So you want to try Intermittent Fasting huh? Well, I am no expert, but I have been doing it for the last two weeks so I wanted to share my experience so far!
Some people have a misconception that it is a fad diet. In reality, it is actually not a diet but rather a lifestyle. I know what you’re thinking, “Yeah Lex, everyone says to lose weight I need to change my lifestyle.” But I am serious. Intermittent Fasting isn’t necessarily about WHAT you eat, but WHEN you eat.
I do want to point out that fasting isn’t for everyone. Going into this I read that some women get super cranky during the process because they weren’t eating enough. If you think that might be you, no worries! Do what is best for you, I just wanted to share something that I have tried and my experience with it.
There are multiple ways that you can do intermittent fasting. The main idea behind it is that you don’t eat for a substantial period of time so that your body uses the energy that your body has stored to fuel your body there are multiple benefits to intermittent fasting like:
- Short-term fasting increases your metabolic rate so you burn more calories
- You feel much better throughout the day
- Your metabolism actually speeds up and gives you more energy.
- When you cut your eating window you cut the calories you are intaking.
Normally people say to do Intermittent Fasting you have to fast for 16 hours from the start. When researching everything, I found that women really only need 14 hours of fasting due to the hormones that we release when our body thinks it is starving. It comes from the same part of our bodies that protect babies when we are pregnant. Even though you aren’t pregnant your body starts releasing hormones into the body, to protect the baby that your body supposedly has. This is intended to help provide nutrients that the baby needs in survival mode. So I have only fasted for 14 hour periods and eaten for a 10-hour window.
Since I started, I have actually felt great and I have slept better. I have an app called Sleep Cycle that tracks my sleep and the quality of it. Since I started intermittent fasting I have seen an 8% increase in my quality of sleep on days that I have done intermittent fasting. It is nuts but it is true! I have also been less tired. Usually, I am exhausted when I get off work. Just cooking dinner is an added stressor in my day and when I get on the couch, don’t even ask me to get up. Since I started Intermittent Fasting, I have felt more energized than ever before. It is great.
I also have started watching what I have been eating more than I usually do. When you start thinking about when you eat, subconsciously you also think about what you eat. It isn’t the intention, but ultimately that is what has happened to me. I have noticed that I feel better about what I put in my body and the way it makes me feel.
I will give you guys another update soon on how I feel and how it is going!
