Let me start off by saying by no means am I an expert on intermittent fasting! But, I AM an expert on my body and what has worked for me. So like the title says, intermittent fasting has changed my life in so many ways!

If this is your first time on my blog let me give you some background information. I have SIBO, which is a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth that affects the small intestine, and IBS, meaning irritable bowl syndrome. I’m also allergic to gluten and dairy! So, you could say my stomach has been through the ringer.

You might be asking yourself, how do you manage all of that? What do you eat? What can you take to cure all of it?

Believe me when I say that I have tried everything to help with my GI issues. Diets, pills, mediation, working out, clean eating, smaller portions, you name it. Although practicing these things have certainly helped, they weren’t the golden ticket.

Intermittent fasting has not only helped with my GI issues but it has been a total gamechanger! I used to wake up every day with tenderness/pain in my stomach and not sure why. Bloating was constantly and only wanting to wear baggy clothes to feel comfortable. I heard of intermittent fasting because my mom is a Health Coach and recommended I tried it. I mean what did I have to lose anyway? Nothing else had really worked for me.

So, what is intermittent fasting? There are different methods and ways to experiment with which type of fasting period works best for you, but basically it’s an eating pattern of a certain number of hours you eat your meals and fast (not eat) for the remaining hours. Here’s the Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Intermittent Fasting.

Let me start out by sharing what my typical day looks like.

• wake up around 9 am
• coffee time (favorite part of my day)
• 11:30 workout
• 12:30 shower and get ready for the day
• 1:30 lunch (usually this is my biggest meal that way I can burn off the calories throughout the day)
• 2-5 online classes
• 6-6:30pm dinner (smaller meal) (also helps with weight loss)
• Fasting period restarts until my first meal late morning/Noonish the next day

That is what my typical day looks like and I can 100% say by feeding my “plant based belly” in a shorter period of hours and fasting the rest of the day and night, my GI issues have improved dramatically. So really I’m only eating two meals a day. If I was really hungry I would eat a handful of almonds or blueberries. But something that has worked for me if I’m craving chips or sweets is to say: Why don’t I eat some fruit. If you got that same “uhhh, no thank you” look on your face too then you know you aren’t really that hungry.

So, here it is folks. If you’re curious about intermittent fasting and/or struggling with your own belly issues (or weight loss challenges), I highly recommend you give it a try. But be sure to try for 21 days to give your body enough time to really feel the results. After just 1 week of consistent fasting, your body should respond and you will most likely feel and look healthier, leaner and more energetic!