Does Intermittent Fasting Work For Weight Loss? [And How Quickly?]

Apr 24, 20203 min read

Updated: May 27, 2020

If you're looking to lose weight, Intermittent Fasting can be a great tool to help you achieve your wellness goals. But whether or not you see weight loss results will also completely depend on how you approach Intermittent Fasting.

Today, I'm breaking down how Intermittent Fasting can aid in weight loss and what causes you to halt your progress or GAIN weight.

does intermittent fasting work for weight loss?

The Science Behind IF + Weight Loss

Every time you eat a meal, your body will secrete a variable amount of the storing hormone insulin. Higher carbohydrate and higher glycemic meals will result in a larger secretion of insulin and therefore shift your body further into fat storing mode.

A lower carbohydrate or lower glycemic meal will result in less insulin secreted and therefore have less of an impact on fat storing.

Clearly, controlling insulin is an important factor when it comes to weight loss and is the central thesis around the Carbohydrate Insulin Model of Obesity. (If you're interested in the full scholarly article of this theory of weight loss, you can check it out HERE.)

One of the main benefits of Intermittent Fasting is that you are inherently decreasing the amount of time during the day that your body is secreting larger amounts of insulin by simply eating less often. Intermittent Fasting has also been found to reduce fasting insulin levels and improve insulin sensitivity.

There are additional factors that can be attributed to weight loss with Intermittent Fasting such as improved growth hormone and testosterone as well as decreased bloating via the stimulation of the Migrating Motor Complex.

Pinpointing exactly how long Intermittent Fasting takes to "work" entirely depends on the individual. Some people start seeing weight loss within the first few days, while others will not start experiencing weight loss until after a 2-3 week adjustment period where the body begins to re-learn how to use fat as fuel. For a deeper discussion on how long Intermittent Fasting takes to work, you can check out THIS article.

When Does IF NOT Cause Weight Loss (or Cause Weight Gain?)?

Perhaps you have used Intermittent Fasting or have heard of people using Intermittent Fasting where they haven't seen any results or GAINED weight. This typically boils down to a few Intermittent Fasting mistakes:

1. Ignoring your eating window.

You've probably heard that you can "eat whatever you want" with Intermittent Fasting. This is absolutely false. In fact, this can be HUGELY detrimental to your goals and lead to weight gain, intense hunger, poor sleep, breakouts and diminished muscle recovery. That's why in the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle, the focus isn't just on teaching you how to use Intermittent Fasting, but also how to fill your plate with the types of foods that will support your weight loss goals. Ignoring the types of foods that you're eating during your window is one of the biggest mistakes I see people make when it comes to Intermittent Fasting.

2. Not eating enough.

Pairing Intermittent Fasting with a semi-starvation diet can lead to a whole cascade of concerns that ultimately stalls your weight loss or slows your metabolic rate causing you to gain weight. You can check out THIS article for a detailed description of how this can happen.