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Confession: Throughout most of my adult life, I didn’t have to diet to maintain a healthy weight. I took for granted that I could eat what I wanted and still get into my size-eight jeans. Sure, I wouldn’t have minded shedding some vanity weight, but I was (mostly) happy with my body.
Then came menopause. A year in, I had gained seven pounds. Three years in, more than 20. Now it wasn’t a question of vanity but health, so I tried to lose weight. I counted calories. I cut carbs. I worked out more. I gave up (most) booze.
Nothing happened. After years of weighing in the 150s (I’m 5’9”), I was closing in on 180 pounds but couldn’t lose weight.
Finally, I decided to try a “16-8” intermittent fasting (IF) schedule, where you eat during an eight-hour window and fast the rest of the day. I was skeptical. Would it work?
The Skinny on IF
IF is not a “diet” per se, but rather a way of eating that’s easy for anyone to follow. And a slew of research proves that IF can spur weight loss, even during and after menopause, when shedding weight seems impossible. A 2022 review study found that following a 16/8 IF pattern led to both weight and fat loss in women over 40. Here’s the “skinny” on why IF may be the missing ingredient to your weight loss recipe.
IF works for midlife women for several reasons, says Jodie Needham, a personal trainer, nutritionist and public speaker who lives in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. First, IF typically reduces the number of calories you consume because you’re not eating the entire day. Just as important, when you fast for longer than 12 hours, your body begins to burn more fat as an energy source. “The body has three sources of energy — glucose [blood sugar], glycogen [stored sugar], and fat,” says Needham. “If you can deplete your body of sugar and glycogen, it will start to burn fat.”
Limiting your eating window also means you’re less likely to snack at night — and makes you more mindful about what you’re eating, and why. And all of this can add up to a slimmer waistline.
Types of IF
Three of the most popular forms of IF include:
16/8 (or 18/6 or 20/4) daily IF. You maintain an eating window of eight hours and fast the remainder of the time. OMAD (one meal a day) is a variation of this where you eat one meal and then fast until you eat your next meal the next day.
5/2 fasting. You eat normally five days a week and limit yourself to 500-600 calories two days a week.
24-hour (or longer) fasts. On a 24-hour fast, you don’t eat for an entire day and night — such as eating your last meal at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday and then eating again at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Weight Loss That Works
The 16/8 IF schedule works for Marissa*, 58, who gained a “ton” of weight during the pandemic. She had subscribed to the belief that small meals throughout the day were the best way to shed pounds. “Intermittent fasting was the exact opposite of everything I’d read, but I thought, ‘let me just try it and see,’” says Marissa, a writer who lives in Merrick, New Jersey. “At the very least, it will stop my nighttime munching.” She started with a 12/12 schedule, gradually extending her window to 16/8.
“I lost five pounds my first month! It wasn’t easy at first,” she says. “I was hungry at night, and I was hungry when I woke up, but my stomach and mind got trained not to be hungry.” She didn’t count calories but did increase her protein intake and continued her regular workout routine. She lost 50 pounds over the next year, which she has kept off.
Katie Modine, 46, is also a convert. “I tried a lot of things to lose weight and every time I did, I would lose weight and gain it back and more,” says Modine, a teacher in Lucas, Texas. She started IF in 2022, following a 16-8 schedule with an occasional 24-hour fast to jumpstart her weight loss when she hit a plateau. Modine lost 75 pounds over the next three years, dropping to 165 from 240 pounds — without suffering.
“I didn’t feel like I had to completely restrict myself and yet I was losing weight!” she says. “My energy was up, and I was more mindful about what I was putting into my body. IF helped me put myself in a really healthy mindset.”
Getting Started
Ready to try IF? Ease into it, says Needham. If you usually stop eating at 8 p.m. and eat breakfast at 6 a.m., you’re already fasting for 10 hours. Gradually start extending that fast by eating later in the morning and/or starting your fast earlier. Drink water, black coffee and tea during your fast to stay hydrated. During your eating window, aim to get at least 100 grams of protein to help retain your muscle, and include healthy fats and carbs (think more veggies and less pasta) to help keep you satiated.
I’m finding it is that easy! IF has made me more conscious about what I eat, broken my nighttime snacking habit, and is helping me (finally) start to trim my menopausal middle. Five weeks in, and I’m down six pounds — and better still, I don’t feel deprived.
It turns out that there may be a “fast” way to lose weight after all.
*Name changed by request.
If you are trying to lose weight and have any questions or concerns, please consult with your doctor.
Have any of you tried IF? How did it go? Let us know in the comments below.
Xaviera Altena
Follow Article Topics: Weight-Loss