How To Ease Into Intermittent Fasting

If you’ve been wanting to try intermittent fasting but are used to eating 6 meals a day or can’t imagine not eating breakfast or dinner, this one’s for you. Starting (and maintaining) a new habit can be tough, but easing your way into it can feel like less of a shock to the system.

Our 5 Tips to Ease Into Intermittent Fasting:

1. The 16:8 Method

There are many types of fasting, but here's the one that many fitness lovers stick to when it comes to intermittent fasting. 16:8 or 'Leangains' method supports your body's internal clock, the circadian rhythm. This means that you’re fasting for 16 hours and have an eating window of 8 hours. Essentially, you’ll either skip breakfast or your dinner, depending on your schedule. Though your hunger hormones do get adjusted to an intermittent fasting schedule, you may be wondering, how can you go from being used to eating all the time to suddenly nothing?

2. Try a Modified Fast

A strict fast would be nothing but water (some people even do a dry fast!).The next strict option would be black coffee or tea only (hold the sugar and cream!). This way, you're not ingesting any calories, avoiding a blood sugar spike. However, for us mere mortals, this may be quite a mental and physical stretch. If you're not quite ready to take the plunge, you can ease into it with some help:

Consume quality fats (with or without coffee):

One of the reasons to fast is not to spike your blood sugar. By consuming particular fats, you can stave off hunger and keep energised while on an intermittent fasting diet plan. MCT (Medium Chain Triglycerides) oil is a tool athletes and keto adherents use. Keeping to a keto diet during the day can help ketone production and be an excellent way to keep your modified fast going. You’ll find MCT in the famous Bulletproof Coffee and in products like:

You'll also find it in products like:

• One - High Performance Coffee by Before You Speak

• Coffee Switch by Switch Nutrition

3. Have Enough Calories for Your Last Meal

Not only enough calories, but make sure that your meal is actually going to make you full! If you eat slow-digesting fats, volume with fibre and satiating protein, you’ll find you can go much further than if you just ate carbohydrates. If you're looking to break your fast at noon, try a hearty dinner that will help keep you going so you don't wake up starving.

Note: that doesn't mean eat until you burst! If you eat too much, you'll set yourself up for poor sleep. Plus, if you are to lose body fat, the most important thing is to keep to a calorie deficit.

4. Treat It Like an Experiment

When something is an 'experiment', it takes away some of the severity of starting a routine that might last forever. Instead of approaching it with anxiety and a sense of duty, you can instead look at it with curious eyes. Do you journal? Journaling is great for many purposes, but in relation to intermittent fasting, it can be useful to track your energy levels, mood, sleep and how you feel after you eat certain foods. That way, you can make adjustments to your intermittent fasting diet plan where needed. If you're just trying out fasting because of the potential weight loss benefits, then these supplements can help you get better results overall!

4. Focus on the Benefits

What are the biggest benefits of intermittent fasting to you? If you’re already aware of the general benefits of fasting (and that’s why you’ve started it), start imagining how great you'll look and feel once you've completed your goal.

*Always, consult your health practitioner for the right advice for you. This article is intended to be for educational purposes only. Fasting is not suitable for everyone.