Why I use Intermittent Fasting as a means of weight control and fat loss

I've been meaning to write a more intelligent blog post for a long while, and this is something I want to do on a lot more regular basis.

Intermittent Fasting (IF) has been something I've used on and off for a couple of years. When I've discussed it with work colleagues who do "regular mainstream" dieting, it has provoked a lot of negative comment.

Quite simply, I find "dieting" a very hard and demoralizing process. That said, I used "The Slow Carb Diet" successfully in the 10th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest, but I also needed to occassionally use IF along with "Cheat Days" (For more info on those, I suggest you look at Joel Marion's "Cheat Your Way Thin" diet programme at www.cheatyourwaythin.com) as cheat days formed part of slow carb. But boy, how hard would I have found slow carb if it were not for my weekly release of the cheat day?!!!

For me, "perfect" dieting is extremely hard, and I'd rather not do it. My current goal is now lean muscle gain. In otherwords, adding muscle without regaining the fat I stripped away at the start of the year. I've been struggling too with overeating, and so I've been using IF to manage this better.

IF just has too many benefits for me to list here and I probably wouldn't do it the justice it deserves, so I'm just going to link to 2 main websites.

Eat Stop Eat (www.eatstopeat.com) is probably the most well known IF website, and is very popular in internet diet and fitness circles as a means of fat loss. Why is it so popular? Well, Brad Pilon's (the Author) approach is simple... just take a 24 hour break from eating once or twice a week. Eat... Stop... Eat.

The Eat Stop Eat method requires the "dieter" to use resistance (weight) training to maintain muscle mass. Brad says if you are not using resistance training then you are not doing it "right". Cardio doesn't maintain muscle mass, which can of course be lost without the use of weight training, which does.

Another popular approach is "Leangains" (www.leangains.com) where you fast for 16 hours daily, and have an 8 hour eating window. Martin Berkhan promotes the benefits of his approach, which also uses resistance training for muscle mass maintenence, as being able to eat larger meals whilst still gaining the hormonal benefits from fasting.

The majority of information available on Leangains is free, whereas to gain the most benefit and understanding about Eat Stop Eat, you really need to read Brad's E-book which costs US$39.95 (you can order here).

I was very skeptical about fasting before I personally tried it. Buying Brad's book gave me a better understanding of IF and I was defintely prepared to give it a shot.

My personal preference is Eat Stop Eat, as I have tried the leangains approach and found it hard to maintain daily fasts and often found myself overeating in the evening. That said, Josh, Adam and Gerry all did exceptionally well in their Turbulence Training Transformations, using leangains style daily fasts. I think you can agree with me that their approach certainly works!

Personally, IF allows me to eat, and to a certain degree drink, without guilt, maintaining weight, and more importantly burn fat when I need it too, along with the other health benefits such as increased growth hormone and reduced insulin levels. Sometimes I don't always fast for 24 hours, sometimes it's a bit longer, but I certainly feel I enjoy my food more when use IF.

If you are considering IF as a means of weight control, I certainly recommend you check out both websites, so that you are better informed of the benefits of fasting as a means of weight loss and maintenence.