There is a lot of talk about intermittent fasting these days, especially since so many celebrities are coming out and talking about their experiences with it. You may have seen Hoda and Jenna talking about it on the Today show or maybe you read about Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Anniston - all the stars named Jennifer are doing it. Perhaps you have seen the recent medical research in the New England Journal of Medicine that just came out last week about the Johns Hopkins study.
In the FASTer Way to Fat Loss,
we have been practicing intermittent fasting for over four years as a community. It is by far the most popular strategy amongst my clients.
If you’re a fan of intermittent fasting, let me know in the comments!
Despite its growing popularity and the amazing benefits, there are a lot of people who are intimidated by the word fasting.
Today, I want to tell you why you don’t have to be afraid of F word.
When people hear the F word, they often react out of fear:
Fear that they will starve
Fear that they will have to give up their coffee
Fear that they will have to give up their favorite breakfast foods
Fear that it will be too hard
Fear that they won’t have enough energy
But there is no reason to be afraid.
First of all intermittent fasting is not about how much you eat, it’s about WHEN you eat. You will still eat all the food you’re supposed to, you will just do it in a smaller window of time. Everyone should be fasting daily for 12 hours, but you can adjust that protocol to increase the benefits by extending the fasting window to 16/8 or even 20/4. Intermittent fasting is an eating schedule and should be done with guidance from a certified coach because if not done properly, extended fasting can damage hormone health.
When you practice intermittent fasting, your goal is to consume only water but you can have your coffee. There are some rules regarding the kind of coffee you can have during your fasting window, but you do not have to quit coffee to do intermittent fasting.
If you are like me and love breakfast, you do not have give up your favorite breakfast foods either. I usually break my fast between 11-12pm, and if I want protein pancakes and eggs, that’s what I have. It’s basically brunch. You can also have breakfast food for dinner if you want. Intermittent fasting will not change what you eat, just when you eat.
When you begin intermittent fasting, I recommend easing into it. I teach my new clients to fast for as long as they can with the goal being 16 hours. We follow the 16/8 protocol in the FASTer Way to Fat Loss, but many clients start off doing 12/12 or 14/10 to give their bodies a chance to adjust. If you dive right into 16 hours, it might feel hard. It might also feel hard if you are not eating enough during your eating window. This is another reason I recommend trying intermittent fasting under the guidance of a certified coach. If you are fasting and under-eating, you could do damage to your hormones.
Once your body switches from being a sugar burner to a fat burner, you will have plenty of energy to get through your day and to get through your workout. The key is to eat enough, to eat the right foods, whole foods, and to ease into intermittent fasting.
If you would like to learn how to implement intermittent fasting, along with other nutritional strategies, my next group of the FASTer Way starts soon.
When you register you will get immediate access to the materials until we will start prep week. In addition to intermittent fasting, you will learn about whole food nutrition, macro tracking and carb cycling. You will learn to pair your workouts to get the best results. I will show you how to eat more and workout less AND get results.
Let me know if you have any questions! If you have experience with IF, let me know in the comments.