{"id":50871,"date":"2016-07-20T07:15:31","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T11:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=50871"},"modified":"2021-05-13T10:56:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T14:56:30","slug":"fasting-diet-expert-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/fasting-diet-expert-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Try a Fasting Diet? 6 Questions to Ask Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Want
Photo by Krzysztof Puszczy\u0144ski<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Putting down the fork every now and then in favor of a quick fasting diet might sound like a pretty simple way to lose weight. But between The 8-Hour Diet<\/em>, The Fast Diet<\/em> (also called the 5:2 Diet<\/a>), and all of the other intermittent fasting<\/a> (IF) protocols swarming the interwebs, one thing\u2019s for certain: There are a lot of ways to not eat!<\/p>\n

And while some studies have linked IF diets<\/a> to weight loss and improved metabolic health, others show that fasting can do the reverse, explains board-certified family and bariatric physician Spencer Nadolsky<\/a>, D.O., a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. \u201cSome people do really well with it, and others don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

So should you take the IF plunge? Here are six questions to ask yourself first.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>5 Most Popular Intermittent Fasting Methods<\/a><\/p>\n

6 Questions to Ask Before Your Fasting Diet<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. \u201cDo I Get Hangry<\/a> a Lot<\/em>?\u201d
\n<\/strong>\u201cFasting can leave you feeling hungry, fatigued and irritable,\u201d says Reema Kanda, R.D., clinical dietitian and weight management expert at Hoag Orthopedic Institute<\/a> in California. And that\u2019s especially true for people who regularly border on hangry to begin with. Sound familiar? Then fasting \u2014 or at least fasting for long periods \u2014 probably isn\u2019t in your best interest (or the interest of anyone who comes in contact with you). If you still want to give it a go, consider trying a plan that only requires fasting between, say, 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., which can be an easier pill to swallow.<\/p>\n

2. \u201cDo I Need Regular Cheat Meals to Stay on Track?\u201d<\/strong>
\nSome people just do better sticking with a healthy eating plan if they know they have a trip to the ice cream shop on the calendar. If that\u2019s you, IF might be an attractive option, Nadolsky says. After all, when you get down to it, intermittent fasting is all about cutting a lot of calories on some days so that you can eat a bit more on others. However, it\u2019s important to remember that your \u201cfeast\u201d days<\/a> shouldn\u2019t be an excuse to binge like mad on unhealthy foods. Do that, and you could wind up fasting your way to weight gain<\/a> and poorer health.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>The Pros and Cons of Cheat Days<\/a><\/p>\n

“The best diet is the one that you can stick with \u2014 even after the weight comes off.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. \u201cDoes My Doctor Say It\u2019s OK?\u201d<\/strong>
\nWhile a little bit of fasting isn\u2019t inherently dangerous (we all do it every night as we sleep, anyway!), prolonged stints can be a huge shock to the system, Kanda says. And that\u2019s even more pronounced in people who have hypoglycemia, diabetes, are on any insulin-regulating medications, are taking medications, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, she says. Apart from drastically lowering blood sugar levels, fasting can lead to hormonal changes and should never be started without first consulting your doc, adds Nadolsky. This is a big one, so don\u2019t skip it.<\/p>\n

4. \u201cHow Much Do I Want to Exercise?\u201d
\n<\/strong>To get the most out of your workouts, you need to eat \u2014 both for fuel and for muscle recovery. That\u2019s just a fact of life, and it\u2019s one that makes intermittent fasting especially difficult for gym-lovers, Nadolsky says. For that reason, intermittent fasting generally doesn\u2019t work for frequent, intense exercisers (more on that here<\/a>). However, if you have more of a few-times-per-week fitness habit, you may be able to make IF work by planning your workouts around feasting days. But remember, your diet should never require cutting back<\/a> on exercise.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Is It Safe to Exercise on Empty?<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/strong>. \u201cCan I (Happily) Do It Forever?\u201d
\n<\/strong>If \u201cforever\u201d sounds like an awfully long time to keep up any given IF approach, you\u2019re better off looking for another one. There\u2019s no shame in saying, \u201cI want to be able to go out to dinner with my friends whenever I want,\u201d or \u201cI like having three meals and two snacks per day.\u201d \u201cNo matter what diet you decide to follow, your adherence is key,\u201d Kanda says. She notes that current research shows that IF is no better for weight loss than any other diet. So if it doesn\u2019t seem like it will work for you, find something that will. The best diet is the one that you can stick with \u2014 even after the weight comes off.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. \u201cHow\u2019s My Relationship with Food?\u201d<\/strong>
\nAs effective as intermittent fasting can be for weight loss, it\u2019s important that the method doesn\u2019t become a way to avoid balanced nutrition, Kanda says. That\u2019s where having a healthy relationship with food going into an IF plan comes into play. By focusing on balanced, healthy meals between fasts, the diet can translate not only into weight loss, but also improved health. However, for people who have struggled with food or experienced disordered eating<\/a> in the past, following an intermittent fasting approach could exacerbate issues. \u201cI\u2019ve seen several people, especially women, simply not eat enough on intermittent fasting diets to maintain their health,\u201d Nadolsky says. \u201cIntermittent fasting cannot become a route to extreme dieting or disordered eating. It has to be part of an all-around balanced, healthy and grounded approach.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To fast or not to fast? Experts explain how to find out if a fasting diet will benefit you \u2014 or send you on a downward spiral. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,18],"tags":[331,291,41,48,192,341,380,285],"class_list":["post-50871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-weight-loss","tag-binge-eating","tag-clean-eating","tag-diets","tag-fasting","tag-metabolism","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2diet-advice","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50871\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}