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If you are one of the many moms out there that struggle to lose weight (or keep it off), you may need to come up with a more thorough plan of attack. Diet and exercise are not always enough, especially if you have struggled with weight issues all you life like me. Intermittent fasting (IF) can help give that extra boost to your weight loss plan. Depending on the program you choose, you will have fasting and non-fasting times, below are some of my best fasting tips and tricks for your non fasting days to maintain weight loss.
Mindset, understanding, and motivation can be just as important in weight loss as diet and exercise. I wrote about my what motivated the most and helped me lose 60 lbs in 8 months in my weight loss for beginners post. I could never reached my goals without that one piece of motivation keeping me going daily, but IF helped my physically see the results I wanted.
What to Eat on Non-Fasting Days
Many people focus on fasting tips and tricks for actual fasting days, like how to deal with hunger pains and these days are important to your success. But learning how to behave on non-fasting days is just as important. So first, what you eat on non-fasting days totally depends on which version of the intermittent fasting diet you’re on. Plans vary, from 5:2, 16:8, 18:6 but in general, you cannot go wrong with eating on non-fasting days if you follow these general guidelines.
Always Eat Healthy Foods First
On non-fasting days you probably want to eat a lot of things that you missed out on during your fasting days. However, it’s better for your health if you eat the things that give you the most nutrition first. Not only will this help fill you up, but you may find once you’re full your craving goes away or your will power to say no increases.
Eat in Moderation
After you have eaten the things that give you energy and nutrition, you can use the rest of your caloric limit to eat whatever it is that you want to eat, including cake. Non-fasting days are not an excuse to go wild and over eat.
#1 and #2 Fasting Tips and Tricks: Drink Your Water
I feel like this is my mantra when I talk to others about diet and weight loss. Even on non-fasting days, it is important to stay hydrated. Be careful, that while you are eating more food on the non-fasting days, you may end up not be allowing yourself enough water. However, you should still work to drink the amount of water you need to for your current weight and activity level.
I find that allowing my “cheats” or indulgences only after an extra glass of water helps keep my in check. Not only does the water fill me up so I indulge less, but it’s motivation to keep up my water intake. If you have a hard consistently getting in your water daily, try joining my 7 day water challenge for motivation.
Mindset Fasting Tips and Tricks
Mindset on your non-fasting days is as important as your fasting days. Sometimes weight loss can be as much a mental struggle as a physical one.
Experiment To Find What Works Best for YOU
Everybody is slightly different. We may all be human, but each person is very individual in how they handle fasting, eating, and moving more. You may need to eat more carbs, or you may need to be more careful on non-fasting days than others. It all depends you, your metabolism, your mindset, you. Take the time to listen to your body, try different methods, and find out what works best for you. Find what works for you so that you can live this lifestyle in a healthy way long term.
Be Mindful of Your Actions
This is an important tip for every day of your life, not just non-fasting days. Be mindful of what you are putting into your body. Enjoy what you are eating. When you eat it, don’t just shove it in without thought. Think about the flavors, textures, and more.
Keep Moving Around
Don’t use non-fasting days as a reason to not exercise. Moving more is always going to be beneficial for helping you shed weight. It also helps to tighten up your body and to allow you to eat more calories. Don’t stop working out just to eat.
Be mindful of your movement. Don’t just exercise on your set days, take the stairs more often, park in the back of the parking lot, walk your dog around an extra block or two. Working on changing you daily behaviors will also help to stay successful on you weight loss journey.
Other Fasting Tips and Tricks for Non-Fasting Days
While you can enjoy whatever you want, the biggest key here is moderation. On this plan, calories really matter on non-fasting days because it can be easy to go overboard. If you’ve been waiting for a non-fasting day to enjoy one piece of chocolate cake, that’s great, but don’t eat two pieces or the whole cake in a day and think you’ll keep losing weight quickly and healthily.
Check the BMR Chart
You need to know how many calories you should eat to lose or maintain your weight. The BMR Chart is a good way to get the right caloric guidelines. There are two ways to obtain your optimal number. You can go by your current weight, and you’ll still lose weight. Or, you can go by your desired weight, and you’ll lose weight even faster.
Remember, It’s Just One Day
Try to remember today is just one day. You don’t have to eat all the tasty things right now. You will have another non-fasting day soon. You can relax knowing that there is no reason in the world why you can’t eat whatever you want in the future too. Knowing and accepting that can enable you to stop overeating on non-fasting days.
With all of the intermittent fasting myths out there, it’s good to have a solid plan in place to succeed. These are just a few of my fasting tips and tricks that I have use to help me lose weight. What are some of your tricks you use to succeed on your weight loss journey?