By Sanaz Majd, MD
If you are trying to lose weight, you must have heard the buzz about intermittent fasting by now – the latest weight loss plan taking the world by storm. What is it all about and what are all the rules?
The truth is, all of the various weight loss plans are effective at achieving short-term weight loss. But what will it take for you to maintain the weight loss long-term? Most diet plans’ stringent rules do not seem to stick for most people, especially with diets that eliminate entire food groups, as in the Atkins, Keto, and Paleo plans. The weight roller coaster ups-and-downs can be exhausting and exasperating.
But whether considering an intermittent fasting or another diet plan, it’s vital to ask yourself if it’s something you can sustain in the long run before you start making changes and sacrifices. Opt for a lifestyle change, not simply a short-term solution to what we all know is a long-term problem when devising a weight loss plan for yourself.
Now, intermittent fasting is not necessarily a diet per se, but an opportunity for a lifestyle change for some. Albeit, it may not be right for everybody. Its principles mostly focus on when you eat, rather than what you eat. Of course, you don’t want to binge on zoolbia-bamieh and halva during all your eating hours, either…but you get my drift. Intermittent fasting seems to resonate with some people who find it to be a more practical and less challenging option than other diets that mandate intricate rules and extreme restrictions.
Today, I’m going to show you exactly what you need to do to get started and share some of the pointers that I share with my own patients. If you find intermittent fasting appealing after reading this article and yearn for more information, I dive deeper in several videos I have created on this topic on my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/MajdMD. I have also created a free Intermittent Fasting Patient Guide that I provide to my own patients and YouTube viewers – the link is listed in the description box below my videos on this topic.
First, it is vital to understand the cause of obesity and why intermittent fasting works. The culprit? In a nutshell, persistently elevated insulin levels. And all foods stimulate insulin release by the pancreas to some extent – yes, that means even protein (meat, chicken, fish, etc.) and fatty foods (dairy, avocados, nuts/seeds, etc.) – although they do so to a much lesser extent than carbohydrates. But if we want to achieve weight loss, we need to suppress this insulin release in our body for prolonged periods of time (hence, “fasting”) and do that frequently (i.e. “intermittently”).
If you think about it, numerous religions and cultures (including our own) have incorporated fasting into their traditions for various spiritual or health reasons. Note that our ancient ancestors were intermittently fasting naturally throughout history while they waited to hunt. They consumed and then had to fast again until they hunted once more. Supermarkets and kaboberies did not exist.
Fast forward to today – our access to food is too easy now. But perhaps our bodies are not designed to consume so much throughout the day. And no doubt the advent of processed foods also has a dirty hand in the ever-increasing obesity epidemic we are facing. Most processed foods are high in carbohydrates, the primary dietary cause of obesity. Just so you are aware, if it comes in a package…it’s processed.
Bottom line, we need to eat less frequently and consume less carbs.
So how do we suppress our insulin levels long enough to lose weight? Here is how it works:
MOST POPULAR VERSION:
• A 16/8 schedule: fasting every day for shorter 16-hour time intervals with an 8-hour eating window. You can choose any 16-hour time period that works best for you.
• As an example, if you stop eating at 8 pm in the evening, you will fast until 8 am in the morning PLUS 4 more hours – therefore, you will break your fast at 12 pm (noon). Then you can eat your two meals between 12 pm and 8 pm.
OTHER VERSIONS:
• A 24-hour fast: refers to skipping 2 meals a day, not all 3. For instance, if you eat dinner at 7 pm, you will skip breakfast and lunch the next day as you fast until 7 pm, when you will eat dinner once again.
• A 36-hour fast: refers to skipping meals for an entire day. If you eat dinner this evening at 7 pm, you will fast the entire next day as you skip all 3 meals, but then have breakfast the following morning.
• With these more stringent versions, fasting days should comprise only 2-3 days of the week – NOT daily.
• In my opinion, incorporating these two schedules long-term is not sustainable for most people. If you do decide to initiate them, consider backing down to the 16/8 fasting schedule after nearing or reaching your goal weight.
Sanaz Majd, MD, is a board-certified family medicine physician who hosts a patient-education YouTube channel (@MajdMD), sharing home treatment tips for common medical conditions. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram: @SMajdMD.
