How to Get Started Intermittent Fasting

habits nutrition

Getting Started Intermittent Fasting Is as Simple as Just Deciding

Have you ever started a new diet or health regime and sunk a lot of time money and energy into it and not experienced the results you were promised? Buying this lotion, potion or pill, only to come up with a cabinet full of stuff, and no results?

In this video series and guide I’m going to give you a simple way to start, track, sustain, and ultimately figure yourself out for your best intermittent fasting regimen.

Today, let’s cover a simple answer to:

How to Start Intermittent Fasting

A confused mind says no. How many new years resolution have you broken because you attempted to take on too much too quickly?

Sure, I could get you started with where I am NOW, after more than 3 years. But that’s not a recipe for success.

I’m not going to have you go to your pantry, your refrigerator and cabinets to clean out everything that’s considered a bad boy, go to the grocery store with some extended list. And change everything about the way you eat.

What would be the odds of success? OF sticking with it for more than a day or two?

History and data tells us it’s pretty slim. So, let’s start small.

We’ll get to healthier food choices, but let’s just start with one thing at a time.

Start by Simply Eliminating Snacks

Focus on 3 solid meals a day and no snacking in between. Do this for 3 days.

Once you’ve gone a couple of days of eliminating snacks from your routine, let’s take you to a 12 hour eating window and a 12 hour fasting window. That’s often called a 12/12.

Here’s what that might look like: You have dinner at 6 PM, you sleep all night, and you don’t eat again until 6 AM.

Listen closely though, you don’t eat again.

Meaning zero calories in your body. And zero anything else. You can have water, Black coffee and green tea. Nothing that even possibly stimulates your tongue and your taste buds that food is coming.

That’s the problem with diet sodas, and any fake sugars. We tend to think those are OK because they have zero calories, but the bottom line is Diet Soda and artificial sweeteners still release insulin into our system. Because our brain believes that food is coming, when that sensation hits our tongue and taste buds. More on that later.

Try the 12/12 routine for three days, and see how you feel.

It’s pretty simple. Now start extending that to 13/11, add an hour to your fasting schedule, one week at a time. Then get really brave and go 14/10.

Do what works for you. Again, no right or wrong. You can alternate back and forth day to day. You can take a break for a day. There are many ways to do this.

My "go to" goal every day is a 16/8, where I fast for 16 hours, and eat in an 8 hour window. That might be breakfast 10am, lunch at 1 and dinner by 6pm. No snacks.

And, I have found that my absolute sweet spot is an 18/6 - 10am to 4pm.

Once a week, I do a 24 hour fast. On those days, I will open my eating window earlier in the morning and end my eating window by noon. I eat a high fat/high protein/healthy carb meal and it keeps me satisfied and not hungry the rest of the day.

I go to bed earlier that day, and I am good until noon, the next day.

I already hear you saying but what about a social life? I hear you. I said - this is my SWEET SPOT. Now that I am in a committed habit of fasting, I give myself plenty of opportunity to change things up when I need to.

If I have social plans, I adapt my plan for the day, Simple as that. There is no right or wrong and you can’t “mess up.”

If I miss my target goal for a day I start again tomorrow with no bad feelings and no beating myself up. I know my goals, which number one is to FEEL good physically. I know that that is worth to me.

If I go on vacation, I do the best that I can. I listen to my body, and I live my life and enjoy it. Knowing my overall commitment frees me from the torture of the past of being too hard on myself.

How are you doing so far? Have you discovered anything about yourself during this video series?