Fasting is great. Just not that great.

I’ve been an advocate of IF (intermittent fasting) for over four years right now. If you subscribe to any of my courses you’ll note it is one of the staple elements to help achieve your body composition goals, specifically getting lean.

Simply defined, IF is restricting the window that you eat. Instead of eating all throughout the day, you pick a smaller time window and eat only in that window. For me that really drinking black coffee for breakfast, and then eating lunch around 11 - 12 or whenever I get hungry.

But let me start by dispelling some half-truths and outright lies that are peddled by IF zealots.

IF is NOT a cure-all. It will not affect your metabolism in a meaningful way. It will not restore your thyroid function. It will not reduce your systemic inflammation. It will not prevent cancer. (I just got all of these from an actual blog not he benefits of IF. by the way 🤦🏻‍♂️)

I use IF as a tool. Nothing more. I use it as a tool to help with fat loss.

So the question is does my body start roaring like a furnace burning fat every morning because I still haven’y had anything to eat yet? Nope. There is nothing magical about it.

To be crystal clear, the ONLY way to lose weight is to create a caloric deficit. This means you need to be taking in less energy (via food/drink) than you are burning on a daily basis. When I fast breakfast on a consistent basis my body doesn't start getting hungry until around lunch time. This means that instead of having 3 or 4 meals, I only have 2 meals and maybe a late night snack. Because I’m sitting dow to less meals, I can eat more food at those meals and still achieve a caloric deficit.

Satiety. That’s the big secret. When I fast my satiety stays high throughout the day even though I’m eating at a deficit.

Ultimately the best way of achieving a caloric deficit is the one you will stick to and the one that you enjoy. For me, fasting lets me continue to eat all of the foods that I love, maintain satiety and still get lean in the process.

But I don’t fast all the time. I’m actually currently doing a lean bulk (or reverse diet). This means I'm eating at a caloric surplus for the purpose of gaining weight. Hopefully most of that weight will be muscle. Right now eating 3 to 4 meals per day is easy to do and actually optimal for muscle growth. If I do end up fasting breakfast it’s actually quite difficult to get in all my calories.

So if your goal is fat loss, I definitely recommend giving IF a try. Just don’t expect it to solve all of your life problems.