INTERMITTENT FASTING - Guide: How to Succeed with Intermittent Fasting

Hardly any other nutrition concept is currently as popular as the trend of intermittent fasting, where you limit your food intake to a specific period. If you search for the hashtag Intermittent Fasting on Instagram, you will find over 36,000 entries; in the English translation, intermittent fasting, there are even two million posts. Many report successful weight loss, reduced hunger, and better athletic performance – but what is really behind the fasting trend, and could it perhaps be the right nutrition method for you?

What exactly is intermittent fasting (IF)?

In short, intermittent fasting is exactly what the name suggests: a dietary pattern that alternates between eating and fasting. It is more of a dietary pattern than a diet in the traditional sense. The cycle has nothing to do with a prescribed food composition or calorie amount but only with the timing of eating and fasting.

How does intermittent fasting work?

By now, a variety of intermittent fasting methods have been established, with the most popular including Leangains

Leangains – also called the 16:8 method – is the standard intermittent fasting program. You only eat during an 8-hour window and fast for the remaining 16 hours. Breakfast is often skipped, allowing for a large dinner at the end of the day.

 

Warrior Diet

The Warrior Diet is a more extreme form of Leangains fasting. You fast for 20 hours and only eat during a 4-hour window. Sometimes, due to the very long fasting period, it is recommended to consume a protein shake or a very small snack during the fasting time.

 

Eat-Stop-Eat

This form of intermittent fasting does not follow a fixed cycle. You fast for an entire day one to two times per week. It is recommended to follow a fasting day with two days of normal eating.

 

Alternate Day Fasting

As the name suggests, this fasting method involves alternating between a full day of fasting and a day of eating normally for up to 24 hours.

 

What are the benefits of intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting can simplify your diet.

One of the most common reasons to start intermittent fasting is to reduce unwanted weight. Intermittent fasting does not change the necessary calorie deficit, but many find it much easier to eat within a limited time frame and thus consume fewer calories than to follow complicated diet rules and restrain themselves at every meal. When eating is only "allowed" during a certain period, it can lead to intuitively consuming fewer calories than on a normal day. This results in a calorie deficit and thus weight loss. Additionally, intermittent fasting can have the psychological effect of thinking less about food since the eating window is limited to the chosen time frame.

 

Intermittent fasting can positively affect your health.

Several studies on mice and rats have already shown that intermittent fasting can lead to lower blood pressure, improved cognitive functions, and better insulin sensitivity (important for preventing type 2 diabetes). Oxidative stress, often linked to cancer, can also be significantly reduced, as can harmful LDL cholesterol, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Whether these results can be fully transferred to humans and whether they are truly due to regular fasting itself or just the resulting calorie deficit cannot yet be conclusively proven.

 

You can adapt your fasting periods to your daily life.

Intermittent fasting is a simple dietary pattern that requires neither extensive planning nor a degree in nutritional science. By eating fewer meals, you save not only time and calories but also money, as the amount of food often decreases and snacks play a smaller role. Enjoyment is not compromised either, as no foods are forbidden. Are you a very social person and often invited to events and parties? Intermittent fasting is also well suited here, as you can shift your personal eating window so that you eat your meals while you are out – so having pizza in the evening is perfectly fine.

 

Who is intermittent fasting suitable for?

As simple as this nutritional principle is, unfortunately, it is not suitable for everyone. If you have diabetes, are pregnant, underweight, or suffer from an eating disorder, you should definitely consult a doctor before starting intermittent fasting, as only they can give you the green light.

 

Ready, set, ... - our tips for intermittent fasting

 

Are you curious about intermittent fasting and want to try it yourself? We have put together a few tips to help you get started easily:

 

Don’t forget to drink.

Since side effects like headaches, constipation, and dehydration can occur especially at the beginning, it is particularly important to drink enough fluids. Water and teas are especially suitable, but small amounts of coffee are also fine.

 

Consume enough protein.

It is important to ensure that your macronutrient distribution includes enough protein. This prevents muscle loss during a calorie deficit. An easy solution is protein shakes.

 

Be prepared for hunger at first.

The "hunger hormone" ghrelin, which increases our appetite, needs time to adjust to the new eating rhythm, which can take a few days. The key is: don’t give up and push through the first days.

 

Find the right method for your daily life.

Although all fasting methods can be integrated relatively well into everyday life, you should find the one that suits you best. Only then will you really stick with it and achieve success.

 

Adjust your diet.

To achieve the desired fasting results, you should also adjust your diet. As mentioned earlier, intermittent fasting affects not the calorie intake but only the timing.

Therefore, you should not indulge excessively at your meals as if every day were a cheat day but focus on a balanced and varied diet.

But not only too many calories are counterproductive during intermittent fasting; too few calories also won’t bring the desired results. This causes your metabolism to slow down and reduces your energy expenditure, which can lead to the so-called yo-yo effect.

 

 

Intermittent fasting – here is our conclusion

Intermittent fasting is not necessarily a calorie-reduced diet but rather a way of eating. Because of the very limited time window in which food is consumed, it can certainly help achieve a desired calorie deficit by the end of the day.

Since only the time of food intake is restricted, not the choice of foods, many find it easier to stick to the rules. Although the current state of research is still very limited and allows only few definite conclusions about the effects of intermittent fasting on humans, the practicality of this eating method speaks strongly in its favor.

If you decide to try intermittent fasting, however, keep in mind:

The most important factor for weight loss is and remains a calorie deficit, which must be consistently maintained to see long-term success!