How To Break A Long Fast
Take note of the following points before breaking a prolonged fast:
Intermittent fasting is not as challenging as its cracked up to be. The basic principle is not consuming any food or drink that could be a source of energy for the body during this period. Make sure you deliberate on why you want to give it a try and before you jump right into it, contact your doctor or dietitian so he or she could give you the green light.
Tips For Breaking A Fast
While fasting, your body is burning fat for energy, so you can lose weight if youre in a calorie deficit. After breaking a fast, its important to eat enough food so that your body has enough fuel to continue burning fat. Your goal should be to break your fast with whole foods instead of junk food. Here are 5 tips for breaking a fast safely and efficiently.
1. Prepare Yourself Before Starting Any Kind Of Fast. Ask yourself how committed you are to seeing it through. If you want to use intermittent fasting as an opportunity to experiment, theres no shame in trying out different approaches or being unsure about how best to proceed.
However, if you have decided intermittent fasting will work for you, dont start off weak by choosing something like water onlyit could easily end up being too challenging mentally or physically depending on your situation
2. Pick A Day To Start. Once youve chosen your type of intermittent fasting and made sure your diet and exercise routine wont be compromised, pick a day to start: Saturday or Sunday might be good days because most people tend to relax during these times when theyre free from work. Make sure it isnt a cheat day for youyou should ideally have gone without food all week before proceeding with your first full day of fasting.
5. Keep Track Of Results As You Break Your Fast. Keeping track of progress can help keep you motivated and hold yourself accountable for sticking to your plan throughout intermittent fasting.
What Is Intermittent Fasting
When we wake up in the morning, we are looking for the first meal of the day breakfast. Well, what this simply means is that we have been fasting from the moment we finished our dinner the previous night. After tucking away your avocado sandwich or slurping up your cereal, you have successfully broken your fast. Intermittent fasting is going without food at intervals, and there are various ways to achieve this.
Intermittent fasting should not lead to starvation. The two are different because intermittent fasting is intentional. After all, the individual has chosen to withhold from any form of meal even when there is enough laying around the house. Starvation, on the other hand, is nothing like fasting it is the involuntary lack of food consumption. It is usually beyond the control of individuals experiencing it, and this is a direct result of a lack of access to food. A lot of people around the world fall prey to starvation on a daily basis.
There are different types of intermittent fasting, depending on the purpose and health status of people considering to be actively involved in it . These include:
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Not Exercising When Intermittent Fasting
Some people think they cant exercise when in a period of IF, when in fact, its the ideal scenario. Exercise helps you use up stored fat. Additionally, the Human Growth Hormone is increased as you work out, helping you to build muscle. However, there are tips to follow to maximize your workouts.
To get the best results from your efforts, keep these points in mind:
- Time your workouts for during the eating periods and then eat healthy carbs and proteins within 30 minutes of the exercise
- If the type of exercise is intense, make sure you eat before so that your glycogen stores are available
- Base your exercise on the fasting method if you are doing a 24 hour fast, do not plan an intensive activity that day
- Stay hydrated during the fast and especially during the workout
- Listen to your bodys signals if you feel weak or light-headed, take a break or conclude the workout
What Artificial Sweetener Breaks A Fast
Artificial sweetener refers to certain substances that give the same sweet effect as your natural sweeteners such as sugar and honey. They are produced in the lab, and some of them have zero calories, while others are loaded with them. To know what artificial sweetener breaks a fast, you must know its caloric content.
At the same time, you need to be sure if the artificial sweeteners of your choice will give you the required result or not. Some of the artificial sweeteners that wont throw you out of the fasted state are: saccharin, aspartame, sucralose . However, if you go for artificial sweeteners like sugars of alcohol with high calorie content they will break your fast.
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What Foods Are Best For Achieving Your Fasting Goal
Below is a list of foods suitable for the attainment of the goals and purpose of an intermittent fast .
Other foods allowed during fasting are vegetables, whether fermented or unfermented, sauerkraut, tempeh, lettuce, celery, tomatoes, strawberries, cucumber, skimmed milk, and plain yoghurts. You should also make sure to drink lots of water during this period. In fact, it would be best if you made it your rule not to consume refined grains, processed foods and meats, and soft drinks, among others.
Dos And Donts From My Fasting Experience
These are not things that I just thought about or researched and wrote, but these are the very habits that I practiced over the years. And they have gotten me to where Im today!
Christian fasting is powerful!
Through it, we break every spiritual stronghold and we grow spiritually simultaneously.
Christian fasting is a specific duration that we devote to the Lord. We are fasting to God, not man.
May your Christian fasting be effective and successful!
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Once I Went To Church I Kept Hearing Everyone Talk About This Thing Called A Season Of Prayer And Fasting
I had no idea what that meant other than the fact that it called for a restrictive diet and that this church would be doing this together over the course of 21 days.
Sounds easy enough, I told myself. I decided to do it.
Please note that my decision to do this was NOT because of the idea that restricting my diet to fruits and vegetables would cause me to lose weight. This was NOT a physical diet thing.
Things To Avoid When Fasting And Praying
Now that you understand some of the dos and donts of Christian fasting, what are you going to do next?
Think and then decide when you are going to fast about it!
Select a short fast. Dont fast for a day. Fast only for a few hours, say from four to six hours. Then do it!
As you become more comfortable and competent in fasting gradually increase your fasting time to your desired length.
I have written on this topic before. Read this post or watch this video and it will explain how to do a Christian Fast?
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Do’s And Don’ts For Intermittent Fasting
Before you get started with intermittent fasting, it helps to have a better understanding of how it works, and what you should or should not do. The following list includes some common dos and donts that are bound to come up, allowing you to avoid some of the more common mistakes people make.
Benefits Of An Intermittent Fasting Diet
- Weight loss. According to Healthline, Intermittent fasting is generally very successful for weight loss. It has been shown to cause weight loss of 38% over a period of 324 weeks, which is a lot compared to most weight-loss diets.
- Reduced muscle loss. Loss of muscle tone is a common byproduct of calorie restriction, but studies show this is less prevalent with IF.
- Support heart health. Intermittent fasting may support a healthy heart.
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Dont Drink Zero Calorie Drinks And Artificial Sweeteners During A Fast
Fasting means no caloric food and beverages. Does that mean you can drink a diet soda with zero calories? This is a common question among intermittent fasting beginners. Overall it is suggested to stay away from artificial sweeteners and diet sodas during a fast.
Studies have suggested that consuming artificial sweeteners can make you feel hungrier and actually eat more. Overall, there is a lot of conflicting information and different studies done around artificial sweeteners and their effects on the health, insulin response, blood sugar levels and impact on gut bacteria.
Therefore, it is suggested to stick to proven intermittent fasting safe drinks like water, plain tea and black coffee. For the ultimate intermittent fasting drink list click here.
The Dos And Donts Of Intermittent Fasting
Many of you most likely have heard of intermittent fasting in some regard. Its very much a buzzword at the moment, and to some, it seems like just another fad diet. But how can we know for sure? Weve done the heavy lifting for you by delving into what intermittent fasting really is, and what kind of benefits it does or does not provide. If youre keen to try this form of eating, weve listed a few handy dos and donts to get you started on the right foot.
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Dont Ignore Side Effects If They Dont Go Away
The most common side effects of intermittent fasting are fatigue, headache, brain fog and irritability. These symptoms normally diminish or disappear altogether as your body adapts to the new eating plan.
However, if these symptoms persist or increase after a week or so, you need to stop fasting and consult a doctor.
Can I Intermittent Fast Every Day
The short answer is yes, but I dont recommend it. People who try to fast every day end up binging on non-fasting days, because they get used to eating that way. This can easily lead to weight gain or at least slower weight loss. If you are going to fast every day, you should change it up and eat normally for one day per week instead of fasting all seven days.
This gives your body a chance to rest from both fasting and overeating on non-fasting days. You can also do an 18/6 fast where you eat for 18 hours per day and only have access to food for six hours during your waking hours. At first, fasting seems simpleall you need to do is skip breakfastbut there are plenty of intermittent fasting variations out there.
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Keep Fasting Periods Short
There is no single way to fast, meaning that the duration of your fast is up to you.
Popular regimens include:
- The 5:2 Pattern: Restrict your calorie intake for two days per week .
- The 6:1 Pattern: This pattern is similar to the 5:2, but theres only one day of reduced calorie intake instead of two.
- Eat Stop Eat: A 24-hour complete fast 12 times per week.
- The 16:8 Pattern: This pattern involves only consuming food in an eight-hour window and fasting for 16 hours a day, every day of the week.
Most of these regimens advise short fast periods of 824 hours. However, some people choose to undertake much longer fasts of 48 and even up to 72 hours.
Longer fast periods increase your risk of problems associated with fasting. This includes dehydration, irritability, mood changes, fainting, hunger, a lack of energy and being unable to focus .
The best way to avoid these side effects is to stick to shorter fasting periods of up to 24 hours especially when youre just starting out.
If you want to increase your fasting period to more than 72 hours, you should seek medical supervision.
Summary Longer periods of fasting increase your risk of side effects, such as dehydration, dizziness and fainting. To reduce your risk, keep your fasting periods short.
Ignoring Your Bodys Signals
Its great that you are determined to remove a few pounds off your body, but when you are starting to feel the effects of intermittent fasting, such as getting dizzy, having a pounding headache, and the like, just stop what you are doing. You dont need to push on because you will be compromising your health already. Learn to read the signs that your body is giving off.
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Intermittent Fasting: What Breaks A Fast On Keto
A keto diet is a kind of fasting that aims at achieving some of the weight loss goals as the intermittent fasting. The keto diet involves the consumption of low-calorie food and drinks. While you depend mostly on calories from fat, others are sourced from a moderate intake of protein and partial or total abstinence from carbs . By implication, when you are on this diet, you are expected to abstain from high-calorie food and drinks such as high carb proteins, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, and soda. While keto diet aims at reducing the total intake of calories in meals, intermittent fasting focuses more on structuring how much you can eat at a time.
Dont Forget: You Cant Eat Anything And Still Lose Weight While Intermittent Fasting
Still unsure why you should review your diet when doing intermittent fasting?
While it is technically harder to consume the same amount of calories in a limited time period, it is still possible. Particularly, if your diet is high in saturated fat from oils, red meat, fast food or empty calories like sugary drinks, sweets and alcohol, you might be consuming a lot of calories, which wont aid weight loss. Additionally, these wont be foods providing a lot of nutritious value like vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants.
Therefore, to reach a long term weight loss thats also good for the body, a healthy diet is a must.
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How Much Weight Can You Lose In A Month With Intermittent Fasting
Weight loss research of alternate-day fasting reported that those who fasted for a two to three-month period lost approximately 10 extra pounds.
Now, 5:2 fasting is one of the easiest fasts to implement and you should have no problem doing it for a longer period of time.
A study by academic.oup.com has shown that overweight and obese participants had burned more fat with intermittent fasting than they did with working out.
Another study also found that there were even spiritual advantages of fasting. Abstaining from meals gives your digestion a little mini-break and allows the body to start taking fat from its fat reservoirs instead.
In doing so, this helps the body to relax, recover, and detox. Thus, allowing your soul to be cleansed when you take this little hiatus from food.
There are spiritual advantages of fasting. Abstaining from meals gives your digestion a little break and helps the body to relax, recover, and detox.
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Do’s And Don’ts Of Fasting
This practice is quickly becoming a hot topic in the fitness & wellness world, so we thought it was time to bring us back to the heart of what fasting really means.
The next time you consider a fast of any kind, we want to see you reap the benefits of a healthy and whole life mind, body, soul & spirit.
Get out your pen and paper and take some notes! Or listen to this teaching on our Podcast.
Be sure to download this PDF of notes from this teaching as well!
Our next session of Instructor Training is now open for registration! We invite you to today to find out more!
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Do Find Fun Activities To Distract You
If you are fasting during weekends or on days where you have nothing on your schedule, the minutes will pass like hours unless you find something to distract you.
Engage in a favorite hobby or go for a nice mature walk to pass the time. Just make sure your hobby isnt weightlifting or running marathons!
