Intermittent fasting continues to grow in popularity. Curious if Intermittent Fasting is right for you? Is this just another fad diet or is intermittent fasting a lifestyle that you might want to try? Not all eating styles are right for all people. Let’s dig a little deeper …
Tara’s Tuesday Tips:
Is Intermittent Fasting Right for You?
There are many different types of intermittent fasting regimens with outcomes that vary person to person. I wrote two other articles where I go into lots of detail and explain all about Intermittent Fasting: Intermittent Fasting for Vegetarians and Survival Guide to Vegetarian Intermittent Fasting. These Tuesday Tips introduce you to the different types of intermittent fasting. I also explain the health benefits and the specific nutrient concerns for vegetarians on intermittent fasting. Before you go setting your timer for your fasting window, let’s sort through a few things first!
Are You Pregnant or Breastfeeding?
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding you need constant + adequate nourishment for yourself plus another human. Eating in a specified time window would not be advisable as you might not get in enough calories at regular intervals to support these additional demands on your body.
History of Eating Disorder
Active eating disorders or disordered eating behaviors. Prior eating disorder or disordered eating patterns. Any or all of these! If you are at high risk for developing an eating disorder (such as having a close family member with an eating disorder) intermittent fasting IS NOT right for you.
Suffer With Insomnia or Other Issues With Sleep
Blood sugars naturally drop at night while we sleep. This natural body rhythm coupled with calorie deprivation and hunger could be uncomfortable for some people. As a result, causing issues with sleep to worsen. If you know this is an issue for you, you might either require a longer open eating window. Possibly, intermittent fasting is simply not right for you.
Endurance Athletes Proceed With Caution
Take it from me, if you are an endurance athlete or pushing yourself athletically, intermittent fasting will have negative effects on your athletic abilities. Feel free to reach out to me personally if you want to hear more about my struggles with this and what I did to overcome it. (Check out my story at the bottom of this post)
Sensitive Stomach or Known GI Issues
An empty stomach can exacerbate issues you might already be having with your GI system. Moreover, after a period of fasting is over, a person tends to eat a larger volume of food which can cause bloating, excessive feeling of fullness, and indigestion.
Concentration Issues
Two patterns emerge in people who fast for prolonged periods of time. Some report feeling ‘foggy’, groggy, lightheaded, sleepy, or have difficulty concentrating on tasks. Conversely, other people report feeling hyper focused, having a sense of clarity and feel energized. Trial and error is the only way to figure out how your concentration is affected by a prolonged fast.
Taking Medications That Require Food
Unless the timing of the medication can be adjusted to be taken during your eating window, IF might not best support your specific health needs.
Very Young or Very Old
Intermittent fasting is not appropriate for infants, children, teenagers, older adults especially those with dementia, mood disorders, or compromised immune systems.
Insulin Dependent Diabetics
There is emerging research supporting the use of intermittent fasting to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetics. However, insulin dependent diabetics can experience blood sugar changes that can cause them harm and should have healthy nourishment at regular intervals throughout the day. If you are diabetic and are not sure if intermittent fasting is right for you, schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider.
Work or Social Schedules That Do Not Support An Eating Window
Take it from me, strict intermittent fasting requires discipline. This means adjusting the times of social outings, skipping meals or drinks at events. Possibly even declining invitations that fall during the fasting window. This can be applied to work settings and meetings as well. If this is not something that your lifestyle can support, then intermittent fasting is not for you.
A Little Story About My IF Journey
As you might know from reading this blog, Mr. MVF and I embarked on a journey into intermittent fasting in January of 2020. We had a very strict 8 hour daily eating window with a 16 hour fasting window. Along with the rest of the world, 2020 left us at home a lot, cooking all of our meals, working from home, facing shortages of foods and other staples. Above all, we had very limited social interactions, travel, and the biggest one for us – marathons and other social or competitive running events we normally took part in were cancelled. In this climate, intermittent fasting was easy, predictable, and was working for us.
Fast forward to 2021. Same situation. With the world still shut down to life as we knew it, we were happily at home feeling great, looking great, thinner than ever on our intermittent fasting diets. Running was for fun, work was still mostly from home, and still no travel. Well, this worked for most of 2021 until I suffered from what I now know is called RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport). I won’t go into the science nerd details of this disorder but looking back I understand that Intermittent Fasting combined with being an endurance athlete, led me to have physical symptoms of this energy deficiency.
If you have made it this far down in the post, you are curious if IF is right for you, maybe you are curious if IF was right for me. I wish someone had shown me this list in 2020. Then again, I might have seen a list like this but believed I was strong and healthy and I could endure anything despite that I had a few contraindications to being on such a strict intermittent fasting diet.
My story is real. Digging my way out of RED-S for the last 6 months is also real. With a network of support, lots of education, and lots of changes to my daily nutrition. I now know that I can be a nourished, plant-based female athlete happily eating my way through the day. Still maintaining my weight and enjoying my food. I still have an overnight fast of 10-12 hours, and that gives me the comfort of knowing that I am giving my body the break it needs from food to repair itself.
As we get back into ‘normal’ life with endurance events, travel, and socializing, we have had to reevaluate some of our restrictive nutrition that evolved over the last few years. Nutrition is so personal! What works for me, might not work for you! BUT, making informed decisions, listening to your body, and deciding what you need and when you need it is what works. If you are not an endurance athlete or you don’t have a history of disordered eating or any of the other things on the list, IF might be just what you need! I would love to tell you more or help you figure out if this is right for you. Reach out to me if you need that: tara@myvegetarianfamily.com 🤍
Food For Thought …
Intermittent fasting continues to be the buzz in the health and wellness world. Ongoing research will soon tell us if all of the hype is warranted. Until then, intermittent fasting should be treated as any other ‘diet’. It is a diet. Unless you fast for religious or medical purposes, it is a diet. Any restriction of food based on the time you eat it, is a diet. No argument there.
That being said, intermittent fasting can be a fabulous health tool to help get control of cravings and calorie intake, if used appropriately. Giving your body a break from food is a great thing! An 8, 10, or 12 hour overnight fast while we sleep might be all some of us need! Simply proceed with caution, listen to your body, be aware of the warning signs that it might not be right for you. Use it as another tool for health not restriction to the point of allowing it to strip you of the joy that comes along with enjoying good food in the company of good people.
Stay healthy, friends + fam 🤍
All the best,
Tara 💚
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