3 Reasons to Try Intermittent Fasting

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Its the time between your last meal at night, typically dinner, and the next time you eat the next day, break fast.  Intermittent fasting focuses on extending that period of time between eating beyond the normal time. Therefore, shortening your eating window.

Some of you may be doing it without even knowing it.  Are you skipping breakfast and don’t eat until lunchtime?  You’re already doing intermittent fasting.  

Fasting Examples

You’ll count the time from 6:00 pm, or the time when you eat dinner, to the next morning at 6:00 am when you eat breakfast.  That’s 12 hours of fasting. And 12 hours of eating window.  

Now if you take that same time of dinner at 6:00 pm and wait to eat at 9:00 am then you’ll have 15 hours of fasting and a 9-hour eating window.

Take that same time of dinner again at 6:00 pm and wait to eat at 12:00 pm the next day, then you’ll have 18 hours of fasting and a 6-hour eating window.

How Many Hours Do You Fast?

There are different times that you can fast for, some say 14/15 hours for women and other ways say fast 16/8.  There are also different types of intermittent fasting. Fasting for 5 days then fasting or eating below a certain amount of calories for 2 days.

Then there is fasting every other day and the types on since its really what works for you. But for the purpose of this article, we’re talking about daily intermittent fasting.

Remember the majority of the fasting period is spent sleeping. Be sure to get your sleep for 8 hours in, if possible.  The fact that you’re sleeping most of the fasting time is what makes this easy to do.

How Can Intermittent Fasting Help You?

Weight loss

By limiting the time in which you eat you are passive if you’re not overindulging, also limiting the calories you are consuming.  Thereby causing you to lose weight. The key, of course, is to eat healthier during your eating window.  

To be successful start with adapting to intermittent fasting first then make healthier changes once you’ve settled into the longer fasting periods. It will take a week or two for your body to start burning fat fuel during this transition. 

Healthy Lifestyle 

This is not a diet per se or starvation plan as some may have said.  It is a way of life for those of us that choose to do it. It adds to our healthy life or can improve your healthy life.  There aren’t any counting carbs, calories or the like.  It’s an overall easy way to add a new health kick to your life. You’ll start to feel lighter and better after a week or two. Stick with it to feel and see results.

Fasting is an added benefit to your work out routine. Yoga, meditation and spiritual practices become deeper during this time. Also, if you’re doing a detox at another time you’ll feel a deeper connection to your practices too.

Save Money and Time

By fasting longer you naturally eat less.  That is you save money by not buying breakfast foods unless you still choose to eat that later int he day, and time because you’re not rushing to eat on your way out the door. 

Waking up in the morning and getting yourself and others ready isn’t as stressful.  Well at least in the sense that you’re not scrambling to grab something out the door or make something to eat.  

Grab your water or coffee and get going.  Drinking water, tea or coffee on the way to work will help you get through that morning rush without breaking your fast.  

Remember that you’ll need to transition to this in the morning.  So you may experience some stomach rumblings in the beginning. It’ll get better and easier.  If you find it too hard at first then try shortening your fasting time and then extend it little by little.

What Do You Eat?

This isn’t a food-driven way of eating, meaning there are not really any do’s or don’ts of what food you can eat.  Eat as you normally would. Intermittent fasting is just changing the time at which you eat upon waking.

If you would like to gain more benefits from intermittent fasting then for sure you should eat healthier during your eating window.  

Is It Ok to Drink During the Fasting Period?

Yes, feel free to drink your coffee, tea or water during your fasting period.  Try not to overdo it with a venti coffee that is loaded with sugar. That may be something to change once you’ve adjusted to intermittent fasting.

Drinking coffee, tea or water will make the transition a bit easier.  It’ll keep your stomach full enough that you aren’t going to eat through a wall.  LOL. Stick to it, it’ll get easier and easier.

Is Intermittent Fasting Hard to Do?

It can be difficult to start due to the change in eating habits.  If you’re used to waking up and eating right at 7:30 am it’s going to take a few days to retrain your body to wait to eat until 9:00 am.  But over the first week or so it will adjust and you’ll be going longer between meals.

It’s Not for Everyone

Obviously, we all want to try the new fad but this a way of living and overall is easy to do.  However, if you’re diabetic or have low blood sugar then it may not be for you. You’ll need to monitor your levels closely to see how it affects you. 

Some studies state that fasting can help diabetics but I’d rather you try this one slowly and don’t go all-in right off the bat.  Get with your doctor before starting and be mindful of your insulin levels.

Maybe you experiment a little bit and find how long you can comfortably and safely fast.  Perhaps it’s 10 hours or maybe you can do 12. Don’t focus on the number of hours just find the right amount of time for your fasting. 

Remember that no two people are the same therefore no two people will have the same outcome or result.  Intermittent fasting is not any different. It may work great for your friend but not you. That’s ok. Listen to your body and find what works for you.

There are no steadfast rules when it comes to intermittent fasting.  So keep with it and find what works for you. I can’t say that enough.

My Intermittent Fasting Routine

I can do about 17 hours, that is my last meal is at 6:00 pm and my next meal is at 11:00/11:30ish the next day.  It works for me and doesn’t bother me one bit. That is on most days. However, other days for whatever reason, I will not be able to wait until 11:00 am.  So I break my fast at 9:00 am.  

Honestly, I’ll have tea about 9:30 am and that will hold me until I’m really hungry around 11:00 or so.  If you’re wondering if I eat breakfast or lunch at that time, I eat lunch. I don’t mind cause I don’t always want breakfast food anyway.  But if you want breakfast go for it.

Then about 3:00 pm when I’m picking up little ones from school I’ll have a snack and then we’ll have dinner around 6:00 pm.  That’s my intermittent fasting routine.  

A Word of Caution

Make sure to watch your portion sizes.  It can be easy in the beginning to eat out of control because you’ve been fasting longer. So you’ll want to eat whatever is in sight and then eat too much.  That’s definitely not going to help you.  

So be mindful of how much you are eating and still make healthier decisions with your food.  Learn to eat right before that moment of being ravenous strikes. Trust in yourself to know when that moment is fast approaching.  Eat at that time. 

As with most eating habits, it is not a one size fits all. This may work well for some and others it may not be the best thing. Don’t beat yourself up about it just do what works for you. That’s all that matters anyway.

I wish you peace and guidance on your journey. Take care and be well.