Best way to start intermittent fasting

Before you begin to get overwhelmed by all the endless variations, opinions and approaches on intermittent fasting you must realize that everyone already does some type of intermittent fasting. Every night when you go to sleep you intermittent fast, and for many people the first meal they have after their last meal is breakfast (i.e. “break fast”).

The best way to start intermittent fasting is to simply decide what time your last meal of the day will be, and when you will break your fast. For many the best fasting schedule to incorporate into your life is the 16/8 fasting schedule, which means your eating window is 8hrs, and fasting window is 16hrs

Personally, my lifestyle allows me to have my first meal of the day at 12pm and my last meal at 8pm. I know other people that intermittent fast by eating their first meal at 10am and their last meal at 6pm. Below is a helpful chart of common 16/8 fasting schedules, simply choose the best schedule that fits your lifestyle:

What if my goal is to maximize fat loss?

If your goal is to lose body fat, then you’ll need to make sure that the amount of calories you eat during the eating window is not excessive. There are a few tips that I’ve found make losing fat while intermittent fasting much easier:

• Don’t binge eat during your eating window. Eating too many calories during your eating windows is counterproductive for weight loss.
• Pay attention that you don’t eat sugar or process foods during the eating window. Not only will cutting out sugar and processed foods make you feel better overall, but it will also help you reduce your hunger levels between meals.
• Do not snack between meals. If you are intermittent fasting for weight loss then simply eat a healthy, filling meal to break your fast and then eat another healthy, filling meal at the end of your fasting period. Do not eat in between these meals if you want to maximize fat loss, your body will have a much easier time using up body fat this way.
• Ideally the meals you eat during your eating window should be low in complex carbs. This means no pasta or breads or sugars of any kinds. Stick to meats, eggs and vegetables, they keep you full and feeling good. Additionally these foods don’t spike your insulin in the same way as carb heavy foods do, which also aids in fat loss and appetite suppression. It’s an amazing feeling when you’re no longer being controlled by your hunger pangs, you find it much easier to make good food choice and not binge eat. If you’re doing it correctly, intermittent you should not be feeling ravenously hungry between meals, it should become very easy after a few days as your body gets accustomed to the new eating pattern.
• Get some exercise. Go for a walk every day, or ride your bike, or do some weight training, basically anything that gets your body moving and elevates your heart rate helps. You don’t need to kill yourself working out everyday, you just need to make sure that you’re moving around enough to offset all the time you spend sitting on your butt. Your body is an amazing machine and it will learn that it needs to change in order to keep up with these new challenges by using up stored fat, building muscle, and getting rid of cellular waste that is dragging your down.
• Drink plenty of water. It’s sometimes easy to forget to drink water when you are eating less and not feeling very hungry. You can become dehydrated so be very mindful of you water intake during, your fasting from food, not water!

What is the best time to start intermittent fasting?

The time you decide to have your first meal is completely up to you. There is no best time other than the time your lifestyle allows for. The goal is to keep the eating window to 8hrs if you’re following the 16/8 intermittent fasting schedule. Intermittent fasting should not be something that gets in the way of your life, instead it should become one of your habits, and if you do it the right way it will be easy, there will be no suffering!

Can you eat anything while intermittent fasting?

The short answer is yes, intermittent fasting is simply following a schedule for when you eat and when you don’t eat. The long answer is that depending on what your goals are you might want to eat certain types of foods to achieve those goals. For example if you want to lose weight, then don’t eat lots of unhealthy foods during your eating window, this won’t help you.

If you want to feel better overall then eat a diet rich in all the foods you know are good for you and cut out the junk. The benefits of intermittent fasting are much more improved when your diet is healthy.

If you want to get rid of that heartburn or upset stomach that you get when you eat late, then follow a schedule where you stop eating 3-4hrs before going to bed, so you can give your stomach time to digest and get a better sleep as a result.

Some people will say that calories are calories and it doesn’t really matter where those calories come from. I think that for some people this may be true, but for many of us it makes a real difference on mood, energy levels, gut health, and mental sharpness if you are eating healthy foods. The human body is complex and different foods produce different hormonal responses. For example, if you are insulin resistant then avoid eating sugar and refined carbohydrates during your eating window. This will allow you to better control your insulin levels so you don’t feel those nasty side effects of having your insulin spiking.

Why intermittent fasting is bad?

For some people who decide to start following an intermittent fasting schedule, they don’t improve their diet at the same time. They instead eat a bunch of unhealthy food during their eating window, which causes them to miss out on many of the benefits that intermittent fasting can produce. By not eating a healthy diet, they tend to overeat and binge during the eating window, which leads to not feeling well and having low energy levels.

If you are underweight then don’t try and fast for long periods of time, the same goes for people who have eating disorders. Fasting can become problematic, even dangerous in such cases.

Getting enough water can be a problem for some people as they are often eating fewer meals, not feeling hunger and not really paying attention to how much water they are drinking.

Some people become irritable during the first few days of fasting. This is especially true if you are used to snacking a lot between meals and following an unhealthy diet. Make healthier food choices during your eating window to improve your mood and general well being.

Feeling excessively hungry between meals is also common for some people when they first start an intermittent fasting program. There are many ways you can avoid this, one being limiting or eliminating the amount of refined carbohydrates that you eat during your eating window, and to avoid snacking between meals.