This lesson should follow my lesson on fasting, so if you haven’t read that one yet, go back and check that one out first and then come back to this one.

We touched on the size of your meals in the fasting lesson – you’ll want to eat your biggest meal/the one with the most calories/carbs early on in the day and then taper your consumption as you go through your day. If you’re narrowing your eating window like I advise, your last meal of the day will be the last time you eat for a while and if it’s a smaller, lean, clean meal, it’ll help to get/keep you fat-adapted and get in or stay in ketosis. Carbs make you hungry, so the last thing you want to do is ingest a bunch of rice, for example, and then try to fast for a while. You’ll spike your blood sugar and then that will crash and then you’ll be hungry and want to eat again sooner than you would have if you just had some lean chicken breast, some broccoli, and some lemon water. The other thing is that it’ll be easier to finish your day with a smaller meal if your previous meals were larger/more filling, as you won’t feel the need to eat as much.

A surprising thing to consider is the order in which you eat your foods. If it’s bigger meal and you’ll be eating a decent amount of food, including high (good) fat, carbs, protein, and fiber, you’ll want to consume the protein source first, followed by the fiber, and finish with the higher-carb foods last. Of course, some of these will be mixed together, but an example would be eating your fish/steak/chicken by itself first, the whole thing. Then follow that with your veggies, like cauliflower, asparagus, etc. You could have some berries, nuts, or a mixture of them with some no-sugar-added chocolate for dessert last. This will make a big difference in terms of how much your blood-sugar goes up as well as how long it stays up. If you’re trying to lose weight or stay trim, this small change can make a big difference!

Lastly, if you are doing intermittent fasting or a longer fast, how you break your fast is quite important. The longer your fast, the more carefully you’ll want to break it. When you’re fasting, you’re increasing your insulin sensitivity so when you eat, your body is extra-ready to take in whatever foods you ingest. The last thing you’d want to do is fast for 20+ hours and then eat a donut! The fat and sugar in the donut will go flooding into your body/cells and really hamper any goals you had for fasting in the first place. Instead, eat a smaller amount of a lean protein to break your fast. Examples would be grilled chicken breast, shrimp, turkey, etc. – these would be low-fat, very low carb proteins that your body can assimilate and use to re-calibrate its sensitivity. Then wait 30-90 minutes before eating a regular meal. It’s not that difficult and your body will both feel better and you’ll be achieving your goals so much easier if you follow this simple, extra step. This probably won’t be a daily thing but again, it depends on how long your fast was, when your last meal was, and also your circumstances (sometimes you’re out and about or busy and you just have to deal with what you have). I have found it quite helpful to have some key, clean snacks/foods either in my car or in a bag I carry with me (or even in my cargo pockets) so that way if I’m in a bind, I’m prepared and will feel better when I do eat.