Intermittent Fasting (IF)
If you’ve ever wondered what the heck this is, I will be discussing one of many different forms of IF, how it affects metabolism, lean body mass, body fat, energy, hunger, hormones and brain function. I will also mention couple of things you can do to make it through your fast and feel good: less energy crashes, bad moods, and more focus and concentration–so you can function better.
IF (as I’m describing it here) means you eat a healthy diet for a 6 hour window in your day. You fast for 12-18 hours. Many people (including myself and solid studies to back it up) believe this is a great way to burn fat, strengthen your immune system, extend life, and a great way to improve your overall health.
Keep reading to find out some of the reported benefits of IF and my personal favorite protocol, Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting (BIF), who it may be good for, who it may not be good for. At the bottom of this page is an example IF schedule–which is a good general guideline–and link to my 15 minute fat burning IF workout you can do anywhere.
CUSTOMIZE your own protocol in a way that works for YOU, it won’t be the same as your co-worker, sister or friend who is also trying this. Follow the basic guidelines outlined here, be flexible, tweak your plan according to how you feel, get professional functional nutrition and life coaching support, and most importantly, have compassion and self-acceptance throughout the process.
Always be KIND to yourself, ENJOY the process and of course, the results. 🙂
Here Are The Facts:
If you’ve been told if you don’t eat protein every 2-3 hours you’ll lose muscle and store more fat, think again. Research has shown that when you perform IF you don’t burn muscle you actually burn fat.
Intermittent fasting decreases insulin levels, increases blood free fatty acids, and human growth hormone (your fountain of youth hormone).
Personally, I am a huge proponent of Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting (BIF) – because it staves off hunger, balances hormones and helps you function better than Regular IF.
Fasting for 12-18 hours
- Improves Focus and Energy
- Cleans out your cells (called autophagy)
- Cells are stronger and more resilient
It’s also known to increase longevity.
Some people who incorporate IF report that they are always hungry and experience hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). It decrease productivity, and they can’t function, lack of focus at work and at home.
Around 11a they start getting hungry and use willpower (which never lasts, you will cave) to get through their fast.
BIF uses brain octane oil and a little grass fed butter in coffee that is low in mycotoxins.
This moves you into mild ketosis.
It takes days or up to a week of very high fat and very low carb diet to get into full nutritional ketosis.
BIF gets you into mild ketosis and combined with brain octane oil, raises blood ketones (to get you into a fat burning state) faster and better than coconut oil.
Your goal is to get your ketone levels up to 0.48-0.5 mmol/Liter.
Full Nutritional Ketosis is 0.8 mmol/L – so you’re almost in full ketosis.
When you get your Ketone levels to 0.48-0.5mmol/L
- You suppress the hormone that makes you hungry (ghrelin)
- Raise CCK (Cholecystokinin) which turns on your “I’m full hormone”
Food no longer has power over you and you don’t need willpower to keep you from eating, it also decreases the load on your liver to raise insulin.
Brain octane oil is a highly concentrated form of coconut oil (pure caprylic acid) It’s THE MOST POWERFUL MCT (there are 4 other MCT’s that are not as strong). It gives you INSTANT ENERGY and creates the MOST KETONES.
It converts to ketones very quickly in your liver and is strong enough to raise ketone levels high enough to turn off hunger, and move you into “fat burning mode.”
You can go into FULL KETOSIS using full nutritional ketosis techniques, but you have to cut carbs out…that is really tough to do and you can only do it in phases (very short term).
If you want to do IF in a way that FEELS GOOD, ALLOWS SOME CARB INTAKE, KEEPS HUNGER UNDER CONTROL AND KEEPS YOU FOCUSED FOR HOURS BY BALANCING YOUR HORMONES…
Try BIF
Consume enough brain octane oil so you can keep your hunger under control, you’ll be hungry for a late lunch…
Benefits of IF and BIF
- Protects and promotes Brain Health (improves memory, and eliminates brain fog)
- Anti-aging (it mimics caloric restriction, which has been proven to extend your life)
- Insulin sensitivity (prevents insulin resistance)
- The mitochondria in your cells (energy powerhouse of your cells) work more efficiently
- Improves cell resiliency so it supports your body while going through cancer and can prevent cancer, and other chronic diseases.
- Improves your immunity so you don’t get sick as often
- Significant improvements in LDL (the bad cholesterol)
- If you’ve hit a plateau and want to take your weight loss to the next level
- Have more focus and energy
- Helps you burn more fat
Women And Fasting
Women tend to have a harder time with IF, by nature we need to store more fat, and we have a harder time skipping meals, our systems are more complex than men, so IF tends to stress our bodies more. Women can do this, and it is very beneficial, we just have to prepare our body for it. For child bearing purposes, women have unique metabolic and physiological needs.
A woman who wants to lose weight or incorporate intermittent fasting into her lifestyle, should first become aware of how her unique body functions and how her current lifestyle will affect how her body responds to any fasting, weight loss or exercise program. What is your current body fat percentage? What are your stress levels like?What is your current activity level? What diet are you following? These will all affect your results.
Fasting or Intermittent fasting is not suitable for women who are under high amounts of stress, pregnant or have infertility issues.
Here’s how to do it
BEFORE you start ANY IF program, find out how your body handles sugar and carbohydrates (all carbohydrates convert to sugar in your body). Get your blood sugar stable, test how these sugars affect your appetite, energy and cravings and weight. Decide which carbs are right for your body.
CONVERT YOUR BODY INTO A “FAT BURNER” not a “SUGAR BURNER” BEFORE you start any kind of fast. Otherwise, you will ALWAYS be hungry, your hormones will go out of whack, you’ll be moody, tired, it’ll be hard to focus and you’ll use willpower.
- Incorporate stress coping techniques and a good sleep routine that resonates and works best for YOU. Do you experience high amounts of stress and have a hard time coping with it? What are your adrenals like? They should be in balance BEFORE you do a fast. FASTING STRESSES YOUR BODY, if your adrenals are off, stress levels increase, and it takes a toll on your body.
- Move, exercise and relax in a way that balances your blood sugar, energy, hormones and stress levels. Performing high intensity interval training (HIITS). Check out my 15 minute high intensity fat burning IF workout – 5 exercises you can do anywhere here: VIDEO 1 – Exercises #1 #2 VIDEO 2 – Exercises #3, #4, #5
- Incorporate restorative mind/body methods work well here (leisurely walks, pilates, yoga, myofacial release, meditation). Resistance training is key for best fasting results (exercising in a fasted state improves your recovery time and builds muscle faster). 2 days a week will do the job. It’s imperative that you challenge all your muscles at least twice a week.
- It’s different for everyone, but sometimes fasting 1-2x/week works best, sometimes 3-4 times a week works best. I recommend starting with 1x/week and not exceeding 4x/per week.
- Once all this is in place, you can start your IF protocol, and it will work for you, not against you.
- On the days you’re not fasting eat a well balanced healthy diet. You’re not fasting or “dieting” on your off days, and you’re also not binging and over eating, eat normally.
Example IF (BIF) Schedule
Ease Into This…
Start with a 12-14 hour IF with a 6 hour “eating window” (tweak your exact start and stop times, as needed). Increase to an 18 hour fast, over time. If you have more body fat to lose, you may need up to 20-24 hours over a 2 day period with intermittent eating over those 2 days. During your eating window follow a paleo style, ketogenic, high protein vegan diet (don’t be strict in these eating styles, allow for some wiggle room).
1. Stop eating at 8p
2. Wake up at 8am.
3. 9am have a coffee (with low mycotoxins) or tea with some healthy fat, like grass fed butter, or ghee, and brain octane oil, or a bulletproof coffee (did you know that coffee increases your metabolism by up to 20%?). When you eat a “healthy fat only” breakfast, your body doesn’t break the fast and you still get all the benefits.
4. Have another BP coffee, or some more clean healthy fat at 12noon (only if you’re hungry, or not able to function optimally)
5. Eating window 2pm-8pm
6. Lunch at 2pm
7. Done dinner by 8pm
Get Professional Support
If you try this, and find that fasting is too challenging, or you’re coming up with reasons you don’t want to try it, maybe you’re obsessed with it and feel compelled to do this every day of the week.
Consider getting in touch with your resistance or compulsion. It’s most likely emotionally based, it may be a habit you don’t want to break or an addiction that needs addressing (like there is NO WAY I can go one day without my bagel or sugary muffin in the morning, or I CAN’T go to bed without having my vodka). Maybe when you’re in your “eating window” you always overeat. If this is you, now would be a good opportunity to address this behavior.
What emotions may you be suppressing or not expressing? You may also need support if you think you may go right back to your old habits when you’re done with the fast.
Contact me for support to discuss an intermittent fasting approach and schedule that can be tailored to your unique needs. We will dive into IF, I will answer your questions–and bring judgement-free awareness and understanding to the table. I can help you get the results you want, happily, safely and effectively.
Fill out your info here Complimentary Body Discovery Session and you will be contacted to set up a time to chat with me.
LIVE WITH VITALITY!!
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