Human bodies get energy from food, so not eating when you’re feeling hungry can be a challenge even when it’s a conscious and informed decision. Many people have used intermittent fasting as an effective way to lose weight but a good number of people fall off the bandwagon before the end of their program because of food cravings or the inability to focus on anything else when they’re hungry.
Weight loss programs are all quite challenging because it takes a lot of effort and commitment to cut weight. While this might be your intention, it’s natural to feel like the challenge is beyond your endurance capacity. However, you should not give up on getting your dream body because endurance is like a muscle that gets stronger when you flex it. Right now, it might seem like you can’t go for more than a couple of hours without food, but if you commit to your weight loss program, your endurance will increase and you’ll be able to function on an empty stomach.
Intermittent fasting is a preferred weight loss formula because it does not require you to physically exert your body. If you’re especially heavy, you can start with intermittent fasting until you attain a weight you’re able to carry during workout sessions. Since the whole idea behind weight loss is attaining a calorie deficit, intermittent fasting is perfect because it allows you to reduce your caloric intake and allow your body to naturally shed weight over time.
If this is your first time trying intermittent fasting, ensure you have someone to ‘do my chemistry homework for me’, so you can turn to when you’re feeling too hungry to work on your assignments. This way, you can work towards a healthier body without compromising your academic performance. And while you’re at it, ensure you don’t end up starving yourself and end up compromising your health in the name of weight loss. At the end of the day, your body needs energy to stay alive and well and the only place it can get that is from food.
Continue reading to find out how to succeed at intermittent fasting.
Fast for 12 Hours Every Day
The rule of intermittent fasting is to deprive your body of food during an allocated window and the best timeline to work with is 12-hours every day. This gives your body time to convert the stored fat in your body into energy. Basically, not giving your body food for 12-hour straight makes it resort to burning the fat in your body to keep you alive and well. Isn’t this a genius weight loss method?
So while your stomach might be empty, your body mechanisms will ensure you have the energy to keep moving. If you remove your attention from your growling stomach, you’ll realize that you’re actually capable of going about your day like you’ve eaten.
This is a suitable weight loss mechanism for people who are attempting to get in shape for the first time in their life. It might be gruesome in the beginning, but reminding yourself why you embarked on this journey keeps you disciplined and committed.
Fasting for 16 Hours a Day
If you hack fasting for 12 hours a day and you feel confident that you can survive on the fat your body burns to sustain you? Then you can easily graduate to fasting for 16 hours a day. Take your time to transition from 12 hours to 16 hours because if you transition too fast, you might just backslide and get back to eating.
Fasting for 16 hours means you have an 8-hour window to eat so that you don’t starve yourself. Ensure you’re keeping yourself busy during the fasting window so that you don’t focus on how empty your stomach is. Make sure you let friends and family know that you’re intermittently fasting, allowing them to act accordingly so they don’t unconsciously tempt you with food and sabotage your efforts.
Fasting for 2 Days a Week
You heard that right! You can actually stay without food for two days and not drop dead. The secret is remaining active throughout this time and staying hydrated so your body fluids remain normal the entire time.
If you decide to fast for two days a week, ensure that the rest of the week, you’re eating healthy foods that won’t cancel out the effort you put in to burn calories. What’s more, the two days don’t have to be consecutive; if you feel you can’t survive without feed for 48 hours, consider fasting for 24 hours and taking a food break before doing the next 24 hours.
Final Word
The key to succeeding at intermittent fasting is gradually increasing your fasting windows so that you don’t shock your body with a sudden change. During this time, ensure you stay active and you let your family and friends know about your weight loss journey so they don’t unintentionally sabotage your efforts.