Intermittent fasting (IF) part 3

In this final part about intermittent fasting (IF) we will give some tips on how to start with IF and how to get the most out of it. But first there is a need to for a warning:

Intermittent fasting might not work well for some women.

While results differ per person, it is mostly women who already have a low fat percentage experiencing problems when following an IF regime. Some women who try out IF find that it results in an irregular menstrual pattern, sleeplessness, anxiety problems, and other symptoms of hormone dysregulations. Besides that, the biggest advantage of IF, an increase in insulin sensitivity, might be limited for women. For women this means they should pay extreme attention to how their body reacts to IF. When serious problems arise stop immediately!

That said; let’s go over some tips on how to start on IF and how to get the most out of it.

1. Build your fasting period up slowly

Going from eating every 2–3 hours to only eating for 8 hours per day will be a huge change for your body and mind. It is best to adjust slowly to your new eating pattern. Start with fasting for 10 hours and build it up slowly to 16 hours. This will be much easier then starting with a 16 hour fast directly.

2. Pre-workout meal

Training during your fasting period will most likely do more bad than good. You will lack energy to train hard and might encourage muscle breakdown instead of muscle building. If the low energy levels are no problem, and you do want to train during your fasting period, make sure to take BCAA supplements during your workout to limit the muscle breakdown. If you do eat before your workout you want to take about 10–20% of your daily calories at this point, mostly from carbohydrates and proteins.

3. Post-workout meal

Right after your workout you will need to eat, and this meal will be one of the biggest meals of the day consisting of around 40–60% of all nutrients you need to eat on a day. This meal will be the most important meal of your day as your body will need all nutrients to recover and generate lean muscle mass. Focus again on proteins and carbohydrates, but do not leave out the fats here.

4. Plan your fasting period carefully

There is no one-size-fits-all fasting time that works for everybody. Some people like to have their eating period in the morning and early afternoon, while others prefer to start eating later on the day. What fits you best depends on your own preferences, if you are a morning or evening person, and around what time you normally work out

5. Make sure you get all your nutrients

As said in the first part of this series: IF is an eating pattern and not a diet. You will still have to build your own diet and make sure you get the right amount of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats on a daily basis. Missing any of the nutrients will result in less optimal results and possible damage in the long-term.

6. Drink a lot of water

Drinking water will help curb your appetite making is easier to stick to your fasting period. Green tea or other drinks without calories will be fine also, especially in the morning when you are waking up and need some coffee or tea to start your day.

7. IF is not for everyone

And finally you need to keep a close eye on how IF is working for you. If you have serious trouble sticking to your fasting period, feel tired all day long, or overeat as soon as you are allowed to eat, you might want to leave IF for what it is and go back to a normal eating pattern. Also keep an eye on your results, are you actually losing fat and gaining strength? If you give IF some time and do not get any results you are better off to stop with it.

As always, you will need to give a new diet or eating plan time to become effective. If you try out intermittent fasting, try it out for a period of 4–6 weeks before deciding if it is working for you or not.