People often ask me about my diet, so I thought I’d share what I do and what works for me. I am no expert. I’m not a nutritionist or any type of health professional. I’m just a regular person sharing what I do. Please consult your own doctor or health professional if you want to try intermittent fasting or making any major changes to what, when or how you eat.
In terms of my diet, the secret to what has been successful for me isn’t really in what I eat, but when. I regularly practice intermittent fasting. It’s actually something I’ve naturally done since I was a kid without realizing it. As far back as I can remember I didn’t really like breakfast, especially on school mornings when I had to be up and out the door early. My parents would tell me to eat breakfast, but I just didn’t want to. It made me feel sick to my stomach and quite honestly, I just wasn’t hungry. I intuitively did not want to eat until later in the day. I wasn’t fasting for weight loss, but it naturally became part of my routine.
Everyone has their own version of intermittent fasting. If you’re wondering how to intermittent fast, generally you fast for a period of time (usually somewhere between 16-20 hours ) and then have a window when you eat (usually somewhere between four to eight hours). Some people prefer fasting in the morning, whereas some people prefer fasting in the afternoon or evening. Some people even fast for 24 hours at a time. You kind of have to look at your own lifestyle, workout program and eating habits and see what works best for you.
Mine goes something like this. I wake up most mornings by 6:30 a.m. On mornings that I am going to work out, I have a preworkout drink recipe that I’ll make which includes collagen peptides, amino acids and a preworkout powder. This is not considered intermittent fasting in its purest form. To truly practice intermittent fasting, coffee (no cream, no sugar) and water are really the only things that should be consumed. Again, while this might work for me, everyone is different. On mornings I don’t work out, I usually just have water. Sometimes I’ll have coffee with stevia and a splash of creamer (again, I’m not an intermittent fasting purist).
I usually have my first meal sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., with most days falling between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. I don’t do the Keto diet, or vegan or shakes. I find counting calories to lose weight to be unsustainable, and the same with macros. I just do my best to eat the healthiest option at my disposal. Sometimes it’s nuggets at the Chick Fil-A drive-thru, sometimes it’s a salad with salmon I made at home. My life is so busy, and I’m always on the go. Every day is different. Once I start eating, I try to stick to that 4-8 (definitely closer to eight) hour window of eating, which is intermittent fasting 101. So, I have dinner later in the day and then I don’t eat after 8 p.m. (most days).
This has worked for me for years — it worked before I was even aware of what I was doing — to keep my body fat down while still enjoying the food I eat. I recently had some body composition testing done. I have the metabolism of a 27-year old with a body fat percentage of 19.7% with close to zero visceral fat (mine was the lowest my doctor had ever seen in any patient). I’m not bragging lol, but this just goes to show that the benefits of intermittent fasting are real and effective.
Contrary to popular belief, skipping breakfast or having “five small meals a day” does NOT make you overweight (IMO). Eating too many calories does. Intermittent fasting helps me keep my calories down by shortening the amount of time I am eating (I can only consume so many calories in that shorter window). If this sounds like it could work for you, too, an intermittent fasting diet might be a good choice.
If you do decide to give intermittent fasting a try, you will be hungry in the morning at first. Just like any change in your diet it will take time to adjust, effort and some will power. Weight loss and maintaining weight will always take those things regardless of how you do it. Again, please consult your doctor to discuss how to do intermittent fasting or before you make any drastic change to your diet.
Thank you to Caitlin from What Cait Ate for the recipe! Check out her kale and apple salad with lemon dressing recipe if you’d like to try something that’s both delicious and healthy!
*None of the viewpoints in this post are Caitlin’s. She is a friend of mine and I make her recipes often because they are amazing (and so is she)*
