Not So Fast!!!
Someone posted a video about fasting on a message board that I frequent. The basic gist of the video was that fasting works for weight loss, NOT eating less. The video resulted in a spate of people commenting in agreement with the efficacy of fasting and idiocy of calorie restriction.
The idea that weight loss isn’t about calories in-calories out (CICO) is something that’s been gaining traction throughout the years with the popularity of fasting in general and intermittent fasting in particular. The weight loss success stories of many fasters who weren’t as successful when it came to counting calories are mainly why there’s now this growing idea that weight loss is all about fasting and has nothing to do with calorie intake.
That’s wrong.
Having to enter a calorie deficit to lose weight is an irrefutable fact. It’s the first law of thermodynamics, which governs the use of energy. Because calories are nothing but units of energy, the law also governs them as well.
With that said, however, a calorie deficit is not the sole arbiter of weight loss. Hormones and gut flora, for example, also play a significant role in weight management. But a negative energy balance (i.e. calorie deficit) is central to weight loss, for nothing will happen if, for example, your thyroid is properly functioning to produce T3 and T4 hormones but your calorie intake is placing you in a positive energy balance.
Those who are intermittent fasting and finding success with that eating approach are doing so mainly because, unbeknownst to them, they’re in a caloric deficit, as they’re taking in less calories than they normally would due to the limited eating opportunities.1Research shows that people eat 300 to 500 fewer calories per day when they restrict themselves to an 8-hour window even though they’re not intentionally doing so by calorie counting.
That’s not arguable.
