---
title: 'INTERMITTENT FASTING 101 | a beginner''s guide'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=jszrZ_BF7xQ'
video_id: 'jszrZ_BF7xQ'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 701
---

# INTERMITTENT FASTING 101 | a beginner's guide

> Source: [INTERMITTENT FASTING 101 | a beginner's guide](https://youtube.com/watch?v=jszrZ_BF7xQ)

## Summary

Intermittent fasting (IF) is a time-restricted eating pattern where you consume all meals within a specific daily window and fast for the remaining hours. It's not about eating less, but eating less often, and it can support weight loss and various health benefits like improved insulin sensitivity, autophagy, and gut health. This beginner's guide covers the basics, including what you can consume during a fast, recommended fasting windows, and tips for making fasting easier.

### Key Points

- **Definition of Intermittent Fasting** [00:34] — IF is when you eat meals within a specific time window and fast the rest of the day, consuming no calories during the fast.
- **IF vs. Caloric Restriction** [00:55] — IF is not about eating less, but eating less often; it's not a diet but focuses on the eating window.
- **Health Benefit: Lower Insulin** [01:54] — Lower insulin levels allow the body to access fat stores for energy (lipolysis).
- **Health Benefit: Increased Growth Hormone** [02:52] — Growth hormone supports skeletal muscle, important for metabolism and longevity.
- **Health Benefit: Autophagy** [03:20] — Autophagy is a cellular cleanup process that requires 14–17 hours of fasting.
- **Health Benefit: Gut Health** [03:56] — Fasting activates the migrating motor complex, which pushes out undigested food and bacteria.
- **What Breaks a Fast** [04:37] — For strict fasting (autophagy/gut health): water, sparkling water, black tea, black coffee, electrolytes. For weight loss (dirty fast): small amounts of heavy cream, MCT oil, stevia.
- **Supplements That Break a Fast** [04:46] — Creatine, collagen, and protein powders break a fast.
- **Recommended Fasting Window** [08:15] — Beginners should aim for 12–16 hours, gradually increasing. Include sleep hours to make it easier.
- **Food Tips for Easier Fasting** [09:52] — Eat blood sugar–balancing meals (protein, fiber, healthy fats) to make fasting easier.

## Transcript

so many of you have asked me to share a
video on intermittent fasting so that's
exactly what I'm going to do today think
of this as a beginner's guide we are
going to cover the basics and I'm going
to do my best to really try to simplify
the concept and the process now if you
don't know me my name is Danny Spees I'm
a Health weight and wellness coach and I
love helping people make healthy eating
easy doable and delicious and before I
jump in I'd like to thank element for
sponsoring this video and I plan to
share more on them in a bit so what is
intermittent fasting also known as Tim
restricted eating intermittent fasting
is just that it's when you choose to eat
your meals within a specific time window
throughout the day and then for the rest
of the day you are not eating at all so
you're not consuming any type of
calories or any type of energy which is
why we call it fasting now intermittent
fasting is not a form of caloric
restriction in the sense that it's not
about eating less it's simply about
eating less often although I will say
for many people it does result in eating
less simply because when you restrict
the amount of hours within the day that
you can consume food kind of natural
byproduct for many people is that they
consume less food but not true for
everybody and technically intermittent
fasting is also not a diet because again
the focus is on the eating window not so
much the food but I do think it's
important to note that the type of food
you eat can make your fast feel easier
or more difficult and that's something
I'm going to talk more about later in
the video so why fast there are two main
reasons that people choose to experiment
with intermittent fasting the first is
weight loss and the second is simply to
reap the health benefits that are
associated with intermittent fasting so
let's chat about what some of those are
the very first one is that it lowers
insulin levels now if you're not
familiar with insulin it is sometimes
called called the transport hormone and
that is because whenever you eat
anything your blood sugar Rises also
known as glucose when you have glucose
in the blood insulin is released to
transport that glucose or that blood
sugar to the liver to the muscles then
eventually to Fat stores now when
insulin levels are elevated fat burning
or the process called lipolysis is
turned off this is why insulin is also
known as the storage hormone because
when insulin is elevated the body does
not have the ability to access fat
stores for energy but when insulin
levels are lower which happens when we
are fasted the body then can access its
own fat stores to use for fuel and this
is why a lot of people like to use
intermittent fasting as a tool to
support their weight loss goals another
health benefit is an increase in growth
hormone Now growth hormones help to
support skeletal muscle and as many many
of us know as we become older wiser and
more fabulous um maintaining healthy
skeletal muscle is very important for
good health and for longevity and it can
also really support weight loss goals
because the more lean muscle mass you
have on your body the more calories the
more energy your body is going to burn
another incredible benefit of
intermittent fasting is a process called
autophagy autophagy is a cellular
process where the cells are able to
break down and recycle their own damaged
components which allows them to get rid
of any debris and maintain cellular
health and cellular function this plays
a crucial role in overall health
protecting against diseases and
supporting longevity but do keep in mind
that in order to reap the rewards of
autophagy you need to be fasted
somewhere between 14 and 17 hours
depending on which expert you follow
another benefit is gut health fasting
allows your body to turn on a gut
cleansing process called the migrating
Motor complex now this is a pattern of
rhythmic contractions in both the small
intestines and the stomach that allows
the system to push out undigested food
and bacteria and this keeps your gut
feeling very happy and healthy fasting
is also associated with lower
inflammation in the body improved heart
health and improved brain health so
clearly there are a lot of good reasons
to experiment with intermittent fasting
should you feel intrigued to give it a
try Okay so we're going to talk about
fasting windows in just a minute but
first I want to talk about what you can
and cannot consume when you are fasting
because this is a question I get a lot
and here's the deal it really depends
what your intention is when you are
fasting but quick side note I can tell
you for sure no matter what your
intention is creatine collagen and
protein powders will absolutely break
your fast that is a question many of you
have asked me before because sometimes I
put those ingredients in my coffee now
here's the deal if you are using
intermittent fasting for weight loss
many would argue that you could do
something called a dirty fast and what
that means is that when you're having
coffee or tea in the morning that you
can add a little bit of heavy cream of
coconut cream of MCT oil and when I say
a little bit I mean about a tablespoon
okay and then for sweetener many would
also say that you could do a little bit
of stevia because Stevia does not affect
blood sugar the way other sweeteners do
and the theory here is is that the fat
and the little bit of sweetness is not
enough to actually raise insulin levels
therefore it does not interrupt the fat
burning process but technically the term
fasting means zero calories which means
you would not take anything in that had
any calories at all and this is
specifically true if you're looking to
reap the rewards of gut health Andor of
autophagy in which case what you are
able to consume and still be in a fasted
state would be water sparkling water
black tea black coffee and or
electrolytes which brings me to today's
sponsor element element is an amazing
zero sugar highquality electrolyte
company that can enhance your daily diet
especially if you are fasting or even if
you're simply somebody who likes to
focus on eating a diet of real Whole
Foods with minimal processed foods like
myself it contains a science-backed
electrolyte balance of sodium magnesium
and pottassium that help to replace and
balance out electrolyte levels in the
body now a lot of people don't realize
that very clear signs of electrolyte IM
balances include headaches muscle cramps
fatigue and sleeplessness specifically
in this very hot weather I know here in
New Jersey it's well over 90° and
personally I feel such a huge difference
in both my energy levels and my feeling
of hydration when I drink element it is
just not the same when I drink regular
plain water I literally like crazy I
look forward to drinking it every single
day now if you were going to drink
electrolytes during your fasting window
but you wanted to be really careful or
really strict then you might want to
choose the raw unflavored element
packets but I also know that a lot of
people will still drink the flavored
packets when they are fasting myself
included and while I don't fast every
day my husband does and he always drinks
the uh flavored packets so ultimately
that's a decision that you can make for
yourself now personally I love the mango
chili J and I love the raspberry salt my
husband he's an orange salt and a citrus
guy but they have so many flavors to
choose from including a chocolate Salt a
watermelon salt a grape food Salt so
many good ones and right now element is
offering everybody in the clean and
delicious Community a free sample pack
with any order that's eight single serve
packets with any element order which is
a great way to test out all eight
flavors so you can get yours at drink
element.com
any speed this is only available with my
link so you want to visit d r i n k l m
nt.com back/ d n i s p i s and I'm also
going to leave the link for you down in
the description box below so how long
should you fast for there are different
fasting Windows within a
24-hour period usually you will see
people fasting anywhere between 12 to 22
hours but technically any period of time
when you're not eating is considered a f
so sometimes we have to just like look
where we are and then build upon there
often what you will see and I feel like
what most experts are recommending to
the average person who is new to
intermittent fasting is to aim somewhere
between 12 and 16 hours so what you
would want to do is work your way up to
12 and then slowly but surely add an
extra hour until you can comfortably get
to 16 hours or comfortably get to
whatever fasting window feels like the
right balance for you and the easiest
way to determine your fasting window is
to think about what time you like to eat
your last meal in the day and then work
backwards so if you like to eat dinner
at 700 p.m. then you would not eat again
until 700 a.m. the next day and then if
desired you can slowly build from there
maybe the next day you wait till 8: and
then a few days later you go till 9:00
and eventually you get to 10:00 but I
will tell you this Pro tip no matter
what you do always include your sleeping
hours in your fast time because that's
going to make fasting a whole lot easier
and the last piece I want to talk about
is food while intermittent fasting is
not a diet and is technically not
focused on the food but rather the hours
in the day when you are not eating food
I do think it's important to note that
the types of meals you eat within your
eating window can affect how easy or
difficult your fast is going to feel
ultimately the name of the game is to
eat blood sugar balancing meals meaning
you want to eat meals that are rich in
protein fiber and healthy fats and you
want to minimize highly processed
flowers and highly processed sugars or
really any type of food that's going to
create a big spike in your blood sugar
so good quality sources of protein
plenty of vegetables fresh fruits
healthy fats like nut seeds and avocados
and then of course whole grains based
around how you feel and your activity
levels and quite honestly this really
isn't different than any healthy dietary
approach right if you look at all of the
different dietary approaches in the
world and you look at the through line
they're all kind of saying the same
thing at the base right let's focus on
real Whole Foods as close to their
natural POS State as possible most of
the time prioritizing protein fiber and
healthy fats and if you need some help
or a little bit of inspiration with food
or recipes or cooking I have hundreds of
easy healthy delicious recipes for you
right here on clean and delicious and I
will also say as this is a kind of a toe
in-the water beginner's guide that if
this is speaking to you and it's
something you feel like you want to
experiment with
but you're not sure if it's the right
decision for you you may just want to
consult with your healthcare provider
just to get the extra support and
guidance that you may be needing okay
now as always I am so curious to hear
from you all do you fast are you
considering fasting do you have any tips
or insights to add to the content that
I've just shared I'd love to hear
literally anything you can add to the
conversation if you can come on down to
the comment section below this way we
can all continue to support each other
as we learn and grow thank you all so
much for watching I'm Danny Spees and I
will see you back here next time with
some more clean and deliciousness cheers