I hated eating breakfast unless it was pancakes or grits so intermittent fasting (IF) appeared to be something I would love. And on top of that I am GREEDY!
I started in 2017 as a way to lose a few extra pounds on my pescatarian diet. My boyfriend at the time and I started together. As the fitness and nutrition professional I am, I thought it would be a breeze, a piece of cake. I had good reason to try it. #1I didn’t eat breakfast much anyways. #2 The 5 small meals a day never worked for me.#3 I am greedy. I like to eat large amounts of food. (Don’t judge me)
I told myself I didn’t eat breakfast because I was never hungry early in the morning. But As soon as I told myself I CAN’T eat until 12pm, all of a sudden I was starving like marvin at 8am for breakfast. I was following the 16/8 fast where I ate from 12pm-8pm. 16 hours fasting including sleeping and eating for 8 hours. Learn more about Intermittent Fasting Here
The first 3 days of fasting I heard my stomach growl, I felt hunger pains and I saw my bad habits face me in the mirror. I ate like a 300 lb man at an all you can eat buffet at 12pm. I devoured my food, I was hungry. And when 8pm came somehow I was ready to eat again but something sweet, cravings like ice cream, cake attacked my taste buds.
By Day 5 I came to my senses and realized that 8 hours is a long time and that I could calm down and i’m not dying of hunger and better yet make sure I’m not eating junk. I started to distinguish when I was actually hungry versus bored. The hunger pains taught me real quick.
During the eating hours I noticed that my food choices needed to be nutritious and meet my requirement for iron, protein, fiber, etc. Right when I thought I had this IF down the weekend hit and all of a sudden I wanted pancakes at brunch. And so I ate them.
After the first week I lost 0 pounds and the boyfriend lost 5 pounds. I saw how I could still overeat while fasting and working out. “Let’s try again next week, because I can’t fail at this, everyone loves it”, I said.
I created a plan; tea or coffee in the morning no sugar or creamer and drink water until 12pm. I needed to change my mindset that I CAN have food and that I CHOOSE not to eat until 12pm. I made fasting sacred.
Note: Fasting is a practice that has been done for centuries every religion uses fasting as a spiritual and healing practice. The idea of fasting is to sacrifice food and pleasure to better connect with the divine.
Healing the body requires energy, the same energy it takes to digest food. But here we are eating food late at night not allowing our body to heal. The concept is to allow the body to repair itself during fasting.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you cut yourself and when you go to sleep you awake with a scab or see the cut healing. All this happens when you go to sleep; so imagine how the liver, gut, immune system can heal during sleep when not digesting that ice cream you ate at night.
Fasting also helps with fat buring. When working out or doing daily activities we use the food in our stomach for energy. The concept of fasting is allowing the body to convert stored fat as energy. The belly, back, and arm fat that we look at in the mirror.
Okay back to my story….
Week 2 went by and I had a system, break my fast with fruits at 12pm. At 1:30pm I would be hungry again and I would eat some whole wheat protein pasta with some veggies or brown rice and legumes with kale. For dinner I would have a little more grains with veggies and a nice banana cream or chia seed chocolate pudding right at 7:30pm to call that sweet tooth down. If i got hungry after 9pm which was highly likely I would make a cup of hot tea like peach, lemon, or ginger drink and go to sleep. That week I lost 4 lbs and I was super excited! I have been intermittent fasting ever since.
Since transitioning to Whole Food Plant Based I haven’t been as strict with IF. I find that my caloric intake is pretty perfect when I eat well. Plants have low calories so I can eat in abundance and I love that.
Here are some tips for IF to work
- Don’t change your eating schedule, stick to a 12pm- 8pm schedule 16/8 fast especially for women. When women tend to fast longer the stress hormone cortisol can be released and weight gain can occur.
- Please don’t eat junk food while fasting, you need proper nutrition; stick to plant based healthy eating
- I have a rule of 5 calories or less while fasting, so a drop or 2 of liquid stevia can go into your coffee because it’s calorie free or 1 calorie.
- Remember that fasting is 7 days a week not 5, be consistent.
- There are 3500 calories in 1 pound, which is divided into 500 calories 7 days a week .
- Pay attention to when you are eating because your are hungry vs boredom
When you’re ready to give IF a try send me a message or visit my website at prettypumpedfitness.com and I can help you make it easier. I’ve done the hard work for you.
