Have you ever seen a guide to intermittent fasting and are convinced it is not for you? Yet, have you struggled with how to lose a few pounds (or more) and been discouraged by low-sugar, low-carb, gluten-free diets? People living in western cultures know the struggle. So many tasty morsels of food call our names, and they are often the products most available. Sugar and processed foods are making us sick. Why do we indulge then? How can we overcome this never-satiated habit, which provokes us to repeat-repeat-repeat though we know we should resist?
I have often chastened myself for being a “carboholic.” I love carbohydrates, and they love me back with extra pounds and fat where I don’t want it. I believe there is a science-based way to achieve health benefits besides constantly scolding myself for eating a “bad-for-you-food,” or experimenting with one diet after another. I studied and successfully applied the principles of intermittent fasting along with a healthy diet and achieved exceptional results. Many benefits are evident, even when the bathroom scale doesn’t reward me.
Good Health and Bad Habits to Break
Most people innately desire good health and an active lifestyle. The alternative doesn’t lend itself to positive outcomes, physically or mentally. In addition, Scripture declares we are the temple of God’s spirit in I Corinthians 6:19. Those who follow the Lord are his light-bearers and choose to invite Him in so we can use our lives to honor him. Then, what is the disconnect? It’s a fact that many Christians are overweight and consequentially unhealthy. So what can we do?
As recognized, many stress factors during the COVID pandemic created a national weight-gain crisis, compounding the pandemic’s consequences. Obesity is a co-morbidity of Covid-19, so those who were already overweight further increased their risk. As detailed in this post, How to Shed Your Pandemic Pounds—5 Weight Loss Tips, we learn more about the impact. Because of my battle with weight gain during the lockdown, I became fascinated with research about intermittent fasting. I tried to turn my habits around with a firm resolve to diet, with minimal and sporadic success.
Why Diets Fail versus Life Eating Plans
Often a dieting cycle leads nowhere, like a gerbil running on his wheel. Only at least for the gerbil, he gets exercise. The science behind the failures caused by “dieting” is compelling. Diets can help people to lose pounds, but then, after going off the diet, people regain those pounds or perhaps even more. There is a biological reason for this insufferable pattern.
It is not a simple matter of eating less and exercising more. Our bodies are amazingly sophisticated, created with a built-in protective mechanism in case of real starvation. When we drop our caloric intake, our metabolisms slow down. That means we stop efficiently burning the calories because our bodies are reserving fuel/energy to maintain life in the presumed crisis state. Your body doesn’t know you may be interested in getting into a smaller size of clothes instead of surviving a famine!
The consequence of lowering your calories is that the resting metabolic rate (RMR) also slows down. When you lose weight, your body increases your hunger hormone and decreases your satiety (satisfaction) hormone. Don’t be angry with your body. It’s trying to save you from dying. However, the result is a disappointing truth: the fewer calories you take in, the fewer calories you burn, and to keep losing, you must keep lowering the caloric intake, further slowing the metabolism. What a problematic cycle.
The “Superpowers” of Fasting
After reading numerous articles and a couple of books (Fast. Feast. Repeat by Gin Stephens, and The Diabetes Code by Dr. Jason Fung), I felt ready to take the plunge. I fasted in the past, but for spiritual reasons, not for weight loss. I wondered what was this “new thing,” and why would it work better than traditional diets. In a nutshell, I learned intermittent fasting (IF) means you will let your body rest from food intake, digestion, and insulin production for certain hours each twenty-four-hour period, or by alternating fasting days with eating days. It’s not about what you eat as much as it is when you eat! It is an eating schedule that results in health benefits. To be concise, with an IF eating plan, your body uses up stored liver glycogen (glucose), and your metabolism kicks in to burn stored fat while you’re fasting. “Superpowers!” You can read more about this benefit in the article, Intermittent Fasting Helps You Lose Belly Fat.
This one piece of biological information turned the tide for me. I was also an artificial sweetener user, and I drank tea from morning to bedtime, sweetened, of course. I could see no harm because it wasn’t real sugar, right? No calories added either. I read how a sweetener wasn’t making a big difference in my calorie intake, but it was triggering my body to produce insulin, in my case, all day and all evening. The flavored tea told my body I was about to intake “food,” and so the insulin kept on producing. You may think of diabetes when we talk about insulin, but it is an important driver of appetite too. My body continued producing insulin non-stop, and I continued to graze my way through the day.
Intermittent Fasting Health Benefits
Numerous health benefits are noted by research on intermittent fasting. Dr. Fung states the obvious in his book Diabetes Cod–-Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally. Type 2 diabetes is simply having too much sugar in the body. When you are in a fasting state, your blood sugar (glucose levels) will drop. This triggers weight loss, and if you have type 2 diabetes, it can often be managed or reversed. Intermittent fasting works because of the positive hormonal changes, which reduces insulin and breaks insulin resistance. Your metabolism remains high, allowing a person to remain in high-energy mode. The best news is the way the body burns the glycogen (glucose) in the liver and then makes stored body fat available for fuel. Think about it. More potential superpowers!
In a report from the John Hopkins’ website, they cite some benefits that research has brought to light (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting). Studies disclose an increase in working memory in animals and a boost in verbal memory in humans. Regarding heart health, IF improves blood pressure and other heart measurements. In studies of young men fasting 16 hours a day, they were able to lose weight while maintaining muscle mass. Some studies found IF reduces inflammation in the body, which means a reduction in diseases such as arthritis. Who wouldn’t want that?
My Journey with Intermittent Fasting
I’m on my fourth month of using an IF eating plan, and I love what it has done for me. When I first experimented with intermittent fasting after talking with a convincing nephew, I used a fasting schedule for about a week. I didn’t see any weight loss, which was my primary aim, so I stopped. I thought it didn’t work for me. When I studied more, I found several reputable sources, including John Hopkins, said it can take 2-4 weeks to acclimate to the new routine. In Gin Stephens’ book (Fast. Feast. Repeat), she emphasizes how weight loss may not be evident in the beginning. That was true for me, so I tried IF again. After the first month, I lost inches, even though the scale had not shown weight loss. Ultimately, I lost weight, but that didn’t happen in the beginning. Many people notice they feel better physically after sticking with the intermittent fast for a few weeks.
Many Varieties of Intermittent Fasting
There are many varieties of intermittent fasting plans, and each person can select what they feel they can do best. Some people prefer fasting two or three full days and eating regularly for the rest of the week. If weight loss is desired, choosing clean, healthy-for-you foods when you do eat, is vital. Processed foods and sugary confections are not advised for your health or desired weight loss. For me, I prefer having an eating “window,” a consistent time during the day in which I eat, and the rest of the day, I fast. I substituted my sweetened tea with water and green or black tea. I started with an easy-to-achieve six-hour window. I ate from noon till 6 p.m. That was a painless transition, except for losing my favorite beverage.
After a couple of weeks, I shortened my eating window and chose a four-hour window to eat between 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. I never felt sluggish while fasting, but this caused me to think about eating between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. The best fat-burning IF is to fast 18-20 hours in a day. I lost 7 pounds, and kept it off, even during an indulgent Thanksgiving. I did not binge, but I ate throughout the day. Thankfully, I got back to my IF plan within two days after the holiday. My goal is to shed another five pounds, so I will remain vigilant with all holiday temptations ahead.
Choose a Healthy Life Plan
Intermittent fasting may not work for everyone, but the best part is how many variations one can use in an IF lifestyle. It’s as individualized as we are unique. Here is my disclaimer. Nowhere does anyone say we should develop an IF plan while indulging in unlimited quantities of “junk food.” However, intermittent fasting does not forbid eating anything that has a small amount of sugar in it or an occasional carbohydrate favorite. That freedom of choice matters when you stop thinking about dieting and begin thinking of a life plan for eating to be healthy. Intermittent fasting is something to explore and may bring you lasting health benefits, a slimmer you, and a new life plan. Food does not have to control your thoughts, appetite, calorie intake, or you! You are in charge.
About the Author
Joan C. Benson is a wife, mother, grandmother, and author/speaker. She has written for thirty years in educational publishing. Her work has been published in multiple Christian magazines and LifeWay Publishing’s children’s ministry. Her debut historical fiction novel, His Gift, was published by Elk Lake Publishing in 2020, and can be found on her website at https://www.joancbenson.com.
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