Over the last 5 years, I've worked with thousands of men and women around the world to help them achieve their weight loss and wellness goals with Intermittent Fasting. In fact, if you're looking for a bit of inspo for your Intermittent Fasting journey, you can check out Karola's 30+ pound weight loss experience HERE, Jeannette's 47 pound weight loss HERE and Ron's 70 pound weight loss HERE.
But with so much information online, it can feel a bit overwhelming as a beginner to Intermittent Fasting. So today, we're diving into Intermittent Fasting for beginners. Scroll down for the details of how to start Intermittent Fasting and what to eat with Intermittent Fasting!
What Is Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent Fasting comes in a variety of different forms. To break it down simply, there are two main types of Intermittent Fasting:
Time Restricted Eating (TRE)
TRE is where you fast for a short period of time and still eat on a daily basis. There are a variety of ways to use TRE depending on how long you fast. You can follow a 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 or even 22 hour daily fast. Your remaining time of the day is your "eating window". So with a 12 hour fast, you would have an eating window of 12 hours.
There are a multitude of factors that determine your ideal fasting length. I created a free Intermittent Fasting Schedule Quiz to help you determine how long your fast should be. You can find it HERE.
Alternate Day Fasting (ADF)
With ADF, you fast for a full 24 hours, then you don't fast at all the next 24 hours. I personally never recommend this method, as it's really easy to slip into a state of semi-starvation and disturb the metabolism by fasting every other day.
Psssst... curious how long YOUR Intermittent Fast should be? Take my FREE Intermittent Fasting Schedule Quiz by clicking the button below!
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
When done properly, Intermittent Fasting may help:
improve gut health (1)
reduce bloating (2)
weight loss (3)
increase energy levels
normalize cortisol (stress hormone) levels (4)
reduce hunger (5)
reduce inflammation (6)
reduce fasting insulin and blood glucose (3)
increase autophagy (cell clean-up) (7)
But it has to be done right. This means addressing an eating window that actually fits your lifestyle, adapting your food to fit Intermittent Fasting and properly pairing exercise with your fasting schedule.
Unlock the Intermittent Fasting tips, meal plans and recipes that have helped thousands of men and women around the world with the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle!
100+ recipes, 8 weeks of meal planning, science-backed Intermittent Fasting tips and so much more!
Head over HERE to get started!
Intermittent Fasting: What To Eat
This is the part many people get wrong. Intermittent Fasting is clearly a great tool to help the body tap into fat burning, but if you break your fast the wrong way, it can reverse your results.
Something we discuss extensively in the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle is the concept of protein, fat and fiber rich meals. Meals designed in this way help to support the results achieved with Intermittent Fasting. Some great examples include:
Protein Rich Foods
Fish
Chicken
Beef
Lamb
Tempeh
Protein Powder
Greek Yogurt
Cheese
Cottage Cheese
Fat Rich Foods
Peanut Butter
Almonds
Walnuts
Avocado
Butter
Ghee
Cheese (yup, this is also a fat source!)
Olive Oil
Fiber Rich Foods
Raspberries
Chia Seeds
Avocado (yup, this is also a fiber source!)
Artichoke
Leafy Greens
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Creating meals with enough protein, fat and fiber is crucial to achieving weight loss goals that last with Intermittent Fasting. This is why I love creating fast and easy protein, fat and fiber rich meals, such as my Turmeric Pineapple Smoothie, Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl, Weeknighter Bake, Spicy Yellow Curry, Protein-Packed Chia Pudding and Blueberry Hemp Smoothie in my Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle.
These Intermittent Fasting strategies, meals and workouts have helped thousands of men and women around the world, such as Jenny, Macie, Ron, Jeannette, Karola and Monica.
If you're looking to achieve a weight loss goal with Intermittent Fasting, you can find the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle with 100+ recipes, 8 weeks of meal planning, science-backed tips, workouts and MORE by heading over HERE.
❤️ Autumn
Autumn Elle Nutrition