Mastering Intermittent Fasting: Tips for Success in Lytham St Annes

Many have tried intermittent fasting as a way to manage their weight or support healthy insulin and cholesterol levels. However, most don’t stick with it long enough to reap the real benefits. The good news? There are several ways to succeed at intermittent fasting, and the efforts are genuinely worth it. Here’s a guide to help you incorporate intermittent fasting into your lifestyle right here in Lytham St Annes.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

First, let’s make sure we understand what intermittent fasting is. Put simply, intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and fasting each day. The idea is to go longer periods of time (say, 16 hours, a lot of which occur while you’re sleeping) without eating. This allows your body to tap into stored fat for energy and supports healthy blood sugar levels.

With that in mind, let’s start with tips that will help you get the best results from intermittent fasting, especially here in charming Lytham St Annes.

Do:

Start Slow

You wouldn’t jump straight from being a couch potato to running a marathon. The same principle applies to intermittent fasting. Although going full cold turkey works for some, we recommend starting with small, achievable goals. For instance, try not snacking after dinner or eating breakfast an hour later. Gradually work toward a longer fasting period as your body adjusts.

Pick the Intermittent Fasting Schedule that Works for You

Many find the best results with the 16:8 method, which means fasting for 16 hours between dinner and your first meal the next day. For example, you would eat all your meals between noon and 8 p.m., then fast until noon the next day. Feel free to adjust your fasting start and end times to fit your lifestyle. Here in Lytham St Annes, perhaps you prefer eating earlier; try starting your fast at 5 or 6 p.m.

If a 16-hour fast isn’t feasible, cut back to 12 or 14 hours. The trick is to find a fasting length that’s doable long-term. Experiment with various schedules until you find one that suits your life in Lytham St Annes.

Drink Lots of Water

It’s good to give our bodies breaks from food but not from water. Our bodies work better when we stay hydrated. Plus, drinking plenty of water helps us feel fuller and stave off cravings.

Eat Wholesome Meals

However long your eating window lasts, fill it with fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, lean protein, and fiber. Fueling your body with wholesome foods helps you get the nutrients you need and makes it easier to go longer periods without food. Foods high in sugar and simple carbohydrates (like white bread and pasta) often leave you feeling hungry soon after and can lead to cravings at inconvenient times.

Keep an IF Journal

When you’re first getting started, keep track of the foods you eat, the different schedules you’ve tried, and how you feel each day. This helps determine what works and what doesn’t, so you can build a long-term plan customized to your needs.

Now that you understand what you should do, let’s look at common intermittent fasting mistakes to pin down what you shouldn’t do:

Don’t:

Binge During Your Eating Window

Just because you’ve fasted for 16 hours, it doesn’t mean you get a free pass to eat everything in sight during your eating window. The food you consume still matters. Focus on wholesome foods and try to avoid high-calorie, non-filling foods.

Be Careful Not to Eat Too Little

Intermittent fasting isn’t a diet; it’s a time-based eating pattern that allows our bodies to tap into stored fat for energy. Make sure to eat enough during your eating hours to sustain your energy levels.

Give Up Too Soon

To start seeing the benefits of intermittent fasting—and there are many!—you’ll need to stick with it for at least 30 days. If you find it too difficult, try fasting for shorter amounts of time rather than giving up altogether. You might find it easier to gradually increase your fasting period.

Expect Perfection

You don’t need to be perfect at intermittent fasting to succeed. A bad day won’t undo your progress. Life happens, interruptions are normal, and your eating habits will be affected occasionally. The key is to aim for consistency rather than perfection. If you’re consistent most of the time, you’ll be on the right path.

When Willpower Isn’t Enough

Sometimes, willpower alone may not be enough to succeed at intermittent fasting long-term. However, with a little help, intermittent fasting can be much more doable, even while enjoying the delights of Lytham St Annes.

Two Unicity products—Unimate and Balance—work together to help you extend the time between dinner and your first meal the next day. Unimate is a yerba mate drink featuring up to 10 times the amount of chlorogenic acid found in a premium cup of coffee. It helps boost mood, supports mental stamina, focus, and motivation. It also helps fend off cravings and reenergizes you between meals.

Balance is a pre-meal drink with a patented fiber matrix that includes bioactive plant compounds, polysaccharides, and micronutrients, designed to help ease the impact of excess carbohydrates and cholesterol. The soluble fibers also help curb your appetite.

We call these two products + intermittent fasting the “Feel Great” program because, well, people feel great when they stick to this method. Learn more about the “Feel Great” program and see how it can help you get the most out of intermittent fasting, without making you work harder for it.