Top 3 Intermittent Fasting Tips

Author: Erica Harris | | Categories: Fasting , Fat Loss , Ghrelin , IF , Intermittent Fasting , North Vancouver , Online Coaching , Online Fitness Coaching , Personal Trainer , Time Restricted Eating , Time Restricted Feeding

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Intermittent fasting is one of THE best strategies you can implement in improving your health hands down. I encourage it with all my clients whether their goal is weight loss, improving health, or reversing chronic disease. So let's delve into the top 3 intermittent fasting tips. 

Watch the video below:

Ok let's get into the top 3 intermittent fasting tips.

    1. Stay hydrated
    Even though you are fasting and can't technically eat, you CAN still drink water. A classic fast is water only, which you can do if you like. Staying hydrated helps the hungry to go down. However there are other things, other than water, that you can drink that can be helpful such as green tea (which is brewed from unfermented tea leaves), black tea (which is brewed from fermented tea leaves), oolong tea (which is brewed from semi-fermented tea leaves), and herbal teas such as mint, lemon and chamomile (which aren't technically tea since they don't contain any tea leaves). Also coffee and bone broth are acceptable even though they have some calories, the way you can look at it is, if it allows you to fast longer, it may be worth it in the end. Now with all of these, be careful with what you add to the drink. So no sugar or sweeteners. A small amount of cream or half-and-half is ok though. 
    
    2. Ride the hunger waves
    Let's face it, you are going to get hungry while fasting, that's natural. You need to learn how to ride the hunger waves and how to deal with them. The concern with most people is that they are going to get hungry and then hungrier and hungrier as the fast progresses therefore discouraging them from even doing it in the first place. When it comes to hunger, the main hormone involved is ghrelin. 
    
    There is a study that looked at the ghrelin levels in a 24-hour fast and it showed that during breakfast, lunch and dinner time if you didn't eat, the ghrelin level, i.e., how hungry you are, did not continue to rise. It actually peaks and then falls like a wave. For instance, at lunch time around noon they showed that ghrelin levels peaked and there was hunger until about 1-1:30pm but by 4pm the study subjects were no more hungry than if they ate lunch because their ghrelin levels were back to baseline.  The reason being is because your body took the calories it needed from your body fat and therefore "feed" itself what it needed and that's why you are not hungry. So hunger comes as a wave so you can just simply do something to ride the wave such as drink a glass of water or have a cup of tea and by the time you have finished it, the hunger wave would have passed. 
    
    If you do multiple day fasts you may be thinking, "Does the hunger just keep climbing and climbing as the fast continues?" In fact, the opposite happens. On day 1 ghrelin, the hunger hormone, goes up and then comes down, on day 2 it goes up again but not as high as it did on day 1 and then comes down and so over multiple days of fasting, ghrelin doesn't go up as high and as a result, hunger slowly disappears. This is why people can do super long fasts such as 30 days or more. The world record is 382 days in fact. The reason this is possible is because the hunger virtually disappears. This effect of decreased ghrelin and hunger levels as the fast progresses is shown in research to be the same across men and women. 
    
    A great benefit that is seen with fasting is with cravings. When you don't eat, it appears that cravings go down significantly. Just like with an itch, if you have one, the last thing you want to do is scratch it. The same applies to cravings. If you have a craving and you feed that craving, it's not going to go away, it's only going to get stronger. As the saying goes, "The dog you feed, gets the upper hand" or in other words, gets stronger. The way to get rid of the craving is to not feed it at all and then eventually overtime the craving will disappear.
    
    3. Stay busy
    Staying busy while your fasting, especially when you are new to fasting, is going to really help you have success. The more free time you have and the less occupied your mind is, the more inclined you'll be to eat whether it be good food or junk. I suggest trying these activities while fasting: work on your job or business, take a relaxing bath, call a loved one or friend (the conversation will help to distract your mind away from food), also consider doing a workout, organize your closest, shoes or jewelry, clean the house, go for a walk, take a drive, take your dog out, read a book, go for a bike ride, garden, watch some YouTube videos just like this one! You get the idea. These are just a few suggestions of ways to get your mind off of food and eating. When you are so focused on something else, your hunger settles down

So there you have it. Hopefully these top 3 intermittent fasting tips were helpful. To recap: stay hydrated, ride the hunger waves and stay busy. Comment below with which ones you follow and share others you feel are helpful.  I would love to hear your thoughts. 

If you want to learn how to get started on a lifestyle to lose body fat, reverse chronic disease and optimize your health, visit my website at http://www.TyronPiteau.com/newsletter and download my free guide on the “8 Strategies for Lasting Fat Loss and Optimal Health” and receive a free 20 minute online consultation.

If you think someone could benefit from this, please consider sharing it anywhere on social media as you may just help someone resolve their health issue or at a minimum, drastically improve it.
    
Happy fat loss 😃

Tyron
 

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