*** Disclaimer, I'm not a doctor or a Medical professional/scientist just sharing personal experience and thoughts
Recently i began the new fad in the diet world "Intermittent Fasting". In simple terms not eating for the majority of the day.
I began this after realizing that i was having an extreme problem over eating. Before 12 in the afternoon i was easily 600+ calories into the day with still a lot of day left to be lived, and more importantly food to be consumed. At first i hired a nutritionist who assembled a great diet and i did lose weight on however i felt like it was not sustainable. My days were spent looking at the clock timing when i was going to eat my next snack then counting out my almonds, only to eat for 5 minutes and wait 3 more hours before i could eat again. I was never feeling full (a feeling i LOVED). Instead i was just feeling meh. Often i would break diet and eat more almonds or pop tarts.
Then i discovered intermittent fasting. The idea of only getting to eat 8 hours out of everyday gave me such anxiety i held off for so long. I couldn't fathom the thought of not eating past 8PM (I'm a night owl and usually up till around 12AM).
My roommate was intermittent fasting and i would always say how impressed i was with her extreme will power. So i decided to try it for a day and see if i could do it. It wasn't as bad as i thought and i was desperate for results. thus i began the flexile diet (with intermittent fasting).
So what is it?
For starters you are fasting for 16 hours a day and eating 8 hours a day. So for the average person you are fasting 8am-12pm Then eating 12PM- 8PM Then fasting again from 8pm-12PM the following day with you are typically sleeping for 8 hours of that anyway. So essentially fasting 8 wake hours broken up in two (4)hour increments and 8 sleeping hours.
The flexible dieting part comes in eating 80% of your daily foods be "good" foods high in protein and nutrients. I usually do whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts, rice, etc. and then 20% of your food intake be WHATEVER YOU WANT.
Take for example a 2,000 calorie a day average diet. Make 1800 of those calories good calories, and 200 calories whatever you want. Could be a doughnut, slice of pizza, candy bar, ice cream, etc. Now 2,00 calories is average but since your going to be eating more "good" foods up your calorie intake to 2200 calories a day.
Pro tip** Protein is essential for a fat loss diet. Take your weight in lbs. then multiply that by .86 That should be your protein intake for the day.
So why should you diet this way?
THIS IS A SUSTAINABLE METHOD. When you are flexible dieting you can still eat those things you want and crave and not deprive your body of them. Face it we all go to social events that have food and drinks around, what are you going to bring your tupperwear of meal prep? NO! Have a slice of pizza and a salad.Grilled chicken with a side of grilled vegetables? Nope ill take the fries.
When your body fasts for 16 hours around the 12th hour your body goes into "ketosis" and it begins burning fat for energy. This means that your body will be burning calories at the same rate it would as if you were working out.
When you only have an 8 hour window to consume 2,000 calories you can eat in much larger portions allowing you to feel that full feeling you crave. I view it as suffer twice a day but then feel good during the eating window, vs constantly timing out your meals.
If your interested in learning more or want some of my low calorie meals and how i eat a ton of food a day and only eat around 1800 calories let me know in the comments.
also happy to help answer any questions you might have.