HOW TO START INTERMITTENT FASTING
Whenever I talk about fasting, everyone always says to me… “Well, I can’t do it”. Which is furthest from the truth. And the reply is always the same, if I can do it so can you!
Why You Think You Can’t Fast
I also get, I can’t fast because I get headaches, if I don’t eat. Or I get the shakes and can’t concentrate. I’ve been there and done that. But fasting is really all about mind over matter.
When I was younger I was ‘hungry’, even before that term was trendy. My family knew that you had to feed me or I was going to go crazy. Later to find out, I’m hyperglycemic, which fasting made a huge difference in my diagnosis.
How Fasting Can Help You Control Your Blood Sugar
The problem with me as I was constantly eating. You know that, 6 small meals a day thing? And when I didn’t eat my blood sugar was crashing. My body was on a constant high of releasing insulin and when I went a few hours without eating, I thought I was dying and I needed food!
You can read more about how eating and fasting affect your blood sugar and insulin in Why You Should Do Intermittent Fasting.
Your body can adapt to anything… that’s how amazing these things are! By not eating your body eventually adjusts to fasting. Think about it, you don’t eat during those hours you are sleeping and your blood sugar is just fine. Oh, and do you have headaches at night when you are sleeping? Those hours are considered fasting by the way.
Getting Hungry When You Fast
Hunger comes in waves. Have you ever noticed when you are so busy you forget to eat? That’s probably because you aren’t focused on those hunger pains or even eating at all.
Your body becomes accustomed to fasting and you get used to it over time. Don’t get me wrong, the first few times doing it is really hard.
But when you do fast, yes you are hungry, but over time your body starts burning your stored glucose and then stored fat, and then you won’t be hungry.
Also, headaches were my biggest concern when I was fasting. That’s because you are dehydrated and need to drink a lot more water. When you fast, you aren’t getting the excess water from foods that we get when eating. So, you have to up your fluid game.
And if you are dizzy, it’s because you aren’t consuming enough water and SALT. Our diets are so heavily reliant on salt and then we go from not having any salt when we fast. Drinking salt water can help with headaches and dizziness, I know it always helped me.
How To Start Fasting
If you are one of those hard-core people that can go cold turkey then go for a longer fast. But if you are like the rest of us, taking it slow is probably the best. The great thing about intermittent fasting is, it is, however, you want to do it. If that’s an OMAD (one meal a day) or 6:18 (where you have a window of 6 hours to eat) or eating every other day, it really is up to you and what you can do.
I have seen the most success in myself and others when they do a window during the day of eating. This could be breakfast and lunch and no dinner or lunch and dinner skipping breakfast.
Whatever you choose, allowing your body to go without food for a period of time is very healthy for you! It allows your body to take a break from eating and focus on burning the visceral fat and start losing weight!
So whatever plan you decide to do, just start and drink enough water and see how you feel over time. The best way to know… is just to start! Btw, spoiler alert, you will have a lot more energy… see more by clicking on the link below.
Now you will want to know the: 6 Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
