Should I Try Intermittent Fasting?

I've received many questions about intermittent fasting over the past few years. Most of the questions are all related to whether or not intermittent fasting is worth it and whether or not I’d recommend it. The answer to this question is complicated, but ultimately it may be the right choice for you if you can't get your calorie intake under control otherwise.

Intermittent fasting is an excellent choice for limiting your calories because it shortens the window when you are eating. Rather than eating from morning through night, you are only eating during an 8 hour period, or less. While it’s certainly still possible to overeat during your eating window it makes it harder to do so, and when you do overeat, it will be by less than if you were eating all day long.

The hardest part about intermittent fasting is getting started with it. If you are used to eating 3 standard meals (or more) a day, then your body is going to take some time to get used to eating only a couple of main meals a day. Figure out the meal when you’re least hungry between breakfast and dinner, and plan to make that your meal that you start to cut out first.

Being a parent adds some additional challenges to doing intermittent fasting. Namely, your kids will not be doing the same diet but they still need to eat. This will often mean that you’re making meals for your kids while you aren’t eating. As you begin intermittent fasting, this will be fairly difficult to accomplish, especially if the food you’re making for them is something that you like as well.

You’ll need to work on pushing through the desire to eat. After doing it a few times, it will become easier for you to make food and not have as strong a desire to eat. If you can’t make it without eating something, try to make it a food with as few calories as possible - most vegetables are good options.

Everyone should try intermittent fasting if they’re looking for a way to limit calories and failing. It doesn’t require that you buy any special foods or supplements - you simply eat during a shorter period of time. If you end up not wanting to stick with it, you’re not out anything other than a few days of hunger pains. This is one of the easiest diets you can try without buying different foods.

One of my favorite parts about intermittent fasting is that I don’t go to bed with a huge full stomach. All too often, I would eat something too close to bedtime, and then my stomach would not be happy throughout the night. While this isn't something that intermittent fasting requires, it is easy to set your eating window so it stops well before bed.

Give intermittent fasting a try if you want. It’s not difficult to try out, and if you stick with it, you may find it much easier to eat the correct number of calories throughout the day.