How Intermittent Fasting Worked For Me?

Whether you’re surfing YouTube, browsing your neighborhood bookshop, or swiping through Instagram posts, you can always find the “experts” telling you exactly what to eat. Yet they all sing different tunes.

While some swear by the Keto Diet, for others Atkins is the way to go.

Some may be a strong advocate for the Mediterranean Diet. And others of the Low-Carb one. Every long list of nutritional advice offers a unique avenue to better health; some bring success, others only bring frustration and disappointment.

Last month my friend Dr James Kim (from South Korea) and myself had a long discussion.

Dr. James Kim, Founder– Vitamin Detox Secrets South Korea

“It’s the number one question we get when we meet with our clients,” Dr Kim says. “‘What should I be eating?” Or maybe they say, “I know what I should be eating, but I don’t really do it consistently“.

But one question that never comes up is when to eat?

I’ve spent years studying and practicing in the obesity and weight loss space. During that time, I’ve advised quite a few clients on weight loss using a low-carb diet. But after a few mind-opening conversations about intermittent fasting with Dr James Kim and using it myself , I wondered… had I been missing a piece of the puzzle?

As a result, I’ve spent the last few months digging deep into the power and potential of intermittent fasting. By focusing not just on what we eat, but on when we eat, we can do more than lose weight. We can optimize our bodies and minds to escape the grips of fatigue and perform at maximum capacity.

What Exactly Is Time Restricted Eating AKA Intermittent Fasting?

Time restricted eating and intermittent fasting are both terms used to describe the process of limiting the window of time when your body is exposed to food. For example, an 8-hour eating window between 12:00 pm and 8:00 pm, followed by a 16-hour fasting window of 8:00 pm to 12:00 pm the following day.

Intermittent Fasting: Everything you need to know about this diet

For example, an 8-hour eating window between 12:00 pm and 8:00 pm, followed by a 16-hour fasting window of 8:00 pm to 12:00 pm the following day.

This type of time restricted eating forces the body to burn body fat for fuel since it can’t access the glucose from your last meal or snack. At the same time, intermittent fasting automatically restricts your calorie intake as well.

Also reducing carbs and increasing lean protein, will achieve more dramatic results!

Intermittent Fasting, Energy, and Decision Fatigue

Beyond weight loss, intermittent fasting offers some surprising benefits, such as its ability to reduce decision fatigue. You know the feeling of decision fatigue well, even if you’ve never put a name to it.

Decision fatigue is the wall you hit when your energy and focus become completely depleted, once you have taken quite a few decisions for the day.

Decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making.

Some of the most brilliant and influential people in the world understand the dangers of decision fatigue, which is exactly why they eliminate unnecessary choices from their routine. Mark Zuckerberg and Mark Cuban, for instance, wear the basic t-shirts and jeans every single day. And Steve Jobs became known as much for his technological innovations as for his iconic black turtleneck and khakis. By avoiding the numerous questions and decisions that surround the wardrobe process, these billionaires preserve their focus for more important matters.

We may not be billionaires (yet), but we still make significant decisions hour after hour. Doesn’t it make sense to harness your finite energy for the decision making that matters? Placing so much focus on planning, prepping, and affording three or four meals each day has the same effect as an app running in the background on your phone: It drains your battery.

And what happens if you’re hungry, overwhelmed, and depleted? If there’s one thing I know about human behavior and fatigue, it’s that tired people make terrible decisions about food. That’s exactly how you find yourself pulling through the drive-thru and scarfing down a greasy hamburger or a spicy biryani.

Intermittent fasting helps avoid decision fatigue by eliminating the need for food choices and meal preparation until lunch or dinner time arrives. Imagine how many other impactful decisions you can make when you don’t have to obsess over those clean eating recipes or calculate calories.

I have recently embraced intermittent fasting and was surprised by the freedom of having fewer choices.

How Intermittent Fasting Worked For Me?

“Fasting eliminates that one meal I have to worry about everyday,” I have experienced. “Before I was so worried about breakfast, what I was going to eat, when I was going to eat it, meal prepping, how that was going to happen.

Now I just start with lunch and move on.”

How Intermittent Fasting Worked For Me?

Finding Your Fasting Rhythm

I, for one practice what I preach, which includes intermittent fasting six days a week. “My wife and I usually eat dinner by about 9.30pm, so I will do my time restricted window and eat my first meal at 2:30 depending on how I’m feeling,”

“And then for one day out of the week, I try, and I don’t always get there, but I try to do a 24-hour fast.”

Intermittent fasting for me has already delivered encouraging results. I’ve watched my body fat decrease, cravings wiped out, and appetite reduced.

That’s the beauty of intermittent fasting: its flexibility! There’s no right or wrong way to fast.

The way I fast doesn’t have to match the way you fast.

The longer you put your body in a fasted state, the faster you can chisel away fat, but the exact rhythm of your fasting is up to you.

How Intermittent Fasting Worked For Me?

Time restricted eating has even helped my other clients normalize their blood sugar. (mine was always fine) Before intermittent fasting, their hemoglobin A1C was creeping toward the pre-diabetic range, but now it’s steadily moving back into balance.

“For me personally, having done a lot of different diets in my past, it’s just been a game changer in a lot of different ways.” says one of them.

A Guide to Beginning Your Own Weight Loss Journey

As you’re navigating your weight loss journey, ask yourself the same questions that I ask all of my clients before deciding which diet or method offers the best path forward.

Do you want to lose weight?

Tone up with lean muscle?

Regain your energy and drive?

Maybe a combination of all three!

This goal sets you in the right direction.

Next, consider the “information” your body has to offer, including, your:

Body fat
Muscle mass
Resting metabolic rate
Hormone levels
Thyroid function

These numbers matter because they influence your weight loss experience. For example, you could be doing everything right, but if you’re suffering the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction, you won’t achieve the progress you seek until your thyroid is properly treated.

It’s also important to consider your current and past experiences.

What are you currently eating each day?

Have you used methods in the past that worked well or left you feeling disappointed?

All of these factors weave together to create your unique weight loss profile! You might even need to unlearn certain rules and principles, especially that misleading adage Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! We know now that it’s most definitely not.

To put all of this together into a coherent and successful weight loss plan, it’s helpful to find a professional who appreciates and understands the many layers of weight loss and wellness. You don’t need someone to charge you to only prescribe a 1,200 calorie low-carb diet. You need a professional to work for you!

How Intermittent Fasting Worked For Me?