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10 Intermittent Fasting Tips

There are many health benefits of fasting. It is one of the main reasons why a lot of people around the world follow an intermittent fasting routine to stay healthy. However, you should know every important thing about fasting and its related eating plans and the way it could impact your health both negatively and positively. That said, to do it the right way, we have compiled a list of the 10 best intermittent fasting tips. 

Now, without further ado, let’s get into it!

Ease into Your New Eating Plan

It may take some time for your body to adjust to your new eating plan. Don’t stuff yourself when you have time to eat. Make sure you are following a healthy diet. Give yourself some time to ease into the new eating schedule. 

It is better not to consume any oily foods. Also, if you are following a healthy diet, you can adjust around 2 to 3 meals within the eating window you have. It is very important for you to maintain your calorie and nutrient intake if you don’t want yourself to feel weak or suffer from some kind of deficiency as a result of your intermittent fasting routine.

Know the Difference Between Needing to Eat and Wanting to Eat

You should only be eating what you need to eat. This is why knowing the difference between needing to eat and wanting to eat is one of the most useful intermittent fasting tips. It happens with a lot of people. They want to eat when they are not even hungry. These are cravings are triggered because of a lack of protein and other essential nutrients.

If you regularly stuff yourself with many different types of junk foods and snacks and follow an unhealthy diet, then you would most probably find yourself struggling with irregular eating habits. So, make sure you are properly taking care of your meal plans while following a fasting routine.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Whenever you get a chance hydrate yourself. Dehydration could be one of the biggest problems associated with intermittent fasting. It is because most of the time, you are restricting yourself from eating or drinking anything. The fluids in your body could help your internal system to function properly.

The very first thing you need to hydrate yourself that is essential is water. It won’t affect your insulin or blood sugar level like any other liquids that have sugar and other types of contents. You can also go for different clear beverages as well as herbal teas to keep yourself necessarily hydrated. When your body is properly hydrated, it could easily work upon different types of processes, such as digestion as well as detoxification. 

Break Your Fast Slowly and Steadily

This is probably one of the most important intermittent fasting tips that everyone should be aware of. You can start with light snacks or appetizers. No matter what time of the day you select or have to break your fast, do it in a slow and steady way. If you start gobbling up the food in front of you, it could possibly result in improper digestion and make you feel unpleasant.

Also, you should definitely be not having oily or fatty foods while breaking your fast if you want to keep your digestive system happy and healthy. Eating light and slow is surely going to save you from a lot of temporary yet painful health conditions, such as diarrhea or loose stools gas problems, undigested foods causing trouble in your system, nausea, vomiting, and bloating, which usually occurs in rare cases, 

Maintain Balanced Meals

Well, almost all of the tips that we have listed and discussed in this article revolve around this one point. You would never be able to healthily continue with your fasting diet plan if you are not maintaining a balanced diet. Go for a variety of nutrient-rich foods that are free from excess oil, sugary, and fatty contents.

Get your plate filled with vegetables, especially the ones with green leaves. You can also make a vegetable and fruit salad, which is definitely filling and would probably cause no harm to your internal system. You need to make sure that you are getting all the essential nutrients from your diet. Try to have foods that contain vegetables, fruits, lean protein, whole grains, and healthy oils

Adapt Your Workout Routine

If you want to stay healthy as well as fit, you should never skip your workout even on the days when you are fasting. Instead, you need to adapt it according to your eating schedule. It is widely believed that there are only two essential elements for muscle gain and shredding weight: exercise and calories. What people don’t know is that gaining muscle and staying fit has a lot to do with hormonal optimization, which is obviously triggered by exercising.

So, it is definitely more than okay to follow a regular workout routine even during your fasting schedule. Depending on your level of energy and comfort, you can also walk or jog while you are fasting but make sure not to push your limits too much.

Find the Right Method for You (ie. 12/12, 16/8) 

You can carry out your intermittent fasting routine in many different ways. All of them are about splitting your time into eating and fasting period. The ratio of division is usually in hours. You can choose the method of fasting according to your convenience

You can divide the 24 hours of your day ether into 16/8, 12/12 or any other ratio you have in your mind. In the 16/8 ratio, you eat only 8 hours a day while the rest of the time, you fast. On the other hand, if you are following a 12/12 ratio, you spend your 12 hours a day eating and the remaining 12 hours fasting.

Intermittent Fasting Is Not for Everyone

Of course, the very first thing you need to be concerned about is your body and how could it possibly behave to the change of eating habits and diet plans. If you feel unpleasant, weak, or have any other problems that are keeping you from intermittent fasting, then you should definitely not stress out your system by restricting your food and fluids intake.

Also, if you are on certain types of medication or have a health problem, then you should probably give up the idea of intermittent fasting and go for other types of meal schedules that are more according to your plan. This would also be relevant for elderly people.

There Can Be Several Side Effects to Time-restrictive Eating

The side effects of intermittent fasting and its related eating plans may vary from body to body and also on your usual eating habits. Since you’ll be following time-restrictive eating, you have to be sure that you are following a proper diet. Not hydrating your body properly or relying on unhealthy items like snacks and junk foods are among the most common intermittent fasting mistakes.

People with different types of health conditions as well as life-long diseases such as blood pressure, diabetes, or other types of illnesses should consult their doctors or concerned medical practitioners before going for the intermittent fasting routine. Lower energy levels are one of the most common side effects of intermittent fasting, which can easily be avoided by managing your nutrients and calories intake.

Be Careful of Overeating

You should never be forgetting the main objective of your intermittent fasting routine. Whether you are doing it to fulfill your religion’s obligation or voluntarily, if done right, an intermittent fasting routine can be extremely beneficial for your health. The very first rule in this regard is to avoid overeating.

A lot of people do this mistake, which can make them prone to many different types of illnesses and diseases related to an irregular diet. Also, instead of becoming fit and losing some weight, they would probably start gaining weight if they are not eating in a controlled manner. This is why one of the most important intermittent fasting tips is to be careful or overeating.

By following these tips, you would hopefully be able to avoid all the common intermittent fasting mistakes that could possibly have a negative impact on your health.

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Written by Spencer K