Intermittent Fasting - Part 4

Intermittent Fasting - Eating Window

This style of IF involves stretching your overnight fast. The research is finding that this can be an effective way to lower insulin and inflammation (esp in men in the longer fasts).

This can also be an effective way to let your digestion rest and optimize your natural overnight fast.

Women – be gentle, start slow, and only increase your fasting window if it feels good. Listen to your body and eat earlier any time you’re hungry.

Men – the 16:8 method tends to be a favourite and works well for most constitutions. But, listen to your body and reduce your fast time anytime you’re feeling too hungry or anxious.

What does #:# mean?

This is how the fasting/eating times are normally described. The first # is your fasting time and the second # is your eating window.

Eg. 14:10 means that you fast for 14 hours overnight (say 6pm – 8am) and then eat for 10 hours during the day (8am – 6pm)

12:12 or 14:10

This is something I practice daily and it’s generally good for everyone. This involves fasting for a 12 – 14-hour period between dinner and breakfast. For example – if dinner is at 6pm, then breakfast would be between 6am – 8am.

Why this is beneficial:

Research is finding that our insulin response can be higher after 8pm, meaning, our body responds to food in a stronger, possibly more inflammatory way, later in the evening.

Also, your digestive system could use a break overnight, and ensuring at least a 12-hour break can be helpful to keep your digestive system is happy.

You’ll probably notice that this is really easy, and you might be practicing this already naturally. I only pay attention to this on weekends when I’m watching a movie and would like to make some popcorn. I take a look at the clock when I’m done so I know what time to have breakfast the next day to make my digestion happy.

If your evening cravings are too strong to do a 12-hour fast successfully, that can be a sign of an imbalance during your eating day. Email me and I’m happy to help you find the culprit :).

The next forms of IF are more extreme, so practice caution and listen to your body. The gentlest way is to ease into this style of eating, slowly opening up your fasting window over many days (or weeks)

16:8

This is also called the “Leangains Diet”, promoted by the heavyweight lifter Martin Berkhan. It involves fasting for 16 hours overnight and having an 8-hour eating window every day.

Generally, this fast is from 8pm – noon, and exercise is done during the fasting window. Proponents of this method recommend taking 10g of BCAA during exercise and eating 3 meals within the eating window.

Best for: Men…sometimes women. Women do well with this if they are naturally light eaters in the morning and are careful to adjust their fasting window during the second half of their cycle (lowering to a 12 – 14 hour fasting window max).

20:4

This is also known as “The Warrior Diet”. Generally, this involves 1 big meal each day (or 2 meals within the 4-hour window). Workouts are recommended to be done during the fasting window.

Best for: Men who feel good when they only eat 1x per day.

Note - Be careful with the quality of the food you’re eating if you choose 16:8 or 20:4. It’s important to eat a lot of nutrient-dense food so you don’t create any deficiencies.