Written by Joseph Cesar
Interested in intermittent fasting but you don’t know where to start? Don’t worry! I’m here to share some tips to help you get through intermittent fasting.
4. Research
Well first and foremost, you need to prepare before you even start. Now, what does that mean? Well, that means doing your research–weighing the pros and cons in order to properly evaluate whether intermittent fasting is for you. A lot of articles have made studies on the effects of intermittent fasting, click here to check one out!
3. Tailored to your fit
If you decide that the pros outweigh the cons, then it’s time to get serious! There are different types of intermittent fasting intervals and you need to find one that suits your lifestyle best. This means going through your day-to-day activities and seeing which hours you’re most active in. For example, a call center agent who is mostly awake during the night, may not have the same interval as a person who works during the day. Personally, I used the 16-8 split, where I fast for 16 hours, and eat for 8.
2. Eat right, and Think right
Next is the concrete prepping stage. This is where you start to prepare for your intermittent fasting journey. The main things you need to prep for are food accessibility and mental condition. Yes, you read that right, you need to prepare your mental state as well. A lot of people jump into intermittent fasting carrying the same mindset they had before and end up stopping shortly after.
I’ll admit that I am guilty of that. I tried intermittent fasting during my vacation as a spur of the moment decision and after a month, I decided to back out. Although other factors play a part, I can surely say that my mindset played a big role in my level of motivation in staying true to the diet.
But, what does it mean to have a strong mindset? Well, it means understanding that, at some point, it will be difficult. Even if let’s say, you have the capability to fast without any problems, can you resist temptation when asked to eat out? Can you say no to your friends who will tempt you into eating out of time? These are the questions you need to ask yourself in order to be mentally ready.
After preparing mentally, it’s time to plan some logistics. Once again depending on your lifestyle, food accessibility will differ. I did mine on vacation when I was at home so food was always available. But if you’re working or studying, it may be a good idea to invest in some tupperwares so that you can pre-make your meals and bring them on the go.
Trust me, after a fast, the last thing you want to do is to fumble around for food to eat. Preparing your meals ahead of time will save you a lot of time and money. But more importantly, it allows you to control what you eat which will yield more calculated results in the long run.
1. Go sloooow
For my final tip, let me tell you the story of how I failed my intermittent fasting diet. As mentioned earlier, it was a sudden decision I made when I was on vacation. At the time, I came from a bulk, which meant that I was eating around every two hours. My stomach and my mind were so used to eating several times a day that the sudden change in diet resulted in hellish pain. I was on a bulking diet for a good 3 months and I wasn’t able to give my body enough time to adjust.
The biggest lesson I learned is to slowly acclimate your body to the change. It can be done by doing small fasts during the day. Perhaps reducing a meal per day, or maybe even reducing it only once per week. Just as with most things, you will have your own pace. There is no single timeframe that will work for everyone.
This is also very important because the slow change helps in the long run. By having a gradual change, your body starts to adapt to what is new. Instead of suddenly changing your diet and you’ll end up craving and missing your old diet. Consistency is key and going slow will definitely help.
I hope these tips and tricks helped, and good luck on your intermittent fasting journey!
