Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have superpowers? Well, what if I told you there is something you can do that will get you pretty close. You may have heard by now, since it is so popular and millions of people around the globe are trying it. Here are the benefits you will encounter if you participate in this diet plan.
I am going to write a disclaimer which I highly suggest you read, but if you want you
can jump right into the benefits.
First off, I wish I could say this method works in a short amount of time. However, it hugely depends on genetics and the current lifestyle of the person. But, it works, no matter who you are, as long as you are doing it correctly and fitting to your situation. For example, if you are a person who suffers to keep self control with eating, which is really common and you should not feel bad about, you should take an intermittent fasting approach very carefully. I say this because I have been there myself. In the beginning, I jumped right into the twenty hours fast everyday and when the time came, I overate and completely ruined my diet. I did not even care what I was eating, I was too hungry to even think about it. Also, keep in mind the most beneficial part of intermittent fasting happens if you have completely control of what you are cooking and eating at the end of the day. If you are in school and come home to cake, pasta, pizza, etc… Intermittent fasting is going to show its results but not as efficiently as you want it to. The best way to go about it is: slow, steady, and patiently.
In the next entry I will be writing about the ways you can implement the diet plan into your life if you have not already, so stay tuned!
Benefits:
- Longevity
Intermittent fasting allows your body to enter a special state doctors call Ketogenesis, but I like to call it the Superman State. When your body goes through a period of time without eating, there is a lack of carbs, which are the main source of fuel for the body, especially the brain. Out of the four essential macromolecules in life, carbohydrates serve the purpose of storing energy in their chemical bonds. When these are broken down through cellular respiration, you get another molecule called ATP, which is used for energy.
Well, if carbohydrates like glucose and fibers are so important, why would I choose not to eat them for a long period of time? If the body relied only on carbs for fuel, we wouldn’t be as successful as a species we are today.
When our body has no sugar, it feeds on fat and protein and recycles materials that are in our cells. That is the keyword here, and even though it is very simplified, at the end of the day, that is essentially what takes place. Your cells start to break down, and they repair themselves and build new ones during a fast. This is mainly shown as the growth hormone levels spike in huge numbers when in a fast. Therefore, cells are in a constant repairing and recycling process, getting rid of inefficiency and building more cells. This helps longevity, since it allows old cells to get recycled into new ones at speeds way beyond normal states. Fasting allows you to get into this state, in which the body is constantly healing itself internally, and you guessed it! It improves overall health in turn making your body live longer.
2. Weight loss
This is the obvious one. When your body turns to fat for a source of fuel, you burn it. I do not want to say it’s because you’re eating less, but that tends to happen as well for some people. Overall, eating less is not the way to go about it because you may slow down your metabolism and suffer weight gain instead. I say this because I have been through the same thing. In hopes of getting fast results, I simply ate less and even lost a little bit of weight (I could have lost more if I was well nourished).
Your body loses weight for a couple of reasons. One, you are building insulin resistance, which means every time you eat, your body responds naturally, allowing glucose and other macros and vitamins to get absorbed properly. This means you do not need as much carbs to keep up with your insulin responses and therefore you will slowly decrease the amount of sugar you usually eat. Of course, keeping in mind you are eating natural sugars and not processed sugars that mess up your brain’s reward system, making you crave more. Secondly, you consume more fat that is stored in your body. If you manage to pair this with fasted cardio or exercise in your fasted states, you will burn even more fat and you will be off the charts when it comes to results. Of course, keep in mind you have to maintain the same caloric intake as before, replacing bad calories you were getting for good ones at a slow pace and consuming the right amount of vitamins and good fats.
3. Flexibility
Intermittent fasting is one of the few diet plans in which you can take cheat days like a champ and you will still have benefits and good results. In general, I can tell you that if you love a certain candy, you can still manage to eat it and love yourself afterwards because intermittent fasting will be working on you. Of course, if you do not abuse the candy. Intermittent fasting will still work because in the fasted state, you will still burn fat and you will still build insulin resistance regardless if you eat a little piece of chocolate or treat yourself with a slice of pizza here and there. When you maintain a balanced diet, eating vitamins, fruits, vegetables, protein, fats, and fiber, you can pretty much allow small amounts of cheating without suffering big consequences. I would even argue that if you are following your diet correctly or a week, you can go all out on one day with whatever you want and still lose weight. Another aspect of the flexibility is that you can adapt the timing to your schedule very easily. For example, if you work during the day and require energy and cannot go without eating for any reason, you can fast at night without any issues. What if you go out with your friends at night on the weekends to eat? There is absolutely no problem, you can still carry on the fasting later on. Also, intermittent fasting is not very strict. You can drink coffee and allow very small amounts of calories.
4. Muscle gain
You may be thinking that when the body has no fuel, it will take up any form of macro for energy, including your muscle fiber. This is partially true, but it would make absolutely no sense in the evolutionary standpoint. Our ancestors had to adapt to their environment and sometimes they would go days without eating, but that does not mean they lost their muscles and strength. It is just not optimal for the body to eat up your muscles when in caloric deficit. It will happen, but in very extreme scenarios.
In a normal intermittent fasting scenario, your body will not consume your muscle mass because your growth hormone is doing exactly the opposite. As long as this hormone is above normal levels, you will be repairing and building cells, at the expense of other cells of course, but always for the better. If you are malnourished, your muscle growth is at stake. As long as you have your calories in check (they do not have to be as accurate as you think: if you ate 2500 calories instead of 3000 for the day nothing is going to happen as long as it’s only a few days), your muscle growth will be improving overall.
5. Self Control
When intermittent fasting is done right, and by this I mean slowly, steadily, and patiently, you will improve your abilities of self control. Fasting is a way to let your body go under stress, but good stress. It improves your resistance to eat and self control to maintain a plan. It is a very efficient self improving method. Alongside meditation, I would personally rank intermittent fasting to be a good self control routine. One day, you try to go 10 hours without eating, which is pretty easy to do if you are busy or if you do not eat at night. The first day will be so much easier, then after a week, you bump the number to 12 hours. And you keep doing that until 16 hours seems too easy for you. If you even feel brave and you have experience, you can take that number up to 20 hours.
Keep in mind, it is not as easy as it sounds for a lot of people. There is a tradeoff, but the reward is big. It may take your hormones some months to adapt to the fast and not feel hungry at the time of day that you fast. This is something I had trouble at first. I found that I got really hungry at night, right before bed. As much as I ignored it, it completely messed up my sleeping schedule. It was very hard for me, but I managed to get through it with some tricks like drinking water and apple cider vinegar.
For a lot of us who are busy, it may even be easier to do intermittent fasting because we do not have to worry about eating and cooking as often. It is easier to keep track of your calories and it is much easier to plan meals, since you’re planning fewer per day. In turn, fasting is a good way to get your body used to uncomfortable situations and once you achieve this, self control in other areas of your life will improve. This is another reason for weight loss, since the self control gained can help you ignore quick pleasures like sugar. This was most definitely the case for me, but only after the first month. Before that, I was eating sugar left and right, feeling good and rewarding myself. After a month of experimenting, I was able to turn down food I really liked. When my friends offered me chocolate, I was able to focus on my diet and take it seriously without issues, even if I knew a little bit of chocolate would not even make a dent.
6. Concentration
Concentration goes hand in hand with self control. There are studies done that show the brain works more efficiently when it relies on ketone bodies that are made up of fat. In my personal breakdown, it makes sense. When you eat glucose, the energy levels tend to spike and drop down quickly, even if its fiber and good sugar. This is because out of all the essential macromolecules, glucose is what activates the most insulin response. However, this sudden increase in blood sugar and energy level is followed by a very sudden drop, when insulin takes place and returns sugar and other macros to the cells. On the other hand, fats have a very slow breakdown. Since fat molecules are very large and have to be converted into many things before it is actually energy, the insulin response takes place very slowly, allowing a more steady energy level, allowing the brain to concentrate without feeling tired out of the sudden. The brain is just much more efficient when it is running on ketone bodies.
7. Building Habits
I come from personal experience in this. When you are participating in intermittent fasting, you feel way better, more clear minded, and you feel like you are losing weight because when you are on a fast, you simply feel lighter. All this improves self confidence and in turn inspires you to take action in other good habits. The whole purpose of intermittent fasting is to give you all these benefits and make you a better person. When you take an interest in the plan, you will naturally be looking for ways to improve in other areas, like sleep, meditation, and self care. You will be feeling better and this will generally improve your mood as well as making you more social. You will in turn improve relationships, feel supported, and when you combine all of these benefits, you will be looking for a bigger purpose in life. The end goal, once you find it through your journey, is to feel legitimate happiness and not quick pleasure. You will find that partying, gaming, pleasuring yourself, sex, and intense emotions are not the answer to living a good life.
8. Fight disease
This is a good one, considering the health crisis we are suffering especially in Mexico and the United States (I am sure there are a lot more, but when it comes to food, these are the titans of overweight) that are ruled by big corporations whose sole purpose is to sell you quick pleasure in the form of sugar. It’s easy to consume, therefore easy to sell and I want to share this with you because I want more people to realize the big lies we are being given. Lies like you HAVE to eat three times a day, and you have to eat sugar and not consume fat.
I want you to realize that in order to succeed, you have to try things on your own and experiment and take action in a journey yourself. The big corporations are very guilty because they take advantage of the way your body is built, and they sell you products that are optimized to make you desire them. They spend a huge portion of their resources building advertising campaigns and testing new products to expand themselves. They simply do not care about your health.
Intermittent fasting, with insulin resistance, the building of ketones, the spike of growth hormone, habit building, and the path to better mental health make you a healthier person. Insulin resistance helps you combat type 2 diabetes, for obvious reasons. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that people are investing in medicine, can be cured by a simple lifestyle change that takes a few months to implement fully and has a very easy entry level. This lifestyle change may be the key for many people, to have a happier, better life. It is part of a process many, including myself, call rewiring your brain. You will rely less on dopamine for pleasure and allow the big things in life like relationships, health, and mental clarity to take more of a part in your happiness.
9. Financial benefits
Intermittent fasting allows you to be less out of control, and more aware of what you are eating and what you need to be buying and spending. Considering that you are planning meals accordingly (mind, you do not have to), you are slowly optimizing your spending on food. It is much easier to track meals and you will find that you are not going to spend as much money on useless calories or bad calories throughout the day. I say this, because I went to school and it is very easy to buy cookies and get a sugar buzz. During my fast, I was able to save money by just bypassing this daily purchase. Also, something to keep in mind that many articles and videos do not mention. There are people who spend money in growth hormone, testosterone, steroids, supplements and what not to increase their muscle mass or get more energy. This is completely fine if you know what you are doing, but with fasting you are getting amazing benefits without dropping a single penny on these products I just listed.
I heavily recommend intermittent fasting, however it is not the only diet out there. You do not have to do it, and there are many ways of losing weight and getting a lot of the benefits I mentioned above. A lot of these benefits are very dependent on you, your plan, your genetics, and your timing.
It is hard to find a good plan, because it takes experimenting. I suffered a lot in my first week, because I needed to get used to the plan and I needed articles like this one to tell me I could not go all in. Intermittent fasting is NOT for everyone. For example, on women, who may be looking to lose weight, the hormone levels in a fast are different than those on men and a badly executed plan can ruin your progress and set you back.
It is very important to consider a nutritionist, but not necessary. In my personal experience, the amount of information on the internet is so much that it can even be overwhelming. There are hundreds of books on the topic and the popularity of intermittent fasting is increasing. It has helped so many people improve their lives, but it may not be the most efficient plan for you and your schedule. I like to say that being a superhuman is not intended for everyone, and that is absolutely fine. Do not feel like you HAVE to do intermittent fasting. You can eat three times a day if that is your thing. As long as you are getting vitamins, fats, exercise, carbs, protein, maintaining a good mental health by having fun activities and hobbies that fulfill your purpose, you will be as healthy as anyone with a fasting schedule. In my experience, I also found fasting benefits that I did not expect. I grew three centimeters taller in two months on intermittent fasting. Being a short man, I feel this as a great achievement, and even if I cannot attribute it to the fast entirely since I am young and can have a growth spurt naturally, I have a huge feeling that the fasting took effect. Since I was new to the plan, maybe it was the beginner’s luck since my body was just starting to benefit.
Considering everything I have mentioned, I wish you a very good journey and luck. Even if you do not implement this right away, I am confident it will remain as a viable option for you sometime.
The Weekend Read 