Ever find yourself puzzled by the intermittent fasting craze and wonder if it's the golden key to your wellness goals? Join me, Rob Maxwell, as we dissect the truths and myths surrounding this trendy approach to eating. We're not just talking about skipping breakfast; we're scrutinizing the practice that has everyone from celebrities to your next-door neighbor raving. With a focus on the timing of meals, we sift through what's anecdotal and what's evidence-based, ensuring you're equipped with the knowledge to make an educated decision on whether to watch the clock at your next meal.
Now, let's confront the elephant in the room when it comes to dieting—eating less. It sounds simple, doesn't it? But if dropping pounds were as straightforward as closing the kitchen after dinner, wouldn't we all be svelte? We'll explore why this rudimentary strategy is compelling yet challenging, and how setting concrete rules can be the unsung hero of long-term diet success. Say goodbye to the day-to-day struggle of calorie counting and hello to practical, actionable advice that could finally make your scale budge. Ready to fine-tune your food rules and embrace a simpler path to health? Tune in and transform your approach to eating.
Ever find yourself puzzled by the intermittent fasting craze and wonder if it's the golden key to your wellness goals? Join me, Rob Maxwell, as we dissect the truths and myths surrounding this trendy approach to eating. We're not just talking about skipping breakfast; we're scrutinizing the practice that has everyone from celebrities to your next-door neighbor raving. With a focus on the timing of meals, we sift through what's anecdotal and what's evidence-based, ensuring you're equipped with the knowledge to make an educated decision on whether to watch the clock at your next meal.
Now, let's confront the elephant in the room when it comes to dieting—eating less. It sounds simple, doesn't it? But if dropping pounds were as straightforward as closing the kitchen after dinner, wouldn't we all be svelte? We'll explore why this rudimentary strategy is compelling yet challenging, and how setting concrete rules can be the unsung hero of long-term diet success. Say goodbye to the day-to-day struggle of calorie counting and hello to practical, actionable advice that could finally make your scale budge. Ready to fine-tune your food rules and embrace a simpler path to health? Tune in and transform your approach to eating.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to. There is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell. I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I'm the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs. I've been in business since 1994.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the podcast all about health and fitness, where I cut through the myths, I cut through the BS and I tell you the truth. Today I'm going to talk to you about intermittent fasting. Let me give you the science on it, let me give you the real deal on it, and then you can decide for yourself. Before I get to that, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group at Realty Pros. They currently have over 280 five-star not four five-star reviews on Zillow. They are selling houses left and right because they're good. It's that simple. If you need help, give them a shout 386-451-2412.
Speaker 1:
So let's talk a little bit about intermittent fasting. It's all over the place these days. It must be the diet of the you know past two years or so. Um, I was doing the old scrolling thing on social media the other day I don't know if it was Instagram or Twitter and you, you know I never, ever leave doing that, feeling better than when I started. So why do I do it? I have no idea Probably should just check in on the things I want to and then leave it at that. But there was some person on there just like going just bananas over, like they wish somebody would have told them about it years ago, because since they've been doing it they needed to get off of all their medications and it solved this problem and it solved that problem and you know, I just uh, at least I just scrolled and kept going and I didn't like sit there and uh, you know, try to to argue with people that really don't know what they're doing but we're talking about so, but it does give me like information to talk to everybody about. And then, of course, I get clients that often ask me about it and, you know, good legitimate questions on to whether it not, whether or not it works or not. So it's all over the place. So let me first tell you what it is.
Speaker 1:
For those that don't know, intermittent fasting is simply a technique of only eating during certain periods of the day. So usually it's like a six hour feeding window in the day. So it could be anywhere from, say, like 10 to 4 is the most common one I've seen and so people don't eat before 10. They don't eat after 4. And that is a version of intermittent fasting. So the bottom line is they fast for more hours than they eat. There are different eating schedules, but that is the most common. All right, so why people done it?
Speaker 1:
So it really comes out of a couple of different camps. One of them was this old big wave surfer guy who's a real fit guy and he's a you know, you'd call him an influencer and he's got some pretty decent things that he talks about. But people started getting on the kick of doing it when he was talking about how beneficial it was for him, probably over 10 years ago. And you know it comes out of different camps of people trying to do different things to lose weight. But I'll tell you where it doesn't come out of it. It doesn't come out of like research studies on the best way to eat and the best way to lose weight. It doesn't come from there. So you know we have to keep in mind that what typically happens with things like this is it becomes popular for whatever reason. Typically a influencer does it, a marketing company does it, and then what we end up doing in the exercise science world is studying it afterwards to see if there's any feasibility to it, if there's any truth to it, so it doesn't come out of the, you know, the camps of research and what is necessarily best. So that's what it is.
Speaker 1:
What are the promises behind it? Well, the promises are, as I already alluded to, like people are saying they're losing weight, they're saying they're coming off their medications, they're saying that they're feeling so much better. Now, I mean I can't argue that if people are saying they're feeling better, if people are saying they're coming off their medications, I mean I guess they are, you know. Then we have to look at are they really like, or is that the real reason why these positive things are happening? Is this simply short-term benefits from trying something new? Is it BS? I mean we don't know. But does that mean it's good for everybody? Or the reasons behind it work? I mean those things we don't know. But that's like all the rage. That's why people are advocating for it, because some people are out there telling everybody it's the next best thing, right? It's the new sliced bread, it's the new diet of the month, right? So that's what is proposed.
Speaker 1:
Now let's take a look at what the hardcore research says. So it has been studied, now that it's been out long enough and again, we can't look at any. I mean, you can look at what you want, but hopefully you've learned that you really can't like look at research done from within, right? So if, if I don't even, it's really not even a company, now there are other people that have gotten behind it, so you really can't like look at the research, the claimed research, done by the superstars of the diet of the decade, which, again, this one appears to be, um, you know, the most popular thing going right now. I guess it's right up there with keto. They're like one and two as to who's pushing or who's getting the most push behind them. They're like one and two, I'd say intermittent fasting might have gone by it as far as popularity goes. But we always have to be careful from looking at the internal reviews on it, because I mean, naturally it's going to be careful from looking at the internal reviews on it because I mean, naturally it's going to be slanted a little bit. But when we look at the studies, the outside studies, that really don't have any skin in the game, they don't have a fighter in the ring, I mean it's just like, okay, let's, you know, let's see what's going on with this?
Speaker 1:
So what the research has stated is that the reason why, if weight is coming off is due to the fact, as usual, people are eating less. That's what the research states, and they've looked at it from all angles. In other words, they've looked at the same calorie diets, kilocalories that is always going to come back to that. So they've looked at the same diets, the same number of calories, where somebody's eating essentially the normal schedule of breakfast, lunch and dinner and then intermittent fasting, but they're eating the same amount of calories, which is reduced, and what they found is there's no difference in weight loss or other health benefits from either group. So the determination was well, yeah, I mean, once again, people have found a way, a trick, to eat less, so that's fine. I mean, if it's causing people to eat less so they lose weight, that's great, and that's what I get into in the method to the madness. So what is the method behind the madness? Are people losing weight? Some, but again, the research is very clear on this that they're not losing weight because of the timing. They're losing weight because they're tricking themselves, eating less than what they actually need.
Speaker 1:
This isn't a one-time study. There's been multiple studies done on intermittent fasting and calories. There's been studies done where both of them eat excess calories of what they need and both groups gain weight. They've done studies where both groups intermittent fasting, non-fasting ate the same amount of calories that they need, in other words, an equal amount. They maintain their weight. And again, the one I've already told you about they've done studies where both groups intermittent fasting and non-fasting groups ate a caloric deficit to lose weight and both lost weight. So they've in the same amount of weight. So no change. So it's not because of the meal timing that is causing them to lose weight. It's because they're creating a caloric deficit, which we've basically known forever.
Speaker 1:
Essentially, if we want to lose weight, we have to trick ourselves, if we're eating too much, to eat less calories. Plain and simple eat less food. So, along the same lines, there's been like fasting, cardio. There's been all these things that you may hear people talk about. Fasting cardio means oh, I'm going to lose more weight if I do my cardio, not eating it's that. That's not true either. I mean that can be good or it cannot be good. Meaning like, if you have blood sugar issues and you start to exercise on too low a blood sugar, you're going to feel pretty faint. So I mean, if you eat too much beforehand and exercise, then that's going to, you know, create a problem where you're going to feel maybe a little nauseous. So naturally there's a happy medium there. But again, there's a happy medium there, but again there's been no change as to whether or not you lose weight based on any system of meal timing.
Speaker 1:
Now, in my book, you can't outrun a poor diet. Hopefully you've read it. You better have read it if you want to lose weight. If you haven't, and you want to lose weight, well, I mean, what are you doing? Why haven't you read it? Because I give you all the tools, but that's one of the rules I talk about eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Why? Because it's magical? No, because it really forces people to eat less, and that's kind of what intermittent fasting is. So I'm not busting on it Like it's kind of the same thing. It's just a rule though, because let's say, you're doing the intermittent fasting thing and you've made your rule to not eat after four or before 10. Well, the before 10 is typically not an issue for people, because most people don't do their overeating in the morning, but the after four is. So if you've kind of made that a rule, then when you're craving those leftovers or snack at seven o'clock, eight o'clock at night, you're just not going to do it because you're following a rule. So it's very similar to my rule eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Because if you're eating your dinner and it's a rule, it's a personal rule which I believe in.
Speaker 1:
I believe in rules. I mean rules help us lose weight. We just have to understand the method behind the madness of the rule. But it's the same thing. If you said I'm not going to eat after dinner and I'm not going to eat seconds, you are essentially making a rule to where you don't overeat, because most people do their extra eating, their overeating, after dinner, either too big of a dinner or after dinner. That's when most people consume their most calories, whether it be junk food or alcohol. So that is the method to the madness behind it. So I don't have a problem with it.
Speaker 1:
If you say I'm doing this because it's just I need rules and I need rules to follow, great. But if you think there's something magic, if you're believing the BS, well, you know what can I tell you? I can just say you know what. I'll point you in the right direction of the studies and I'll show you what the real studies say and I'll show you how it says. Now, it's nothing magical about it.
Speaker 1:
You're just eating less, like every other diet that has been remotely successful over the past 200 years. You are finding a way to eat less. It's always going to come back to that. I hate to hate to be boring, you know. I wish there was this bigger mystery behind it, but you know what, like really almost all things, I can't think of anything in the health and fitness world where it's not true. It's just simply comes down to simple numbers, simple physics, simple chemistry comes down to that.
Speaker 1:
The hard part is doing it right. The diet is simple Eat less. The hard part is how am I going to eat less? So if you need the rules, great, then it's a great program for you. You know again, rules work. I like them. That's why I use my breakfast, lunch and dinner donating after dinner rule, because for most people it tends to really, really work. All right. Now let me thank Overhead Door of Daytona Beach, the area's best garage door company, owned by Jeff and his son, zach Hawk. You got personal ownership of the best company for garage doors with their product and their service, because you know what they go up and they go down if you need any assistance. A new garage door maintenance on.