistent with your eating and fasting windows, and you aren’t binge eating during your eating windows. At the end of the day, weight loss depends on the total calories you take in and the total you burn. Eating 10,000 calories in a four hour window versus a 12 hour window won’t matter to your body. The point is to eat during your window and stop when it passes. You’ll be surprised how much this can help you avoid mindless overeating!
Please note: This isn’t a free pass to eat tons of processed, unhealthy foods. Sure, to lose weight you have to be in a calorie deficit—but if you eat junk, you’re going to feel like junk and look like junk. That’s just the ugly truth.
The second benefit of intermittent fasting is metabolic health. Studies have shown that a woman’s risk of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome increases through the menopausal years. Intermittent fasting has been successfully used to address metabolic abnormalities, and improve health markers like blood pressure and cholesterol. It can also help those struggling with insulin resistance, which plays a major role in metabolic health.
The third notable benefit is disease prevention. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women over 40, especially after menopause. Our risk of other diseases also increased, including stroke, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and more. Fortunately, intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce the risk of all of these diseases!
Finally, intermittent fasting can help with our mental health in both the short-term and the long-term. In the short-term, IF has been shown to help with brain fog, thereby increasing productivity and improving focus. It can also help alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. In the long-term, IF can help prevent neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Bottom line: There are tons of health benefits to reap, and if you are struggling to lose weight or are predisposed to certain diseases, it’s worth talking to your doctor about intermittent fasting!
Precautions to take
Before you get started, there are a few things you should know about IF. First, if you have a history of eating disorders, fertility issues, or you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or underweight, it’s advised that you stay away from intermittent fasting.
Also, I urge you to be realistic about your schedule and what you’re able to commit to when it comes to intermittent fasting. For example, if you have an unpredictable work schedule, it’s going to be hard for you to stick to a consistent eating and fasting window. Similarly, if you are someone who regularly engages in intense exercise, intermittent fasting isn’t recommended for you. This is especially the case if you work out in the morning—some people can manage a workout after not eating for 16 hours, but it’s unlikely that you’ll perform at your best, and you run the risk of passing out, getting injured, etc. If you’re determined to do IF, despite these warnings, please talk to your doctor or at the very least a registered dietitian who can help you plan meals around your schedule.
For more on intermittent fasting, you can check out the following Intermittent Fasting guides and books:
As always, make sure to check out our Private Pure Joy Wellness Facebook Group and the PJW Instagram!
Until next time,
xo Renata