I Tried Intermittent Fasting For A Week

I have always been fascinated when hearing about the benefits of fasting. Although the practice of fasting goes back hundreds of years, recently it has been getting quite a hype for its effect on weight loss and overall health benefits. 

Let’s start with what fasting is. Fasting is going an extended period of time without food, & through my research I found I can still drink water and black coffee/black tea. The main thing to avoid is any food with calories that your body can be using for energy. 

When you are in a fasted state, your body is using your own body fat for energy and by giving your digestive system a break, you will feel the benefits.   

As someone who has always been a late-night-snacker, I thought Intermittent fasting could really help me feel better. 

After lots of research and endless YouTube videos, I decided that I wanted to try this. I always thought about what I ate, but I didn’t think much about when I ate it. 

I decided to try the 16/8 fasting window. This means I consume all my food within an 8-hour window, and I fast for 16 hours. This allows my body time to digest my food, and it also is rumored to help cravings. (There are many different fasting window plans, this is just the one I picked. If you are just beginning, try an 8-9 hour fast and see how you feel.) 

Now, you can still eat what you would typically eat in a day, you’re just consuming it in a smaller time period so your body has plenty of time for digestion. For reference, I typically eat around 1400-1500 calories a day. 

After trying intermittent fasting for just a few days, I already felt the benefits. I was waking up less bloated, had more energy and drank a lot more water. I have now been using the 16/8 method for a couple weeks and I love it. 

As I mentioned above, before embarking on this journey I did a lot of research and watched many YouTube videos of people who intermittent fast. Through doing this, I heard about an app called “Zero”. The app is free and helps you track your fast and how many hours you have fasted. 

Now, I’m definitely not saying I’m perfect about always fasting for 16 hours. Life happens and there will of course be times where I eat later or don’t fast as long, but I think that fasting 16/8 whenever I can, is definitely something I plan on continuing. 

The key thing to remember is that everyone’s bodies and schedules are different, so experiment and find what works best for you. I definitely recommend giving intermittent fasting a try.

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