It’s 2024 and I recently had a subscriber ask me if intermittent fasting will slow down his metabolism?… It’s a good question since intermittent fasting is a popular topic these days — AGAIN.
I say “again” because, like any fad diet, it shows up every decade or so, then disappears, and then, reappears… over and over again.
Just like most people’s weight loss attempts — they keep losing the same weight, OVER AND OVER again.
Personally, I think intermittent fasting, just like a ketogenic diet, has some health benefits – IF it’s done correctly. Unfortunately, most do it all wrong.
YES, they get benefits at the beginning. But ALL diets work in the beginning. That’s easy.
The hard part is to continue and to have long-term FAT loss.
And the keyword here is FAT LOSS, not “weight loss” which is usually valuable muscle.
This is because as your body adapts, fat loss slows down, stops, and then reverses.
Some will say “I’m still losing weight”, which is true – but now they are losing a lot more valuable muscle, instead of fat.
This is how your body survives.
Its only goal is to adapt.
And, in the process, your metabolism slows down in order for you to survive and not keep losing weight forever.
Two Popular Intermittent Fasting Protocols
There are two popular types of intermittent fasting.
There’s the weekly 5:2, which is eating normally for 5 days and then fasting for 2.
Then there’s the daily 16:8. Which is fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8.
And people do lose fat and weight because of this and the primary reason for many is the fact that they are simply eating less calories, which is great.
Yes, intermittent fasting has beneficial hormonal changes – such as higher growth hormone, testosterone, lower insulin levels, and so forth… initially, at the beginning.
But all of that stops working after a few weeks and months. However, the improved insulin sensitivity continues.
And I know this because, after 30 years, I’ve seen hundreds of blood tests with all sorts of various diets. Not just after a few weeks, but long-term, such as 6 and 12 months and 2 years later, when the REAL problems start to show up.
When people’s metabolisms, hormones, thyroid, and so forth have really shut down. When they’re barely eating anything and still can’t lose any weight.
They ALL Slow Down Your Metabolism
Simply stated, any diet that restricts calories too much, too fast and for too long, will slow down your metabolism.
I know of a few experts and doctors who eat just ONE meal a day and they brag about how much weight they’ve lost. But they’re barely eating 1000 calories.
It’s very hard to consume enough required protein in ONE meal.
TRUST ME, their metabolisms have slowed down, along with their hormones.
And it shows since they just look skinny-fat. The more weight they lose, the more MUSCLE loss it is.
There are a few important ways for losing weight & "erasing" stubborn belly fat - diet and exercise are two important factors.
Unfortunately, they take time and most people are either NOT patient or need faster results, with less effort...
This is the exact problem I ran into with myself and private clients. Because of this, I needed to find something that's easy & works quickly.
Well, the good news is that now you can quickly achieve your "fat burning, weight loss" goals with ONE simple solution that's easy, convenient & requires NO lifestyle changes...