What Is Intermittent Fasting And 10 Reasons Why You Should To Try It

intermittent fasting

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I like to experiment. Testing theories really gets me going. I have done Paleo, Juicing, Keto, basic USDA, and others. Tried them all and found them to be somewhat disappointing in one-way or another. In general, fad diets, as a whole, suck. Then along came Intermittent Fasting (IF). This diet program, especially for guys, is awesome. So what isIntermittent Fasting? Let’s break it down!

IF has gained some serious traction recently and for good reason. I originally wrote this article with the intention of explaining this diet, but other fitness authors have already done so in great detail (links provided at the bottom). The following is the 10 reasons you need to give this diet a try:

1. It’s easier than Cartman’s mom
You know how with most diets you are constantly searching Google, wading through your latest internet searches (BBC takes small Asian to pound town), trying to find out if this new food item is approved? No more.

It is difficult to mess this diet up, because it’s not a diet. It’s an eating schedule. Sure the basic fundamentals apply (See: Stop eating McFlurries), but overall the focus is on when you eat.

2. It gets awesome results
The above picture is found HERE and are all people who did the IF Leangains program.

Here are two other videos of people who have had transformations as well HERE and HERE.

Sure, these pictures and videos don’t “prove” anything. It does show, there is a large movement behind this and it is gaining steam.

3. Wolverine does it

4. Its effect on Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
HGH is very important to everyone, especially guys. Like its name implies, Growth Hormone controls growth, specifically of new cells in humans and animals. By increasing this hormone, we make our bodies stronger and healthier.

IF boosts HGH through the roof. In a recent study, people were doubling and tripling the amount of GH spikes produced during the day using IF.

5. It’s especially effective for guys
I’d like to take some time out the thank Papa Nerney for the Y chromosome that helped descend my testes from the dark abyss and placed them, with exquisite proportion, on the outside of my body.

The improvements IF gives guys that girls do not get are: better insulin sensitivity, decreasing triglycerides, and greater skeletal muscle adaptations.

Pause and reflect about fasting:

6. Eating 6 times a day is annoying and bad science
People used to think eating 6 meals a day stoked some imaginary “metabolic fire.” There is no metabolic improvement from eating 6 meals a day or eating 3 big meals a day. Check it out HERE

Ironically, you also burn up to twice as many calories consuming 3 large meals (900k/cal) instead of 6 small ones(450k/cal). This is from the thermal effect of food and is another reason not to eat 6 times a day.

7. Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin sensitivity, unlike emotional sensitivity, is a good thing. The more sensitive your body is to insulin, the more effective your food intake will be.

Your insulin spikes whenever you eat carbohydrates and many proteins. By not eating throughout the day, you are training your body to be more and more insulin sensitive. This will improve the way your body processes and uses the food given to it.

8.  Your body adapts to it
The hormone ghrelin is the guy who tells you when you are hungry. Research has now found that this hormone is produced on the schedule YOU make for it.

So once you have practiced IF for a few days (3-5), you no longer become hungry during those “fasted” periods. Which is great, because living life hungry all the time would suck.

9. Drinking Coffee while fasting makes you feel like Jesus
It’s obviously due to the lack of calories in my stomach, but the feeling is ridiculous. I don’t eat till about 1pm anymore and schedule my morning coffee (black coffee is ok) right around 10am.

I am more productive in that 3-hour window than Dwight Schrute on speed.

10. Some incredible writers and fitness experts support it
Four of my favorites are Martin Berkman (Leangains), Steve Kamb (founder of NerdFitness), The Hodge Twins (FastingTwins), and Mark Sisson (Mark’s Daily Apple).

These guys are very different so check out each of them to get a feel for their stuff.