My Experience with Intermittent Fasting

I tried intermittent fasting for one week and guess what? I failed.

In case you are wondering, what is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. Usually, the fasting periods are longer than the non-fasting periods. During the fasting period you are not to eat but you can take water. Some people prefer to reduce their calorie intake during the fasting period instead of having nothing at all to eat. 

Intermittent fasting became a modern trend in 2013 after Dr. Michael Mosley released his book, The Fast Diet. Mosley’s doctor had made him aware of the dire implications of his unhealthy weight. His cholesterol level was high and he also faced an increased risk of developing diabetes. This caused Mosley to adopt intermittent fasting and subsequently led him to release a book and a documentary about it. 

 Why I started 

Since the start of my fitness journey, I have made obvious progress with my body and diet. However, my tummy fat has remained a concern for me. Even after my body fat percentage had considerably reduced, I was still left with an embarrassing bulge around my middle area whenever I wore my bodycon gowns. 

I have tried restricting calories, cutting down on junks in addition to countless repetitions of crunches and leg raises. They were effective in keeping my tummy trim, but after a while, my progress stalled. 

Soon, I was back to the drawing board. After consuming a truckload of articles from Google search results, I discovered intermittent fasting. I decided to try it for one week. Everyday for the entire week, I was to fast until 2pm. 

On my first day, as expected, my motivation was formidable. Even though I had a grueling session at the gym earlier in the morning, I was still bustling with energy. Trouble began towards the last few minutes of the morning. By noon, my energy level was in the red.

I was famished and badly craving. The worst part about getting to this point is that you stop thinking with your head and your stomach takes over. I scavenged the fridge for anything eatable and shamelessly consumed as much as I could lay my hands on. By the time I was done, I had eaten more than I would have had in one meal. 

You would think things got better with the other days that followed. Well, I’m here to tell you that it didn’t.

The only thing that changed was my choice of food each time I craved. So, instead of high-carb and high-calorie foods, I had fruits instead. I ate a lot of the red local apple. 

Why I failed 

According to research, women are advised to fast for 14 hours while for men, a 16-hour fast is recommended. My fasting period was 18 hours!

It’s easy to see why I failed. I was doing too much at a time. 

The truth is, I never planned to fast for 18 hours. I had wrongly started to count my fasting hours from the beginning of the new day and not from the time when I had my last meal (my dinner) from the previous day. 

What I learnt 

Our body is stronger than we will ever know. 

In the ancient times when there was frequent famine, humans were able to survive days without food. The fact is, a normal human being can survive up to 72 hours without food.

When you newly start fasting, It’s normal if you feel fatigued, dizzy or get occasional headache. Eventually, your body will adjust. As the week progressed, I realised that I was much more able to control the urge to eat during my fasting period. Admittedly, I failed on some of the days but each successive day was better than the one before it. 

Benefits of intermittent fasting 

Research has shown that intermittent fasting can increase weight loss by boosting fat burning and your overall body metabolism. It promotes autophagy which slows down the aging process. Intermittent fasting could also reduce your risk of having chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension. 

There have been reports of increased secretion of the human growth hormone during fasting. 

My advice 

Intermittent fasting will not only help you lose weight but it will keep you healthy and promote your life span. But is it the best option for you? I don’t know. 

The best way to find out is to experiment with it and observe how your body responds, just like I did. 

 In summary, intermittent fasting might be beneficial for weight loss but it is not for everyone. If you are at risk of developing side effects from fasting, I highly recommend that you try alternative weight loss methods that will suit you better.