Eating clean (most of the time) and working out are some of the key elements for fat loss or maintaining an athletic physique year round.
But growing up, I witnessed every time my mom and her sisters at the church fasted they would lose a significant amount of weight in a short period of time without hitting the gym, doing cardio or eating clean.
So I thought to myself the other day, why are so many overweight people sweating it out in the gym trying to lose weight when they can simply just stay home, fast and lose the weight.
Obviously in real life it’s not that easy. So I decided to do some research on fasting for weight loss.
Let’s discuss it….
Fasting is an old weight control method that is currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Fasting simply means skipping a meal or series of meals and then returning to your normal eating plan afterwards. In some cultures, fasting has religious overtones, like Lent or Ramadan.
How to get started
During my research, I learned that should one decide to try a fast, it should be a daylight fast on a Saturday, Sunday or another non-work day.
That way, if you find it does not agree with you, you won’t be stuck at work feeling terrible and can easily break your fast if necessary. If this experiment goes well, try a two-day fast the following weekend. Again, if successful, add another day the following week and gradually build up the number of days you are fasting.
If you can manage five to seven days of daylight fasts, you might try progressing to a full 24 hours without food.
By skipping one day’s food, you probably save yourself in the region of 2,000 – 4,000 calories, which should equate to around a pound of fat loss. Fasting for fat loss is simple mathematics but will only work if you don’t overeat when you break your period of fasting.
It’s also important to note that while fasting addresses calorie, it does not address food quality. It’s not enough just to cut calories; the food you choose to eat should be healthy and you need to provide your body with an abundance of vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients.
I also discovered that many athletes, specifically bodybuilders or fitness models, practice intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting
Some fasts prohibit food for a specific time frame, for example 18 hours a day, and allow relatively unrestricted eating for 6 hours, normally beginning with a pre-exercise meal. The main advantage of intermittent fasting is that you get to consume the majority of your calories before and after exercise which helps you fuel up and then recover from your workouts respectively.
This approach, popularized by the Lean Gains diet, is supposed to promote muscle gain while facilitating fat loss – something that many experts say is impossible. However, anecdotal reports from the users of Lean Gains suggest that indeed this is what happens.
However, while fasting has its benefits, it also has its side effects.
Regardless of the type of fast you try, it is important to understand what may happen to your body during an extended fast. Many people experience severe hunger, lethargy, headaches, poor concentration, and low energy, while other people feel perfectly okay. Many persons believe that fasting can have a profound effect on longevity as it provides your digestive system will a well-earned rest, however research to support this claim is sketchy at best.
Note: There are several types of fast that will result in fat loss, but there is an important caveat attached to all types of fasting: it is imperative that, after your period of fasting, you do not binge eat and undo the benefit of going without food. This will take some discipline which is why fasting is not for everyone.
As I also saw after my mom’s fast was done, she regained all the weight after returning to her normal caloric intake. So for you guys who are thinking about maintaining your hard-earned gains while losing fat, intermittent fasting would be your best bet.
Stay tuned, friends.
If you need help on building muscle or losing body fat, shoot me an email: emmersoncampbell@gmail.com
