Want to know one of the best kept, holistic secrets to fast tracking weight loss? It’s intermittent fasting! If you’re new to fasting or are a seasoned pro, you should avoid these common intermittent fasting mistakes.
Boost your wellness and weight loss with fasting. And stay on the path to success by avoiding these mistakes.
1. Going Too Hard Too Soon
Have you ever set a goal to try something new only to fall off the rails a few days after starting? It’s one of the most common intermittent fasting mistakes.
Oftentimes, people go from eating normally to all of a sudden fasting for extended periods of time. This is not sustainable and often results in them quitting. Especially if they’re used to eating several meals spread out throughout the day.
If you’re new to intermittent fasting, start by easing into it slowly. Don’t go cold turkey. If you’re used to eating every 2 to 3 hours, try cutting out your snacks and opting for eating larger meals every 4 to 5 hours.
The goal is to ease your way into fasting. This will lead to more sustainable results.
2. Over or Under-Eating
If you’re new to intermittent fasting, be aware of how many calories you’re eating per day. It’s very common to either over or under-eat.
Some people may binge out during their eating periods due to food deprivation. Other people may accidentally under-eat because intermittent fasting suppresses appetite.
So, if you’re new to fasting, it may be a smart idea to start counting your calories. Both over and under-eating can un-do your weight loss efforts:
- – Overeating causes to you eat more calories than your metabolism can burn
- – Under-eating causes your metabolism to slow down and burn less calories
In order to reap the benefits of intermittent fasting, make sure that you’re eating the right amount of calories everyday.
3. Not Coordinating Exercises Properly
While intermittent fasting is a very powerful way to induce weight loss, that doesn’t mean you should neglect exercise. Exercise will enhance your weight loss efforts while boosting your mood and building lean muscle.
Follow these tips to best coordinate your exercise with your fasting schedule:
- 1. Try exercising first thing in the morning before eating your first meal
- 2. Don’t exercise right before bed
- 3. Doing light cardio while fasting is usually okay
- 4. You can fast 2 to 3 hours after a HIIT or sprint workout
- 5. Try weight training shortly after eating then fast for 2 to 3 hours afterwards
If you’re new to fasting, exercise can be one of the hardest parts. Make sure to ease yourself in and listen to your body. If you know you need food either before or after exercising, then go for it. Don’t deprive your body of its needs.
4. Forgetting About the Quality of Your Food
Intermittent fasting is all about when you eat, not what you eat. Therefore, it’s really easy to forget about healthy eating and the quality of your foods.
Even though fasting is super beneficial for your health and weight loss, you can’t lose track of the foods that you’re putting into your body. Don’t be so consumed with the timing of your eating that you become unconscious of what you’re eating. If your goal is better wellness and more effective weight loss, focus on eating these foods and food groups:
- – Protein
- – Healthy fats
- – Plenty of fruits and vegetables
- – Water, water, water
- – A treat every once in a while
Timing your meals is only half of the battle. The quality of your meals is the second half.
5. Unknowingly Breaking Your Fast
Do you take vitamins or supplements on a daily basis? If so, you should know that taking some of those vitamins and supplements can actually break your best. The specific ones that could break your fast are those that contain sugar or cause your insulin levels to go up including:
- – Gummy multivitamins
- – BCAA supplements
- – Protein powder or protein supplements
- – Any vitamin or supplement that has calories
Therefore, avoid taking these during your fasting periods to avoid accidentally breaking it.
6. Not Staying Properly Hydrated
Drinking enough water is one of the best things you can do to lose weight and be healthier. However, many intermittent fasters don’t realize that they’re actually dehydrated as a result of fasting. That’s because they underestimate how much water is in the foods that they eat.
When you’re not eating for long periods of time, it’s so important that you drink enough water. You can drink water during your fasting and eating periods. That way, you won’t accidentally become dehydrated due to lack of water intake from your foods.
And just how important is drinking water for health and weight loss? Water alone has the following benefits that you don’t want to miss out on:
- – Boosting metabolism
- – Removing toxic body wastes
- – Improving your workouts
Everyone and anyone should be very conscious of whether or not they’re staying hydrated. And, especially intermittent fasters.
7. Allowing Fasting to Consume Your Life
One of the most detrimental intermittent fasting mistakes is allowing it to consume your life. That is, that you become overly-obsessed with your eating and fasting schedule. That obsession can lead to:
- – Sadness and depression
- – Anxiety
- – Isolation
Isolation can be particularly damaging for your mental health. If you’re so focused on not breaking your intermittent fasting schedule, then you may be reluctant to engage in social activities where eating is taking place. This can lead to you removing yourself from those activities and becoming isolated.
While your wellness, fitness, and weight loss goals are important, they should not take over your life. Indulgence every once in a while is good for you. In fact, several studies show that allowing yourself to indulge every once in a while actually increases the likeliness that you achieve your long-term goals.
Moreover, stick to your intermittent fasting schedule when it’s realistic but don’t let it take over your life. Practices like meditation can further help prevent this from happening.
Avoid These Common Intermittent Fasting Mistakes
Intermittent fasting is one of the best ways to fast track weight loss and overall wellness. As long as you avoid these common intermittent fasting mistakes, you should be on your way to greater results.
New to fasting? Stay on track by developing good mental health practices like yoga and meditation.
