So this is going to be the start of an Intermittent fasting journey.
Actually, I’m 28 days into it but the purpose is to pass on my experiences and any advice.
In future articles I will go into more details about intermittent fasting
Selecting a fasting schedule
I selected the 16:8 schedule.
16:8 intermittent fasting involves eating only during an eight-hour window and fasting for the remaining 16 hours. For example, you may eat between 10am and 6pm, then refrain from eating until the next day at 10am again.
This is exactly what I chose, I figured out that I wake at 7:00AM to get ready for work.
This seemed to be the most achievable – previously I tried 18:6 and this was to difficult, the thinking this time was reach t he 16 hours and go past it, this means there might be times when I can achieve that without concerning myself about falling short.
So far so good.
Fasting side effects
I had a couple of side effects, which is not uncommon when starting a fast.
The first one was obviously hunger – the first couple of days were quite tricky but drinking plenty of water kept me going – since then it has been easier and I have not noticed the hunger as much.
A couple of days early on I had bad headaches – this is not unexpected when you start intermittent fasting as your body acclimatizes. The answer is to increase your amount of water you drink.
After the first couple of days I have not experienced this again.
Tracking the fast
I obviously know the time that I have set – no eating between 6pm and 10am .So thre was no great need for tracking but i downloaded a couple of android apps – these mainly have features such as rewards and tracking the exact time of the fast.
These do give you an extra sense of achievement and are nice feedback.
You can even just write these down in a notebook
Other benefits
I have noticed that I get better sleep, this may because that I now do not drink any diet drinks (soda) after 6pm, these contained levels of caffeine. This is something that I have tried to cut down for a while.
So it may not be the fasting that has caused my better sleep quality but its a nice side effect
Advice
Start with an achievable fast schedule – pushing yourself too hard is a recipe for failure. If you can only manage 14:10 then go for it and work your way to 16:8
Drink plenty of water
Make sure your diet or no fast periods are sorted as well – no point in fasting if you stuff rubbish down your throat when you can eat
Seek advice from a medical expert – fasting is not for everyone and there are groups of people that should not try intermittent fasting
