Intermittent fasting is a very powerful tool, especially for women looking to lose weight.
If you're not achieving the results you want, maybe it's because of one of the following mistakes, but remember: don"t be to hard on yourself, results take time, and patience is your best friend for long term results.
If you're new to intermittent fasting, install a fasting app like WeFast to track your progress.
Some of you might be cruising along your intermittent fasting journey, reaping all of the health benefits it has in store.
Others might be wondering if what they’re doing is really working, and may not be seeing any noticeable changes since they’ve started intermittent fasting.
Others still might just be wondering where the pitfalls lie, and would rather avoid them if they can.
Whichever of these categories you fit into, knowing the most common mistakes people make when taking on intermittent fasting can help you to avoid doing them yourself, both now and into the future.
Fasting comes with some rules, now let’s take a look at the commom mistakes you should avoid ! 👇
The problem: You’re so motivated that you choose to do a 24-hour fast twice a week, right at the start. This is a problem as it’s likely too drastic to begin with. It leaves you hungry, cranky, and more likely to overeat when breaking your fast.
The solution: Listen to your body. If you’ve been eating meals and snacks throughout the day for months on months, you may want to start with an easy fast.
Even a 12 hour overnight fast can have huge benefits on your body, and once your tolerance to going without food grows, you can build up to a longer fast if you want to.
The problem: You end your fast, hungry and ready to reach for anything that’s yummy. Without a plan you’re likely to eat foods that don’t support your body, and instead provide excess calories that you’re more likely to store.
The solution: Have a plan! It can take just 10 minutes every couple of days to lay out your eating plan. Jot down ideas for each meal and snack you’ll have for days you’re fasting and those you’re not. Even if you only start with the foods you’ll eat to break your fast, planning is everything. Be sure to have those foods stocked in your home to make meal prep that much more convenient.
The problem: In order to lose more weight, are you restricting your calories during your eating window? By not eating enough, you’re likely to have more craving towards the later half of the day, possibly leading to binge eating on unhealthy foods.
The solution: Rethink your calorie needs and focus on getting the right amount of calories to fulfill your body’s nutrient requirements. Jot down your food intake and your cravings, and see if, by increasing your calories in the coming days, whether your cravings subside, and your mood and energy increases.
The problem: Breaking your fast early, without even knowing it. Sweet receptors on the tongue and throughout the digestive system can tell the brain that there’s something sweet in the system and trigger an insulin response. Also, technically, consumption of any calories breaks a fast, and some of the fasting benefits may be lost when calories are consumed, while others may not.
The solution: Avoid any foods, supplements or products that contain even non-caloric sweeteners*. If you want to maintain the maximum benefit of a true fast, it’s best to consume only water while fasting. It has, however, been suggested that 30-50 calories (coffee with a splash of unsweetened almond milk, for example), consumed during a fast, may still have some benefits, so determine what is best for you and what is going to help you to stick to your IF plan.
You might be wondering if simple daily things like brushing your teeth break your fast or not, here is the answer.
The problem: Intermittent fasting is not always easy, to get results and achieve your goals, you need to track your progress, you also need to feel supported and to get the right tips.
The solution: There is a ton of intermittent fasting app on the store to help you track your progress, but if you are a woman, there is one app that's perfect for this: WeFast is an intermittent fasting for women only, with a community of +60,000 women who support each other in their intermittent fasting journey.
Click this link to download WeFast on the app store.
If you notice your progress is slowing, it might be because of one of these common intermittent fasting mistakes.
Take a look at your own intermittent fasting routine, and be sure to mitigate any of these pitfalls, to ensure that you stay on track and continue to reap all of the wonderful health benefits that intermittent fasting has to offer.
