3 years ago, I started incorporating intermittent fasting into my life and reaping the benefits since! I recommend intermittent fasting to anyone who wants to lose weight, boost their metabolism, and overall feel more energized. I could not rave about intermittent fasting more. However, I often get asked the same questions whenever I bring up this topic. People either aren’t sure what it is or have so many questions that they feel too overwhelmed to start. So, I’m writing this today to answer the 10 most burning questions people have about Intermittent Fasting to help you start sooner!
Did you know that the Pursue Your Spark Blueprint is about to start again? Unfortunately, I offer this program only 3 times per year. The 4 Week Lean Out Program is a step-by-step system for women 50+ to help you burn body fat with intermittent fasting, get strong and lean with Pilates, and prioritize your health goals to look and feel better. I invite you to check out and see if it’s right for you!
When I tried Intermittent Fasting, it changed everything about my life. I had more energy, got leaner, didn’t have to restrict certain foods, and most notably, it helped tremendously with my Microscopic Colitis symptoms. Intermittent fasting is a lifestyle, not a diet plan, and I love it. It works, and fasting can be practiced anywhere in the world! Two years ago, I tried Intermittent fasting for the first time when many of my clients were curious about the effect and if it would really benefit them. I wrote about my initial trial in my 60 Day Experience with Intermittent Fasting.
Answers To The 10 Most Asked Questions About Intermittent Fasting
1. Is it healthy to do Intermittent Fasting every day?
Intermittent fasting is not a diet but a lifestyle. You’re encouraged to choose healthy and nutritious foods that promote gut health, incorporating healthy food choices that include lean meats, healthy fats, and many vegetables. You eat from all food groups with a focus on mindful eating and preparing your meals. Planning your meals is crucial to eating healthy and balanced meals while Intermittent Fasting.
Studies show that restricting eating from an 8 or 12-hour window can help us maintain healthy body weight and avoid high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and diabetes—regardless of the nutrient breakdown of the food we eat within those windows. The best way I have found to make Intermittent Fasting work for me is by meal prepping ahead of time.
2. How many hours should I fast?
Different time frames are available, so you can choose whichever works for your lifestyle. This approach is not about starving. It’s about eating the right foods at the right time for you, so pick a schedule that makes it easy for you to stick to it. If you’ve never fasted before, you can start by trying one of these options:
Meal Skipping: This is not a structured fasting schedule, and you decide to skip a meal once in a while. For example, you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. You might skip breakfast on Monday one week and then 2 days later, perhaps dinner. If you’re not feeling hungry for breakfast one day, wait until lunch. The myth that we need to eat every 2 – 3 hours is outdated, and you’re not starving yourself when you skip a meal. With a busy lifestyle, that approach might work for you.
Brunch Fast or time-restricted eating. This is similar to the schedule above, but instead, you introduce breakfast a little later than usual. Example: Finish dinner at 7 pm and don’t eat again until 9 am. This is probably the simplest way to start as you sleep through the night (yes, that counts as fasting) and then wait until you’re hungry. If fat loss is your goal, research suggests that women tend to burn more fat during a 14 – 15 hour fasting window.
5:2 Diet: Involves eating 500–600 calories for 2 days out of the week and eating normally for the other 5 days. This diet, also called the Fast Diet, was popularized by British journalist Michael Mosley.
For example, you might typically eat every day of the week except Mondays and Thursdays. So for those two days, you eat 2 small meals of 250 calories each for women and 300 calories each for men. But then who wants to count calories? And this could be a little more tricky.
3. Can I exercise when I’m fasting?
First, remember your body is getting fewer calories, and it will take time to adapt, so go easy for the first few weeks. You want to incorporate low-impact exercises and low-intensity strength training to begin with. We burn fat when we exercise in a fasted state instead of carbohydrates. After fasting overnight, your muscle energy stores of glycogen are depleted. Therefore, your body burns more fat to energize your exercises.
Cardio exercise should raise your heart rate a little and start to get a sweat going, but you should still be able to hold a conversation during it. If you can’t catch a breath – you’re doing too much! Choose your mode -walking, running, biking, swimming -whatever you feel like you like to do.
Strength training with lighter weights and higher repetitions is the way to go here. So you’re looking at weights, bands, pilates, anything with a little resistance that you can build up endurance and lean muscles.
Less is more. Start with shorter workout times and build it up over a few weeks. 15 minutes of cardio workout and 15 minutes of strength training on alternate days is a good start. Remember to have a day of rest, too. You don’t need to work out every single day.
4. How long does it take to get used to Intermittent Fasting?
Starting with a larger eating window and gradually lengthening the fasting times makes the transition easier. In the Pursue Your Spark Blueprint, we’re starting with baby steps to get you used to when you feel a little hungry, and that is not necessarily bad because it helps us develop a deeper mind-body connection. You’ll get used to Intermittent fasting within about 5 days.
5. Does it matter if I eat early or late in the day?
Yes, the closer we eat to our bedtime, the more our sleep might be interrupted. This is because instead of rest and recovery, your body now has to digest the foods you ate close to bedtime. The idea is that you eat at least 3-hours before bedtime so that your gut has time to digest the foods you ate and then have time to start the gut repair process.
Intermittent Fasting can also strengthen our 24-hour circadian clock, which is dominating our sleep. If the circadian clock is more synchronized, it’s easier to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling refreshed regularly. Due to circadian rhythms, insulin sensitivity is at its peak earlier and decreases as the day progresses. More on HOW INTERMITTENT FASTING CAN HELP YOU SLEEP
6. What can I eat and drink during fasting times?
Because intermittent fasting is a sustainable lifestyle rather than a special diet, there are no special foods to buy and no off-limits foods. Instead, you choose to eat 2-3 meals per day from organic and unprocessed foods. Pre-planning your meals, reducing the number of meals, and cutting out snacks lead to healthier food choices and a much easier relationship with food.
A balanced meal focuses primarily on:
- Vegetables – fresh or frozen
- Some fruits fresh and frozen
- Whole grains, including quinoa, brown rice, oats, and barley
- Lean protein sources, like chicken, fish, beans, lentils, tofu, nuts, seeds, cottage cheese, and eggs
- Healthy fats from fatty fish (like salmon, cod), olives, olive oil, coconuts, avocados, nuts, and seeds
A little sugar or milk in your coffee occasionally will not break your fast. Fasting expert and author Dr. Jason Fung advises against diet sodas during fasting. Although they have no calories, the sweeteners may impact insulin levels and stimulate the appetite.
7. Can I drink alcohol during Intermittent Fasting?
Yes, but moderate your intake to 1 – 2 servings per day. Keep in mind that alcohol may cause you to overeat, burn fewer calories and add more calories to your meals. Alcohol is calorie-dense and may impede fat burning and weight loss. In addition, drinking too much alcohol can promote chronic inflammation and create other health issues. Intermittent Fasting aims to reduce inflammation and repair your gut based on the choices you make. Most alcohol has sugar that increases inflammation, and it seems that the sugar in alcohol promotes belly fat.
8. Why I’m not losing weight on IF?
IF is not a weight loss program but intended to promote gut health. If your goal is weight loss, start a food log to see what types of foods you’re eating and if your meals are mostly lean proteins and vegetables instead of starchy foods like potatoes and reis. Also, portion size matters as we fast, and fasting doesn’t allow us to overeat during our meals and make up for the meals we didn’t eat.
9. Do I have to stop eating out with friends when fasting?
One of the many benefits of Intermittent Fasting is that it’s flexible and based on your lifestyle. That’s why it’s perfect for maintaining eating and fasting routines. You simply adjust your eating schedule based on your social plans.
You’re not falling off the proverbial wagon when you’re eating on a different schedule. Get back on the fasting schedule that you set for yourself as soon as possible. Most importantly, remember that the food and drink choices we make in a social setting can feel like a setback. The same goes for traveling!!
10. Can I have a cheat day?
Intermittent Fasting is not a diet and doesn’t ask you to cut out certain foods or food groups. Instead, you eat whatever you like during your feasting time. This way, you’ll never feel deprived, and cravings are rare. Keep in mind why you started Intermittent Fasting in the first place and what your goals are. This will help you guide your food choices. On my podcast, I recently talked about the 5 best ways to stop cravings that actually work!
There you have it – the 10 most burning questions about Intermittent Fasting answered.
Intermittent Fasting is so easy to incorporate into any lifestyle without food restrictions or a diet. You choose when and what you eat based on your goals. You might want to check out some of the programs mentioned above.