The beginner's guide to Intermittent Fasting
Today we’re talking all things intermittent fasting - what it’s all about and why you might want to do it. I get so many questions on this topic so I hope this helps answer some of those for you!
I’ve been intermittent fasting for quite some time now - since 2017 - and I’ve seen so many incredible benefits from it.
The first thing you need to understand about intermittent fasting is that it’s NOT a diet! It’s not a quick fix or something I suggest you do with the intention of trying to “shred” fat really fast.
Intermittent fasting is a lifestyle, so if it’s something you want to look at to lose heaps and heaps of weight, I encourage you to first read this whole post and learn more about it before jumping in. Yes, intermittent fasting can be a great tool for weight loss, but I really want to highlight all the other amazing benefits beyond just losing weight!
So let’s jump into exactly what it is, why you would consider doing it, all the health benefits, the different types of fasting (there are lots!), what to eat while on intermittent fasting, an example of what a whole day of eating looks like and my own personal experience with it all.
What is intermittent fasting?
The word “intermittent” means something that is occurring at irregular intervals, and the word “fasting” means abstaining from food or drink.
So “intermittent fasting” is only eating within a certain period of time each day. Doing this on a regular basis really does have amazing health benefits, including slowing down the ageing process, preventing diseases, increasing energy, weight loss and raising human growth hormone (which is an anti-aging hormone in your body that helps with repair and muscle growth).
We’ll go through all of those benefits in a moment, but first I really want you to learn the premise of intermittent fasting and WHY it’s so great.
Our body has its own self healing mechanism, so when you’re fasting, there’s a cellular process called autophagy which is bumped up when your body is cleansing and getting rid of waste products and damaged cells.
To put it simply, when your body is in fasting mode and it’s not using energy to digest any food, it redirects all of the energy towards healing, cleansing and rejuvenating.
As humans we naturally fast for 8-12 hours each night while we sleep between dinner and breakfast. When you’re sleeping, this is enough time for your body to burn all the sugar stored in your body from what you’ve eaten the previous day, but by the time you’re ready to use all your fuel for fat burning and cleansing, you’re up and eating breakfast again (which means that cellular process doesn’t take place!)
Intermittent fasting health benefits
There are SO many amazing health benefits from fasting, but here are some of the biggest ones:
Assists with weight loss
Helps increase energy levels
Helps to raise human growth hormone (HGH)
Helps to build muscle (useful if you want to tone up, burn fat or build a booty!)
May help with reducing and reversing diabetes (which I think is crazy!)
Helps to prevent coronary disease
Reduces overall cholesterol levels
Helps reduce blood pressure (this is great if you have high blood pressure!)
Research shows it may help ward off neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Different types of intermittent fasting
Again, there are many different types of fasting, and one of the great things about intermittent fasting is that you can really experiment and find what works for you. Please understand that we’re all different - what works for me might not work for you! It’s awesome to be able to experiment and find what way of eating is perfect for you and your body. I’ll start by listing the different types and talk about which ones I use or have tried.
The 16:8 protocol
This involves eating in an 8 hour window and fasting for 16 hours.
I personally use this protocol daily - I usually break my fast around 12pm midday, then the latest I’ll eat is around 8pm before bed. I love eating this way and I’ve found my body thrives on this pattern of eating!
Other time-based fasting protocols include:
The 18:6 protocol (eating in a 6 hour window and fasting for 18 hours.)
The 20:4 protocol (eating in a 5 hour window and fasting for 20 hours. I haven’t tried this one before.)
The 5:2 diet
This involves eating normally for 5 days of the week, then restricting your calories to around 500 cals on 2 days of the week.
I tried the 5:2 diet a few years ago, but I found it didn’t really work for me because I love food too much to give it up for a full 2 days a week! I was thinking about food every single moment of the day and I just couldn’t do it.
The 24 hour protocol
This involves a full 24 hour fast once or twice a week. For example on one day of the week you skip breakfast and lunch, then on another day of the week you skip lunch and dinner.
I’ll do a 24 hour fast every now and then, more so if I feel really sick. Last year I was in Bali and I don’t know what happened, I don’t know if I accidentally drank some of the water or I ate something that didn’t agree with me, but I felt so unwell one day and I could sense that my body just didn’t want any more food.
I just thought my body was asking me to heal, so I decided to not eat that day. I fasted for a whole 24 hours, and I slept for a lot of that because my body was in total shut down mode.
So I don’t just 24 hour fast regularly, I’ll only do it if I’m feeling unwell or like I’m about to get sick, or if I notice my body is inflamed in some way (like I get a rash or something.)
When you are fasting for 24 hours it’s really important to keep your fluids up so you remain hydrated.
Alternating day fasting
This is where you fast every other day. There are several versions of this, and some people choose to just consume 500 calories on their fasting days, while others don’t eat at all. I personally have never tried this method, but I know many people like doing it this way.
What should you eat in a day when intermittent fasting?
To practice this type of fasting, you don’t need to really change what you normally eat. The only thing that changes is WHEN you eat!
In saying this, if you’re someone who is working towards cleansing your body or achieving optimal health, then what you consume during your eating period will matter.
An example of my own day of eating
This is my personal eating schedule, which will differ for everyone depending on what your type of diet is and goals are. But it might serve as a bit of inspiration if you’re trying to find what might work for you.
From when I stop eating at 8pm, until around 4am, this is called assimilation mode - this is where I don’t eat at all. From 4am until 12pm will be my detox stage, where the body is detoxifying and this is when all the amazing health benefits are happening in your body at a cellular level - getting rid of waste products, your skin is rejuvenating, so many good things are happening!
I wish there was a movie showing what happens in our body during this detox phase - it’s so cool - I like to picture it as like our body is taking the rubbish out 😝
During this stage from 4am-12pm I’m just drinking heaps of water - bucket loads of water - I drink about 3L a day. I love to add some lemon juice to my water, which helps with digestion and cleansing (totally optional, but I like to do it.)
At 12pm I break my fast with a whole food shake - I use our vegan chocolate or vanilla complete powder - and I’ll usually throw a frozen banana (or frozen mango) in there, a tablespoon of 100% peanut butter, and coconut milk or coconut water.
When you break your fast is the perfect time to have your whole food capsules, so I’ll take mine and my vegan omegas with my smoothie at this time - taking them with food helps for optimal gut absorption. Of course if you prefer you can take them in the morning, but if you want optimal absorption, I definitely suggest you have them when you break your fast.
My second meal is usually around 4pm and I call it a mono-meal. A momo-meal is something like fruit, or a sandwich or wrap.
My third meal is dinner time, usually around 7pm, and I’ll have a salad or a vegetable stew or soup, or sometimes I have a nice yummy curry with brown rice.
And that’s my whole day! From 8pm onwards I’m in assimilation mode and not eating. Sometimes in between my main meals I’ll of course have snacks like carrot sticks / celery and almond butter, or olive dip and cucumber, or some of my bliss balls I love to have.
Is intermittent fasting for everyone
My take on it is that if you can do IF without feeling hungry then it’s an amazing lifestyle for you to take on due to the low insulin levels in your system every day. When your insulin levels are high - it stops your body from burning fat. When they’re low - you’re a fat burning machine 🔥
If you feel hunger, what happens is you create a low grade stress in your body which increases your cortisol levels & triglycerides. Elevated cortisol levels will create insulin resistance (fat storage mode) & the elevated triglycerides will create leptin resistance which also causes you to gain weight, which is the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve 😳
I really want to make this clear - intermittent fasting is also not a good choice for someone prone to eating disorders. I wouldn’t recommend for you to fast or try intermittent fasting if this is you, or if you have an unhealthy relationship with food. This is because it could possibly trigger disorderly eating if you have a history with that.
It’s important to do intermittent fasting from a physiological and health perspective. I really encourage anyone who does fasting to focus on the beautiful health benefits and the amazing things happening inside your body.
If you’re hypoglycemic or diabetic, you also need to be extra careful when fasting.
It can take some time to work up to regularly eating this way - I know when I first started I was feeling so hungry all the time and I couldn’t stop thinking about food. It took me about 2-3 weeks for my body to get used to it. I do want to say that sometimes I’ll get hungry at 10am and when this happens I listen to my body and I eat - I don’t force it, I don’t make myself last until 12pm. If your body is asking you for food, be intuitive and work with your body.
Similarly if it gets to 12pm and I’m not hungry, I won’t eat straight away. I naturally break my fast when my body asks for it - usually it’s around 12pm.
Also be mindful, sometimes we can confuse hunger for dehydration. When I get really hungry early in the day I’ll always question that because I know my body well, and I know I don’t usually get hungry early, so I’ll have a big glass or two of water and within minutes I’ll realise I was just thirsty! A good indication of dehydration is your wee… not clear? Drink water!
My rule of thumb is if I don’t have clear urine then I’m not hydrated enough meaning all the toxins from my body are stuck inside my body, and arn’t being flushed out. What a waste of time doing all that fasting for no reason or result!
Since I’ve been following the 16:8 protocol I’ve felt so many amazing benefits! My energy is amazing, I work out in the morning without eating, I’m full of beans in the morning! I feel leaner and lighter since I’ve been doing this, and if I’ve gone out for a late or heavy dinner the night before, maybe had a few wines at dinner, I find I wake up starving - it’s really interesting! When this happens I do eat breakfast.
So I encourage you to check it out and see if it works for you, but do remember this is NOT for everyone! Some people love it, others don’t like it and eating normally is better for their bodies. You’ve gotta experiment and listen to your body, and monitor how you feel to find the way of eating that will work best for you.
I’ll end this blog by sharing some amazing books I’ve read on this topic - must reads if you want to learn more about this topic!
“Intermittent fasting hack” by Zack Smith
"The 8 hour diet" by David Zinczenko
"The complete guide to fasting" by Jimmy Moore & Dr. Jason Fung
I hope this has been helpful for you today! If you have any questions, or want to share your own thoughts on fasting, just comment below.
Chani x
