Take a break

Intermittent fasting is a healthy way to lose weight. Here’s the lowdown

- KIM ABRAHAMS

IT’S an effective way to lose weight, lowers your risk of heart disease, slows ageing and helps you sleep better. The basic idea is simple: you eat only during a specified meal window and fast the rest of the time.

But is intermittent fasting really everything it’s cracked up to be?

It’s been so beneficial for IT specialist Clint Abrahams that he’s still doing it after starting almost two years ago.

“The weight loss and extra energy are obviously great but the results on my general wellbeing are unprecedented,” says the 32-year-old Capetonian, who’s lost 22kg since starting the popular eating plan in 2018. “I’m happier.”

Intermittent fasting has curbed Clint’s craving for junk food, fizzy drinks and alcohol.

“At first I’d eat a lot of bad things in my meal window. But with time came discipline and education about what foods I should be eating.”

He admits he struggled when he first started out, as he had to unlearn years of bad eating habits.

“The first two weeks are pure hell because you’re just so hungry all the time,” he says. “I used to get sugar withdrawal, so I had to deal with major headaches.”

He also had to break his lifelong routine of eating breakfast – a process he describes as a “mental slog”.

Clint, who works for a cybersecurity company, fasts every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and has a cheat day on either Saturday or Sunday.

“I eat my first meal of the day at 1 pm and my last before 8 pm,” he says. “So essentially, it’s lunch and dinner.