Did Intermittent Fasting Work for Me?

I have made a lot of progress the last couple years with many things. But I am continuing to try and improve myself. So, a couple months ago I decided that I wanted to try out this intermittent fasting thing. I have been looking for a change that encourages me to not only eat within my calories but also make better food choices. Not that I was making horrible choices, but I felt like I was so inconsistent with what kinds of foods I was eating and how good I was at tracking my nutrients/macros. I wanted to do something that would help me nail down something a little better for my body.

I know there is a ton of people out there parroting why certain diets are better than others. However, I find it funny that there seems to be a mentality that someone else, that has never met you can tell you that your body needs something specific. Just like Melatonin is supposed to assist with sleeping, it doesn’t work that way for everyone. For some it doesn’t work at all, for others it gives them nightmares. Everyone’s body is different and needs different things and react differently to certain things. I feel the same way about every individual’s nutrition. There may be certain components of our diet that needs to be unique to each person. I have heard some people that have done intermittent fasting found that it helped them finish toning up those last few problem areas. However, it doesn’t work that way for everybody.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent Fasting, in a nutshell, is limiting your food intake to a set number of hours per day. Whether that be fasting for 20 hours and eating for 4 or fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8. There are different increments to it. The idea is to put your body into the detoxifying mode brought on by fasting on a daily basis. There is supposed to be a major benefit to your body when you do this. It can help with toning and losing weight. I wanted to see if I would see some similar benefits with this.

My Goal

I felt that if I was able to do intermittent fasting it would help me with a few things. To be able to simplify my food. I am a busy person and sometimes I forget to eat, or I don’t want to take the time. I was hoping that having a window of eating would help to give food a time and a place in my daily life. Another reason was to allow me to eat healthier high calorie foods more often. Since I couldn’t eat all day long and had to get all the calories in, I could eat higher calories without still feeling hungry because I was eating plenty. I also have an issue with being in this in between feeling where I wasn’t sure if I was full or hungry. It’s this uncomfortably bit of pain in my stomach. I wondered if cleansing between eating and playing with the types of food I was eating would be helpful.

The Results

I actually was not incredibly happy with this experiment. Truth is, initially I LOVED it. Because my very first goal of the entire thing was to simplify my food. This goal was a huge success. I definitely felt like I was more successful at paying attention to my food and eating at a certain time. However, that’s as far as the benefits went for me. As for that weird uncomfortable feeling in my stomach I actually ended up having a little more trouble with it. I felt as if my body struggled with processing all the different foods. Sure, they were all the foods that are considered some of the best foods for me to be eating. Yet they don’t seem to be right for me specifically. As far as my weight went, this wasn’t exactly a great thing either. My weight fluctuated quite a bit up and back down a little bit again and again. My body wasn’t quite maintaining and wasn’t quite gaining. It really made me feel pretty stagnant and unable to progress.

All in all, I don’t feel that this is the right diet for me. I stuck it out for about two months hoping that I might adjust to it and see some benefits. However, it really didn’t work for me. I’m not saying that it won’t for anyone else. We all react differently to different things. For me, this isn’t the right kind of lifestyle diet. I’m still searching for something though. What kind of diet are you trying? Have you found anything that works well for you?