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Intermittent fasting - for example, doing one or two 24-hr fasts a week - is a safe way to lose fat and improve health overall.
The surprising, some might even say amazing, thing is that after doing intermittent fasting a few times, hunger will greatly diminish on your fasting days and often will disappear completely.
But if hunger is ever bothersome for you, particularly if you're new to intermittent fasting and going through the adaptation period, here are 7 tips that can help:
1. Try to avoid eating a high carbohydrate meal or snack right before you start your fast. Some people find that a high carb meal/snack stimulates hunger shortly afterward making it more challenging to continue with the fast. A meal/snack that emphasizes protein is a better choice.
2. Keep busy. The more you do things that distract you from thinking about food, the better. Many people eat when they are bored or because they are conditioned to eat based on what time it is, so if that describes you, be aware of it and try to do something that interests you so you won't be swayed by old habits and conditioning.
3. Remind yourself that your body doesn't actually NEED food to function during a short-term fast. You are not in danger. Your body will draw energy from food that's still digesting from the last day or more during part of your fast. When that runs out, energy will come from the fat stores on your body. Even very lean people usually have enough fat reserves to draw from during a short-term fast without compromising health.
4. Remind yourself that your body has been trained to expect food at certain times and in certain situations, so hunger may rev up at those times during the fast. Again, you don't NEED to eat, your body is just telling you that it 'expects' food. This will change the more you do intermittent fasting - the body will stop it's non-emergency grumbling.
5. Keep hydrated. Have your favorite non-calorie drinks on hand (water, black coffee, green tea, herbal tea, sugar free soda, etc)
6. Sip on drinks that contain caffeine (coffee, tea, sugar free cola) because caffeine helps to suppress appetite. Sipping is key because if you take in too much caffeine at once, it may cause you to have a dramatic energy drop later on which can stimulate appetite.
7. Exercise. Yes, it's safe to exercise during a short-term fast. If it's intense exercise (a sprint, for example) it will usually kill appetite for a while.
Sometimes people feel light-headed or get headaches when they're trying intermittent fasting the first few times. This isn't due to blood sugar dropping too low - that's a myth that studies and intermittent fasting enthusiasts have disproven countless times.
The feeling is likely because the body is burning it's own fat for fuel, which it rarely has to do when you're eating frequently and drawing on food for fuel. You may find that a brief burst of exercise works very well to combat this, giving you a nice boost in energy - the opposite of what you'd expect!
