Intermittent Fasting has become so widely popular that you probably know someone who has tried it or might have considered trying it yourself.
Some people like it, while others don't. You probably know somebody who loves it and swears by it, and you might know somebody who hates it, and it might not be for them.
In this article, I highlight its benefits, pros, and cons, particularly when it comes to weight management and how it can impact your muscle mass.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent Fasting, often called IF or time-restricted feeding, is where you give yourself a narrow eating window, which involves eating all your day's calories in a set time window, often in 6 or 8 hours. (Of course, there are other forms of fasting, but this is one of the most popular ones.)
Is Intermittent Fasting Right For You?
You might be wondering:
Should you do it?
Is this approach right for you?
Does it align with your lifestyle and your fitness goals?
It might or might not be helpful for you.
First, there are benefits to giving your digestive system a break and not eating every couple of hours, regardless of your goals.
We all have and do fast for some time, like while sleeping. You're in a fasted state when you wake up, and not everyone rushes to eat as soon as they wake up. You might not be hungry when you wake up and wait to eat until 10 a.m., 11 a.m., or 12 p.m. You may already be fasting for 10 or 12 hours without thinking about it.
(However, a 12-hour eating window and a 12-hour fasting window isn't considered Intermittent Fasting. It will need to be a narrower eating window to be considered Intermittent Fasting.)
Determining If Intermittent Fasting Is Right For You
If you're wondering if you should do this and if this approach is right for you, ask yourself:
Why is it that you want to Intermittent Fast?
What are you looking to get out of this?
Intermittent Fasting is a tool that can help you with your fat loss goals if used correctly.
But you should remember that it's just one tool. It's neither magic nor necessarily better or superior to other methods to lose fat. The only way to lose fat is to be in a calorie deficit, and for some, Intermittent Fasting might be the tool they need to help them cut those calories and create that calorie deficit.
How To Use This Intermittent Fasting Tool For Effective Weight Loss
It's a simple way to help cut your calories. You can set your eating window or eating schedule in any way that suits you best. Setting a time when you can start eating and a time when you stop eating. You can set this up in many different ways, but the trick is that it works for fat loss only if the eating window is small enough to put you into a calorie deficit. So, adhering to your timeframe is what's going to make this work.
Examples of Some Eating Windows
If your first meal is at 11 a.m., your last meal will be at 7 p.m. This will give you 8 hours of the day to eat and 16 hours to fast, and 7-9 of those hours you should be sleeping.
A second example is to delay your first meal. So essentially, skip breakfast, have a late lunch, like at 1 p.m., then have your last meal at 7 p.m. This will give you 6 hours to eat and 18 hours of fasting.
You can experiment with this further by pushing your first meal until 2 p.m. or 3 p.m., then eat dinner by 6 or 7 p.m. This will give you a much smaller window to fit all your daily calories in. (4 hours to eat and 20 hours to fast.)
The benefit of this last example is that you can make these two meals pretty big so that you feel pretty full. In the end, you'll still be in a calorie deficit, and you'll still be able to lose fat.
These are just some examples. As I mentioned, you can play around with the timing of your eating and fasting windows to find a framework that works best for you and your lifestyle.
Pros and Cons of Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent Fasting can have some advantages, but it also comes with some challenges. Let's look at some pros and cons in more detail.
Pros of Intermittent Fasting
You're putting some time stamps to when you eat, and you're in control of setting this timeframe. It might be easier to reduce your calorie intake by focusing on when you are eating and not so much on calorie counting.
However, remember that for this to work for fat loss, how much you eat still matters because a calorie deficit still matters. Your eating window shouldn't look like an "all-you-can-eat buffet." But having a small eating window should naturally limit how much you eat by putting the breaks on mindlessly snacking at all hours of the day and night. This can lead to eating "less badly," meaning eating fewer foods that are highly processed, low in nutrients, and high in calories. So this should encourage healthier food choices.
Another pro to Intermittent Fasting is that it will help you be more disciplined with eating. You'll realize it's okay to be hungry and that hunger isn't an emergency.
This is a huge pro, in my opinion.
There's a fast food chain at almost every corner that is open 24/7. You can have whatever type of food you're craving delivered straight to your home at any time of the day. And even though this is super convenient and helpful in certain situations. Knowing when you are truly hungry and not just bored, have a craving, or saw a commercial on TV and now you "want" to eat is a massive benefit to you and your goals.
Something to keep in mind is that just because a particular food smells good doesn't mean you're hungry.
Just because you're around some of your favorite foods doesn't mean you're hungry.
Just because you say no to certain foods doesn't mean you're restricting yourself.
If you give in to every single impulse and craving just because you don't want to tell yourself no, your fitness goals will suffer.
If you give in to every food that smells good when you're not hungry, your fitness goals will suffer.
Intermittent Fasting isn't necessarily a long-term approach. If you want to try it out for a few weeks just so you can take control of your hunger pangs. You'll realize that it's okay to be hungry, it's okay to feel hunger and not eat right away, and it's okay to wait to eat 1-2 hours after you've felt hunger.
Cons of Intermittent Fasting
You risk losing muscle mass. (This is a huge con.) Some people might be okay with losing some muscle mass, but if you don't already have a lot of muscle mass, you'll want to be careful with this and maybe lean toward not fasting.
Now, if you do fast, you must ensure you eat enough protein during your eating window to maintain your muscle mass. If you cannot eat enough protein during your eating window, allow yourself to have one high-protein meal outside of your eating window. (Here is a comprehensive guide on how to hit your protein target.)
Another con is that your workouts might suffer depending on your intermittent fasting schedule. However, this doesn't mean you should stop working out. It would be best to find a balance between working out and fasting to reach your goals, especially to maintain your muscle mass.
There are some workouts you can do while fasting. You might feel better without something in your stomach before a workout, or you might already be used to working out early in the morning before you eat.
But if your energy does suffer, here is what you'll want to do.
Schedule your workouts around your meals. This will allow you to have enough energy for your workouts as well as nutrients for recovery.
For example, if your first meal is at noon, 2nd meal is at 4 p.m., and 3rd meal is at 7:30 p.m., workout between your first and second meal or second and third meal.
Who Should Try Intermittent Fasting, and Who Shouldn't?
As you can see, Intermittent Fasting has some pros and cons.
There are benefits in giving your digestive system a break and not eating every couple of hours, regardless of your goals, but you can do this without necessarily Intermittent Fasting.
If you are okay with losing some muscle mass, like if your body fat percentage is above 35%, you'll probably lose more fat mass than muscle mass. So you might be okay with trying Intermittent Fasting.
But if you're already relatively lean and might not have a lot of muscle mass, you'll want to be careful with this and maybe lean toward not fasting.
Intermittent Fasting might work great for some people and horribly for others, and it's not necessarily better than a conventional calorie deficit for fat loss.
Now, if you're trying to gain muscle, it will be challenging to do so while Intermittent Fasting. It's not impossible, but it won't be easy. You'll need to make sure you're eating more than two times a day, preferably three or more, and you'll need to make sure you're hitting your protein goal. This might be hard, and even feel uncomfortable if you can only get two meals in.
Another reason it might be hard to gain muscle mass is that it can become easy for someone not to eat after they get used to skipping breakfast and pushing back their first meal to have a bigger fasting window. You can get wrapped up with work and be able to get by with just coffee and not feel hungry. And by the time you know it, it's already late in the evening, and you have all these calories and protein to eat.
If you decide to try Intermittent Fasting, beware of a few things.
Like becoming obsessed with food that all you can think about is your next meal, you don't want this to take over your life negatively.
Also, when you break your fast, if you feel like you can't stop eating and you keep going over your calories for the day, Intermittent Fasting isn't for you. You should focus on three bigger, fulfilling meals.
If you've had an eating disorder, Intermittent Fasting isn't for you.
Important Takeaways
Intermittent Fasting might or might not be for you.
Review the pros and cons to help you decide whether to try this.
One protocol may work better for your goals, needs, and life in general. There is no "one-size-fits-all."
So, for fat loss, it can be beneficial and a great tool for some, but for gaining muscle, not so much.
If you try it, pay attention to your energy, sleep, recovery, mood, mental state, behaviors, and relationship with food. If you notice problems, deal with them immediately. Fasting more isn't better, nor is it rarely the answer.
For best results, have a plan. If possible, get coaching so that you can have support, supervision, accountability, guidance, and an outside perspective.
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