How to start intermittent fasting?

You have probably heard about fasting, which is when we don’t consume any calories for a certain period of time. Did you know that most people eat or drink calories for almost 16 hours every day? This means that they start eating as soon as they wake up, and continue eating until almost bedtime. 

Did you also know that the body uses fat as an energy source? But to do so the body needs to give its fat cells a certain resting time, which means not eating in between meals. If you don’t, then your body won’t be able to burn the fat for energy.

Intermittent fasting can not only help you to get in shape but also live longer and healthier. It can reduce inflammation, reduce stress, and increase your energy. 

So how can you start applying it in your life? When you condition the body to keep eating and snacking throughout the day, without any real breaks, it can be challenging. But in the same way you can also condition your body slowly to not need to eat all the time. 

Here are some steps to get started: 

1. Cut out snacking between your meals. 
2. Try eating within a 12 to 14 hour eating window each day. For example, if you finish eating one day at 8pm then don’t eat anything in the morning until between 6 to 8am. 
3. Drink plenty of water during the day.
4. Cut out sugary drinks or smoothies, which can contain lots of sugar and make you want to keep snacking more.
5. Add salt to your meals.
6. As you feel more comfortable, you can decrease your daily eating window to just 10 to 12 hours, for example fasting for 14 hours each day and eating during a 10 hour window.
7. Use an app to track your progress (I use an app called “Zero”, but there are many others).
8. Eat just 2 main meals each day.
9. Try sometimes to increase your fasting time to 18-24 hours. If you feel it’s not right for you, you can always stop fasting and then try again another day. 
10. You don’t have to fast every day. You can give yourself a break once or twice a week.
11. If you are taking any medications then time it to take them with your meal. 

Fasting is an ancient healing method that we used a long time before modern medicine. Why not try thinking differently and see how you feel? Did you notice, for example, that when an animal is sick the first thing that they do to heal themselves is to stop eating? And the best part, it’s FREE. 

Happy fasting!