<aside> <img src="/icons/light-bulb_blue.svg" alt="/icons/light-bulb_blue.svg" width="40px" /> The short answer for why fasting is the superior fat loss strategy:

Restricting your food to a smaller window of the day means:

a) You will find it easier to achieve a calorie deficit

b) In the periods where you are fasting (not eating) insulin is low which means you have easy access to stored energy in the form of body fat

With this increased energy that you have access to (compared to if you prime your body to fuel itself on carbohydrates with breakfast), energy will be higher, you’ll feel better…

You will also maintain a higher metabolism than consuming the same calorie content over the full span of the day.

Why?

If you consume 2,000 calories from the moment you wake until the moment you sleep (specifically with carbs in each meal, your body has access to 2000 calories [keeping it simple for explanation purposes]

If you consume the same 2,000 calories from 2pm onwards, you will use stored fat for energy until 2pm because insulin is sufficiently low. (Let’s call it an extra 400 calories)

Your body is now functioning with 2,400 calories, vs 2,000 calories.

With just 2,000 calories it is likely to slow it’s metabolism in order to survive optimally with the energy it has access to.

The caveat here: Slowly introducing carbohydrates throughout the day—starting with a meal resembling the ketogenic diet—will allow you to:

a) Consume food, duh

b) Feel satisfied and satiated with the consumption of protein, fats, and hopefully fibre from vegetables

c) Maintain a low insulin state, allowing your body to use fat for energy in the early period of the day

d) Increase metabolic flexibility (your body’s ability to use carbs and fat for energy appropriately and effectively)

This is the structure followed in your meal plan: ‣

Low-carb start = high energy + high satisfaction + low cortisol + low restriction

“Sounds like bro-science Ben”

It is a little bit, but I had to get my point across. Let’s see what the research has to say…

Over the course of an 8 week study by Catenacci and colleagues, the team compared intermittent fasting with regular calorie constriction, and there is one major finding I’d like to highlight; the calorie restriction group saw a significant reduction in BMR, whilst the fasting group did not.[12]

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