Adopting a new diet plan has proven to be the most challenging part of embarking on a new fitness journey, especially when I am currently on a calorie deficit. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been following a 750 calorie deficit from my calculated TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). My first week, I averaged at over-consuming a shocking 670 calories each day. Even though I was below my maintenance level, I tried to be more aware with eating low-calorie meals during my second week, which ultimately ended up averaging at only 262 calories over. Currently, in my third week of tracking every detail of what I have been consuming, I was surprised to find out that I am almost hitting my goal with only over-consuming 112 calories on average each day. What has really helped me achieve these numbers more easily is by practicing the art of intermittent fasting (IF).
Intermittent fasting is an approach to eating where you cycle between periods of fasting and eating; basically an eating pattern where you abstain from consuming calories for a period of time. Based on many of the articles I have read, IF has proven to help with fat loss.
The art of practicing intermittent fasting has personally helped me with my recent struggles with over-consuming calories. IF has been very effective as it has allowed me to have larger and more satisfying meals without feeling like I am restricting myself throughout the day. I’ve done this by shortening the time frame on when I am consuming my meals which has helped me get closer to hitting my calorie goals for the day.
To implement intermittent fasting, I started to delay my first meal of the day by skipping breakfast and only drinking black coffee until lunch. When I did feel hungry before lunch, I fixed myself a protein shake ensuring that I took note of the time I consumed those calories – if I ended up feeling hungry the next morning, I would make sure that I wasn’t consuming it until after the last noted time was from the previous day. Transitioning into this practice, I would also shift my lunch to happen a little later into the afternoon to space out my meals. Finally, as to when I would stop eating for the day, I implemented the same practice in reverse by ending my eating window earlier and earlier each day.
The best approach which has been working for me is shortening my optimal eating window to an 8 hour period – essentially fasting for 16 hours and eating within 8 hours. This is also known as the 16/8 method. A rough time frame for me has been consistently 12pm to 8pm.
If you are reading this, I am curious to know if you have experimented with intermittent fasting and how it has worked for you. If you have tried any other strategies on how to better managing calorie consumption, I would love to hear what else has worked.
Image Credit: Mike Kenneally on Unsplash
