When it comes to losing body fat, two popular approaches often spark debate: intermittent fasting vs calorie deficit.
Just like many people, I was confused about which approach might work best for my lifestyle and goals.
But here’s the interesting part – these methods aren’t necessarily competing approaches. In fact, understanding how each works can help you make the best choice.
Welcome to Her Fit Diary, where we spill the health tea. This article will show how each method affects your body, and tell you which is best.
What is Intermittent Fasting and How it Works
Unlike calorie deficit that just cuts calories, intermittent fasting transforms how your body burns fat. Here’s what happens during your fasting window:
1. Insulin Reset Effect
After 16+ hours without food, your insulin drops dramatically. This hormonal change makes the difference when comparing intermittent fasting to a calorie deficit.
Due to the Intermittent fasting causes your body to quickly use up insulin, helping you burn fat faster when you do eat.
2. Enhanced Fat Burning
Past the 12-hour mark, your body switches to serious fat-burning mode. Studies comparing alternate day fasting vs calorie restriction show that longer fasts can boost fat burning by up to 14%.
3. Cellular Cleanup
This is intermittent fasting’s secret weapon. Your cells start cleaning out damaged parts and recycling them.
How calorie deficit works
A calorie deficit occurs when you eat fewer calories than your body needs daily. This forces your body to use stored fat for energy. First, your body burns the sugar stored in your liver and muscles. Once those are low, it starts burning fat for fuel. A moderate 20% calorie cut works better than an aggressive diet.
Learning how to calculate your calorie deficit will enable you to lose fat consistently without losing muscle or crashing your metabolism. For example, if your body requires 2000 calories to maintain weight but you consume 1500 calories, you create a 500-calorie deficit.
Your body then turns to stored fat as an energy source to make up for these missing calories, leading to weight loss.
10 comparison of intermittent fasting vs calorie deficit
Advantage comparison of intermittent fasting vs calorie deficit
| Intermittent Fasting | Calorie Deficit |
| Better insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control | More flexible eating schedule |
| May increase autophagy (cellular repair) | Easier to maintain social eating habits |
| Can lead to higher growth hormone production | More consistent energy levels throughout day |
| May improve brain health and cognitive function | Better for athletic performance/training |
| Simpler to follow (just time restriction)| | More sustainable for most people long-term |
Disadvantage Comparison of intermittent fasting vs calorie deficit
| Intermittent Fasting | Calorie Deficit |
| Can cause intense hunger and irritability | Requires constant calorie counting/tracking if not your body hits a plateau |
| May affect social life due to restricted eating windows | You tend to become a picky eater which can lead to obsessive food behaviors |
| Risk of overeating during eating windows | Risk of nutrient deficiencies if not well-planned |
| Not suitable for people with history of eating disorders | May cause metabolism to slow if deficit is too large |
| Can decrease exercise performance due to low energy | Can lead to muscle loss if protein intake isn’t adequate |
Best Approach to see intermittent fasting and calorie deficit results
I have tried losing body fat with intermittent fasting and calorie deficit.
I became an excessive eater when it’s my eating windows. I was also moody because my energy level was low during working hours.
I personally saw more success with calorie deficit. It enabled me to eat the 3 square meals, however in small portions.
Below is me before I took weight loss seriously, then my after pictures with intermittent fasting and calorie deficit results
From the image you can see my waistline reduce while i was in calorie deficit.
So if you want to lose tummy fat go for calorie deficit.
But while in calorie deficit you can hit body plateau, and you unexepectedly begin to gain weight even while on a strict calorie deficit.
To aviod this plateau, I started doing intermittent fasing once in a week along side with calorie deficit.
Combine the intermittent fasting and calorie deficit if you want to loose body fat quickly.
Concluding
Both intermittent fasting & calorie deficit have their benefits and drawbacks. However calorie deficit gives you better chance in losing weight especially belly fat.
But you can easily reach body plateau in calorie deficit. Where you keep gaining weight while on the deficit. To avoid this the best approach is to combine both intermittent fasting and calorie deficit.
