Noticing a change in your sleep schedule and eating habits? Well, you’re not alone. For the past couple of weeks, my sleep schedule has DRAMATICALLY changed. I use to go to bed at 10 pm and now I can find myself up falling asleep *naturally* at 2 am. Then wake up at around 9:30 to check my phone but let’s be honest 10:30 is when I actually decide to be productive with my life.
With this being said, my later wake-up time has affected what time I eat breakfast. And lately, I haven’t actually had a desire to eat breakfast at typical breakfast times. Which ultimately just throws my entire schedule off.
So I thought to myself after 1. hearing countless people in my meetings talk about this new trend 2. Scrolling past 1000 intermittent pins on Pinterest, and 3. reading all the new research about intermittent fasting and the benefits of not eating for an extended period of time, why not see if I AM DOING THE DIET CORRECTLY.
Well, after much digging and realizing that me only eating 2 real meals a day doesn’t qualify as IF, I’ve come to the conclusion that I was just being negligent with my body. And, I shouldn’t find loopholes to justify my actions. My schedule, In fact, just means that I’m not eating. Which is okay cause I’m actively working on that this week to make sure I get back on a regular eating schedule.
Anyways, here we are… In order for you all to figure out if you are actually intermittent fasting, here is HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERMITTENT FASTING OR JUST NOT EATING!
First: What is Intermittent Fasting?
Well according to healthline.com, Intermittent Fasting (IF) is “ an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting.” There are three methods of this diet. 16/8 rule states that you fast for 16 hours and then eat for 8, the Eat-stop-eat rule that states you should fast for 24 hours twice a week and eat normally, and the 5:2 rule that states you should eat 600 calories 2 days out of the week and eat normally the rest.
Knowledge of what you’re doing.
Now I am stated the obvious because it needs to be said for THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK! If you have knowledge of your fasting and you understand the timeline of your meals then you are okay. However, if you don’t and your sleep schedule has been dictating your meals, then you probably aren’t fasting. Which is totally okay, we all have our days. Just know that without the choice to fast you probably aren’t doing IF or doing it correctly/safely.
You believe that not eating at all will help you lose weight.
I will have to burst your bubble here. Not eating will not help you lose weight as quickly, effectively, or safely as you may think. Intermittent Fasting if you do it correctly can have major health benefits. However, not eating for extended periods of time in order to just lose weight fast can also backfire. You may end up gaining weight, binge eating, or evening lower your metabolic levels.
Depending on your answer to the first two you should be able to tell whether you are actually performing the diet or if you are just not eating because quarantine got the better of you.
Down below are some really amazing resources to read up on if you want to learn more about the diet. I recommend before starting reading all the pros and cons of the diet. Based on your own caloric needs and nutritional needs as a human you will be able to determine is IF is something you can truly incorporate.
I really am excited to learn more about this diet and the specific benefits it has for different people. In some ways, I hope that learning enough about it will help the families I work with.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3946160/
https://onlineijedo.positivepress.net/articoli/10.32044/ijedo202002/?lang=en
https://medium.com/livinglifelite/the-dark-side-of-intermittent-fasting-96409924d2bb
That’s all I got for today. Signing off,
Domonique
