If they remind you of dieting, then you’re probably familiar with Intermittent Fasting or IF for short ⏳
IF took the world by storm a couple years ago and has been all over the place ever since. Odds are if you haven’t tried this, someone in your circle has.
So what is it? ✨
IF is a strategy that cycles between eating and fasting hours, and most commonly is used to help in weight loss as a dieting strategy
How does it work? ✨
First step here is choosing when your eating/fasting takes place. Most common cycle is 16:8 which stands for 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours eating normally. This tool works when during those 8 hours, we’re not eating any more than we normally would in a day.
Think of it like this:
You usually have breakfast at 8, lunch at 12, dinner at 7, and a bedtime snack at 10. If you implemented your eating window from noon-8pm, you would eat lunch and dinner as usual, while skipping breakfast and your late night treats, which creates a calorie deficit by lowering your intake.
*IF doesn’t work during our 8 hour window we’re slamming our pie hole full of everything in sight!*
Who’s it for? ✨
IF is for anyone who can do it consistently. If this is something you can stick to long term, this might be a good tool to embrace. Keep in mind: no strategy works if we’re not consistent
My advice? ✨
I’ve used this strategy during cutting phases to help curb hunger (also while tracking macros) and have embraced this while traveling to help me indulge but not go haywire. This works for me in phases, but in my everyday life, I would rather just eat when I’m hungry, whenever that is.
If that’s first thing in the morning? Awesome.
11pm bedtime snack? You got it.
The second you tell me that I *CAN’T* do something for whatever reason...it’s the only thing I want to do. So for me, this is just implementing more structure than I like in my everyday life 🤷🏼♀️
If I can just track my macros to make sure I’m in a calorie deficit and eat whenever I’m hungry? I’m alllllll over that 🥳 #flexibledieting
Have you tried IF? If yes, how did it work for you and your lifestyle? ✨
Do the numbers 16:8 … do they mean anything to you?