If you just started Intermittent Fasting, you're probably wondering what type of results you should be expecting in your first week of Intermittent Fasting. Should you notice immediate weight loss? What about bloating?
Today, I'm sharing what you can typically expect after one week of Intermittent Fasting.
Intermittent Fasting Results 1 Week | What To Consider
The type of results you see within the first week depend on two factors:
How you're breaking your fast
Whether or not you're insulin resistant
If you're breaking your fast with foods rich in sugar and refined carbohydrates, you're probably not going to experience any weight loss in the first week of Intermittent Fasting (or likely at all). This is because one of the main reasons Intermittent Fasting works as a weight loss tool is because it helps to naturally lower the storing hormone insulin during the fast.(1) When insulin is low, fat burning is turned on. When insulin is high, fat burning is turned off.
So while Intermittent Fasting, the storing hormone insulin is naturally low and therefore fat burning (called lipolysis) is cranked up. But if you break your fast with foods that spike insulin (like sugar and starches), then you're "undoing" a lot of the weight loss benefits you received from the Intermittent Fast. Which brings me to the second factor...
Insulin resistance is commonly characterized as having high fasting insulin levels. This means that even during a fast, insulin is still high. This typically is the result of years of eating highly processed sugars and starches. The good news is that fasting insulin can come back down, it just takes a little bit more time. And it's been studied that up to 44% of Americans are insulin resistant.(2)
It's not unusual for some people to not experience weight loss for the first few weeks, then suddenly start losing significant weight. Often times, this comes down to "breaking through" insulin resistance.
Intermittent Fasting Results 1 Week | What To Expect
Now we get into what you can actually expect after 1 week of Intermittent Fasting. To simplify things, let's assume you're breaking your fast with foods that aren't greatly speaking insulin (like those in the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle).
From a weight loss perspective, if you aren't insulin resistant then it's common to experience between 1-5 pounds of weight loss in the first week -- although some AENpeeps following the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle have experienced even higher levels of weight loss in the first week.
Because the first week of Intermittent Fasting tends to result in a big dip in insulin, there's usually a combination of fat loss and water weight loss, making the first week of weight loss typically the highest compared to subsequent weeks.
Psssst... curious how long YOUR Intermittent Fast should be? Take my FREE Intermittent Fasting Schedule Quiz by clicking the button below!
However if you are insulin resistant, it's possible that you won't experience any weight loss within the first week of Intermittent Fasting -- those results might take a few weeks to kick in. But what you probably will experience are the other Intermittent Fasting perks, especially gut health.
Intermittent Fasting helps to turn on our gut cleaning process called the Migrating Motor Complex. This flushes out left behind food and bacteria that often causes bloating and gas. Because this gut cleaning process starts to get ramped up while Intermittent Fasting, a lot of people start to experience pretty rapid relief from bloating after a fast.
But how you break your fast really matters. Otherwise, you could be reversing a lot of the progress made with your Intermittent Fast. Make sure you checkout the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle for the step-by-step details of how to break a fast, plus over 100 DELISH recipes to help your along your journey.
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❤️ Autumn
Autumn Elle Nutrition