If You Want to Lose Weight With Intermittent Fasting, Here's a Must-Read Beginner's Guide

Intermittent fasting isn't a diet; it's a pattern of eating that focuses on a period of time where you fast and a period of time where you eat. Whether you eat plant-based, low-carb, keto, gluten-free, or Paleo, anyone can do intermittent fasting with the diet they're already eating.

People find weight-loss success with IF because it's sustainable, and you never feel deprived because it doesn't require you to cut out food groups. It can also allow freedom from the strict calorie counting you may have tried in the past that made your diet feel too calculated and restrictive. You just want to be mindful not to eat 5,000 calories of pizza and candy during your feeding window and still expect to lose weight; you want to eat healthy, whole foods (more on that later) until you're satiated but not stuffed.

Another great thing about IF is that you can eat larger portions, which helps you feel more satisfied. IF is a lifestyle that you can use to both lose and maintain your weight, and from my personal experience, it feels effortless.

Before beginning this new eating lifestyle, make an appointment with your doctor. Have your blood pressure and heart rate checked, as well as a panel of basic blood work. Talk with your practitioner about your plan, making sure he or she is on board with you doing it.

Aside from feeling good about knowing that you're healthy enough to start intermittent fasting, it'll be great to go back for a follow-up appointment and be able to compare your blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, and other numbers to see how much they've improved.

You may also want to make an appointment with a registered dietitian. You can discuss which IF method would be the best for your lifestyle. They can also help you formulate a daily eating plan that's balanced and offers your body what it needs for its health and fitness goals.

There are so many different types of intermittent fasting, and these are the best methods for beginners:

Research all the methods and choose the one that best suits your lifestyle, taking into consideration your work schedule, your workout routine, your family life, and your goals. There is no one plan that's best or the most effective — it's whichever plan is best for you, one that you can easily maintain.

Many people begin with the 12:12 plan, then move to 14:10, then to 16:8. Some may prefer doing 5:2, because they only have to think about fasting twice a week, and longer fasts may be more effective for you. Try a method for a few weeks and see how you feel, then modify if you need to.

After seeing your doctor and choosing the right plan for you, the very first thing you need to do is identify your "why," or your purpose. Keeping this in mind is what is going to inspire you to stick with intermittent fasting when moments get hard.

Your "why" could be that you want to lose weight so you can enjoy running around with your kids. Or maybe you want to prevent weight-related diseases like type 2 diabetes or heart problems. Or maybe your "why" is to feel more confident in your skin.

Even though you may be doing intermittent fasting for weight loss, your "why" may also be to get control over your food addiction or sugar cravings. Stephanie Ferrari, a registered dietitian with Fresh Communications, said intermittent fasting can help curb sugar cravings if you do it long enough. When you're eating less, you're bound to eat less sugar, and the less sugar you eat, the less you crave it.

Or your reason to do IF may be to cure digestive issues or constant bloating, since I found IF can help with both those issues. Although everyone's body is different, when I took a break from IF, my bloating issues came back.

Write down your purpose in a journal so you can refer back to it when you have thoughts of giving up. Once you know your "why," begin incorporating intermittent fasting slowly. Even if you're a jump-straight-in-the-pool kind of person, it's better to take a one-step-at-a-time approach. If you go from eating three meals and three snacks a day to eating only 500 calories a day (5:2 plan), you're more likely to have terrible side effects, including headaches, dizziness, and even nausea.

There's no rush! Take several weeks to ease into the plan you've chosen. If you're especially hungry on a certain day or not feeling well or expecting your period, listen to your body and eat if you need to.

One of the amazing things about intermittent fasting is there are no restrictions on what you can eat during your eating window. You can eat whatever foods you like, including the ones you may have cut out when trying to lose weight in the past, like bread or wine. Since you're saving calories by fasting during certain times of the day, you can enjoy pizza or ice cream every once in a while and still lose fat — the 80/20 rule works great with intermittent fasting!

That being said, you'll have the best results if you focus on mostly healthy, whole foods. Ferrari told POPSUGAR that if you want to lose fat (especially belly fat), avoid refined carbs, sugar, and fast food, and load up on lean proteins, complex carbs, healthy fats, and fresh fruits and veggies. If you have medications or vitamins, take them during this time.

You can structure your meals and snacks however you like during your eating window. Just make sure you eat enough during your eating windows, meaning eating until satiation (but not overeating). This will help you feel more satisfied when you're fasting.

This is easy to remember, since it's a short list.

Avoid BCAAs, smoothies, protein shakes, sports drinks, and bone broth. Fasting expert Jason Fung, MD, a nephrologist (kidney specialist) and author of The Complete Guide to Fasting, told POPSUGAR that even chewing gum can "produce an insulin response." The point here is that if you take in calories, then you're not technically fasting.

In the first couple weeks of intermittent fasting, you may experience these not-so-fun side effects:

Fasting will be challenging for the first four to seven days because of these annoying and uncomfortable side effects, and maybe even for longer, but Dr. Fung told POPSUGAR that your body quickly adjusts.

After the first week or two, your mind will feel clear, you'll likely have more energy and improved sleep and digestion, you'll actually feel less hungry, and you'll look leaner. So hang in there! If you're still feeling these symptoms after a few weeks, talk to your doctor.

If at any point these symptoms feel debilitating (i.e. if you feel like you're going to pass out or are so hungry you can't concentrate at work), try adjusting to another IF method, such as a shorter fasting window. Otherwise, IF may not be for you — and that's OK! Every body is different.

To prevent these side effects, drink plenty of water. Pound a big glass right when you wake up, and drink throughout your fast.

Caffeine can also help, so sip on black coffee or green tea. If you're fasting for longer periods of time, putting a little pink Himalayan sea salt in your water can prevent feeling foggy-headed. Going for a walk or light stretching can also make you feel better.

A little grumbly tummy and light hunger is totally normal, but just know that it comes in waves, meaning it'll soon pass, and it never really gets more intense. Listen to your body, though! If insatiable hunger persists or you feel terribly ill, nauseated, or like you're going to pass out, shorten your fasting time and eat. You can try fasting again tomorrow.

Once your body gets used to this new eating schedule, you won't feel hungry anymore, but in the meantime, here's how to deal with hunger:

Note that having your period, feeling super stressed, not getting enough sleep, eating tons of refined carbs during your eating window, and intense exercise can increase hunger. Don't ignore it if that means you can't function normally.

In the first few weeks and months of your IF journey, here are some mistakes to avoid:

If exercising regularly is already part of your life, when you first start intermittent fasting, you may need to modify your workout routine — hunger from intense workouts will make it much harder to stick to your plan.

If you're used to hitting the gym in the morning, fasted workouts might "feel hard at first," Precision Nutrition coach and fitness trainer Austin Lopez, CSCS, told POPSUGAR. This is especially true if you usually eat before a workout and if your workouts are vigorous, "but your body gets used to it," he said, and soon you may even prefer it.

On the other hand, working out while fasted might make you feel super tired and unable to go as intense as you want, warned Kellilyn Fierras, MS, a registered dietitian, NASM-certified personal trainer, and instructor at EverybodyFights in Boston. If that's the case, listen to your body, and shift your workouts to a time during your eating window instead.

Or you might find exercise is too difficult to do at all when you first start intermittent fasting. So focus on getting your IF schedule established, which might mean putting your workouts on hold, doing easier forms of exercise, or changing the times you work out to suit your IF schedule. Gradually work up to your regular workout routine; this shouldn't take more than a few weeks.

One way to know you're losing weight is if you weigh yourself throughout your IF journey. Maybe weighing yourself every day will help you stay accountable, or you may prefer weighing yourself a couple times a week or once a week. Your weight can fluctuate from day to day, so as long as your weight is trending down, you can stick with your plan.

Be aware that working out can cause muscle gain, which will actually show numbers increasing on the scale, so also be sure to take measurements and progress pics. The numbers won't mean a thing if your before-and-after photos prove IF is working.

Since weight loss isn't the only benefit of IF, also take note of how you feel. Do you have more energy, a clearer mind, and better digestion and are you sleeping better? Do you feel more in control of your eating habits and your cravings? Do you have a lightness about you because you finally feel free from restrictive diets? Do you feel happier? Write all this down in a journal so you can look back and determine if intermittent fasting is working for you.