As a coach over the last 8 years, I have seen and tried every health kick or diet to experiment on my own body. I will spend a minimum of 3 months trying out the lifestyle to evaluate the effects on my body composition, daily energy, mood, and physical performance.
I lost my first 60 pounds by mostly focusing on staying in a calorie deficit, eating lean meats, low-glycemic carbohydrates, and vegetables. This got me results, but ultimately led to some weight gain once my goal was achieved likely due to micro-nutrient deficiencies. For five years, I continued on this methodology of eating and routinely went through seasons of being 3-7% body fat and seasons of 12-20% body fat. The question for me I was struggling to solve was, "What is the best diet or lifestyle for me to sustain 7-10% body fat year round?" In the midst of one of those higher body fat seasons, I gave intermittent fasting a try.
What does the data say about intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting has been shown to help reduce weight, improve insulin sensitivity, and decrease blood pressure. These effects are achieved through different fasting regimens like alternate-day fasting, time-restricted feeding, and other similar patterns, which induce intermittent periods of ketosis where fatty acids are converted to ketones.
The transition from using glucose to ketones as a primary energy source during fasting periods is a key mechanism that contributes to many of the metabolic benefits of IF. This switch not only aids in weight management but also improves overall energy efficiency and brain health.
Vasim I, Majeed CN, DeBoer MD. Intermittent Fasting and Metabolic Health. Nutrients. 2022; 14(3):631. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030631
What were my findings while intermittent fasting?
I began intermittent fasting with the 16:8, fasting:eating, window for 3 weeks, followed by an 18:6 window and 20:4 window for the same duration. Within the first full week I began seeing weight loss. I did not notice a huge shift in energy, mood or performance in the 16:8 window.
In the 3 week span of the 18:6 window is when I achieved the best fat loss results. I believe this was a combination of the fasting state and sustaining a calorie deficit for 3 weeks prior to the window. During this 3 week span I did struggle with consuming enough calories in the six hour window which led to some muscle loss. My energy and mood were great during this time, but I did learn a tough lesson in that time frame. If you are fasting, never train during your eating window. You can experience hypoglycemia, which is when your blood sugar drops too low, which is dangerous on top of your workouts feeling horrible or getting cut short. I found it was best to train before I was able to eat or at the end of the eating window.
I was pleased with the results thus far, and had a positive outlook for the 20:4 window. By this time, it was not hard to go without eating for that long, my biggest struggle was eating enough calories to maintain lean mass during the eating window. At this point I was six weeks in and lost a significant amount of body fat, but by consistently not consuming enough calories in my eating window I also lost a significant amount of muscle mass.
Overall I was pleased with my results, but it still did not help me achieve my goal of maintaining a lean body composition because that extreme deficit led to extreme cravings for calorie dense foods. Since I would burn energy like crazy during the fasting state, often times I would pick any foods that could help me hit my caloric intake goal which wasn't always great choices... So when I stopped fasting, I was still craving those same foods which led to weight gain.
Intermittent fasting is a great method to shed body fat quickly, but just know that weight/body fat is going to come back. That's why I focus on my CORE principles of sustaining a calorie deficit and FOCUS on how you source your food. Earlier I mentioned how micro-nutrient deficiencies likely led to my higher body fat seasons. This paired with still eating processed foods, like protein bars, and eating food cooked in seed oils were the main contributors to my weight gain.
In the last year, I have found that the best method for maintaining a lean body composition is to ELIMINATE ultra-processed food, seed oils, sourcing the best quality meat, and alternating between weeks of maintenance calories and a calorie deficit.
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