5 Fasting tips for beginners
Intermittent fasting is on the rise. More and more people are turning to fasting for weight loss and other health reasons. There are many different types of fasting ideas and followers. Some talk about insulin resistance and others are LCHF, others are all about the calories in and calories out. It doesn’t matter what you eat, you can be a vegan or be a pure meat eater you can fast.
Fasting has been around for hundreds of years. Most religions incorporate fasting. Christians fast during lent Lent, Muslims fast for Ramadan, Judaism has several annual fast days including Yom Kippur, Buddhist monks and nuns fast for spirituality, even in yoga fasting is encouraged with clean eating.
Many famous people have fasted through the ages. Since the beginning of the Ancient Egyptians to the ancient Greeks to modern days, people have fasted. Plato is known for his fasting and using fasting a means to help cure disease and sickness. Ancients Egyptian warriors used to spend 3 days purifying their bodies.
Hippocrates (460-357 years BC) wrote:”The addition of food should be much rarer, since it is often useful to completely take it away while the patient can withstand it, until the force of the disease reaches its maturity. The man carries within him a doctor; you just have to help him do his work. If the body is not cleared, then the more you feed it, the more it will be harmed. When a patient is fed too richly, the disease is fed as well. Remember – any excess is against nature.”
If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have an eating disorder, or major medical problems, you should NOT fast.
Here are 5 basic tips to get you started on fasting.
1: It isn’t a race. This is a long term life style change. Don’t go out the doors full speed thinking that you will start with a 48 hour fast. Start the first day with a 12 hour fast. You will be surprised at how often you eat. Each day push your fast by an hour. By the end of the week you can aim for 16:8. That is 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating.
2: Clean fast. Drinking smoothies is not fasting. During your fasting window you should only drink water, black coffee or tea and sparling water. Even if there are natural flavourants they most often have hidden sugars added. Always ask yourself this question : Does it contain sugars/calories? (Even natural sugars like stevia) if yes, then you can’t drink it.
3: Keep busy. Have you ever been so busy that you forgot to eat lunch? Same thing applies with fasting. Keeping your mind busy will stop you from thinking about food. If you sit all day your mind will do nothing but think about food. Get up and sort those papers or walk the dog. 4: Feeling feint and nauseous. If you start feeling dizzy, feint, or nauseous then have something small to eat. It is best to break a fast with something light. A small salad or some greens will ease you from a fast. Please don’t do long fasts (more than 48 hours) without medical supervision.
5: It is okay to fail. Just remember that if you don’t make it, it is okay to break your fast and try again tomorrow. If you only made it to 14 hours today, try 14 hours and 10 minutes tomorrow. By pushing yourself you will soon make it to 16:8 or even 23:1. Everybody is different and there are no sets of rules or hours that you have to stick too. Most experts agree that 16 hours is a good starting point.
Fasting has been around for hundreds of years. Most religions incorporate fasting. Christians fast during lent Lent, Muslims fast for Ramadan, Judaism has several annual fast days including Yom Kippur, Buddhist monks and nuns fast for spirituality, even in yoga fasting is encouraged with clean eating.
Many famous people have fasted through the ages. Since the beginning of the Ancient Egyptians to the ancient Greeks to modern days, people have fasted. Plato is known for his fasting and using fasting a means to help cure disease and sickness. Ancients Egyptian warriors used to spend 3 days purifying their bodies.
Hippocrates (460-357 years BC) wrote:”The addition of food should be much rarer, since it is often useful to completely take it away while the patient can withstand it, until the force of the disease reaches its maturity. The man carries within him a doctor; you just have to help him do his work. If the body is not cleared, then the more you feed it, the more it will be harmed. When a patient is fed too richly, the disease is fed as well. Remember – any excess is against nature.”
If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have an eating disorder, or major medical problems, you should NOT fast.
Here are 5 basic tips to get you started on fasting.
1: It isn’t a race. This is a long term life style change. Don’t go out the doors full speed thinking that you will start with a 48 hour fast. Start the first day with a 12 hour fast. You will be surprised at how often you eat. Each day push your fast by an hour. By the end of the week you can aim for 16:8. That is 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating.
2: Clean fast. Drinking smoothies is not fasting. During your fasting window you should only drink water, black coffee or tea and sparling water. Even if there are natural flavourants they most often have hidden sugars added. Always ask yourself this question : Does it contain sugars/calories? (Even natural sugars like stevia) if yes, then you can’t drink it.
3: Keep busy. Have you ever been so busy that you forgot to eat lunch? Same thing applies with fasting. Keeping your mind busy will stop you from thinking about food. If you sit all day your mind will do nothing but think about food. Get up and sort those papers or walk the dog. 4: Feeling feint and nauseous. If you start feeling dizzy, feint, or nauseous then have something small to eat. It is best to break a fast with something light. A small salad or some greens will ease you from a fast. Please don’t do long fasts (more than 48 hours) without medical supervision.
5: It is okay to fail. Just remember that if you don’t make it, it is okay to break your fast and try again tomorrow. If you only made it to 14 hours today, try 14 hours and 10 minutes tomorrow. By pushing yourself you will soon make it to 16:8 or even 23:1. Everybody is different and there are no sets of rules or hours that you have to stick too. Most experts agree that 16 hours is a good starting point.
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