Intermittent fasting is often misunderstood. People say that “you’re starving yourself” or “it’s not good for you” or “you need to start your day with a healthy breakfast”, etc. The fact of the matter is: fasting is actually extremely good for you, when done correctly, in moderation, and balanced with a healthy diet. Fasting can help to reduce blood sugar, increase insulin sensitivity, boost your immune system, improve brain function, get/keep you fat adapted, and more! Then there are prolonged fasts, which should be done sparingly (once a month; once every few months) that can even repair the body, decrease your risk of cancer, and prolong your lifespan. Everyone’s energy demands, lifestyles, schedules, family life, etc are different, though, and you need to find out what works best for you.

For me, I’m busy in the morning and again in the afternoon/evening, so it makes most sense for me to eat at lunch and then again right before I go back into work for the rest of the day. I don’t like to eat after work because I don’t get home until around 9pm, so eating a meal right before I relax and/or go to sleep is definitely not ideal to lose weight/stay trim. Ideally, you’ll consume the most calories/carbs earlier in the day, so you have more time to burn them off, while your final meal of the day would very simple, clean, and lean. If your job is very energy-demanding, you may want to eat a big breakfast and a medium-sized lunch followed by a small dinner. Another person may prefer to skip breakfast, eat a big lunch, and then and smaller dinner. Some people even do OMAD (One Meal A Day) and fast for about 23 hours and only eat one big meal. Again, you will want to experiment and see what seems to work best for your schedule and your energy demands.

Occasionally (once a month or every couple/few months), it’s quite beneficial to do a prolonged fast, which would last longer than 24 hours. This does require some planning, timing with your schedule, and determination but it does reap some amazing results. You’ll be surprised at how many things your body can heal on its own simply by not eating! Prolonged fasts aren’t meant just to help you lose weight; inducing autophagy by fasting for a longer period of time has profound healing benefits and can improve your overall health, lifespan, and well-being.

The other thing to consider is your reason. Why should you do intermittent fasting? You’re the one that will have to answer that question. For me, personally, I do it for a variety of reasons, examples being (but not limited to): keeping me trim, to stay fat-adapted, to increase my insulin sensitivity, to reduce inflammation, to improve brain function, and reduce my risk of dementia/Alzheimer’s. Especially now – it’s summer and bathing suit season! I want to lay by the pool with a six-pack on my abs, not have my belly lay over my waistband while I drink a six-pack.

Something to keep in mind is that every time you eat, you increase your insulin levels, which tells your body to store fat – not burn it. Weight-loss is a different lesson so I won’t go too in-depth for this lesson but if you want to reduce the stress/strain on your liver, lose some weight or maintain it, and reap the benefits of autophagy, narrow your eating window while increasing your fasting window and you’ll start noticing a big difference pretty quickly.

Note: whatever timing/eating schedule you decide upon, just make sure that you are consuming enough calories/nutrients to keep your metabolism and energy up. A big mistake people make is cutting back too much on what they eat, which seems like a good idea but if you don’t get the proper nutrients to sustain your body’s needs, you’ll slow your metabolism, lose energy, and ultimately not feel good because your body can’t do what it needs to do properly.