Beginners Guide For Intermittent Fasting

Beginners Guide For Intermittent Fasting

Hello Beginners!

Welcome to this old type of fasting!

We get numerous questions daily on Intermittent Fasting - How to start, what to eat, what to do?

So i though of sharing this guide with full details, hope you people read this!

What is IF?

Intermittent Fasting means you fast few hours in a day so that your body gets enough time to perform activities for its wellness and burn the fat that has accumulated over years.

When you keep feeding your body, it JUST digests/burns the food the whole day meaning your fat is safely stored inside your body 😑

In your Fasting period , your body after digesting the day's meal starts targeting fat that's in its vicinity! Being loyal to you it gets suited up and goes to burn that accumulated fat , once the fats are burned it starts looking around for issues that your body is dealing with right now, it then starts to repair and heal your body 📷<3

When you start eating on your fast period , your body starts to digest the food you sent in and stops burning fat!! 😑So who is the culprit here? Yes You! Me! Us! 😃

Keep this in mind every time you eat on your fasting window – You are feeding your body and hindering its process to burn fat!

Types of Fasting

1) 12 : 12 or 14: 10

Fast 12 hrs and eat 12 hrs / fast 14hrs and eat 10hrs

This is the basic fasting period that is recommended for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, diabetic or people with any other health issues.

In this window your body begins to recognize IF as a lifestyle and tries to adapt.

2) 16:8

You fast 16hrs and eat 8hrs.

This is the beginner fast, where you are trying to change your regular food intake into a restricted period. The initial days of 16:8 are hectic as you are trying to break the chains of continuous eating.

The normal timings would be:

10am – Breakfast

2pm – Lunch

5pm – Dinner/ eve snacks

6pm – Start fasting

You can change the 16hr fasting window according to your daily routines, but make sure it’s a complete 16hr fast.

3) 18: 6

You fast 18hrs eat 6hrs

This is the next level in Fasting, where you have got control over your timings and mind and can extend from 16hrs to 18hrs.

The normal timings would be:

10am – Breakfast

1pm – Healthy snacks

3pm – Lunch

4pm – Start fasting

These timings can be changed according to your routines.

4) 20 :4

You fast 20hrs eat 4hrs

This is the next level in fasting to 18hrs, here you have complete control over your mind and body.

The normal timings would be:

11am – Breakfast

1pm – Healthy snacks

2pm – Lunch

3pm – Start fasting

These timings can be changed according to your routines.

5) OMAD (23:1)

One meal a day (OMAD) is basically having all the nutritious food combined into a single meal - mostly a mid -day meal ( around 2-3pm). This meal should contain 1500-2000 calories , an intake that is required for a average woman per day.

These timings can be changed according to your routines.

6. 24hr fast

You fast a complete day

This is one of the toughest fast, where you test your body and mind to push to stay in fasting for a day, consuming only water, green tea or black coffee.

This is recommended once a week for reaping the full benefits of fasting!

7. 36hr/ 48hrs/72hrs

These are fasts that help you with Autophagy

More on this later 📷:)

IMPORTANT TO READ

I have listed out the fasting types as a step by step process meaning they have to be followed step by step! 😊

You complete 16hrs, 18hrs, 20hrs, 23hrs and then OMAD.

I am highlighting the 'step by step' because jumping directly into OMAD or 24hr fast without beginning with a 16hr is not recommended at all!! You might see temporary results but will end up with extreme health issues, hair loss, dizziness, immunity drop!! 😐

You have been in a routine eating 3 times a day – from morning, noon, night, snacks, junks for almost 20, 30, 40, 50yrs of your life!!! So jumping directly to OMAD or 24hr fast will flip your body making it confused to decide on what to do- this is dangerous!

Your body is your best friend , don’t make her confused!!

Once you have successfully sustained in each fasting step, you move to next! Train your body to get used to that process then move to next. Once you reach 24hr fast you can go about mixing up fasting window- like do 16hrs again for 3days , then 20hrs for two days, likewise.

By now your body understands what your intention is and will be able to support and cooperate with you to work towards a common goal! Think on a long term basis, if you are going to do everything quickly , end up losing weight and get unhealthy, gain weight again in 2-3months!! What do we achieve here?? Nothing! Just stress 😐

The key is to align your mind and body, so work with both together!! 😊

BENEFITS OF IF:

1. Intermittent Fasting can reduce insulin resistance thereby lowering risk of Type 2 Diabetes

2. IF can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the body

3.  IF is good for heart health

4. IF helps with weight loss/fat burning

5. IF may help prevent Cancer

6. IF helps with cell repair and autophagy

7. IF will help you live healthier, happier and longer

8. And lots more click pictures of your before and after📷

What to drink in your Fasting window?

1. Water - can drink tons of it

2.  Green tea (no honey, sugar, brown sugar, jaggery, Steven, erithrol)

3. Black coffee (no honey, sugar, brown sugar, jaggery, Steven, erithrol)

Note:

Green Tea and Black coffee should not be consumed on empty stomach (after you get up in the morning) as this is said to cause acidity.

Stick to water – hot, cold, normal 😊

What can you break your fast with?

1.Nuts

2. Eggs

3. Soup ( vegetable/chicken)

4. Greens smoothie ( Kale/Spinach/Lettuce)

5. Cooked veggies/Boiled veggies

Basically, food that are easily digestible

What to REDUCE/AVOID in your Eating window?

1. Reduce/avoid added sugars.
2. Reduce refined grains.
3. Avoid Junk – all packaged snacks.
4. Reduce Carb intake.

5. Avoid refined oils.

6. Reduce coffee/tea intake.

7. Reduce eating out.

8. Reduce or if possible, avoid White rice - go for Brown rice.
9. Aerated drinks (Coke, Pepsi etc)

What to SNACK in your eating window?

1. Mix Nuts

2. Peanuts

3. Cut fruits/veggies (carrot, cucumber)

4. Frozen fruits

5. Beans and legumes

6. Dark chocolate (75% and above dark)

IF for BreastFeeding Moms?

The counter effects of pregnancy is well known, after all pushing a tiny human being is not that easy, and the body goes through innumerable changes. So pat yourself back for doing. Yay!!!!!!

The next take after pregnancy is breastfeeding. Another important feat for new moms is breast feeding, and we become so confused when it comes to dieting while nursing, and how its gonna affect the milk supply. So here is a list of things to take care while intermittent fasting while nursing.

Can I do Intermittent Fasting while breastfeeding?

· Intermittent fasting can be done once your child has started to take solids, it is not advisable until then. So new moms, it is better to wait 6 or 7 months before you take up fasting. Sit back and enjoy your motherhood.

Will intermittent fasting affect my milk supply?

· The first point of concern is how well your current supply is, if you have had struggle with your supply, then Intermittent fasting will have an impact on your supply.

· A nursing mom will require 2000-2500 calories per day, so even while intermittent fasting you will require a minimum 1500-1800 calories, going below 1200 calories will definitely result in milk supply reduction.

How do I start Intermittent fasting while nursing?

· Start slow with a 12 hour fast for few days in a week, and check for changes in the supply, then proceed from there.

· Breastfeeding burns 500 calories in a day, so you need not cut calories quite as low. Do not go overboard on calories too.

· Drink lots of water. This way the supply will be well established.

· Nurse baby often - supply and demand theory works well here.