Whether or not you achieve your weight loss and wellness goals with Intermittent Fasting depends entirely upon how you use it. As a Nutritionist working with hundreds of men and women around the world one-on-one and thousands in my online community, I've seen certain patterns that make some people successful and others not, regardless of the types of results they're looking to achieve.
So today, I'm sharing the formula of the first 100 days of Intermittent Fasting that I've found works for most people to help them tap into fat burning mechanisms or achieve their weight loss and wellness goals.
Day 1 ~ Exploration Day
The very first day of your Intermittent Fasting journey shouldn't even start with Intermittent Fasting. I like to view day 1 as the "exploration day". This is the day you explore different types of fasts, the benefits of each and which fasting length will best serve your goals and lifestyle. Each type of fast has different benefits (as well as potential downsides), so getting yourself familiar with your options and picking the best option for your goals will help to set you up for long term success.
Psssst... curious how long YOUR Intermittent Fast should be? Take my FREE Intermittent Fasting Schedule Quiz by clicking the button below!
Days 2-8 ~ Detox Week
During the next 7 days, I still don't recommend jumping into Intermittent Fasting just yet. Instead, my community uses this time as their "detox week". You certainly can jump straight into Intermittent Fasting, but I've found that those who take advantage of the detox week have an easier time transitioning to Intermittent Fasting. It also allows them to start seeing results and feeling better during the first week. This detox week allows for focused time to detox from foods that the liver has to break down, help process old toxins and prep the body for burning fat as fuel.
I've found that when folks do jump straight into Intermittent Fasting without first taking this "detox week", they tend to not feel as good. They'll get hungry, feel low in energy and often times not see any results.
This is why my community follows the 7 Day Detox before starting Intermittent Fasting. You can find the 7 Day Detox HERE.
Days 9-30 ~ Intermittent Fasting
Once the detox week is completed, now is a great time to jump into Intermittent Fasting... but I still don't recommend jumping straight into your goal fast length.
Let's say your goal fast (based on your wellness goals and lifestyle) is 16 hours. Instead of jumping straight into a 16 hour fast, starting with a 12 hour fast and increasing it by 30 minutes or so every few days can help to ease the transition and make it less jarring on the body.
During this time it's also crucial to start educating yourself on Intermittent Fasting ~ what's really happening in your body when you fast (and eat) and what you should be eating once you break your fast to better support your goals. What you eat during your eating window matters and can make or break your results with Intermittent Fasting.
You can learn more about the science-backed details of Intermittent Fasting as well as the types of meals to eat once the fast is broken with my Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle HERE.
These are the programs used by thousands of men and women around the world to help them achieve their weight loss and wellness goals while still eating satiating meals that they love.
Days 31-52 ~ Exercise + Body Recomposition
Once the body is adjusted to Intermittent Fasting, now is a great time to add in exercise. Exercise paired with Intermittent Fasting is a fantastic tool for body recomposition, which means losing body fat while maintaining (or even increasing) muscle mass. This combination can help the body become even more metabolically flexible and may even assist in breaking through a weight loss plateau. Checkout Kristen's story below for how adding in resistance training helped her to break through her Intermittent Fasting weight loss plateau and lose an additional 15 pounds!
The best types of exercise to incorporate are resistance training exercises. This can range from body weight exercises (like calisthenics) or even more intense exercises like hitting the squat rack or attending Cross Fit classes. The goal is the challenge your muscles, regardless of what that might look like at your fitness level.
Days 53-81 ~ Get Specific
Once you've addressed your Intermittent Fast and added in exercise, now you can start honing in on some of those more specific goals that are tailored to you. For example, if you are carb sensitive and looking to continue on your weight loss journey, you can play around with strategies to help make your body more insulin sensitive and better able to handle carbohydrates. Or perhaps you suffer from severe bloating, you can take this time to focus on gut health.
The key is that now that you've gotten down the foundation of Intermittent Fasting, your eating window, how to properly break a fast and incorporate exercise, you can start to get specific with what you want to achieve.
And this can be a lifelong process because your goals will likely change throughout life. For example, perhaps you've addressed your gut health but now you want to run your first half marathon. The tools you use to heal your gut are much different than the ones you'll use to run your first half marathon.
You can find these next level strategies and 6 different protocols (such as the Athlete and Gut Healing Guru) included in my Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle HERE.
Days 81 and Beyond ~ Preventing Food Fatigue
I don't care if you say you're someone who loves to eat the same thing everyday. I've had countless clients who have said the same thing to me over the years. But from my experience in nearly every single situation, you'll end up getting bored of what you're eating at some point.
This is what I call food fatigue.
Food fatigue (or food boredom) is one of the biggest barriers to long term weight loss and wellness success. Because if you're not loving what you're eating, you're not going to eat it. This inevitably leads to reverting back to old dietary habits that don't serve your wellness or weight loss goals.
Which is why those early days of understanding the types of foods that the body needs during the eating window is so crucial to long term success. If you get a basic understanding of the protein, fat and fiber needed during your eating window, you can take nearly any meal or any recipe and turn it into something that serves your goals. Yes, even at fast food spots like In n' Out when you're in a pinch. That's the power of knowledge and why I so strongly emphasize reading through the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle before diving into your journey.
This knowledge will not only set you up for success down the road, but it'll also open new doors of delicious meals and foods you never even knew were options to you on your weight loss and wellness journey. It can be extremely exciting!
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!
❤️ Autumn
Autumn Elle Nutrition