{"id":69054,"date":"2022-06-21T07:11:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-21T11:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=69054"},"modified":"2022-06-22T10:23:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T14:23:41","slug":"fast-feast-repeat-gin-stephens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fast-feast-repeat-gin-stephens\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast. Feast. Repeat. by Gin Stephens: Book Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is Gin Stephens’s Fast. Feast. Repeat.<\/em> about? How does adopting intermittent fasting (IF) as a lifestyle help you improve your health<\/a>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast. Feast. Repeat. <\/em>is a practical self-help guide that explains intermittent fasting (IF) as a lifestyle and approach to overall well-being. Among other benefits, Gin Stephens argues that IF can help you lose weight, feel better, fight disease, and live longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a brief overview of Fast. Feast. Repeat.<\/em> by Gin Stephens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Intermittent Fasting Is a Way of Eating<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To start, we\u2019ll explain what intermittent fasting is and what it can do for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephens explains that intermittent fasting is simply a <\/strong>way of eating<\/em><\/strong>\u2014it\u2019s about changing <\/strong>how<\/em><\/strong> you eat<\/strong>. This distinguishes it from diets, which restrict what <\/em>you eat. For instance, keto is a diet since it has a yes\/no food list, while intermittent fasting doesn\u2019t require you to restrict what you eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: As another example of a \u201cway of eating\u201d versus a diet, consider the standard \u201cthree square meals\u201d pattern. It\u2019s a way of eating, not a diet, in that it prescribes three daily meals, spaced roughly equally throughout the day. It doesn\u2019t prescribe what<\/em> you can eat\u2014just when<\/em>. Using this standard pattern, you can follow many different diets\u2014keto, the standard American diet<\/a>, paleo, Atkins, and so on. The same is true for intermittent fasting.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do intermittent fasting, you simply cycle between periods of fasting and periods of \u201cfeasting\u201d or eating. Regular fasting yields benefits such as increased energy and fat loss, and the feasting periods allow you to eat without the stringent rules of a typical diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephens stresses that intermittent fasting is not a diet<\/strong>. Instead, IF will help you relearn to eat intuitively, enjoy special occasions without guilt, and achieve a healthy relationship with eating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fasting Is Superior to Dieting<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Fast. Feast. Repeat.<\/em>, Gin Stephens explains that when we eat, our blood glucose (blood sugar) levels increase. In response, our bodies release insulin, a hormone that stores excess glucose in the liver and muscles as glycogen. If any blood glucose remains after this step, insulin converts it into fat and stores it away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By storing this glucose-based energy, insulin lowers your blood glucose. When your blood sugar runs out and you need energy, the pancreas signals for your liver to release some of its stored glycogen to use as energy. When those glycogen stores run out, you enter the fasted state<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the fasted state, your body converts your fat stores into ketones, a fat-based energy source. Put another way, you\u2019ll burn your fat as fuel (a state called ketosis). We evolved to burn fat for energy when food was scarce, so you\u2019ll do so only after depleting your blood glucose and glycogen stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern Eating Habits Cause Weight Problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Stephens, the modern habit of eating continually causes high blood glucose levels\u2014that is, the body never gets a break from converting food into glucose. This leads to chronically high insulin levels, since insulin releases to store all that glucose. Since we\u2019re never out of glucose or glycogen, the body can\u2019t access its fat stores, burn them, and lose weight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In The Obesity Code<\/em><\/a>, Jason Fung argues along these lines in more detail. Continuing the \u201cwallet and bank\u201d metaphor, he argues that, as with money, we prefer to use our wallets (glycogen)\u2014and when we deplete them, we\u2019d rather fill them back up than get money from the bank (fat stores).  By eating without long breaks, you prevent your body from accessing fat stores, and at the same time you keep your insulin levels high, which promotes increased<\/em> storage of glucose as fat. In Fung\u2019s view, this leads to obesity.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dieting Doesn\u2019t Facilitate Sustainable Fat Loss<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Stephens explains that diets don\u2019t lower insulin levels enough to deplete your glycogen stores and start burning fat. This is because diets work on the logic of \u201ccalories in, calories out\u201d\u2014that is, eat less than you need and you\u2019ll lose weight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Fung agrees, and he argues that dieting doesn\u2019t lower insulin levels<\/a> because it doesn\u2019t address insulin resistance<\/a><\/em>. In short, chronically high insulin levels\u2014such as from constant eating\u2014cause your cells\u2019 insulin receptors to become insulin resistant: They need more stimulation (more insulin) for glucose to enter the cell. Eating less<\/em> doesn\u2019t solve this because any <\/em>eating stimulates the release of insulin. The solution, he asserts, is to regularly fast for 24 to 36 hours, since fasting gives your body extended time to break down insulin.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While dieting or eating less works temporarily, it also causes metabolic adaptation, a scenario wherein your metabolism slows down to deal with perceived starvation. It works like this: When you eat fewer calories<\/a> than you need to maintain your weight, your body thinks you\u2019re starving. Then, Stephens says, it makes three changes to handle the situation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n