Intermittent fasting can be extremely helpful and full of benefits if you are doing it correctly and with the right intentions.
You’re probably thinking how can you be incorrectly avoiding food?
It seems pretty straight forward from the outside looking in which is accurate for the most part but there’s also a small window of mistakes that can be made. For one, starving yourself all day is not what intermittent fasting is about, it is about allowing your body to cycle between periods of eating and not eating.
Some people practice the 16:8 rule which is 16 hours fasting with an 8 hour eating window while others practice a 24 hours fast once or twice a week.
The most important thing to remember when trying IF is to listen to your body!
I absolutely love practicing intermittent fasting throughout the week because I have found the best equation that benefits me while not being absolutely ravenous throughout the day. I have tried the whole 24 hours fasts sporadically but I have found that personally it’s not something I can do often and that’s okay! I work early mornings and notice that I am not hungry until around lunch time so I typically have a lot of water and a few cups of coffee to get me through the first half of my work day. It’s important not to complicate IF and make it this big event that you’re constantly thinking about. It should be the complete opposite, a way to let your body enhance all of its functions naturally and obtain benefits.
Intermittent Fasting has been around throughout human evolution and is known to carry benefits for your brain, body, and even improve life longevity. In society nowadays with all the food commercials, advertisements, restaurants, take out, and delivery services, we are CONSTANTLY eating.
I have found that being mindful and listening to hunger and fullness cues has been extremely helpful and keeps me on track. Why is it so hard to eat when you're hungry and stop when you’re full??? Having that eating window allows you to have two or three larger meals to keep you full and reduce snacking and cravings, or at least that is what I have found.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to acknowledge that we are all different which means our eating patterns, habits, and amounts are not the same. My advice is to start small so for Intermittent fasting that could mean practicing it twice a week to ease into it and work your way to however many days you think is maintainable and beneficial.
I am still learning new things about nutrition every single day and I am lucky enough to have a job that allows me to do so. Please feel free to reach out to me for any tips or information you may need or a crew member at any of our cafes that can lead you in the right direction.
Email: live@fitbarcafe.com
Instagram: @fitbarcafe
App: Fit Bar Superfood Cafe
Website: fitbarcafe.com
Coach Liv, Pn1
