Fasting is probably the simplest and easiest way for me to eat, or NOT eat for that matter.
Fasting has become mainstream and now people are starting to get confused because everybody and their brother is coming out with their own way of fasting.
So in today’s video, I interrogate one of the true pioneers of the Intermittent Fasting movement, my good friend Brad Pilon.
And we talk about the differences between two popular types of fasting – the “16-8” and the 24-hour intermittent fasting schedule…
12 thoughts on “16-8 vs. 24-Hour Intermittent Fasting: Brad Pilon Interview Part 1”
This is the first ive heard about the intemittent fasting. Interesting. Cant wait to hear more!
Hi Chris,
I’m sure you are aware of some of the reports going around on IF among women with the results being kind of a mixed bag, and negative articles among fit women in the industry like Lauren Brooks and a few others. I was wondering…does your wife use intermittent fasting as a tool also? I’ve managed a couple of fasts but they were pretty brutal and I’m not a crybaby about these things. I really want it to work for me.
Hi Tina,
This is Rozanne, Chris’ wife. I wanted to let you know that I have been doing IF for about 5 years now. I did stop during pregnancy and when breastmilk was the primary source of nourishment for the baby.
In all honesty, it was very difficult at first. It took a few months before it was fully incorporated into my lifestyle without it being much of a struggle. You don’t realize how preoccupied you become with what you will be eating next until you start IF and how much, as a society, we are bombarded with images of food.
Before IF, it was difficult for me to maintain my ideal weight even with exercise and eating a balanced diet. I was always yo-yoing around the big holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas. And then there was always the mad rush to lose weight just before the big trip to that beach getaway. Now I am able to maintain my ideal weight while still enjoying REAL food (I bake bread and other yummy treats almost every day). Of course, I still maintain a very active lifestyle at the same time.
The details: I fast once a week. Lunch to lunch most days but depending on our schedule, sometimes it’s dinner to dinner. The day used to be standard i.e. Wednesdays (it’s our busiest day – it’s our homeschool group field trip day – and I am normally too busy counting kids to worry about food). Now during the summer, I pick the busiest day of the week when food won’t be a preoccupation. I have my coffee or tea and water all day long. Chris and I normally schedule our fast days on the same day to make life easier and less tempting for the other person.
Because we’ve done this for so long, and the fact that it’s a part of our lifestyle, our kids, extended family, and friends are all aware of it and help support us by hiding the snacks if we are visiting or delay meals until it’s time to break our fast.
What I love most is that the pressure is off for the rest of the week to watch everything that I put into my mouth. IF is truly for those of us who are too busy to care about every little calorie or don’t want to care because there are more important things in life to enjoy like a freshly-baked pain au chocolat!
Hope this helps and good luck,
Rozanne
Yes!!! Rozanne, I so appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to help. It is really reassuring to know that IF does work for some women & therefore may work for me. Thank you so much!
Unfortunately, I can’t just use IF to maintain–I have approx. 40-50 lbs to lose before I get there. I have lost and regained about 25 lbs of the above mentioned blubber of pregnancy weight from 9 yrs. ago a couple of times, but never got down to pre-preg weight. So, I guess that means that I will need to IF 2 days per wk. for awhile. I went from looking like 30 yr. old at 40 and eating whatever I wanted with minimal exercise (I lifted heavy things at work as a nurse), to looking older than my age and def. having to try to find a way of eating that works after pregnancy.
I especially appreciate the details you gave. I understand pretty well the science behind IF, but it’s nice to know the nuts & bolts of how it can work. I think my biggest obstacle is that coffee without cream kind of takes a bit of joy out of my day–it’s what gets me up in the morning and is like medication for my ADD (without coffee, I’m really just a tall 2-yr.-old…Bill Murray). Do you drink your coffee black on IF days? I suppose a shot of cream does negate a fast ;~).
Also, I was kind of glad to hear Chris say that he also gets sleepy after eating no matter if his meal is a low carb/protein meal or higher carb one. Same here! I had attributed it more to my letting things slide nutritionally and exercise wise, but that may not totally be the case. I’m wondering if I might do better having a daily morning fast and a late afternoon to evening window to eat. I just know that if it gets too complicated or I have to think about food too much, I fall of the wagon pretty quickly.
I’m excited to get started. Thanks for being a great inspiration!
I fast about once a week usually between 16 hours to 21 hours. I have
never done a full 24 hour fast and i find it hard to not eat. I am
pretty sure i read that Brad wrote somewhere that you can still get the
metabolic effects – lower insulin and greater insulin sensitivity,
increased growth hormones etc – from doing a minimum 16 hour fast and i
would love to know if this is correct.
thanks for the info as i
love to know as much as i can about it as i do seem to mange my weight
by doing this, but not sure how good it is for me as by a certain time i
seem to get quite edgy and can only do it on days i can keep busy.
looking forward to the rest of the interview.
Depending on the size of your last meal, everything starts to ‘ramp up’ around the 8-10 hour mark, and proceeds until it levels off around the 22-26 hour mark. So yes, 16-21 would still be beneficial.
Does this mean that fasting for over 26 hours isnt really any more beneficial than under 26 hours? I know this message is 2 years too late but I’m hoping somebody is still watching haha
Hey Charlie, according to the research, yes. And, as Brad said, you get all the benefits of a 24h fast in 18hrs.