How to Start Fasting and Benefits I’ve Noticed

One of the biggest benefits I’ve noticed from fasting at least 24 hours a day within days 6–10 of my menstrual cycle is that my period cramps have gone away. Granted, I didn’t have bad cramps in comparison to some of the stories I’ve heard. I have mild cramps for about three hours during day 1 of my period, I can ease them with raspberry leaf tea or they leave if I fast for at least 24 hours.

Fasting has given me a distance with food that you can’t quite get when you are continuing to eat food 2 or more times a day. My relationship with food has changed, I view it as more of a choice than an addiction when I’m not fasting and it can be easier to make healthier choices coming off of a fast, but not always.

If you’d like to try fasting I’d like to give you this piece of advice not to listen to: if you are fasting 36 hours or less you can eat whatever you’d like to when you come off of a fast. Do not listen to this. Instead: if you have gone 24 hours or more, break your fast slowly, drink broth or a small serving of vegetables. Look up safe ways to break fasts if it is your first time going for longer than you usually haven’t eaten.

Start with easing into fasting with extending the amount of time you’ve intermittently fasted for. If you’ve gone from 5 p.m. until 9 a.m. without a hitch, try moving breakfast back an hour or two and see how your body adjusts. If you have a menstrual cycle, you may want to search this article for the term Fast Like a Girl and see what Dr. Mindy Pelz suggest with timing fasting with your cycle.

One of my friends gets shaky if she doesn’t eat often enough, that’s a sign of not being metabolically flexible and isn’t a great thing for health. I would suggest not trying fasting to her until she has a better handle on her health, but again, I’m not a doctor and pleas do not take this as medical advise. This is my personal experience with how fasting has changed my poor health and I’d like to share my stories.