Just like in every other life activity, mistakes could be made during your intermittent fasting (IF) journey. This could result in not reaping the benefits of IF as you expected. It could also mean experiencing side effects that you should not have experienced.
This is why you’ll often hear many doubters/nay-sayers touting very loudly that IF does not work, or that it’s overrated, or that it’s dangerous. These mistakes result in several myths about IF that usually prevent people from engaging in and benefitting from intermittent fasting.
In this section, I share five of the most notorious intermittent fasting mistakes/myths everyone should avoid.
#1. Overeating
While the idea that IF promotes overeating is a myth, it’s still a mistake to assume you can just binge during your eating windows. No matter what type of IF you are trying, you must adhere to the principle of portion control.
This means you should still pay attention to your portions during your eating periods! Remember that what you are doing with IF is to reduce the number of meals you eat so as to cut down on your calories by prolonging your fasting window to give your body enough to reset your metabolism, engage in autophagy and get your energy from stored fat. You narrowed down your eating window to give your body time to recover and function more effectively.
#2. Poor Exercise Habits
It is a well-established fact that including physical activities such as exercise helps keep us healthy. If you are living a completely sedentary lifestyle while engaging in IF, you may discover the results of IF will be harder to come by and that you run the risk of muscle loss (sarcopenia) especially in older people. The same goes for any promised changes to your metabolism.
That is why a proper exercise routine is important. You can start gradually by doing at least 30 minutes of walking three days a week and doing basic stretches. It is also very important to include some simple strength training exercises on alternate days. Doing so will guard your body against the spooky muscle loss naysayers say you’ll get from IF.
A proper exercise habit is not about overexerting yourself. It is all about consistency, listening to your body, and recognizing when you need to stop. You must not overdo it to avoid the side effects of injuries. Consistent exercise can also help reset your metabolism and make you more physically resilient against all sorts of age-related diseases further down the road.
#3. Not Meal Planning
Meal plans can be essential to any successful health plan, and intermittent fasting is no exception. In fact, how can you not plan your meals when IF already has you sticking to a firm schedule? A proper meal schedule ensures that your body still has a regular supply of proteins, vitamins, and other essential building blocks to keep you healthy during your fasting periods.
Of course, this also means making sure that your meals are balanced and as much as possible only from whole foods. Always have your meal plans include dishes that have plenty of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. Don’t be afraid to change things up a little so you won’t feel bad eating the same kind of salad every day.
#4. Ignoring Food Quality
Aside from planning your meals, the quality of your meals is still very important. When someone starts experiencing dizzy spells or lack of energy from intermittent fasting, it is often because their meals lack vital nutrients such as vitamins, and essential minerals which the body needs to keep you hydrated, maintain muscle & nerve functions, and maintain your body’s PH balance.
Low-quality foods which are typically highly processed, contain lots of processed sugar, numerous preservatives, and all other toxins that food manufacturers disguise as beneficial.
So, while intermittent fasting is not about what you eat, you must still try as much as you can to eat healthy by cutting out ultra-processed foods such as junk foods, energy drinks, so-called fruit drinks, and canned foods and only eating whole and natural nutrient-dense foods. The more you eat fresh, the more stay fresh!
#5. Yo-Yo Dieting
Last but far from least are the adverse effects of yo-yo dieting. This is a mistake that seems almost universal to everybody who wants to lose weight.
As has been emphasized by research, IF is not a diet. It is a lifestyle change that is effective in resetting your metabolism and helping you prevent chronic diseases and in some cases cancer. Because it is a lifestyle change, it produces sustained changes that are effective and easy to maintain. It is effective in restoring your health and even helps you to lose and maintain your weight, therefore the chances of falling back into old unhealthy habits is minimal.
IF is therefore not some unsustainable stopgap or short-term practice that is so easily dropped. It can be maintained in the long term and its benefits will contribute to a healthier, happier, longer life.
Because when you think about it, that is really at the heart of improving one’s health and staying healthy. It’s about making a little gradual change every day so that no matter what happens to you in the years to come, you now have a body that’s strong, and healthy! My advice therefore is to avoid the mistakes of changing from one diet to another. Try the IF today and you’ll be sure to reap its benefits, today, and beyond!
P.S.
To get more specifics on the kind of food and nutrients to integrate into your meals, you will find plenty of great suggestions in my book Intermittent Fasting for Women Over 50: Reset Your Metabolism, Lose Weight, Boost Your Energy, Improve Memory, and Enjoy a Healthy Life. You can order a copy on Amazon.