It may sound unbelievable, but taking occasional breaks from your diet can actually help you lose excess weight. Not only can it contribute to overall weight loss, but it may also target abdominal fat — one of the most stubborn and harmful types of fat. Abdominal fat is particularly dangerous because it interferes with the body’s metabolism of sugars and fats in the blood.
A team of researchers in Australia found that intermittent energy restriction (alternating between dieting and eating freely) improved weight loss results in overweight individuals. In fact, participants who followed an intermittent diet lost more weight and body fat compared to those who maintained a continuous diet over 30 weeks.
If you're particularly interested in how this strategy applies to women, don't miss this detailed guide: Intermittent Fasting for Women: A Complete Guide.
How is this possible?
To understand this, we need to recognize how the body reacts to a calorie-restricted diet. When we begin dieting, the brain and fat tissue activate hormonal responses that treat the change as a disruption. One major response is a reduction in basal metabolic rate — the number of calories the body burns at rest.
Intermittent dieting helps prevent this slowdown. After about two weeks on a continuous diet, the body's metabolism typically starts to adjust by conserving energy. However, when the diet is periodically paused, the body doesn't fully adapt to the low-calorie state. As a result, basal metabolic rate remains higher, and the body continues burning more calories even during the dieting phase.
In other words, intermittent dieting keeps the body from getting "comfortable" with a lower caloric intake, thereby sustaining a higher metabolic rate.
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In the study, one group followed a consistent low-calorie diet for 30 weeks, while another group alternated 15 days of dieting with 15 days of normal eating. The results showed that the intermittent group lost an average of 8.1 kilograms more than the continuous dieting group over the same period.
This approach, known as intermittent dieting or intermittent energy restriction, is now gaining recognition from major health organizations, including Australia’s National Council for Health and Medical Research.
In conclusion: For more effective weight loss, it's beneficial to alternate between periods of calorie restriction and periods of normal eating. However, this strategy should always be practiced under the guidance of a qualified nutritionist.
Further Reading: Explore the Full Guide to Intermittent Fasting for Women →