Many people practice intermittent fasting to lose weight and improve their health. Intermittent Fasting (IF) is currently the most popular fitness trend that everyone seems to follow. It implies powerful effects on the health of your brain and body. Intermittent fasting involves fasting for 16-hours daily or 24-hours twice a week.
But many people come into difficulty as they do not follow the intermittent fasting correctly. They probably follow some eating timeframes, which varies from their regular eating times. This irregularity may introduce them to significant illnesses that affect their health.
If you want to avoid getting trapped with any mishaps while starting with your intermittent fasting, then make sure to avoid these common intermittent fasting mistakes that everyone does.
1. Making extreme changes in eating time frame
The most common mistake you might do is drastically changing your eating time frame. If you usually eat after every 3-4 hours and suddenly increase the timespan by 8 hours, you may feel more hungry and tired at the beginning itself.
It is suggested that you should gradually change your eating habits because your body needs to adjust to the changes that you make. It may take a week or 15 days to accept the new eating pattern, but ultimately you will feel better and get used to it. Also, your body will be in synchronization with your eating habits, which can have a better impact on your health.
For example, keep increasing your fasting time by one hour every two to three days until you reach at least 12-13 hours limit.
2. Overeating when the fast ends
Naturally, you will starve after fasting for so long. You will tend to overeat and at a quicker rate to overcome your extreme hunger. But this will affect your health if you are doing intermittent fasting for weight loss. It can also lead to stomach aches, which will make your body upset for a while.
To avoid this intermittent fasting mistake, you can have a healthy meal ready for you when your fast ends. Try to consume healthy carbs like lean proteins, whole grains, and some veggies.
3. Doing everything at once
Many people tend to attempt many things at once while intermittent fasting. They try to undereat, over train their body and fast at the same time. If you haven’t trained your body for many years and suddenly add all the unexpected things, it will affect your health. Your body will face too much physical stress from undereating and overtraining, which you didn’t do for many years.
To avoid this mistake, don’t train your body every day in a week, at least in the initial stage. Have a gradual slope with regular small exercises and progressive fasting patterns.
4. Eating Unhealthy Food
Many people with intermittent fasting feel the temptation to eat processed foods once their fast is over. Intermittent fasting focuses on the eating time frame, but it does not majorly focus on the nutrient quality of foods. If you stick with processed food instead of food that comprises a well-balanced diet, you will find a hard time reaching your goals.
Whenever you are in a fasting state, your body tends to break down the damaged components and use them for energy. This breakdown ultimately leads to the cleansing of your body. It also means that your body becomes more adaptable and sensitive to the food you consume. The cleansing process will be more effective if the food is rich in nutrients that will nourish your body. But, it will be problematic if you consume unhealthy foods.
To make a better approach towards intermittent fasting and avoiding unhealthy foods, try to change your diet gradually. Incorporate healthy eating, including whole foods and healthy carbs in your diet rather than processed food.
5. Consuming wrong liquids while intermittent fasting
You might tend to drink tea or black coffee while you are fasting. But if you don’t withstand the black coffee, you might add a spoon of sugar and some milk, which will ultimately break your fast. Also, consuming butter or coconut oil is not suitable for intermittent fasting.
You also have to give up your diet soda. The reason being, it has a zero-calorie sweetener, which negatively affects insulin levels and makes you feel hungry. It is also essential to avoid any protein-filled liquids such as bone broth. It can halt the cellular process, which breaks down and recycles damaged molecules, which is known as autophagy.
To avoid this intermittent fasting mistake, you can take the help of a fitness app that can track all your liquid consumptions. It will help you to stick to consuming water, black coffee, or plain tea while fasting.
6. Being Inactive for a long time
As you may know, being too active or inactive may affect your health if your body does not exercise at regular intervals. If you don’t have a proper plan in hand, you may consult your doctor and follow some basic exercises.
You have to keep your body in tune whenever you are fasting. Keep a usual track of exercise or practice some low impact exercises such as walking. If you exercise in the morning after fasting overnight, then have a protein-rich meal after your workout. This will help in building your muscles.
7. Letting fasting hold your life
You might have seen people who follow intermittent fasting, tend to avoid eating out with friends or rejecting birthday parties. In such cases, you might lose some memorable moments with your close friends and loving family members.
To get ahead of this mistake while intermittent fasting, you can pre-plan your fast. You can shift your fasting schedule forward or backward, depending on how many hours you can comprise. It is good to do so because enjoying life’s special moment and socializing is also an essential part of life.
Conclusion:
Intermittent fasting can be useful in achieving your goals if done appropriately and sustainably. You need to avoid the above mentioned intermittent fasting mistakes to lead a healthy and productive life and fulfill your dream of becoming a healthy person.