Improve your metabolism, gain energy, and lose weight all with intermittent fasting! Learning how to use intermittent fasting as well as what to expect on your first fast is a great way to kickstart your results.
Having used intermittent fasting for the better part of a decade of my coaching career, today I'm sharing with you the tips and tricks I've learned to make fasting WORK for you.
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Hit the play button above and join me and my personal mentor, Graeme Thomas, as we chat about how to use intermittent fasting specifically for weight loss! We've used intermittent fasting with figure competitors, endurance athletes, medical professionals, and everyday parents and in this episode, we're sharing our tips with you.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting is a structured approach to having specific hours of the day in which you're not consuming calories.
In the simplest form, eating is a form of stress on your body. Meaning, it takes work. When we eat food, we need to break it down.
Not eating, decreases some of that food-related stress we put ourselves under.
And during these extended periods where our body needs to find other ways to get immediate fuel is where the benefits from intermittent fasting happen.
The Background Of Intermittent Fasting
We didn't always have immediate access to food. In fact, up until a few hundred years ago, there was long periods in which we would have gone with little to no calories.
The body fat we caries around was designed to keep up through these lean periods in which food was not a plentiful.
When we remove constant food, it reminds the body of how it was always supposed to work.
It needs to duck into stored body fat to gain energy.
Benefits Of Routinely Fasting
Though weight loss is one aspect of intermittent fasting (at the very least, fasting provides some control over calories), there is so much more.
- It gives your body time to reset, recover, and get ready
- It helps you focus
- You get more energy once you've adapted
- Your body has time to use everything it has taken in
How To Use Intermittent Fasting For Weight Loss
There's really only one rule when it comes to intermittent fasting. And because of this, it makes the approach a lot easier to follow than some other diets.
Don't take in calories when you're on your fast.
That's it.
There are multiple ways to use intermittent fasting in terms of the hours you fast, however, all of them are based around zero calories.
The most popular method is the 16:8 method in which you fast for 16 hours and only consume calories in an eight-hour feeding window.
This approach is popular because it gives the best of both worlds: it's doable but it makes a difference in weight loss.
It's also the best place to start for beginners. Any longer than that and it gets uncomfy.
Technically we fast every day (while we sleep). intermittent fasting is just prolonging that fast.
Scroll down below for more of the rules and tips on how to use intermittent fasting.
What Liquids Can You Consume While Fasting
Though for a while people popularized "juice fasts", this is not actually intermittent fasting. Juice contains calories and calories break a fast.
The only things you can drink while fasting are:
- Water (regular water)
- Tea (without anything added to it)
- Black coffee
Anything outside of this will technically break your fast.
Now, if you're fasting for weight loss purposes and simply want to cut a bunch of calories at once, it's not the end of the world to have some milk in your coffee or a few BCAA's.
However, it does break the fast. If you're using intermittent fasting to reap the health benefits from it, any form of calories will negate this.
What To Expect Your First Fast
The first few times you use intermittent fasting it will probably be terrible. It takes about 3-4 weeks for your body to adjust to intermittent fasting.
This means that for your first few fasts, you may feel any combination of the following:
- Headache
- Anger (hangry is a thing)
- Poor focus
- Poor muscle recovery
- Short temper
These symptoms normally go away after about a month of dedicated fasting. However, if you notice they're not going away, you feel worse, or you can't control your calories post-fast, intermittent fasting may not be for you.
What Time Of Day is Best To Fast
There's no perfect time of day to fast, only the time of day that works for you.
That said, one way to make intermittent fasting easier is to time it with your sleep cycle. If you can cut eight hours off your fast because you're sleeping, you'll have a better experience.
The most common way to do this is to eat dinner and then not eat anything after dinner and eat a late breakfast.
This tends to be the best for busy families too because this way you're not missing out on family meals with the kids.
What To Eat Post-Fast
What you break your fast with and eat in your feeding window matters.
If you cut a bulk amount of calories only to go mow down on donuts and chips, your digestive system will take issue.
The best thing to break your fast with is quality protein, a tiny bit of fat, and some fruits or veggies.
From a weight loss perspective also, if you come off a 16 hour fast and then make up the calories you missed by binging on pizza, you won't lose weight.
Remember that your feeding window is important and you need to get in adequate calories and nutrients during that time.
You cannot outdo a bad diet even with intermittent fasting. So outside of your fasting hours, just resume your normal, healthy diet.
What To Eat As Your Last Meal
Don't gobble down cookies knowing you won't be eating for sixteen hours. Instead, focus on lean protein and healthy fats.
This will take longer to digest and keep you full a bit longer than a quick-release sugar.
Other Wellness Tips To Help You With Your Goals
- Using intermittent fasting while breastfeeding
- Forgotten benefits of intermittent fasting
- Reverse dieting 101
- My favorite benefits of intermittent fasting
- 4 Pillars for long-term weight loss
- 10 Total body workouts for weight loss
- 6-week fat loss workout plan
- How to do a push up in four easy steps
- Sweaty glute finishers
- The benefits of strong glutes
- How to reduce back pain by training glutes
- The ultimate guide to home workouts
- Follow along at home workouts
- Fitness tips for moms
Frequently Asked Questions About Intermittent Fasting
It takes any good diet a solid four weeks for people to become accustomed to it. the first few times you try intermittent fasting may not be comfortable. But after four weeks, most people will begin to notice some weight loss, better focus, and more mental energy.
Though you can use intermittent fasting while pregnant and breastfeeding, shorter fasts are better and you should always chat to a doctor first. Remember, the goals during this time are to provide fuel to a baby, so adequate calories are needed.
There are a few chronic diseases that don't do well with serious intermittent fasting especially if frequent meals are needed to keep weight on. However, that's something to chat with your doctor about. Outside of that, fasting isn't needed for young kids whose goal is to grow,
There is no perfect way to overcome feeling hangry. As you use intermittent fasting regularly, you just get used to it. Sipping on coffee or tea can help as it gives you something to do.
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