Are you an intermittent faster? If so, how you break your fast is as important as the fasting process itself. Today I’m sharing why and my three favorite ways to break my fast.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Simply put, intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It’s not a diet as you still consume the same number of daily calories - you just do it during a shorter window of time. If you normally have breakfast when you get up at 7am and eat throughout the day, wrapping up your meals at 7pm, then you’re fasting for those hours you aren’t consuming anything. I am a 16:8 intermittent faster meaning that I don’t eat until noon each day and stop by 8:00 pm. If you’re interested in learning more about intermittent fasting, my ebook may be found here.

Why Does It Matter What You Eat When You Break Your Fast?

While breaking your daily fast doesn’t have the same requirements you would have if you were breaking a longer fast (3- or 5-day), it’s still important to break your fast with a healthy mix of macros. This means you want to eat something that is a healthy mix of protein, carbohydrates, and fat (healthy). Breaking your fast with a carb-heavy meal will cause your blood sugar to spike and make you feel hungrier than you actually are. Instead, I always focus on finding something that is easily digestible, contains fiber, and a healthy dose of protein.

My Three Favorite Meals to Break My Fast

I intermittent fast every day and my three favorite meals to break my fast are the Fab Four Smoothie, Overnight Oats, and Chia Seed Pudding. Each one is delicious, filling, and contains the perfect balance of macros to satiate any hunger and keep me full until I have lunch (usually two hours later).

Fab Four Smoothie

This smoothie is the perfect formula to help balance your blood sugar with enough protein, fat, and fiber to keep you full. It also supports your immune system to cleanse regularly, stay regular, avoid blood sugar spikes, and increase insulin sensitivity.

The basic formula for a Fab Four Smoothie is one serving of protein + one serving of fiber + unlimited greens + 2 tablespoons of fat + liquid + superfoods. You can add 1/4 cup of fructose if needed but I generally pass on this.

My Fab Four Smoothie Recipe may be found here.

Overnight Oats

These overnight oats take 5 minutes to make and I'll generally do them before heading to bed the night before I’m planning on eating them. One jar makes a pretty large serving and because of both the chia seeds and oats, you're getting a good amount of fiber in as well. My overnight oats recipes make enough for two servings so I’ll generally make them one night and eat them for two days. These are filling so on the days I break my fast with overnight oats, my lunch is a bit lighter.

My favorite overnight oats recipe is Raspberry Banana Overnight Oats. I’m also including a link to my fall favorite, Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats. This recipe is super simple and it’s easy to change up the flavors to map this to your personal likes.

Chia Seed Pudding

Chia seeds are one of the healthiest foods on the planet. It’s crazy that something so small could be so incredibly good for you. These tiny seeds are loaded with good-for-you nutrients that benefit both your body and your brain. Here is more information on the nutritional benefits of chia seeds and my simple recipe.

Chia seed pudding is super easy to make and like overnight oats, the recipes below make two servings and made the night before you plan on eating them. If you’re someone who doesn’t care for the texture of chia seeds, simply blend the mixture in your blender before placing it in the refrigerator and the texture will be pudding-like and won’t have the chia seed pearls.

Pre-COVID, I used to get really good chia seed pudding from the Starbuck’s near my office. When we went into the SIP, I missed their pudding so recreated it. This yummy recipe may be found here.