Intermittent Fasting vs. Frequent Eating

Intermittent Fasting has been a popular method of increasing lean body mass while decreasing body fat while the method of eating 5-6 small and frequent meals per day is also popular but there is much controversy on which method is best for fat loss and just leaning out overall. I want to compare the benefits of each side of them to give a clearer idea of why each way could be both good and bad. Depending on your needs, it could also show which route might be best.

In order to benefit from intermittent fasting, you'd need to do it for a consistently cycled period of time. If you do it too much, then you face muscle loss and a slowed metabolism. The main outlined benefits of intermittent fasting are insulin level reduction and increased glucagon production. 

I've tried this a few times just to see what would happen, and I took away some positive notes. I felt a lot more aware of my body. What might be mistaken for hunger is often just stomach rumbling. I never actually felt truly hungry too many times. Hunger pangs only lasted about 5-10 minutes or so and they didn't return until several hours later. Contrary to belief, I figured out I'm actually just fine going 18-24 hours without food. I didn't feel too weak until I started running. That was a major downside to the experience. I wouldn't recommend working out until AFTER you have broken your fast, but that wasn't an option for me. 

As for frequently eating throughout the day, meals are best to be consistently paced through the day with a moderate amount of food in each meal. Main benefits are well, you get to eat constantly and who wouldn't want that? The goals would be to keep blood sugar stabalized.

Some things I experienced with frequent eating was that I was pretty hungry all the time even though I was constantly eating. Small meals eaten throughout the day digest fairly quickly, I felt more full when I took in a majority of my calories with one larger meal and a few snacks (which is what I normally do if I'm not using myself as an experiment) Another thing I noticed was that I was always thinking about food. "What am I going to have?" and  "When can I eat next?" were frequent thoughts I had. Another positive thing I noticed was that I was always energized for my workouts.

Both methods have benefits and some negative aspects but in the end it's really just whatever you prefer and whatever works best in your everyday schedule. (437)