Tuesday, March 19, 2024
HomeEditor PicksHow To Get Back Into Intermittent Fasting

How To Get Back Into Intermittent Fasting

- Advertisment -

The Cons Of Intermittent Fasting

Fell off from intermittent fasting? How to get back on
  • In some cases, you can gain weight if you eat more calories than your body is able to burn, so what you eat is a crucial part of your diet
  • You may feel tired and moody because not eating for prolonged periods of time can negatively affect your psychological state and your cognitive functions
  • Not eating for a long period of time can cause Headaches, Dizziness, and Nausea.
  • Restrictive eating can lead to eating disorders

Ways To Keep It Manageable

IF can be tough, especially in the beginning.

In addition to the telltale grumbling of your stomach, you may also experience fatigue, irritability, and stress while you try to manage your new eating schedule.

Here are some tips to make your life a little easier:

As you begin your IF journey, these common concerns may be on your mind.

How To Start Intermittent Fasting In 5 Non

It’s daunting to start fasting, isn’t it?

  • Someone online is poised to finish strong on day 2 of her 3 day fast because shes not even hungry. But instead of getting motivated you say Its only 10 AM and Im already hungry as a ravenous beast, I wont last the whole day, I cant do this today.
  • Hunger pangs and cravings were so strong you didnt make it. Its easier to fast when youre fat adapted, the experts say. But that takes several weeks on a very low carb diet and you dont want to wait that long.
  • Maybe you havent tried it, but youve thought about it. Oh, I cant do that.

What if there was a calm and confident way to get started? And what if your current abilities were enough?

Heres how:

| Instead of seeing it as another difficult duty you owe to your health, make it a self-experiment.

  • Break it down into small but easily doable step-by-step actions that guarantee you will finish,
  • observe and analyze what you discover,
  • draw your conclusion: Is fasting right for you?

So youre not committing to it, youre here to learn about it. Because like most people, you learn by doing. Doesnt that sound easier already? But

Also Check: What Is The Best Diet For Intermittent Fasting

Before You Get Started

  • Talk to your doctor before you start. Especially if you have any medical condition or if youre on any medication. Stop if you feel sick.
  • Keep it simple. Fasting is defined as consuming only plain water , or black coffee, or unsweetened tea.
  • Keep it easy. Eat your usual meals during your eating window. In my personal experience, intermittent fasting works best when combined with a low carb-high fat diet of real, whole foods. But launching the perfect combination to get the best results is not your goal right nowits to finish a fast.
  • Time is mentioned for simplicity. You dont have to follow them. You may adjust the times according to your schedule.
  • Which days of the week? In my experience, fasting on weekdays are more convenient because theyre more structured and have less variables. But that may not be true for you. What youre looking for are those days where youre more likely to say, Whered the time go? I forgot to eat!
  • Slip ups are okay. First, forgive yourself. You may pick up where you left off or start from Day 1. Do whats easiest to get you back on track. Next
  • If you’re looking for a simple, doable way to practice fasting, I get it. It shouldn’t have to be hard. Get my FREE email course below that shows you the easier way.

    Embrace The Dinnertime Community

    How I Lost 10kg With Intermittent Fasting

    Theres a good reason most people skip breakfast instead of dinner. Our evening meals are intimately social and interpersonal. Its been that way throughout history! We use dinner as an opportunity to recover from the day, reconnect with family, and celebrate the end of another day. You dont need to deprive yourself of that rich experience.

    Instead, take the opportunity to practice mindfulness as you eat. Youll appreciate every bite of your food so much more than you would have if youd been snacking your way through the day. Zane sees this frequently with his clients: Fasting is most successful when we keep dinner as our core food connection.

    Don’t Miss: What Happens To Your Body During Intermittent Fasting

    Starting The Day With Water Really Is Smart

    I’ve previously tried to throw back a bottle of agua before drinking coffee, and I’ve stuck with it for a day or two. But then I’m right back to Starbucks before the thought of water even crosses my headspace. While Bates’ plan called for having at least an eight-ounce glass immediately after getting up in the morning, I’d often finish a whole 32-ounce bottle before having some food.

    What’s more: While following the diet, I really tried to zero in on whether I actually felt hungry before I ate. Drinking water before reaching for food was one major thing that helped me better recognize my hunger levels. It’s one of the intermittent fasting results that’s stuck with me since finishing the plan, and a habit I actually aim to maintain. After all, experts do say we tend to mistake thirst for hunger. So when you’re fully hydrated and still ready for food, then you know it’s time to take a bite.

    You Can Tell If Intermittent Fasting Is Working By Paying Attention To How Your Body Feels

    If youre really hungry during your fasting time, eat earlier than you planned and re-evaluate how much youre eating throughout the day. You may need more protein and fat in the meals you are eating, Presicci says. And if you are sleeping great, performing well in workouts, have good energy, and feel satisfied, chances are its working for you!

    Read Also: What Foods Are Best For Intermittent Fasting

    A Note On Your Overall Diet

    That leads us to a very important caveat to all of the above. Before starting an intermittent fasting plan, its essential to build nutritional knowledge. I personally wouldnt recommend jumping into intermittent fasting if your current eating habits are poor. Fasting alone wont do much if youre used to eating junk food, takeaways, and little in the way of fruit and vegetables.

    Rather than look for quick fixes, its best to focus on your overall lifestyle. Be honest with yourself in terms of your knowledge of nutrition. Are there things you need to learn before embarking on a fasting journey? All of the above plans emphasize eating in moderation, with high-protein consumption and a diet that is mostly whole, unprocessed foods.

    Some basic pointers are to understand how to balance carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Understanding your basic caloric needs, and what foods to eat for a balanced diet. Along with what foods to avoid, such as processed sugars, dairy, or wheat. Again, this is a subjective experience, and all of this is part of an exploration into your body, one which is best achieved through compassion and curiosity.

    What Can I Eat While Intermittent Fasting

    Getting Back Into Intermittent Fasting | Changing My Eating Window | Changing My Fasting Routine

    During the times when youre not eating, water and zero-calorie beverages such as black coffee and tea are permitted.

    And during your eating periods, eating normally does not mean going crazy. Youre not likely to lose weight or get healthier if you pack your feeding times with high-calorie junk food, super-sized fried items and treats.

    But what Williams likes about intermittent fasting is that it allows for a range of different foods to be eaten and enjoyed. We want people to be mindful and take pleasure in eating good, nutritious food, she says. She adds that eating with others and sharing the mealtime experience adds satisfaction and supports good health.

    Williams, like most nutrition experts, regards the Mediterranean diet as a good blueprint of what to eat, whether youre trying intermittent fasting or not. You can hardly go wrong when you pick complex, unrefined carbohydrates such as whole grains, leafy greens, healthy fats and lean protein.

    Also Check: Can You Drink Coffee For Intermittent Fasting

    Change Your Everyday Diet

    If fasting for a longer period, even if its just a few hours a day, ends up being too hard on you, either psychologically or socially, you can always combine IF with another diet.

    In this article, I compared 8 other famous diets to intermittent fasting. You might think IF was the big winner, well, yes and no. IF is not really a diet, its an eating habit, a lifestyle.

    So if youre doing IF, you may think you dont really need to be doing anything else to lose weight. Except eat kind of healthy food and trying not to get too much sugar and stuff.

    But depending on your goals and how hard for you it is to reach them, why not take a look at other diets out there?

    There are low-carbs diets that might freak you out like the Ketogenic Diet, because it can be hard to implement with a social life, but maybe the Atkins Diet would be easier for you?

    And what about going vegan for a month? Or trying the delicious Mediterranean Diet or the great Paleo Diet?

    These days, everyone seems to have created its own diet and written a book about it. Of course, dont just do any diet out there, read articles about it, studies, and check if you could implement and if it really would work for you.

    But there are tons of diets, well-documented ones, with advantages and disadvantages, most of them working, that you can pull from and try to implement in your life, at least for a while.

    Find the right diet for you and add it as a bonus to your already great intermittent fasting lifestyle.

    The Religious History Of Fasting

    Fasting has strong connections to sacred rituals and religion. In ancient civilizations, priests and priestesses would fast before facing deities. Native Americans fast for four days and four nights at a sacred location, before embarking on a rite of passage known as a vision quest. Hellenistic religions of Ancient Greece believed gods passed on divine teachings only after disciples practiced fasting.

    Most major religions to this day have some aspects of fasting involved. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all mark periods of fasting from Lent to Ramadan. In Eastern religions, from Buddhism to Hinduism, fasting is seen as an act of repentance that primes the spirit for higher levels of consciousness and spiritual growth. The Buddha himself went through a period of asceticism, a form of extreme abstinence, which included a lack of food.

    Also Check: How Does Fasting Help You Lose Weight

    /7you Are Not Exercising Enough

    For optimum weight loss, a person needs to follow a good sustainable diet and exercise well too. Calorie-cutting won’t do the job alone. Like with any diet, a person following Intermittent Fasting needs to be physically active, maintain an energy deficit to promote long-term weight loss. Simply said, if you are eating fewer calories, but skimping out on exercise, it can be possible for you to gain the weight back on or hit an undesirable plateau even if you are eating right.

    Since Intermittent Fasting can drain or deplete energy levels, ensure that do not engage in extremely heavy workouts. Light or moderate-intensity workouts such as walking, jogging, lifting weights, cardio or strength training can help you shed the kilos and define muscles. You can also try alternating with different Intermittent Fasting variations if your current plan doesn’t allow you enough time/energy to work out. But, do remember to spend 30-45 minutes every day working out.

    Do Stay Hydrated While Fasting

    Funny Intermittent Fasting 16 to 8 Nutritionist ...

    Make sure you are staying hydrated while you are fasting. People often forget to drink water just because they are fasting and cant consume food or drinks with calories in them.

    You should also avoid any drinks that might cause you to become dehydrated, like diet sodas. While technically they are allowed, they are not recommended.

    Related: 12 Tips for Starting the Keto Diet Today!

    Read Also: How Many Hours Do You Fast For Intermittent Fasting

    /7you May Not Be Sleeping Too Well

    If you are not sleeping too well, no diet or workout in the world can help you lose weight. Good quality sleep is imperative to proper weight management and intermittent fasting. If you experience sleep disturbances, it can throw your hormones out of whack, make you stressed out, impact appetite, metabolism and dip energy. For starters, you may have a tendency to eat more calories than usual- which can happen if you don’t sleep too well. Bad sleep can also make it harder for the body to go through with the long fasting hours, even if you would have been able to do it in the past. So, ensure that you get good 7-8 hours of sleep time daily and follow a streamlined routine for the day which allows you ample time to rest and recharge.

    Reduce Your Eating Window

    Intermittent fasting is flexible and quite permissive. If you do not want to be changing the way you eat, theres always the solution of eating even less often.

    Maybe its not even about reducing your eating window, maybe you could simply try another type of intermittent fasting for a while.

    This will mean different habits and eating windows, and that could be enough to stress your body out of a plateau.

    Youre doing 16:8 intermittent fasting or 4:3 alternate-day fasting? Try one meal a day. Youre doing one meal a day? Try some type of alternate-day IF, such as eat stop eat.

    You may have found the perfect type of IF for you, and maybe it was hard getting there, Im not saying you should throw that out the window, but if you can try adapting for a few weeks to a new type of IF.

    We dont need much science to know that going from 8 hours to 2 hours eating window will be more efficient for weight loss and can help you break through a plateau.

    Read Also: What Are Good Times To Eat During Intermittent Fasting

    Tip #: Give Yourself A Break

    It’s important to stay disciplined when it comes to commitments. But just like with any diet or workout plan, not giving yourself an occasional break is going to burn you out.

    If you really want to make sure that you stick to fasting in the long term, then learn to give yourself a break and be kind to yourself. Not every fast is going to be perfect, or successful, but at least you tried. Instead of getting frustrated and quitting, just be happy that you tried and give it another shot the next day!

    Zero In On Your Purpose

    How to make intermittent fasting EASY to do

    Why do you want to try intermittent fasting? Whats in it for you?

    Think about the reasons why you made this choice when you feel deprived.

    Read Also: How Many Calories During Intermittent Fasting

    Can I Eat What I Want After The Fast

    You dont have to count calories after the fast, but that doesnt mean you should reach for a bag of potato chips as your first snack.

    Instead, choose healthy foods and focus on eating nutrient-dense meals. Fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins are all ideal post-fast foods. Not sure where to start? Check out these delicious recipes.

    Think of fasting as a way to boost your diet efforts. It cant undo the damage of eating junk food every day of the week, but it can help speed up your weight loss efforts if youre already eating right and exercising regularly.

    Fasting can be the perfect way to help you overcome those annoying plateaus, but its not a replacement for exercise. Try these great exercise routines as part of your new intermittent fasting schedule.

    Have you every tried intermittent fasting? Was it beneficial for you? Let us know in the comments section! Xx

    Who Shouldnt Use Intermittent Fasting

    There are certain circumstances under which intermittent fasting isnt ideal or shouldnt be used. While it is an effective tool, everyones biochemistry is different and can vary at different stages or times in your life.

    You should NOT use intermittent fasting if you are:

    • Suffering from adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue can occur when you are under a lot of intense stress, have suffered an infection or illness, or are severely sleep-deprived. Adrenal fatigue makes you very tired, and it affects the way you metabolize your food.
    • Pregnant or nursing. To sustain the increased caloric needs of growing baby and/or milk production, you should be eating regularly.
    • Have or are recovering from an eating disorder. Its important to have and maintain a healthy relationship with food. If you have an eating disorder, please seek professional help. If you are recovering from an eating disorder or have struggled with eating disorders in the past, please do not use intermittent fasting as a weight-loss tool.
    • Are a child. Children are growing while they sleep and need a good quality breakfast to replenish their spent energy. An ideal should not include fruit juice or grains, but rather protein and vegetables like a Green Monster Frittata or boiled eggs, meat, and vegetables.
    • Consult your healthcare professional prior to beginning a fast if you have any condition you are concerned will be negatively affected by a change in diet.

    Also Check: How Do I Lower My Fasting Blood Sugar

    RELATED ARTICLES
    - Advertisment -

    Most Popular

    - Advertisment -