If you're unfamiliar with intermittent fasting (IF), skipping breakfast might seem like a bad thing. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? Wrong. Not only might it be unnecessary, depending on what you eat, it could be detrimental.

In this blog post, I'll outline the health benefits of intermittent fasting, as well as the possible drawbacks of eating the wrong kind of breakfast if you do eat it.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

To fast means to go without food (or calorie-containing beverages).

Fasting is not new, although the awareness and research support of its health benefits is. Almost every religion incorporates fasting into their faith in some way and has for thousands of years.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”Matthew 4:1-4 (NIV)

Fasting practices in religions vary from fasting only during daylight, such as Muslims do during the month of Ramadan, to fasting for multiple days in a row.

For those who follow intermittent fasting lifestyles, the purpose isn't spiritual so much as it's metabolic.

Variations of Intermittent Fasting

Alternate-day fasting is one form of intermittent fasting. You eat whatever you want one day (feast), and then avoid food the next (fast).

Some people fast two days per week, like on a Wednesday and a Saturday instead, and eat on the other five days.

Yet another form of IF, which I follow, and which seems to be the most popular, is called time-restricted feeding (TRF). You can still eat each day; it’s just within a shortened window of time. The most common approach is to fast for 16 hours and then eat within an 8-hour window.

About five years ago, I accidentally got into the habit of skipping breakfast, and only drinking black coffee. I worked through the morning and then went to the gym at lunchtime. After my workout, I'd eat my first meal.

It wasn't for the health benefits at the time. I just wanted to get to work right away in the morning and not waste time making breakfast.

In a short time, I was skipping breakfast every day.

I was more productive, not only because I didn’t have the distraction of making breakfast, but my brain functioned better.

The longer I went without breakfast, the more I appreciated the benefits. Though I wasn’t trying to get leaner, my body fat dropped a bit as well.

In some cases, fasting might include going without water as well. However, when it comes to health-related fasting, non-caloric beverages like water, tea, coffee, or diet drinks are permissible.

Five years later, I’m still sticking with it. Aside from an occasional splurge for gluten-free donuts, or going to a highly-rated breakfast restaurant, I do not eat breakfast.

Two meals per day, no snacks, carbs saved for dinner. That's pretty much it.

If I can stay healthy and lean, and perform well physically and mentally, by just eating a couple of times per day (of course, it’s high in protein and gluten-free), why would I make it more complicated than that?

Mental Advantages of Intermittent Fasting

With most diets, you face a mental battle between what you'd like to eat and what you know you should eat. That requires an enormous amount of willpower, which is why few people stick with them.

With intermittent fasting, you don't have to deal with such a decision. You just don’t eat.

Not surprisingly, people stick with intermittent fasting better than alternative diets.

Try it tomorrow morning. When you walk into your kitchen at your usual breakfast time, instead of asking, “What should I eat for breakfast?” simply say out loud, “I don’t eat breakfast.”