Introducing Intermittent Fasting
Those who have been following fruit based and raw vegan diets for a long time, tend to limit themselves to a couple of meals per day. Usually they will have their first meal in the early afternoon, and their second meal early in the evening. I prefer having my first meal between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. My ideal dinners are between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Some people refer to this approach as intermittent fasting. This dietary technique encourages people to limit the time frame in which they consume food each day.
For example, if I have my first meal at 11 a.m., and I finish my last meal by 6 p.m., then I am fasting between 6 p.m. and 11 a.m., for a total of 17 hours. If I have my first meal at 1 p.m., and finish dinner by 5 p.m., then my fasting period would be 20 hours.
Some people like to take this to an extreme, having only one meal per day in the evening, and pushing their fasting time to 23 hours per day.
When we are getting started, there is no need to force ourselves to practice intermittent fasting. That being said, we may want to aim towards it. Especially after learning how healthy fasting can be for us.
The longer our fasting time, the longer the time our body will have to process the substances already consumed, making our bodies more efficient at absorbing and assimilating food over the long run. Intermittent fasting is also known for its ability to promote increased levels of energy and stamina.
We already learned that we don’t need as much food as we may think. We know it is possible to go for months with no food and more than a week with no water.
Those who practice these longer fast may experience amazing results. By learning from those with more experience, we can practice intermittent fasting, and see results for ourselves. We may be unable to fast 23 hours a day, right from the beginning, but we can practice withholding food consumption for longer periods of time, until we find a pace that feels appropriate for each one of us.
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Acknowledgments
