Food & Recepten
Intermittent fasting put to the test
Intermittent fasting is probably the most talked-about health topic in the past year. Here at Braav, as curious as we are, we’ve signed ourselves up for the challenge trying to incorporate this habit into our daily lives.
Completely new to the subject? Well, that’s ok. Here a brief explainer of what IF actually means:
Intermittent fasting can be put to practice in a number of different ways. However, it all comes down to fasting for a certain number of hours during the day. In this fasting period, you aren’t eating anything, the only things that are allowed are drinking water, tea, and black coffee. During the other hours of the day, you are practically free to eat anything you want ;-). The easiest way to start would be to stick to a 16:8 schedule: whereby you are allowed to eat between 12 pm and 8 pm.
Especially the huge number of benefits pulled the trigger for us:
- Weight loss & body fat loss (since your body needs to fuel itself up with body fat during your fast)
- Lower blood insulin & sugar levels
- Improved mental clarity & concentration
- Increased energy
- Improvement in your cholesterol levels
- Reduction for the risk of Alzheimer’s
- Longer life
- Cellular cleansing
- Reduction in inflammation
Sound positive right? We’ve put it to the test. Read all about our experience below:
IF experience Elise
For me, IF is a no go on training days, but on rest days it’s a really nice way of increasing my productivity in the morning and stops me from late-night snacking in the evening.
But as I train around 10 to 12 hours a week, my body really needs fueling from time to time. Long periods of fasting make me nauseous and dizzy. Concluded, 1 or maybe 2 times a week a 16-hour fast does no harm and improves my focus, but on other days with great physical labor: breakfast is very welcome.
IF experience Caro:
The exact reason that persuaded me to intermittent fasting is the combination of better digestion and more energy. Exactly the mix I need during the busy working weeks. The first week I didn't see a huge difference, apart from a grunting stomach and extra hunger at lunch. After 10 days, I didn't even think about breakfast anymore and the IF became a habit, which was easy to maintain. For me, I absolutely say GO against intermittent fasting, and I will continue the process. In the past, I had a bloated feeling almost every day after dinner & cravings the whole day long. This feeling is floating away more and more. It’s not completely over, therefore I have to be more strict on the weekends as well! Recommendation: talk with your environment about the positive things of IF and motivate each other. Almost 7 friends started the process and are feeling better than ever.
IF experience Céline
I’ve tried intermittent fasting for a couple of weeks and really noticed that it helps to put my body in rest/recovery modus. Before I had some digestive problems which completely disappeared after a week of intermittent fasting. Next to that, I feel my focus is sharper during the morning hours and I’m way more productive. I try to stick to intermittent fasting 5 days a week, however, I always listen to my body, when it really craves for food in the morning I fuel up. For me going for a jog before work and not having any fuel doesn’t work. I need a good breakfast to workout in the morning. So I would definitely recommend for you to try it out and see how your body might react, however always listen to the signals your body sends you.
Read all about the experience of some Braav community members in our Braav Body Guide Week #2.
Willing to give it a try? We’ve summed up some beginner tips to get you going:
- Drink enough water
- Find a schedule that works best for you
- Go gradual for greater success
- Get enough protein - so don’t just eat a f*cking salad.
- Understand the difference between hunger and boredom
- Keep yourself busy
- Start your fast after dinner - by doing this you’ll spend most of the time fasting while sleeping.
- Follow a healthy low-carb diet between fasting periods
- Don’t binge after fasting
