So what is intermittent fasting (also known as IF)?
Intermittent fasting is an eating plan that switches between fasting and eating on a regular schedule. Anytime you're not eating, you are technically fasting. So if you finish breakfast at 8am and eat lunch at 12pm, you were "fasting" for four hours.
The most common intermittent fasting schedule is 16:8 -a 16 hour fast and an 8 hour eating window. This may look like eating breakfast at 10am and finishing dinner at 6pm, creating a 16 hour fast between 6pm and 10am the next day.
There are many different types of intermittent fasting and that's one of the aspects that creates a lot of confusion. Even a 12:12 schedule is technically an intermittent fast, where you fast for 12 hours between dinner and breakfast. (Many people do this unintentionally and not because they're trying to fast.)
My husband and I have been experimenting with 24 hour fasts, where we eat dinner one night and then the next day skip breakfast and lunch, waiting a full 24 hours before eating dinner the following day.
Now here's my opinion: intermittent fasting isn't for everyone. Jumping into it may be harmful, so I recommend a baby-step approach and observing carefully along the way.
If you're curious about the benefits of fasting, I highly recommend the book The Complete Guide to Fasting.
Where to begin? Now this is what I like to see all of my clients work towards -a 12:12 eating window. Even if longer fasts are too stressful for your system (like if you have hypothyroidism or high cortisol levels), being able to fast for 12 hours (for which you are sleeping the majority of that time) represents good metabolic health.
Here's an example schedule:
Finish dinner by 7pm and don't eat anything else, just drink water or tea.
Go to bed at 10pm.
Have breakfast at 7am the next morning.
That's not too bad, right?
If you're able to easily fast for 12 hours between dinner and breakfast for a full week, then you're ready to start stretching your fasting window. I recommend increasing it by an hour a week. Depending on your lifestyle, workout schedule, and family dynamics, you may eat breakfast later in the day or dinner earlier in the evening.
If at all possible, I do recommend at least 3 hours of fasting before you go to sleep at night. This habit produces the best sleep quality so your body isn't working on digestion while it's supposed to be doing the important job of repair and restoration while you sleep.
Most women do better with an earlier eating window because it helps us more easily balance our hormones. So that may look like eating breakfast at 9am and finishing dinner by 6pm. That's a 15 hour fasting window, which is great!
I want to encourage you to listen to your body. This is why I prefer a slow increase instead of jumping right into a 16:8 eating plan. Your body may love a 14:10, and there are still great benefits to that window. Even a consistent 12:12 is going to improve your health.
Now here's what I really caution against:don't use coffee to suppress your appetite in order to stretch your eating window. I still recommend eating before you have coffee, so if you're trying to make it until noon before you eat but sipping on coffee in order to make it that long, you can throw off your hormones and send your body into a state of stress.
See what time you get hungry in the morning without coffee. That's a great time to have your first meal, and then work your dinner up earlier to shrink your eating window.Intermittent fasting doesn't necessarily mean cutting your calories, it's just shrinking your eating window. You still want to get in all of your protein, healthy fats, and fiber for the day, so pay attention to that!
