Fasting: Good or Bad?

Hey TDG Family & Good Morning! 💪

The Agenda:

Table of Contents

• What is fasting and what does it do?

• What are the pros and cons?

• Why I fast & who should and shouldn’t be fasting!

• My 3 tips on fasting!

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What is fasting and what does it do?

Intermittent fasting, has become a huge buzzword in the fitness community over the past couple of years!

It feels like just about everybody you know does intermittent fasting, but they don’t really know why? So let’s talk about why or why you shouldn’t do it!

Intermittent fasting usually just means you have an eight our window to eat, and a sixteen hour window where you refrain from eating. But there are different ways to do it. Some people do an easy version where they only fast for twelve hours. Some do a harder version where they fast for 24 hours or even 2 full days out of the week. I know that’s crazy!

The idea behind fasting is that it forces our bodies to tap into fat stores in our body in order to fuel our activity. This is because after a certain amount of time without eating, our body is depleted from the glucose (sugar) that we get from our daily carbohydrate intake, which is usually our fuel source.

So with this fuel source being fully depleted, the body has to go to somewhere else for fuel. What’s the next best option? Our fat storage!

Now just because you fast, that doesn’t mean you are just going to shed all your fat off. Also the longer the fast doesn’t mean the more fat you will burn for energy. Fasting has a point of diminishing return and your body will actually store extra fat if you go too long without eating because it forces your brain and body into ‘survival’ mode.

What are the pros and cons?

Like I said earlier, I feel like a lot of people are not sure why they do it, so let’s go over the pros and cons so you can get a better understanding!

Pros: 👍

• Promotes weight loss

• Enhanced cognitive ability

• Reduced insulin resistance

  • Low insulin resistance is desirable because it helps your body efficiently regulate blood sugar, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and promoting overall metabolic health.

• reduces inflammation

• can help decrease cholesterol and blood pressure

Cons: 👎

• Can possibly cause side effects such as anxiety, irritability, and insomnia

• May promote overeating

• Can interfere with medications

• May reduce physical activity

Why I fast & who should and shouldn’t be fasting!

Personally, I fast for one reason, enhanced cognitive ability. I’m more alert, very focused, and have increased mental clarity when I’m fasted. I do a lot of my work while I’m fasted and I have personally noticed when I eat (especially when I eat carbs) I have increased brain fog, I’m not nearly as alert, and I am sluggish. I try to focus my carb intake around my workout which is usually later in the day!

People who should experiment with it to see if they like it: ✅

• People who are overweight

• Those aiming to improve metabolic health and insulin sensitivity

• People seeking a simplified eating routine or schedule

People who can try it but should be cautious: ✋

• People with severe anxiety (because of increased cortisol)

• People who get severely irritable when hungry (Hangry)

• People who are medication (check with a doctor before)

People who shouldn’t be fasting: ❌

• People with type 1 diabetes

• Pregnant women or women who are breastfeeding

• People with eating disorders

• Children under the age of 18

• People with low blood pressure

My 3 tips on fasting!

1. Try to limit the caffeine intake while fasting ☕️

   1. Caffeine can be great for fasting because it can give us energy and suppress our appetite. But too much spikes cortisol - the stress hormone (which is already spiked because we are not eating during a fast) and for me personally can cause anxiety and also makes me jittery.

2. Just cause you fast doesn’t mean you can eat a dozen donuts 🍩 

   1. A lot of people think they fasted for 16 hours or all day so now they can go eat cake and donuts and whatever. That’s not how it works. Fasting works well with a good diet and make sure when you break the fast you are not overeating.

3.  To help with appetite cravings, drink sparkling water 💧 

   1. I’ve noticed sparkling water is a great way to keep a full feeling and suppress my appetite!

Fasting isn’t for everyone, some people love it, some people hate it. Try it for yourself, and reach out to me and let me know! Do you like it or hate it?