Is intermittent fasting just too difficult?
This is a really good question.
And we’ve discovered that a lot of people have this exact issue when it comes to trying to fast intermittently.
But first, let’s start with the definition.
Intermittent fasting is basically the practice of going for pre-planned portions of the day without eating, and then only eating within very specific timeframes.
Healthline.com describes it like this:
“Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It doesn’t specify which foods you should eat but rather when you should eat them. In this respect, it’s not a diet in the conventional sense but more accurately described as an eating pattern. Common intermittent fasting methods involve daily 16-hour fasts or fasting for 24 hours, twice per week.”
The idea behind it is that it’s much safer and more sustainable than going on a hardcore water fast.
But it will also give you many of the benefits that fasting has to offer.
Fasting is good for you in many different ways.
It’s good for your health. It’s good for your body. Your body rejuvenates cells and heals itself when you fast.
It also gives your body a break from digesting food, which is actually important.
With that being said, intermittent fasting isn’t easy.
It requires you to go for certain periods of time without eating.
And sometimes, that takes a lot of self-control.
One of the most common examples of an intermittent fasting concept is OMAD, or one meal a day.
With this intermittent fasting protocol, you choose one specific time of day to eat one meal, and then you stay consistent with it and you fast the rest of the day.
The problem is that this can really cause food cravings to spike.
It can hurt your ability to focus, and it can make you feel kind of ‘fatigued’ at certain times of the day.
But is there a way to make it work?
We actually tried it, and here’s what we discovered.
How To Make Intermittent Fasting Work
We discovered that the key to making intermittent fasting work is to slightly tweak the protocol so that it specifically fits your life and minimizes the downsides specifically for you.
For example, when one of our writers tried the protocol, he basically decided to eat at 6 pm every night.
He chose this specific time because he very quickly realized that when he tried to eat his only meal at breakfast, he would crash halfway through the day and really struggled to focus.
With that being said, fasting in the morning didn’t hurt his ability to focus.
Since he didn’t eat in the morning, there was no crash. And he didn’t really start to get tired or fatigued until close to that 6 pm mark, at which time he would eat—which would bring his energy levels back up to finish the day out strong.
In doing this, he was able to figure out a specific protocol that worked for him and avoided a lot of the downside.
He also lost some weight while on the diet, and felt really awesome.
So it really just depends on your specific situation and the circumstances of your life.
Some people don’t keep to a strict one meal a day policy, but rather try to fit all of their meals within a five or six-hour window instead.
This can give you a little bit more time to eat, and make the diet a little bit easier.
