Intermittent Fasting Guide for Beginners

MJYu
3 min readMar 10, 2021

4 efficient ways to do Intermittent fasting

Credits: https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/intermittent-fasting-guide/

There are some guides for people who are beginning to like the idea of fasting as way to shred some weight. Intermittent fasting’s popularity has sored high over the past few years and people are starting to go to this route. By definition, Intermittent Fasting is an eating plan that allows an individual to eat for a certain duration and fast on the remaining hours. The idea is that you can choose an eating period and fast. Some individuals fast perhaps because of religious practices and mostly, due to health issues. They are usually required by the physician before undergoing a medical test like, ultrasound for instance, to fast at least 12 hours in order for a radiologist to have a clear picture of the body. However, in the case of health-conscious people, they tend to do some abstaining from food as they aim to lose some pounds.

But, how does it really work? Intermittent fasting works by prolonging the period of your last meal and to your next meal. An individual has options that works best for their body. There are different types of fasting and the most popular are 14:10, 16:8 and 20:4. The 14:10 is designed for beginners, 16:8 for expert level, 20:4 or One Meal A Day (OMAD) Diet.

Eat the Right Food

Let’s say you ended your meal 7PM and you are aiming for the 16:8 fasting, then the next meal is 12PM the next day. When it is eating period, you must consume food that will make you feel full, also called satiation. You have to eat foods that are high in protein, low carbohydrates and more vegetables. Foods such as wholegrain bread, eggs, chicken breasts, turkey, whey protein powder, nuts, brown rice and green leafy vegetables.

Drink lots of water

Another important step in intermittent fasting is to drink lots of water. This helps you keep hydrated all throughout the day, and the same time it tricks your mind to forget hunger. Furthermore, drinking lots of water keeps you energized for the entire day as dehydration can really make you go weak. Upon waking up, prepare a glass of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon juice as it cleanses your body.

Coffee and Black Tea

During your fasting period, it is difficult at times to control hunger as your body is just beginning to adjust. In between meals, there is an exception when fasting. You can drink black coffee without sugar and creamer in the morning. Black tea or green tea are helpful options and they all increase satiation to your body.

Autophagy

This medical term is not in everyone’s vocabulary, but by definition in Wikipedia, Autophagy is a body cell regeneration. That is the easiest way to describe it. But when does it really happen? Let’s say you are fasting for 16 hours. For the first 3 hours, the body sugar levels increases as you just consumed your last meal, the next 3 hours, blood sugar level decreases. On the seventh hour until 10th, sugar levels stabilize. From the 11th to 13th, ketosis begins, where body is burning fat. The real magic begins on the 14th and to the 16th hour where Autophagy starts as this time, the body is healing damage cells.

So, now that we have uncovered the correct guide for beginners in intermittent fasting like you, following the guide may not completely lose you some weight that you desire, but ultimately, it will be decided on how motivated and disciplined you are.

Note: Please consult with your physician or licensed dietician before starting intermittent fasting. Some body responses are different and this should be properly planned with a medical practitioner.

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