During intermittent fasting, you have two phases, the fasted state, and the feeding state, or the fed state. When you are fasting, this is the period of time where you don’t have anything to eat or anything with calories, including beverages with calories. This is often the challenge for people, especially those fasting for 16-24 hours or longer. Here are some tips for dealing with the fasted hours.
Have Water, Coffee, and Tea
It is really important that you stay hydrated during your fasted period, which does seem to be an issue with people starting this. Continue drinking plenty of water while you are fasting, as this keeps you hydrated and can help keep you full. You can also have coffee or tea, just don’t put anything in it that contains calories. Some people will have a diet soda or add a sugar substitute with no calories to their coffee, but if you notice intermittent fasting isn’t working for you, this might be where you are going wrong.
Fasting Hours Should Be While You Are Sleeping
Naturally, a good amount of your fasting hours should happen while you are sleeping. You are already going to be in a fasted state during this time, so the rest of your fasted hours are before and after your bedtime hours. This is a good way to schedule it as well. You want to consider if you are hungrier in the morning or evening when deciding when the eating hours should be. Someone who is starving when waking has a harder time fasting in the morning. If that’s the case, you can adjust your schedule to where your fast actually starts late in the afternoon, instead of in the evening.
Stay Busy During Fasting Hours
While you will likely get used to fasting over time, it can be hard in the beginning. When you have some of your fasting hours before or after bedtime, this makes it a little more difficult not to want to snack. However, keep in mind it won’t last forever, and soon you will be able to enjoy the foods you love. A good way to distract yourself from thinking about foods and counting down the hours is to simply stay busy. Find hobbies, focus on work, or go for a walk. This can really help to keep your mind off the food or lack thereof.
Exercise While Fasting
This is going to vary based on the person, but there are a lot of benefits to working out in your fasted state. First of all, you are already burning fat, so adding in a fasted workout just helps you to burn even more. You can also avoid the hunger pangs by working out and distracting yourself with your fitness routine.
[RECIPE] Green Bean Salad with Tomatoes & Feta
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 1½ lbs. fresh green beans, tips removed and cut in half
- 1-pint grape tomatoes, washed and cut in half
- 1 T. fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- 1 T. fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 3 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 T. sherry vinegar
- Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 c. Feta cheese, crumbled
Directions:
- Over high heat, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and cook until crisp-tender, approximately 3-4 minutes. Drain the green beans and then transfer to a large bowl of ice water to prevent further cooking.
- Remove green beans from the ice bath and pat dry before adding to a large glass or another non-reactive bowl. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, olive oil, and vinegar to the bowl and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Gently fold in crumbled Feta cheese and serve immediately. Salad can also be chilled and served cold. Enjoy!
To Your Health,
Patti
