Why I do IF, and everyone should too!

Mar 03 2008

Published by Mike OD at 12:03 pm under Fat Loss, Health, Intermittent Fasting

photo by photokayaker

First of all, intermittent fasting is a lifestyle choice. It’s not a fad diet (well at least not yet), and it’s nothing that was just invented by me or anyone in the last….ohhhh….thousand years? Fasting has been a natural way to heal since back to the 10,000 BC dates. Animals fast when they are sick, babies fast when they are sick….the body just doesn’t want food when it knows it has other work to do in repairing and healing itself. So knowing that fasting is only a natural part of being healthy, I have made it my lifestyle choice to do….whether once a week…or in some daily manner. Below are some other reasons I choose to make IF my lifestyle.

No more worrying about food all day - I did the 6 meals a day, cooking all weekend, packaging up meals to carry with me….and then I asked myself, is this any way to live? That and it wasn’t realistic that this was something I would do or enjoy for the rest of my life, there had to be a better way to be healthy.
I can enjoy food out with friends when I choose - So I go out and have some wings and beer on the weekends, for the most part I am never eating sugar, eat plenty of veggies and meat and only drink water. The occasional night out does not ruin my “figure” by any means.
It’s cheaper - Even though I still eat alot, I eat less overall. That and most people are usually not cooking at home so they go buy their meals. I still eat 3x a day, it’s not about starving myself. But I also require less calories when I IF, so less lbs of meat to buy. All in all, saves me money!
No bars or shakes needed - Again, saves me money. All the people out there pushing you to eat 6x a day are probably people who either sell prepackaged meals, bars or shakes (ever notice that?). Don’t get me wrong, eating 6x a day can work in weight loss because the daily total cal intake is still low! There’s no metabolic advantage to eating 6x vs 3x a day. Eat whole foods 3x a day and make them healthy and you will lose weight too! Plus all those bars are loaded with sugar, so how does that help insulin resistance?
More mental clarity and concentration - This is what I notice all day long! Amazing that now just one small Americano in the AM(2 shots expresso in hot water, less caffeine than coffee) will do me fine all day. There’s a reason that people who eat a huge breakfast or lunch are falling asleep hours later, because digestion takes a ton of energy.
Performance levels are still high (if not higher) - I wouldn’t have kept doing IF if I saw that the things I loved to do were negatively affected. Hence I can still play sports and lift weights, and feel great doing it.
I want to stay healthy and live longer - Studies all over the place (you can read as many as you like on the resources page . Thanks also goes over to Chris over at Conditioning Research for helping to provide more links to studies) point to how fasting has been shown to improve insulin resistance, decrease risks for heart disease, help to prevent many other diseases, and just make the body more resistant to negative stimulus (the protective effect of fasting). Also CR studies have shown to increase lifespan, while IF is not about chronic low calories it does have the nice side benefit of being about to eat less than usual and still maintain muscle and performance (so it is CR when compared to your avg daily intake normally required).
I can gain muscle and lose fat on less calories - Again going back to the longevity of CR in some way, the less you eat the longer you will live. Now I still want to keep my muscle or gain some more from time to time. So I have personally found that I can do this on IF, while needing way less calories than in the past. Nothing is sickening as shoving in 5000cal a day and feeling lethargic and tired all just to get bigger muscles. Not the way I want to live my life.
I believe the only real cure is Prevention - I am not waiting around for science to say they have cured all diseases, as I don’t think they will even find a cure to any in my lifetime. So it’s my responsibility to take care of my own health, as health is a personal choice! Fasting is a natural way of the body to increase it’s own health and reduce many risks of diseases (if not most all). There are no guarantees in life we will never get sick, but we can only take preventative measures.
It just feels right - Back in my days of eating all day long I felt tired alot, had increasing joint pain (esp in my knees), found it harder to recover from ice hockey games, had more days of depression, look and felt more bloated. After a couple years of playing around with IF I now feel 1000x better, no longer have knee pain, can recover quicker from hockey, lost weight, have more clarity, enjoy life more….and am probably much healthier at 36 than I was at 30! This just feels natural to give my body time off from eating to take care of itself, as I don’t believe we were built to just live our lives around eating.

So those are my main reasons of why I choose to make Fasting a part of my lifestyle. Whats yours?

19 Responses to “Why I do IF, and everyone should too!”

# Ogdenon 03 Mar 2008 at 1:38 pm

Since starting to IF, I’ve noticed two unanticipated benefits:

The first was gaining a FAR greater understanding of hunger. Knowing that you are doing a 16-18 hour fast and that at the end you are probably going to be hungry is a way of taking control of your hunger. After IFing for a few weeks, hunger is just another state of being. It’s not the enemy that so many diet plans make it out to be. It doesn’t rule your life or drive your eating habits. Also, as I’ve become used to eating when I am particularly hungry (right after a fast), it’s a lot easier for me to not eat when I’m not particularly hungry. Maybe it gives my reason some ground to stand on against my emotional side that can drive me to eat? I don’t know, but I learned a lot about the differences between when I NEED food, and when my stomach is just rumbling.

The second was that smaller meals fill me up. I noticed this particularly over the holidays this past year. I was stuffed at Thanksgiving and Christmas much earlier than usual and sated for a much longer time.

My primary focus (foci?) has(ve) been fitness, life-style flexibility, and weight-loss. It fits the bill in all those categories. I shoot for a 16 hour minimum fast on weekdays. I try to go for 18 hours, but sometimes work interferes and a 16 hour fast is just more do-able. On the weekends I don’t worry as much about it, but I shoot for 12 hours just to keep the discipline going 7 days. 12 hours is very easy on a weekend, especially if you tend to brunch rather than eat 3 meals.
# Mike ODon 03 Mar 2008 at 2:53 pm

Funny how hunger really doesn’t mean you need food….as we can go weeks without food and still live (not that I am saying to do this of course). But our hormonal systems are so messed up with lack of sleep, stress, poor food choices that many of us are getting all the wrong signals at the wrong time. Hence why people crave sugar mostly late at night when they should of already gone to bed….body is confused. I think many people find (esp with longer fasts) that it helps to “reset” all these markers and signals, hence hunger tends to go away. Of course getting sleep is also essential for all those hormones to act correctly.
# Kevinon 03 Mar 2008 at 3:16 pm

Another excellent article MOD,

I tend to eat when I feel hundry and keep the foods veggie and meat heavy. However, my eating schedule tends to fall after 2 p.m. 15 - 18 hours after I normally fnish my last meal. And since I only drink water and Green tea I always feel great. Listening to the body is a good thing and I think IF is definately one of the best ways to do it. And like you said, weekends are for nights out with the friends but I also throw in some additional junk food in there from time to time and still look fine.
# Mike ODon 03 Mar 2008 at 3:19 pm

Kevin - good job! Yes I like to enjoy my weekends as well. If I see a little more extra “gain” then I know I need to back off the Guinness a little! But all in moderation as my weekdays are meat, veggies and water.

I have to also remind everyone that IF is not just one set way, even if you can do it just 1x a week and improve your health then it is worth it. That and I have to still stress quality of foods is important especially if your goal is weight loss. IFOC (Intermittent Fasting on Crap….trademarked Mike OD…ok well sort of) never will provide good results. That along with overdoing IF improperly will only lead to weight gain and loss of muscle. So make sure quality of foods are still high (good protein, veggies, healthy fats and no sugars or processed foods!).
# Matt Metzgaron 03 Mar 2008 at 3:46 pm

Mike,

Nice site design - it has a earthy feel to it. I am a big fan of IF as well. Good luck.
# Matt Metzgaron 03 Mar 2008 at 3:48 pm

Oops, forgot to mention you may be interested in this site as well, as it uses a similar approach:

http://www.leangains.com
# Mike ODon 03 Mar 2008 at 3:57 pm

Matt - Thanks. Just “keeping it simple” around here as I say. IF has many fans and many benefits. It’s exciting stuff! I’ve seen Martin’s site and like his approach. Good to see someone working and getting results with IF with more of the bodybuilding crowd as well. Shows that we need not all wake up in the middle of the night to drink protein shakes in fear of muscle catabolism.
# Jimon 04 Mar 2008 at 12:04 pm

Fasting and abstinence is a part of most, if not all, major religions. It is certainly in mine. I am in the middle of the Lenten season and fasting has helped me to detach myself from worldly desires and focus on more important things, like God, family, and community.
# Bradon 04 Mar 2008 at 6:31 pm

Couldn’t agree more with your post.

If you ignore over thinking all the science, using forms of IF just feel right because of their practicality and simplicity.

Most if not all the comments I get on Eat Stop Eat are related to how easy IF is, and how it just feels right.

Great post.

BP
# Mike ODon 05 Mar 2008 at 12:02 pm

Brad - Funny how things that are just more natural are usually better for us too!
# Mark’s Daily Apple » Blog Archive » Friday Link Loveon 14 Mar 2008 at 2:23 pm

[...] IF Life lists reasons why Intermittent Fasting is for [...]
# The Best Vitamins - GNLD Distributor Blog » Blog Archive » Intermitent Fasting - Simple Reasons to Give it a Try…on 06 Apr 2008 at 10:01 pm

[...] I stumbled across a really good post about some of the more “Life Friendly” benefits of following a intermittent fasting lifestyle such as Eat Stop Eat…. You can check it out here ==> Simple Benefits of Fasting [...]
# The IF Life - Intermittent Fasting and Instant Freedom » More on Muscle Building - Reader Q&Aon 23 Apr 2008 at 8:38 pm

[...] Related Posts: See the Fat Loss 101 post for more info on important hormones like GH and Cortisol that also play into muscle building. Also it is easier to build muscles once you get down to a lower BF%. If you are interested in Intermittent Fasting while gaining muscle, see IF 101 - How to Start post. If you do not know about IF and want to know why it is becoming a popular lifestyle choice for many, you can see my post on Why I do IF. [...]
# alexon 09 Jun 2008 at 1:15 pm

fasting can cure you of many addictions. here in Romania there are some specialist that use these kind of cure various drug addictions.
# Mike ODon 09 Jun 2008 at 1:26 pm

Alex - You are correct that fasting is the best built in repair and regenerate mechanism….although legally I can not say it “cures” anything…it sure can make your body healthier and aid in reducing/eliminating many symptoms associated with diseases across the board.
# alexon 10 Jun 2008 at 12:49 am

Well, Mike … this form of therapy appeared on tv in the news some time ago here in Romania. The curious thing is that also religions promote fasting or forms of it.
But you are right, anyone who wants to take such a treatment should better consult a medic first.
# Mike ODon 12 Jun 2008 at 10:22 am

Alex - Fasting can be a very stressful thing for people esp if they are not healthy. Shorter daily fasts while not the quickest way, are good for little bits of progress. Longer fasts (days) should be done under a physicians care as everyone’s health is different. (and of course anyone should work with their Dr when attempting any type of fast….as health can vary)
# Ganton 01 Jul 2008 at 8:42 am

MOD, I’ve referred more people to this site–this post actually–than an advertising banner. Where’s my cash?

Seriously, good stuff and thanks for the info.
# Mike ODon 01 Jul 2008 at 8:58 am

Gant - Ha….thanks. You can officially have my first dollar that I make off this site!