“I followed it because I was told I would be healthy and lose weight, but instead, I gained weight.”
Mr. A, an office worker in his 40s, complained that he had gained weight despite practicing ‘intermittent fasting.’ The method he chose was the 16:8 fasting method. Even though I skipped breakfast for a week and fasted for 16 hours, I gained about 700g.
Of course, the weight did not increase much. However, despite controlling my diet, I am still gaining weight and it is frustrating. Mr. A said, “I used to eat things like boiled eggs or sweet potatoes in the morning, but I held back even though I was hungry to maintain an empty stomach.” He asked, “Even if I don’t lose a lot of weight right away, I need to maintain it.”
In fact, there are quite a few people like Mr. A who tried intermittent fasting but did not see any results. What is the reason?
Intermittent fasting for health and diet at the same time
Intermittent fasting is maintaining a certain level of ‘hunger’ every day by repeating eating and fasting. Representative examples include the 16:8 fasting method and the 5:2 fasting method. The 16:8 fasting method involves fasting for 16 hours without eating either breakfast or dinner. The 5:2 fasting method involves eating for five days a week and fasting for two days.
Some experts claim that the time we go without food slows down aging and improves our health. The explanation is that in a fasting state, a physiological activity occurs that removes damaged proteins within cells. Also, the habit of maintaining an empty stomach suppresses inflammation and stably improves blood sugar levels. However, depending on the individual’s health, it may have adverse effects, so if you have an underlying disease, you must consult a specialist.
If you skip meals, your reward mentality increases.…Main causes of diet failure
It is common for people to gain weight despite intermittent fasting. This is because when you skip a meal, a reward mentality kicks in. After starving for one meal, you are more likely to choose sweeter, saltier, and higher-calorie foods when you have the opportunity to eat. When we eat such high-calorie foods all at once, our bodies easily store them as fat.
Also, if you skip meals, you lose muscle mass and lower your basal metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate is the basic energy needed for the brain and organs to function even if a person does not do any activity. In short, a high basal metabolic rate means that even if you are less active and eat a lot, the amount of calories stored as fat in your body decreases. On the other hand, if your basal metabolic rate is low, you easily gain weight even if you eat the same amount of food.
Oh Sang-woo, a professor of family medicine at Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, said, “If you practice various diet methods on the Internet, most of them are successful at first. However, over time, more than 80-90% of the weight comes back.” He went on to advise, “You should be careful about diets that involve skipping meals, such as intermittent fasting. If you skip meals, you are more likely to crave sweeter, saltier, and fatty foods. Eating three meals can actually be effective in losing weight.”
