I want to let you in on one of my healing diet secrets! This is one thing that has made a big difference in revolutionizing my health. Now before I get into Intermittent Fasting I ask you to please keep an open mind about it because it can be a little controversial and has the opportunity to ruffle some feathers. I am going to talk about intermittent fasting, my journey and why I’ve ditched breakfast.
What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?
Wikipedia’s defines Intermittent Fasting as: a pattern of eating that alternates between periods of fasting and non-fasting. It is a way where you get away from around the clock eating. That sounds pretty simple, and it can be. It is based on the research saying that people have a greater longevity with calorie restriction. Now I want to make it very clear that I have always been a little uncomfortable with the word calorie restriction and also with these studies. I am NOT an advocate for low calorie and restricted diets. I will never recommend them for anyone. But I will recommend IF. And when viewing these studies from a different lens, the lens of intermittent fasting, you may see that it becomes more clear. Intermittent fasting is a way to continue your daily fast (which happens when sleeping) for a little longer and gain the benefits of a fast and choosing to eat your first meal later in the day. AKA Ditching Breakfast. AKA, what I call Extended Healing.
In the United States we are accustomed food being around us all the time. The media and many trainers are telling us to eat every 2 hours, eat oftenfor blood sugar and hunger, don’t ever let yourself get hungry. We are also ingrained to thinking that breakfast is the most
important meal of the day and if we skip it we will suffer consequences and end up gorging ourself later in the day or become overweight. I used to be in that boat too, so don’t feel bad if you still think this way. Intermittent fasting is a mind shift away from how we were taught. I noticed with my body the earlier I ate and the more often I ate during my day the worse my tummy and brain felt. I want to give you an example so you can start to see what I am talking about. Think of if you had your own homestead. A homestead where you were almost solely dependent upon your land and your animals for food and ultimately survival. Think about your typical day. Would you wake up and have a huge breakfast, I mean the full spread that takes 1+ hours to prepare, cook and eat? No! You would hurry out to your land and animals and start your day of work. No breakfast needed. Then you would start to get hungry around noon time and would have lunch. Your lunch wouldn’t be a huge lunch because, once again, you don’t have a lot of time. But you would break-the-fast at that time and get back to work. Now think about dinner. You just had a long day of work that was productive and what you would call a success. What does dinner look like? It looks like a celebration for a job well done. You sit down and eat a big meal with your family, connect through conversation and enjoy the food and eat until you are full. That, to me, is the perfect example for intermittent fasting. Is this starting to make more sense?
You are essentially having breakfast (break-the-fast) later in the morning or early afternoon. As I am typing this I am eating my breakfast and it is 11 am. I don’t believe this is calorie restriction because I eat a lot for dinner. But it’s restricting your calories for a period of time (the morning) and then making up your calories later in the evening with a big dinner. This is not starvation! By eating a big dinner your body won’t think it’s starving. This is a lifestyle choice and NOT a diet!
I’ve made it simple stating that you skip breakfast. But there’s a little more to it. It’s called your Window of Eating. That means choose 16-18 hours to fast per day and then you eat for 6-8 hours of your day. If you eat your first meal at 11 then end your dinner around 7pm. That is an 8 hour eating window.
What are the Health Benefits?
I wouldn’t be telling you I skip breakfast if there wasn’t scientific data backing this up.
Benefits (from Dr. Mercola):
- Increased insulin sensitivity and mitochondrial energy efficiency – Fasting increases insulin sensitivity along with mitochondrial energy and slows aging and disease.
- Reduced oxidative stress – Fasting decreases the accumulation of oxidative radicals in the cell, and prevents oxidative damage to cellular proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids associated with aging and disease.
- Increased capacity to resist stress, disease and aging – Fasting induces a cellular stress response (similar to that induced by exercise) in which cells up-regulate the expression of genes that increase the capacity to cope with stress and resist disease and aging
I would also like to add a few other benefits:
- Amazing for digestive health– One way our digestive system can heal is by rest. Intermittent Fasting stops the process of needing to digest and work constantly. By doing that you get loads of healing to the GI system. It give your body the ability to heal from leaky gut, constipation, diarrhea, food allergies, and so much more! Read more about the gut HERE in my All about the Gut article.
- Weight Loss Benefits– The benefits of weight loss with Intermittent Fasting doesn’t have much to do with not eating in the morning. It has so much to do with hormone sensitivity. One main hormone that’s affected is Leptin. Leptin tells your body to burn fat as energy as well as tells you to stop eating. You want to have the ability to be a fat burner and to have your body use your fat stores for energy. That is where you can get lasting weight loss, from proper hormone signaling! If you just did a program where you ate less but still ate unhealthy processed foods you have the ability to lose some weight (10-15 lbs) but then you stall and most likely end up gaining the weight back. Why? You need to work on your hormones, your cells and the specifically the hormone receptors on your cells. I will say this again. IF is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change, which is focused on healing and hormone health.
- Works with your Circadian Rhythm– Our bodies are programmed to eat in the evening. When we have a large meal at night it fires up our Parasympathetic Nervous System which digests food and calms us down for rest. That is what we want in the evening. Have you ever noticed getting super sleepy after a large noon time meal? You stimulated your Parasympathetic Nervous System and got really tired when you wanted to be awake! I’ve heard many people sleep better with Intermittent Fasting, I can attest to that too!
Are there Downsides to Intermittent Fasting?
As with anything, there are downsides. I want to be open honest with the downsides to Intermittent Fasting here:
Downsides:
- Don’t try intermittent fasting unless you follow a healthy food full of nutrient dense foods and free of processed foods, gluten, and refined sugars (aside from the occasional treat).
- If you Intermittent fast while still eating grains, sugars and processed foods, you will not see the benefits. You will be hungry, craving foods, possibly crabby and not see healing or weight loss benefits. If you are NOT grain-free, don’t try Intermittent Fasting! Start with getting grain-free eating down well first! I have noticed that skipping breakfast is quite common in people who are overweight. I believe the difference between that way of eating and Intermittent fasting is the TYPE of foods being consumed. Processed foods, sugars, grains, treats vs. a intentional nutrition dense diet free of grains, refined sugars and high healthy fats.
- I will be honest, it can take some time to get the hang of the fasting window. You may be hungry at first and need to push through that until your hormones are more sensitive and receptive. If it’s hard at first, don’t get discouraged. It took my body about 2 months to get used to “skipping” breakfast until I wasn’t really hungry in the morning. I now listen to my body and eat my first meal between 10:30 am and 1:00 pm. I listen and eat when I am hungry.
- Be Flexible. This sounds like a lot of rules, but the most important thing to do is listen to your body! You don’t have to IF every day. You can eat for a window of 9-10 hours one day. It’s about the concept, not the rules. There are too many rules in life, let’s have this lifestyle of Intermittent Fasting be stress-free and healing to your body.
Who Should NOT Intermittent Fast
While I am not giving medical advice, I want you to know my thoughts on who should not IF:
- Women who are pregnant. If you are pregnant, don’t skip meals and don’t try Intermittent Fasting. Period! Eat breakfast and eat high amounts of protein and fat! This is crucial to having a healthy baby
- Nursing women. I don’t recommend IF while nursing either. Your baby needs the food and calories and don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that
- Diabetics. Diabetes can be managed and IF started, but not without being under close supervision from a health care practitioner who is an expert in fasting techniques
- Hypoglycemia and stomach ulcers. If you suffer from extreme hypoglycemia or stomach ulcers, this may not be the best time to be intermittent fasting. Focus on healing your blood sugar + ulcer first, then intermittent fasting could be started at that time
- A very sick and symptomatic body. I would wholeheartedly recommend getting under the guidance of a qualified practitioner to coach you through healing. I would love to help you or at least direct you to the best resource for you! (Contact Me Here)
What do I eat?
I want to walk you through a normal day of eating for myself so you can see this in action. There is no hard and set rules for IF. The biggest “rule” is listening to your body! You know best! If it doesn’t work for you now, try again later.
In the practicals of intermittent fasting you need to see your day as a window of fasting and a window of eating. You fast for 8-14 hours and eat for 16-10 hours. Each day can look different for you, or you may find a day or two a week you like an even longer fasting window. You don’t need to count calories, but you will consume about your normal amount of food in your eating window. This isn’t a restrictive diet. This isn’t starvation. It’s an eating window where you eat your day’s calories in a smaller amount of time.
- I wake up and make myself a large glass of water with lemon and apple cider vinegar and sip on water throughout my day. I also make myself a cup of coffee or tea and sip on that throughout my morning too. Sometimes I will add a splash of heavy cream to my coffee because everything’s better with a little cream (or coconut milk for a dairy-free option). That isn’t technically IF, but some days I like to do that and I guess my fast would be over and eating would start with that small amount of cream. In the AM if I don’t do coffee, I will sometimes consume bone broth.
- I have my first meal of the day somewhere between 10:30 am and 1:00 pm. I listen to my body and eat what healthy food sounds good to me. Sometimes it’s bulletproof bone broth protein and sometimes it is a bigger meal.
- I will snack sometimes between my first meal and my dinner. I, once again, listen to my body. I’ll grab a handful of sunflower seeds, dried coconut, or cheese. I don’t want to be hungry and for me each day is a little different.
- Dinner time!! I love my dinner time! Dinner should be gluten-free and clean. It should also be very big and full of good fats and proteins. You should not leave the table hungry. I never do. You shouldn’t be gorged or stuffed full, but you should also not leave the table hungry. If you leave the table hungry, you will probably start gaining weight because your body will think it is starving. Calorie restriction isn’t helpful in Intermittent Fasting.
- For me with Intermittent Fasting and ditching breakfast I feel better, I still eat well and my body heals more on day to day basis!
Tell Me… Do you Intermittent Fast? Have you ever tried it?
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Adventures in Dressmaking says
I’ve been playing with “Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting” since December, so drinking my usual Bulletproof Coffee with butter and MCT oil and then not eating till dinner. Sometimes having another (decaf) Bulletproof Coffee or just some butter or coconut oil around 2pm if I’m way too hungry. I lost a few pounds at first but maybe just food/water weight. I’ve started to feel now like my energy isn’t as consistent and like I want to go back to eating lunch on the weekdays, maybe like it’s adding to my stress level/cortisol to be SO low carb almost all the time. Not sure what’s the perfect balance for me, but am always working on it!
Meghan Birt says
It is definitely a journey of what works for you and your body! After reading your comment I thought of something that might help. You don’t have to do it but may be fun to try. You could create a little bigger eating window… 8 hours for example from 11-7. Then you get lunch + dinner and can help balance the hormone receptors located on the cells a little easier. (and less stressful on the body). I have found that to be so much more helpful for me! So I do my bulletproof coffee during my 11-7 time and just have water or whey before that.
Molly says
Hi Meghan, I have been doing IF since January and love it. I usually do the 16/8 and I am a low carb (20g a day) and high fat moderate protein gal. I’m loving all the benefits for sure!
What I’m wondering is-I would like to add 2 Tbsp of Heavy Cream to my whey protein shake in the morning (Dr. Mercola says that whey protein does not affect IF). I use the shake to get me through until my first meal. The heavy cream is a good addition to my daily fat intake but also makes my shake more delicious. What can you tell me? Can I add it or stay away to not interrupt IF? Please and thank you!!!
Meghan Birt says
Hi Molly-
Wow, sounds like you are doing awesome IF!! I do a splash of heavy cream in my coffee and that won’t break your fast. But anything more than a tablespoon probably would. You can just do a whey powder in water or in whey water (I use Suero Gold from Beyond Organic) and that won’t break the fast either. If you do 2 Tbs of cream you will probably break your fast because your body has to start breaking down the fat in the cream. I love heavy cream and use it often, but other than my splash in my tea or coffee I stay away from it until my first meal of the day (usually around 12).
peggy johnson says
i love reading your blogs. they are soooo encouraging and you are never too old to learn and change and grow. (i should know – lol) thank you
Meghan Birt says
Peggy, you are so funny! I am glad you found encouragement and are learning through my blog. At any and every age we can learn, right :)
jess doughty says
hi Dr. Meghan…. thanks so much for the insight here.
what are your thoughts about replenishing muscles with food after a good, hard work out in the morning? I’ve been slowly moving toward intermittent fasting. I also workout in the morning hours (6am). Is it ok to fast the morning even after a hard workout?
Also, kombucha… would that be a good morning beverage for IF?
thanks,
Jess
Meghan Birt says
Yes, you can still workout hard while intermittent fasting. I would end your workout with some grass-fed protein powder in water to make sure you’re building muscle. And that won’t break your fast.
Also, kombucha or water kefir works for a morning beverage :)
sue says
+I was wondering if you can put coconut oil in your coffee…..
Meghan Birt says
Hi Sue. I put butter in my coffee (don’t really like coconut oil in my coffee), but not when I am fasting because that will break the fast. I do green tea and lemon water and have my buttered coffee for lunch/ afternoon snack. Hope that helps!
Jill says
Hi Meghan,
I am new to IF, I love my thick cream and was also wondering- if I have a couple of teaspoons in my morning cuppa when I am in the IF stage, -does that break the fast? I am also wanting to loose weight, so is it alright to have thick cream if I am on a low carb high fat diet? I am 59 years old and am finding it very hard to loose any weight at all…. thanks for such an interesting website….its great!
Meghan Birt says
Hi Jill-
You and I alike… I LOVE heavy cream!! If you do a little in your morning coffee or tea, it’s totally fine! Anything over 1 Tbs could potential break the fast. And being low carb/ high fat is a great way to not only reduce inflammation but also heal the hormone receptors to help you start loosing weight too. If you’re still struggling feel free to contact me! I work a lot with getting to the root of weight loss! Blessings :)
Jill says
Thanks for your lovely email, I will keep going with my LCHF as I really like this way of eating & I find it helps me feel better than I have in quite a while. I will keep working on loosing weight and if I still dont get anywhere, I will definitely contact you. I am thinking perhaps that some of it. may be my age/hormones etc, but I am determined to keep going & let it take its own time. I went through menupause back in my early forties & found I gained weight around that time & have kept it on since then. (around 80 kilos) – my goal is to get just below 70 kilos…(I am Aussie). Funny thing is even though I am 80 kilos, I feel very healthy. I walk very few days as I enjoy this.
Meghan Birt says
If you are feeling good on it Jill, keep going!! I’m here for you if you need :). Blessings!!
Jacquie says
Hi! Any idea if a little unsweetened Almond Milk and Stevia In my morning coffee would “break my fast”? I have 3 kids 4 and under so I “need” my morning coffee lol. Also, I am still nursing my 1y.o., but he’s eating solids too. I’m desperate to get my hormones back in balance (and lose the baby weight from my 4yo, but I’m wondering if nursing is what’s messing with my hormones…is IF a waste of energy if there’s other factors at play?
Thanks in advance!
Meghan Birt says
Jacquie, yes you can do stevia, a little almond milk/ coconut milk or cream in your coffee. I won’t break the fast. You’ve got a busy, beautiful life and mama definitely needs her coffee :)
Jennifer says
Hi, I just found this page. I have been thinking about trying intermittent fasting, but I don’t follow a completely grain-free diet. I try to eat paleo most of the time, but I do include some brown rice or Ezekiel toast during the week and I also have one or two cheat meals per week where I eat whatever I want. I was thinking the IF would help with fat burning and cutting a few extra calories per day, but I see that you don’t recommend IF unless you are following a completely grain-free diet. Do you think IF wouldn’t be right for me? Thanks!
Meghan Birt says
Hey Jennifer. I apologize for my delay in getting back to you, I’m just returning from maternity leave. Here are my thoughts on IF not on a grain free diet. I believe you will be totally fine and still see benefits if you’re eating brown rice or Ezekiel toast. I wouldn’t fast during your cheat meal days. You could give that a try and see how you do. Everyone responds differently to IF and sometimes takes a little while to find your groove in it. But those would be my initial thoughts.
vinothini says
Hello! one of my friend suggested me to do IF and started researching on that but each and every blogs and sites says different plans and ideas . I got confused and finally read yours and got a clear idea . Thanks for a wonderful post . I have a doubt. I need to loose weight but they told me that only if I do workout (during the last hour of my fast)with IF I can loose weight . Is that true ?? I have no time to do workout in the afternoon while breaking the fast . But after having my first meal by 12 t0 1 PM is it ok to do workout by evening and then have a big meal by 7. Please help me out in planning .
Thanks in advance .
Graham Ansell says
wouldn’t call this intermittent fasting as you are consuming calories all day.. you still eat breakfast, because breakfast is the first meal of the day regardless of the time it’s eaten. If you’re consuming cream, cheese, whey, that’s calories.. True intermittent fasting is what I do, I don’t consume anything but water from waking until I get super hungry which could be anytime from late afternoon until early evening.
Meghan Birt says
Hi Graham-
You’re right… the first meal of the day is Breakfast because you’re breaking the fast. And you’re right with only consuming water until your “breakfast” whatever time it is at. For some people that doesn’t work well in their life and can be so rigid, so having some whey or cream in the coffee can be a good modified fast where they still can see good results and feel great too! Glad you’re finding something working for you!
Paula Kelly says
I enjoyed this article, and agree with everything, except only doing low carb. I still eat carbs (high fiber, protein wraps, and fruit) and I am having great results from If. I’m also diabetic. Its been great for my numbers. I try to eliminate bad carbs (sugar), but trying to ease into a new lifestyle. Just wanted to put my two cents in. Thanks for the Info.
Meghan Birt says
Hey Paula. Thanks for the comment. I love you found IF works for you and still can do some carbs. As we all know, all of our bodies are different. I think the biggest thing with intermittent fasting is not eating the “junk food” and trying to fast. That confuses the body too much so for a lot of people going grain-free works best. But a good whole foods diet can also work with Intermittent Fasting. Good luck on your healing journey!!
Diane dawson says
Hi! Very informative site! Love your articles!
I have been doing IF for about 3 weeks now. I am feeling the energy! I feel clear headed and the cravings for sugar are GONE! I am almost grain free. What are your thoughts on flax, quinoa, corn and brown rice. I like to add flax to my lunch smoothie. I occasionally have a serving or two oth the other throughout the week.
Thanks!
Meghan Birt says
hey Diane. YEAH for IF and feeling awesome! That’s got to feel great, right? I love flax, it’s good for hormones in women. Also, with rice, quinoa, and corn I have found it depends on the person and how they do with the food. I personally can do corn (organic and non-GMO), but I don’t do well with quinoa and only moderately ok with rice. I know others who can do quinoa and have it be great for them. It’s technically a seed, so it’s a great option for many people!
ashley says
Hi Meghan,
I have been following this WOE for the past few years and I am able to easily maintain my weight. What do you put in your smoothie for your first meal of the day?
Meghan Birt says
Hey Ashley. YEAH!! I love how much you and your body loves IF. HERE’S my recipe for my favorite smoothie!
Joanne Santos says
Hi! Im new to the IF train, and i just started about two weeks ago. Breakfast was the hardest thing because i was so used to it. Or so i thought. I looked back at my eating history and i remembered that i didnt used to have breakfast before when I was in highschool because I was so busy. I usually just had half a glass of orange juice then ran out of the house. First meal for me back then would be around 11:45 am to 12 noon. Then no snacks because I had no money and no time. Then finally sweet relief at home when i could finally eat dinner. Needless to say i was slim and trim back then, not thin at all. I was fairly active with cheerleading and dance and reserve army training (for high school). So im reaching far back and trying to remeber how i did those things back then with those “awful” (as my mom used to berate me with) habits. I miss all those energy I had. Of course being in my 40s now, it wont be the same ? but i can try!
apple cider vinegar and weight loss says
Hi DaveJust wondering how the apple cider vinegar with the Garcinia tablet worked out for you…My wife and I are on our second day of trying this combination as well and were hoping to hear from REAL people about whether or not it works.Thanks for any help!