Intermittent Fasting For Beginners


Intermittent fasting (IF) has of recently become on of the most popular fitness and health trends and keeps growing in popularity over the years. Currently, I am  undergoing my own fitness journey and have been doing IF for 3 months now, so let's tackle the basics of IF today. 

What is IF?

IF is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. This does not specify which foods you should eat but when you should eat. However combining this is an appropriate DIET PLAN is advisable including a workout plan. IF is therefore described as an eating pattern and not a diet. IF is very popular among the life-hacking crowd, because it involves less meal planning, cooking and cleaning up.

CAUTION: It is recommended that individuals in need of sufficient calories on a daily basis should not attempt IF for example if your underweight, under 18 years, pregnant or breastfeeding and the elderly.

Health benefits

  • Weight loss
  • Anti-aging (autophagy)
  • Helps regulate blood sugar
  • Cardiovascular support by reducing LDL cholesterol, inflammatory markers etc.
  • Enhancing of metal clarity
  • Builds stronger immune system
  • Sleep improvement
  • Strengthens the immune system

Common fasting methods

The 16/8 method is the most recommended method for beginners. This involves fasting for 16 hours with an 8 hour eating window for example between 12pm-8pm. This can also be extended to 18:6, 20:4 or customized using the same principle (fasting longer than the eating window). 

One meal a day (OMAD) is also a popular method which involves eating one meal a day. Make sure to consume the right amount of calories for your body type.

Alternate-day fasting methods involves eating every other day. You can choose to eat normally on the eating days or eat within a specific time window. A full fast every other day can seem rather extreme, so it’s not recommended for beginners.

Eat-Stop-Eat method involves fasting for 24 hours, once or twice a week, for example by not eating from dinner one day until dinner the next day.

The 5:2 diet involves consuming only 500–600 calories on two nonconsecutive days of the week, but eat normally the other 5 days. On the fasting days, it’s recommended that women eat 500 calories and men 600. 

More methods can be found on youtube

Note: IF is one of many lifestyle strategies that can improve your health, the key to a healthy life is still eating the right and nutritious foods, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep. 

Caution: During the fasting period you may feel a little tired, hungry and irritable but you should never feel unwell. Please pay attention to your body especially if new to fasting. You can lower the difficulty of the plan if need be and if stop fasting if the tiredness and weakness prevents you from completing your daily tasks. Also remember to seek medial advice. 



Follow @healthmania_ug on Instagram for more tips and tricks. 


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