It pains me to see so many high performers do this.
Have you tried intermittent fasting as a way to lose fat and, but you’re now stuck in a rut?

Do you want to build a physique that demands respect without starving yourself for 16 hours of the day?

The most common diet our clients try before coming to BTX is intermittent fasting.

I ask why and they say it is the best diet for them. It helps them lose weight.

If you are now overweight again the diet clearly does not work.

A diet you can stick to long term and stay in shape is the correct diet. If you are yo-yo dieting ballooning up and down it is not working for you.

There are 2 reasons why intermittent fasting is the worst diet to build a physique that you can truly be proud of. I.e. lean, athletic and ready for anything.

1. To build muscle tissue optimally you need to eat protein every 3-4 hours.

This is because to turn on protein synthesis i.e. be in an anabolic state which means building muscle you need to eat 25g or more of a complete protein source. This only lasts 3-4 hours and therefore you need to be eating protein again after this time period to turn on protein synthesis.

Here at BTX we design our diet so that you are consuming high quality protein every 3-4 hours. To make sure this fits around your lifestyle we only have 3 solid meals and a protein shake a day.

When fasting for long periods of the time you’ll have long parts of the day where you will have protein synthesis switched off and be in a catabolic state i.e. burning muscle tissue.

This will lead you to burn muscle tissue and even though you may lose weight you will be burning muscle and fat at the same rate so will end up lighter but the same body fat percentage.

If you want to look like a vegan stamp collector keep fasting.

2. Fasting causes eating disorders.

99% of people do not lie to me… You want to intermittent fast so you can save all your calories for later in the day and eat like jabba the hut.

What we do instead is we make sure you are never left hungry and reaching for the cupboard.

Nutrition is all about staying in shape year round. No quick fixes.

Even with Intermittent fasting you can easily still take yourself out of a calorie deficit in one or two meals if you are eating high calorie low nutrient dense food.

You know what that is going to do?

Make your digestion feel like garbage and stop you sleeping at night which will lead to your blood sugar being all over the place and lead to more hunger and binging.

You also want to have your calories spread through the day and in particular around training to make sure your are strong for your training session so you can lift more and progress your lifts which will help you hold onto or even build muscle while dieting.

Why do people do Intermittent fasting?

1. It can be help lose fat

As you have a smaller eating window which means it can be easier to stick to a calorie deficit.

2. It can improve longevity

Fasting has been shown to increase longevity in many ways. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35310455/

One of them being by stimulating hormesis, a compensatory defence response following exposure to mild stressor (short term food deprivation) that is disproportionate to the magnitude of the stressor.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1568163707000712?via%3Dihub

Hormesis triggers a vast array of protective mechanisms that not only repair cell damage but also provide protection from subsequent exposure to more damaging exposures.

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpa2/29/4/29_4_127/_article

Fasting can also reduce inflammation, improve heart function with age and even improve aerobic endurance.

https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-016-1044-0

Conclusion

• Intermittent fasting has many health benefits but most of these come from being in a calorie deficit.
  Dropping your body fat with any diet will produce the most drastic improvements in your health.
  
• It can make it easier to stick to calorie deficit with a shorter eating window.
  
• Poor choice for improving body composition as to build muscle tissue you need to eating protein every 3 hours.
  
• Fasting can cause eating disorders by people trying to save their calories all for the evening.

Whether you’re seeking to transform your physique, boost your athletic performance, or simply improve your overall health, our highly rated team of certified personal trainers in Hampstead, North London, is committed to crafting tailored in-person and online personal training programs that align with your goals, preferences, and lifestyle.