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Intermittent Fasting 101

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Summer Body 365 – STEP ONE

Pick timeframe to eat. Intermittent Fasting


Summer Body 365 – PLAN (in case you missed it)


If you’ve struggled with your weight… just can’t seem to get to your desired weight AND keep it there… intermittent fasting might be the thing for you.

I’ve practiced Intermittent Fasting for years, before it was even a thing. Just like I’ve been a minimalist (apparently) since I was ten years old.

Picking a timeframe to eat with intermittent fasting has helped me stay at 125 pounds (Update: I now weigh 119lbs.) at 5’5” while eating pretty much whatever I want.

I remember when I used to work at Neimans, and I’d bring in these spectacular sandwiches on homemade bread, loaded with ham, cheese, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and sprouts. Plus I’d eat potato chips with it. I might even have a cookie. People wondered aloud how the heck I could eat like that and not gain weight.

I’d say it was primarily two things:

  • Some degree of Moderation
  • Intermittent Fasting

MODERATION
Using my infamous sandwich as an example, number one, it was a half sandwich. A huge half sandwich, but a half nevertheless.

I used a dab of mayo, one slice of ham and half slice of cheese. Then I piled on the lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, sprouts so high it was hard to hold the sandwich together.

The other form of moderation was in the amount of food I ate in any given day.

I simply did not eat a large quantity of food.

Yes, I had that big lunch, but it was either my first meal of the day or maybe a banana or green juice earlier. For dinner, I’d have whatever I was serving my family of four, and that was it for my food for the day.

What I never realized back then (because I don’t think it had a name) was I was doing intermittent fasting.

Since then, I’ve become more deliberate in my health, by making my last meal of the day a super healthy one. I’ll share that meal and recipe with you at the end of this post but let me just say it will be one of the yummyist meals you’ve ever eaten.

MODERATION TIP
Don’t get hung up on moderation at first, because an intermittent fast will automatically help you moderate your eating. Once you create a habit of when you eat, then you can focus more on moderation.

WHAT IS Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting 101

Intermittent fasting is simply choosing a timeframe when you eat.

I’ll only talk about the easiest timeframe because not only is it, well, easiest! But it seems to me, healthiest.

REMEMBER: I am NOT a doctor or credited health professional.

But to me it’s just common sense because like one of the other ways to intermittent fast is to not eat for a day and then eat what you want the following day. Are you kidding me? How deprived would you feel not eating all day, plus it’s not sustainable. That’s why there aren’t alternate day fasting success stories (that I could find.)

What I want to share with you is a lifestyle habit. Something you can easily do indefinitely.

It’s commonly called 8/16 intermittent fasting. Or 16/8 intermittent fasting (16/8 IF for short) but either way, it’s the same.

You pick an eight hour window to eat and don’t eat the remaining sixteen hours.

Intermittent Fasting Schedule Tips (16/8 IF)

I’ve played around with an Intermittent Fasting schedule quite a bit, and you probably will too.

My biggest challenge was the evening. Usually about 4-5 hours after dinner, I was ready to rummage around in the pantry to see what I could find to munch on. So I structured my 16/8 IF where my bedtime was 4-5 hours after dinner. That way, just as my mind started wandering to food, I’d go to bed instead.

If you want something later in the evening, chamomile tea or soothing bone broth will not break fast, and will probably help you sleep better anyway.

  • Think about when you wake up and go to sleep.
  • Are you hungrier in the mornings or evenings?
  • What’s the longest you can comfortably go without eating?
  • Then plan your IF 16/8 around what fits you.
  • Like I mentioned, you’ll probably have to experiment a bit.

Intermittent Fasting Meal Plan 16/8

I promised you we’d keep this simple, so we will.

You can get as fancy as you want with an intermittent fasting meal plan, but remember, this is not a sprint. We are making healthy eating choices that can become your everyday eating habits. So you want a fasting meal plan you’ll stick with.

With that said, here’s how I do it…and I can assure you, I never feel deprived or like I’m on a diet.

As I mentioned in the “Tips for Intermittent Fasting Schedule” section, I do the 16/8 IF.

I wake up about 6-6:30am and go to bed between 10-11pm so I choose to IF 16/8 from 10am to 6pm.


SAMPLE IF 16/8 MEAL PLAN SCHEDULE

6-6:30am – Wakeup
Drink water
Drink a coffee, tea or bone broth. (Without one of these drinks, I’m super hungry within an hour of waking up.)

10am
Healthy juice <the one I like

11:30ish – Lunch
Half a sandwich and chips. Or hubby and I go out for lunch and I have whatever I want. Typical lunch might be veggie baked potato or baked/fried chicken with stewed okra, green beans, cucumbers & tomatoes.

Mid-day
I usually don’t get hungry mid-day, but if you do, have a juice or a piece of fruit.

5pm – Dinner
I start making my famous salad around five. By the time I’ve enjoyed it and had a cookie or two, it’s close to 6pm which keeps me within my 16/8 IF schedule.


Intermittent Fasting Resources

All the links (affiliate) are to AMZ cuz that’s where I do 90% of my shopping. I swear I’ll need pink Himalayan salt  and rather than go to the store I’ll order it on Amazon! Haha

Also, even tho I of course encourage you to do your own due diligence before deciding on products, I will say I have spent hours and oftentimes lots of trial and error before settling on what I consider the “best.”

:: WATER ::
I drink water throughout the day. Sometimes I add lemon, oranges or strawberries to it, but normally I drink it plain. If you’re not used to drinking water, you might want to liven it up with a squeeze of lemon or orange. You can also pop a couple of berries in your water for a mild flavor kick.

I keep my Yetti cup full all day. I bought two (for cleaning purposes) and also got the straws with secure tops. It’s a bummer we have to buy the straws with lids to fit, on top of the cup purchase, but for now that’s the way it is.

:: JUICE ::
If I lived near a Whole Foods, I’d hop in the car and get my juice there everyday. I’ll give you my fave juice recipe if you want to have your juice made, or want to make your own juice. If you’re like me, and want a simple juice solution, I share that too.

My Fave Juice Recipe
3 large carrots. One apple. One orange. One lemon. Quarter size ginger. Six large leaves kale. One cup of spinach. Heaven on earth!

Simple Juice Solution
Because I don’t live near a place that will make my juices, and I don’t want to make my own, I’ve found the next best thing! Believe you me I’ve tried practically every store-bought juice on the planet, and my fave by far is the RAW Fountain.

They are tasty, tasty!

Their juices are 100% Natural Raw, Cold Pressed Fruit & Vegetable Juices, Gluten-free, Vegan with no added sugar. And they come frozen so you pop them in your freezer until you need them.

If you order the Cleanse pack you get 18 juices and 3 shots of ginger. Juices like ‘Rise N Shine’ – ‘Glow Green’ – ‘Citrus Kick’ and more.

When you receive your package, select a couple bottles to put in the fridge and place the rest in your freezer. You’ll want to consume the juice within couple three days once out of the freezer, but you’ll quickly learn how many juices to keep out.

If you’re doing the intermittant fasting for weight loss, you definitely want to have juices on hand. They help tremendously curb hunger plus give you a great lift (better than coffee!)

:: BROTH ::
It’s astounding we don’t hear more about bone broth benefits when there are SO many. I’ll be honest, I don’t drink it regularly. I’ll buy it. Consume it and then not buy again for a couple months.

But here ya go (cuz it can definitely help curb cravings) bone broth benefits:

  • Promotes gut & digestive health
  • Supports joint mobility and inflammation
  • Supports skin, hair and nails with collagen
  • Supports sleep (especially paired with calcium & magnesium)
  • Bone Broth helps with intermittent fasting diets

Now we move on to Step 2 of Summer Body 365, Make One Meal Change

STEP 2 | Make One Meal Change