Over the summer I made a commitment to myself to adopt a healthier lifestyle, focusing on both eating healthy and working out regularly. Along with this, I decided to try out intermittent fasting. This type of fasting was something I didn’t think I could do; in fact, I had tried it out once before and quit after one day. However, this was something I genuinely wanted to try. This summer I was finally able to commit to it and I wanted to share some of the things I learned along the way.
Pick the type of intermittent fasting that is right for you
There are different types of intermittent fasting, so it’s crucial that you find the type that works best with your lifestyle. For me, that happened to be the 16:8 method. Essentially you eat during an 8-hour window, I chose 12:00 am to 8:00 pm, and then you fast for 16 hours until noon the next day. This worked best for me because I was able to get up and workout early in the morning before having my first meal and subsequently was able to eat later in the evening after I got off work.
The first day is the hardest
This is true for anything in life, not just fasting. The first day is by far the hardest day, it can feel like you’re starving when you enter the fasting period and it almost feels like you can’t hold out until your eating period begins. This is part of the reason why I quit the first time. However, if you are able to get through that first day it makes the following days much easier and over time your body adjusts to your new eating schedule.
Don’t overdo the amount of food you eat during the 8-hour window
I would find myself making this exact mistake while I was fasting. I would convince myself that I needed to consume larger portions to hold myself over until the next day which would lead me to overindulging. It’s important that you listen to your body’s natural hunger cues and not consume large amounts of food, as it undermines the purpose of intermittent fasting.