You may have heard the term intermittent fasting before, but is it everything it’s cracked up to be? Find out exactly what it means and how to use it to improve your life, health, and weight.

Most women have a few pounds they want to lose, and I’m no different. When my son was born I gained 35 pounds during pregnancy and another 20 afterwards (stress weight!)!

It took me almost a year and a half to get my rhythm back in regards to setting up a schedule for eating well and making myself a priority.

But I discovered a few great tricks to help me get back to my pre-pregnancy weight without requiring a huge time investment!

And in just 3 weeks of starting this method I lost 16 pounds without going crazy over my diet and without exercise!

One of the major things I changed was counting carbs over calories. You can read about how I’m doing that and losing weight without working out!

But the other major factor in my success has been intermittent fasting.

So what is Intermittent Fasting?

Basically, intermittent fasting is an extended period of time each day where you don’t put any calories into your body.

The benefits are intermittent fasting have been said to include faster weight loss, improved metabolic health and even extended lifespan.

I’m not sure about extended lifespan, but I can definitely say that since I’ve incorporated intermittent fasting into my routine, but weight loss has really kicked it up a notch!

Before I was losing 2-3 pounds a week, but for the last 3 weeks I’ve lost over 5 pounds a week for a total of 16 pounds in 3 weeks!

While there are a lot of different ways to include intermittent fasting in your day, I prefer the 16/8 method. It fits into my schedule perfectly, is very natural feeling, and takes zero effort!

16/8 Method of Intermittent Fasting

The 16/8 Method involves not eating for a period of time every day of 14-16 hours, and only eating during your daily “eating window” of 8-10 hours.

Within that window, you can fit in 2, 3 or more meals. I do 2 meals and a small snack.

Basically, this method of fasting is as simple as not eating anything after dinner, and skipping breakfast.
I personally find this to be the most “natural” way to do intermittent fasting. I eat this way every day and find it to be 100% effortless.

For people who are hungry first thing in the morning or just like to eat breakfast, then this might be hard to get used to at first. But honestly, I have found it to be an easy shift to stop eating breakfast.

Really, with the effort of getting kids up and ready, and making their breakfast, the time flies by and before I know it it’s noon already!

Can I Have Anything During My Fasting Window?

Yes! You can drink water, coffee and other no-calorie beverages during your fasting window, and this can actually help reduce hunger levels.

I usually drink water or hot tea if I’m wanting something during that window.

What Can I Eat During My Eating Window?

You can eat anything you want. But, if you are fasting to help your weight loss efforts, then you need to make sure you’re staying under 60 carbs a day during that window.

You can read about how I count carbs and keep them low here.

And like I said in the post above, it is important to eat as many healthy foods during your eating window as possible! Not only does healthy food help accelerate your weight loss, but it counts for way fewer carbs than unhealthy alternatives. Which means you end up getting to eat more and stay full longer.

NOTE: As great as intermittent fasting is, it won’t work well if you counteract it’s effectiveness by eating lots of junk food or excessive amounts of carbs.

So count your carbs and fast your way to a better you!

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