Overcoming 8 Silly Objections to Fasting

Nobody bats an eye when you stuff your face with junk food all day. But the minute you tell someone you’re fasting you’re met with so many objections. 

“Fasting is nothing more than being in a calorie deficit.”

“It’s just a fad diet.”

“Women shouldn’t fast.”

I anticipated having to answer to concerned family and friends about my new lifestyle.

Will they think I have an eating disorder? Or that I’m starving myself?

I wanted to be able to confidently explain that what I was doing was healthy. So I looked into it and–it checks out. 

Let’s address some of the common objections to fasting and if there’s any legitimacy to them. 

1. “Not healthy” or “Dangerous”

This is such a common objection to fasting. But fasting is healthy for many reasons. I have detailed the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits in a previous post. Click HERE to read it.

As far as fasting being dangerous, there was a man who fasted for an entire year. In 1965, Angus Barbieri did not eat food for 382 days. 

He lost a total of 276 pounds, and was able to maintain it after he started eating again. His starting weight was 456 pounds.

He survived on vitamins and minerals, and drank coffee and sparkling water. 

He also had no loose skin after this significant weight loss. This is what really drew me to start fasting postpartum. I have a post about tightening loose skin on your mommy tummy if you’re also interested. Check it out HERE.

He said he had forgotten what food tasted like, and he broke his fast with a boiled egg and butter toast that filled him up.

He was monitored for the duration of this fast, and the doctors concluded that he had no ill effects from fasting this long.

There are also biblical examples of Jesus and Moses fasting for 40 days, as well as others fasting for shorter periods. 

Kevin James (the actor from King of Queens, Mall Cop, etc.) was on Joe Rogan talking about a 41 day fast where he lost 60 pounds. 

If Angus Barbieri can fast for 382 days, Kevin James for 41 days, and Moses for 40 days–it is not dangerous for you to skip breakfast.

2. “Fasting is for those who don’t have access to food.”

This is called hunger, not fasting. 

Before the existence of grocery stores and fast food being at every street corner, people had to work for their food. They had gardens or farms and often hunted for their meat. 

We’ve systematized our food now where all we have to do is go pick it up (or have it delivered) and we can eat it immediately. We don’t have to harvest anything, hunt anything, have our own farm animals, etc. We don’t even have to cook thanks to fast food. 

Modern conveniences are amazing, but they are often to our own detriment. We are so disconnected from our food because of this. Fasting is a great way to get that connection back, along with cooking your own food. 

Food is so much more enjoyable when you aren’t eating it all day long. It will also make you more intentional about what you’re eating as your body will crave nutritious food.

You won’t be willing to eat just anything if it’s your only meal for the day. 

3. The “Women shouldn’t fast.” and “Adrenal Fatigue” Objection

I put these objection to fasting together because the reason people think women shouldn’t fast is because of hormones. They believe the adrenals will be overworked. Your adrenals produce hormones that regulate your metabolism, immune system, and your response to stress. 

People who believe this think that fasting is bad for women because it is a stress to the body. Exercise is also a stress to the body, but a healthy one. 

Just like how exercise is a positive stress on our body, so is fasting. It actually helps you handle stress better (which I detailed in the physical and mental benefits sections of a previous post HERE).

While I agree that women and men are different and have different needs (hello, one of us creates humans in our bodies)–I disagree that women shouldn’t fast. 

There was a study during Ramadan that showed hormones improved while fasting. Ramadan is a 30-day period where Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset. They don’t eat or drink during this time. Check out the study here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3748544

4. “Fasting is the same as being in a calorie deficit.”

This objection to fasting is the one that gets the most attention. Those who believe this don’t understand how fasting works. Let’s talk about some of the differences.

Calorie restriction doesn’t give your digestive system the break that fasting does. It does not provide any of the same benefits listed here. Most people promoting calorie deficit diets want you to eat 4-6x a day. 

Limiting your calorie intake doesn’t improve your insulin resistance. Insulin is called the fat storage hormone. Eating 4-6x a day will make your pancreas release insulin more often, which will keep you from losing weight.

Your body adjusts how much energy it burns based on how much you eat. So if you eat less, you’re going to burn less. Which defeats the purpose of eating fewer calories (and portion control) in general. 

Being in a calorie deficit doesn’t make you burn fat for fuel (ketosis) unless you’re eating keto with it–but fasting does. 

From a spiritual perspective, the Bible doesn’t instruct us to eat less in a day–it instructs us to fast.

I understand that people have lost weight by counting calories and eating less. Of course if you eat less bad food it will give you better results.

My point here is that lowering your caloric intake is not the same thing as fasting. Yes, you are not eating any calories in your fasting window, but it’s not the same as simply eating less.

5. “Fasting is a fad diet.”

Fasting is not a diet at all. It tells you when to eat, not what to eat. It has been around since biblical times, so that eliminates the possibility of it being a “fad.”

6. “I could never fast, I would be hangry.”

There is a simple solution to this objection to fasting, thankfully!

When you fast, leptin goes down. Leptin is the hormone that sends messages that you’re hungry. So fasting is easier than you’d think!

Something else that causes hunger is spiking your blood sugar level and then not eating enough. For instance, if you break your fast with a sugary drink but then don’t eat food–you will get hungry. 

The same goes for eating a small meal. If you break your fast and only eat a little bit, you will get hungry in a couple hours. Your body is looking for a fuel source, and you didn’t give it enough. 

When you fast and your body is adapted to burning fat for energy instead of glycogen, you will not get hungry. It will be seamless once you’re used to it.

7. “You’ll lose muscle.” or “You won’t get enough protein.”

Your body is protein sparing while fasting, meaning it won’t break down muscle. If you have fat, it will break that down to use as fuel, not muscles. 

Human growth hormone (HGH) increases when you fast. HGH helps us build bones and muscles. 

My personal experience has been an increase in muscle while fasting. I did a 6 week challenge at a local supplement store. The challenge was to lose the most body fat percentage in those 6 weeks. We did an InBody scan to track this. The scan showed that I gained muscle and lost weight while fasting.

If you’re curious about the challenge results, I tied the winner for the most BF% lost–but they gave the money to the person I tied. She spent a fortune on supplements there, and I didn’t take any supplements. 

I was strict with my diet, but I did not count calories or macros. And I worked out for 20 minutes, at least 4 times a week.

I’ll go into greater detail about what I did in another post, but the point is you can gain muscle while losing weight with fasting.

8. “I don’t have enough willpower.”

There is a book I highly recommend called Willpower Doesn’t Work by psychologist Dr. Benjamin Hardy. If you’re waiting until you’re motivated enough, you’ll never do it. This applies to more than just fasting.

In the book he talks about how you need to alter your surroundings to make it easier to succeed. When you’re going on a diet, you don’t buy junk food at the grocery store. Putting your favorite sweets in front of your face makes it nearly impossible to succeed.

So if you want to fast, create an environment that makes it easier to fast. Have something you want to work on without interruption. Don’t meet your friends at a restaurant during your fasting window. 

Willpower is also like a muscle. Working out is painful at first, but then you get used to it and it becomes enjoyable. On the other hand, you can burn out if you’re relying on those muscles to sustain you all day. 

Just like you can’t work out for 12 hours straight without succumbing to exhaustion, you can’t rely on your willpower muscle to sustain you. This is why setting up your environment is so important.

I’m betting you probably don’t want to get out of bed early in the morning to go to work when you are sleeping so well and the bed is warm and cozy. So what gets you out of bed and to work? You probably aren’t relying on willpower. 

You have created a habit and an environment that allows you to succeed in getting up each morning to get to work. You have an alarm clock, work clothes, a morning routine, a car to get you there. All of this is part of the environment you’ve set up for yourself. 

Having a house to pay for, a family to feed–these are also things in your environment that make it easier to get up and get to work everyday. Knowing your why is more important than willpower.

One thought that really helped me get through fasting is that hunger isn’t an emergency. Gin Stephens always says this. If you find that you’re out of willpower, just remind yourself–

Hunger isn’t an emergency.

My Experience with Fasting

Fasting helped me lose 50lbs. I did not follow a strict diet routine until after I lost about 40lbs. I did change other habits, so it wasn’t just fasting that helped me with the weight loss. However, it was a huge part of it and why I was successful. 

One of my favorite benefits is that it was so convenient not worrying about what I would eat all the time. How many times have you heard that you need to eat 4-6x each day and meal prep to lose weight? This is just not sustainable for me. 

So if you’re lazy like me and want to make life easier, start fasting! It’s so freeing not having to worry about food all the time. 

The mental clarity fasting gives me makes me not want to eat. I enjoy fasting more. I have so much energy all day. 

When I first started fasting, I would get really tired after I ate that first meal. Even if it wasn’t that big of a meal, I felt like I just ate Thanksgiving dinner after. Thankfully this goes away as your body adjusts to this new lifestyle.

The weight loss at the end of each week also solidified the feeling of enjoying fasting more.

Before my own experience, I only knew about the physical and mental benefits of fasting. Fasting made me feel high on life. I always attributed this feeling to fasting. This made me realize the spiritual aspect of fasting.

Have you ever been so overwhelmed with joy it makes you want to cry? That feeling after meeting your baby for the first time after labor, when you’re just overcome with emotion and you’re so happy. 

I would get like this while fasting. Maybe not quite this magnified–but similar. I would be at work and just be thinking about all my blessings in this life and how grateful I am and start tearing up! It’s wild. But it’s an amazing feeling to be this happy. 

If you think eating food brings your joy, the joy that fasting brings is incomparable.

I also got pregnant the first time we tried when I was fasting regularly. This happened with two different pregnancies where I got pregnant the first month we tried. It took me 6 months with my first baby when I wasn’t fasting yet.

Friends and others in groups I’m in have similar experiences, even if they were having trouble getting pregnant. They start fasting and get pregnant. I believe the reason for this is the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits combined. 

Maybe something going on in your body was physically blocking your ability to get pregnant, and fasting cleared it up. 

Maybe the stress resistance fasting provides helps you to not be stressed about trying to get pregnant, which makes it easier to happen.

Biblically speaking, fasting is a way to humble yourself before the Lord. Maybe this is what ultimately gives you the baby you’re yearning for.

I believe it’s a combination of all of this for why fasting makes it easier to get pregnant for so many.

Fasting has changed my life. 

If you are fasting and being met with objections from well-meaning family or friends, or maybe you’ve been wanting to start fasting but had concerns–I hope this left you feeling confident. 

Also, there’s no need to argue with anyone. Sometimes people either don’t want to hear anything you say or they simply can’t understand. Proverbs 26:4-5 is a good reminder for this.

Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are. Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.

Proverbs 26:4-5

Thanks for reading! 

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