If you have been used to eating all day, then the idea of fasting may seem daunting. Not only mentally, but it could be daunting to your body if you have not been eating very clean.
The good news is that you can prepare for fasting by cleaning up what you eat so that when you start to reap the benefits of fasting, it is a little easier.
You can also ease into creating a longer and longer fasting window so your metabolism can adapt to fat-burning when it has been accustomed to sugar-burning for so long.
Mind Your Food Choices
AVOID
Harmful oils
- Partially hydrogenated oils
- Vegetable or Seed oils: Canola, Corn, Cottonseed, Soy. Sunflower, Safflower, Grapeseed, Rice bran, Peanut
- Deep fried or Trans-fats
High in refined sugar and flour, including gluten-free
- Bread, pasta, crackers, puffed cereals
- Desserts
Synthetic ingredients
- Artificial and “natural” colors and flavorings, including red or blue dyes
- Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
- Artificial sweeteners including: Saccharin, Nutrasweet, Splenda
ADD IN
By leaning into healthy fats instead of too many carbohydrates, you will start to build metabolic flexibility with fat burning. The toughest part of fasting can be the switch from sugar burning to fat burning. Eating more fat will allow you to ease into a longer fasting window because the switch may already have been made while sleeping.
Fats
- Olive oil
- Avocado oil
- Medium Chain Triglyceride (MCT) oil
- Grass-fed butter
- Nut butters (organic)
- Olives
- Avocados
- Ground flaxseed (fresh, not packaged)
- Ground pumpkin seed (fresh)
Proteins of your choice
- Pastured eggs
- Grass-fed beef
- Pastured chicken or turkey
- Wild-caught fish
- Bison
- Mung bean sprouts
- Other plant proteins
2. Compress Your Eating Window
- Start by moving the first time you eat (breakfast) back one hour.
- If you can tolerate it, every 2 days, push it back another hour.
- If you are extremely compromised in your hormonal balance, you may need to go more slowly. Perhaps push back breakfast one-half hour very gradually with more days between.
- Continue until you can go 13 hours fasting. (Such as from 7pm to 8 am)
If you need help before your fasting window is up, you can test out taking a small amount of fat such as MCT oil or clean cream with or without a beverage. See how you feel. If you can, continue fasting until your window is up.
3. What to drink while fasting?
- In your fasting window, drink (structured) water or herbal tea.
- Homemade vegetable broth with sea salt is also an option.
- If you want to drink coffee or caffeinated tea, test first to be sure it does not increase your blood sugar.
Vegetable Broth Recipe
INGREDIENTS: celery, carrot, small amount onion, summer squash, bit of ginger root
(your choice, just not root vegetables, winter squash) Optional: herbs, spices, and/or sea salt
DIRECTIONS: Coarsely chop the vegetables and put in a pot of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 3 hours. Alternately, a crock pot or slow cooker can be used.
Add sea salt to taste when you drink it.
Testing to see what pulls you out of a fasted state
- Take a baseline blood glucose reading.
- Drink your test drink or take your supplement. (coffee, tea, fat)
- 30 minutes later re-test blood sugar.
- If the two readings are the same or it has gone lower, then you are still in a fasted state.
- You can still be in a fasted state but no longer in autophagy.
- Everybody is different because it is up to your microbiome as to what happens.
Typically do not
- Medications
- supplements
- Black coffee
- Tea
- Oils like MCT and cream
- Mineral water
Typically do
- Coffee creamer
- Sodas
- Diet drinks
- Gatorade
- Alcohol
- Sweeteners, artificial or natural
What is this leading up to?
Good question. By preparing now, we can strategically schedule a longer fast, if appropriate. Most health-conscious people think of detoxifying seasonally, and a longer fast is a great way to detoxify.
Whether you choose to do simply 24 hours, or fast over more than one night, as in a 36 or 48 or 72 hour fast, doing this preparation will bring you great benefits in the spring.
