Performing a 24 hour fast can be a scary thought, but with the right tips and plan, you can successfully make it through your fast. With this article, you will learn how you can make it to 24 hours without breaking your fast, and learn about the benefits of fasting.
Ever since graduating college, I’ve been looking to experiment and explore new ways to live my life to the fullest. Eating habits is one area I’ve focused on over the number of years, and in particular, experimenting with intermittent fasting has lead to some interesting results.
Typically, I’ve stuck to a pretty relaxed 16 hour fasting window and 8 hour feeding window since starting intermittent fasting, but every once in a while, I do a 24 hour fast (and once I did a 48 hour fast!)
If you have never fasted before, approaching a 24 hour fast might seem like a huge task to take on.
When I started, I barely could make it past 9 AM before I “needed” to eat. Now, after a few years of practice, I rarely eat before 9 AM.
Maybe you are curious about fasting and want to explore your relationship with food. It’s possible you are looking to lose weight and want to see if fasting is worth giving a shot.
Whatever your reason, I hope this post gives the information you want and need regarding fasting.
In this post, I will talk about the benefits of fasting, and also share with you a number of tips for you to apply if you are interested in a one day fast.
What are the Benefits of Fasting for 24 Hours?
First, a disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. Everyone’s body responds to things differently and just because I’ve had a good experience doesn’t mean you will. Please consult a real doctor if you have concerns or interest about this subject.
When you think about fasting, you probably think about people who are starving and are suffering on purpose for no reason.
With the ability to go and buy whatever you want at the supermarket or grocery store, why would you ever want or need to fast?
Believe it or not, fasting has a lot of great benefits.
Being in a fasted state can bring a lot of good, and by increasing the amount of time you spend in a fasted state, the benefits can bring some great results.
Two of the big benefits of fasting are that fasting could help you lose weight, and fasting can help with detoxification.
If you are always eating, your body does not have the ability to perform some of it’s natural functions – namely, cleaning itself and getting rid of the junk.
By fasting, you give your body space and time to heal itself.
Fasting for 24 hours is a way to tap into these benefits without having to do too much outside of your daily routine.
The benefits of fasting start happening after 12 hours, by getting 24 hours of no eating in, you can help reset your body.
Now, if you are interested in doing a 24 hour fast, the next section will go over some tips on completing your first 24 hour fast.
7 Steps and Tips for Completing Your First 24 Hour Fast
If you’ve decided to give a 24 hour fast a chance, there are a number of things to consider and think about when going through your first 24 hour fast.
Below, I’ve listed 7 tips for you to apply during your fast so you can successfully complete your fast.
- Start with a 16 hour fast a week or two before the 24 hour fast
- Eat a big meal around 4-5 PM before starting your 24 hour fast
- Use sleep to your advantage
- Drink plenty of liquids to keep you full over the two day span
- Stay busy during your one day fast
- Stay positive, listen to your body, and be strong
- Make your first meal back simple and healthy
Let’s dive into each of these tips for completing your first 24 hour fast in more detail.
1. Start with a 16 Hour Fast to Prepare for Your 24 Hour Fast
First, if you’ve never done a longer fast before, you should start with a shorter 16 hour fast. This way, you can get an understanding of how your body might respond to fasting.
There are a number of interesting feelings I experienced when I fasted for the first time, and the first time I did it, it definitely was stressful and nerve wracking.
But after doing it a few times, I now know how to cope with those thoughts and feelings.
Starting slow with a 16 hour fast will allow you to experience some of the feelings involved with fasting and will help when you give the full 24 hours a go.
2. Eat a Bigger Meal at 4-5 PM Before Starting
Once you are confident you can do a 24 hour fast, then I’d recommend eating dinner a little bit earlier and if you are nervous about the fast, make it a big meal!
I suggest an earlier dinner because the second afternoon can be very difficult, and having a 5 PM cut off versus a 7 PM cutoff can make a world of difference mentally.
Imagine you finish work around 5 PM. Eating a big meal as soon as you get home not only follows your body’s natural rhythm but also ensures you’re well-fed and mentally ready for the fasting period ahead. On the other hand, delaying dinner until later in the evening, like 7 or 8 PM, might increase your anticipation and make it harder to start the fast.
So, to sum up, eating a bigger meal around 4-5 PM helps prepare your body and mind for a successful 24-hour fast.
By addressing both physical and mental aspects, this approach makes it more likely that you’ll complete the fast comfortably.
3. Use Sleep to Your Advantage
Something which is overlooked when fasting is it’s a lot easier to kill time if you are sleeping.
Sleep can be a helpful tool during a 24-hour fast. While you’re asleep, your body continues to work through various processes, and you’re less likely to feel hungry, making it easier to stick to the fast.
If you eat at 5 PM the night before, go to bed at 11 PM, and wake up at 7 AM, you only have 10 hours of fasting left before hitting the 24 hour mark.
If you can, adding in a 30 minute to 1 hour nap will cut another hour off the clock. This break gives your body a chance to rest and can help you feel more refreshed mentally.
Eating earlier and going to bed earlier can make this even easier – finishing dinner at 4 PM, and going to bed at 10 PM can lead to a short fast during the second day!
By using sleep patterns and meal timings strategically, you can navigate a 24-hour fast more comfortably. These tactics not only make fasting easier but also support your overall well-being throughout the process.
4. Drink Plenty of Liquids When Fasting
Next, make sure you are drinking a lot of water during your fast.
First, this will help with flushing your system, but also, by drinking a lot of water and other liquids, you can feel more full.
Drinking water is very important for general health, but even more important when you aren’t eating and trying to stay sane.
Other liquids you can have are black coffee and unsweetened tea.
Coffee contains proteins which suppress your appetite, and this can help with hunger pains. One thing to note though is coffee leads to elevated cortisol levels, which makes it harder to burn fat.
Green tea is another drink that you can utilize when fasting. Green tea has some caffeine, helps suppress your appetite, and in addition, drinking green tea does elevate cortisol levels.
In general, whatever you decide to drink, just make sure it doesn’t have any calories, and also that you are staying hydrated throughout the day. If you don’t drink enough water and get dehydrated, IV hydration offers a quick and efficient way to replenish your body’s fluids and electrolytes, ensuring you stay hydrated and healthy.
5. Stay Busy During Your One Day Fast
Have you ever heard the expression, “time flies when you are having fun?”
Time does fly when you are busy and occupied with work or play. If you decide to do a 24 hour fast, it will be a lot easier if you can stay busy and occupied throughout your day.
One of my worst fasts ever came when I had nothing going on during the afternoon at work.
From hours 18 to 23, I sat at my desk and, more or less, just thought about how hungry I was and calculated how much time I had left until it was time to eat.
On the other hand, you can go a long time with not thinking about food if you are busy and actively engaging your mind and body.
Also, a lot of times I’ll eat just because I’m bored or anxious. By staying busy, you won’t get bored and feel tempted to eat.
Staying busy will help you get through your fast much easier.
6. Listen to Your Body When Doing Your 24 Hour Fast
Finally, there will be moments when you want to eat and don’t want to push through.
Staying positive, drinking water, and resting could be best here – but also, if you become shaky or actually NEED food, then it is totally okay to end your fast.
If you are someone who is sensitive to not eating and have troubles with blood sugar levels, fasting might not be for you.
For people who check with their doctors and know the potential dangers of fasting, listening to your body will be very important for completing your fast successfully.
If you get a headache (which is very common and a sign your body is flushing out toxins), drinking more water will be critical for your success.
Being self-aware is incredibly important for success in this world, and being healthy rather than fainting or becoming sick because you tried to push through is a better scenario.
7. What to Eat After Breaking Your 24 Hour Fast
After completing a 24-hour fast, it’s essential to reintroduce food gradually to avoid overwhelming your digestive system and ensure a smooth transition back to regular eating.
Here’s a step-by-step approach to what you should eat after breaking your fast:
- Start Light: Begin by breaking your fast with easily digestible foods such as fruits or vegetables. These options are gentle on the stomach and provide essential vitamins, minerals, and hydration to replenish your body after the fasting period. Opt for fresh fruits like apples, berries, or watermelon, or choose raw or lightly steamed vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, or bell peppers.
- Proceed with Caution: While you may be tempted to dive into a hearty meal immediately after fasting, it’s crucial to exercise restraint and pace yourself. Rushing into a large meal can overwhelm your digestive system, leading to discomfort, bloating, or even nausea. Instead, take your time to savor each bite and pay attention to your body’s hunger cues and satiety signals.
- Listen to Your Body: Pay close attention to how your body responds to food after the fast. If you experience any discomfort or digestive issues, consider scaling back on portion sizes or opting for lighter fare until your body adjusts. Remember, your digestive system may need some time to readjust to regular eating patterns after a prolonged period of fasting.
- Choose Nutrient-Dense Foods: Once you’ve eased back into eating, focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods that provide sustained energy and nourishment. Incorporate a balance of lean proteins, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and fiber-rich foods into your meals to support overall health and well-being. Examples include grilled chicken or fish, avocado, quinoa, leafy greens, and legumes.
- Stay Hydrated: In addition to food, prioritize hydration by drinking plenty of water throughout the day. Proper hydration is essential for supporting digestion, maintaining energy levels, and promoting overall health. Consider incorporating hydrating beverages like herbal tea, coconut water, or infused water with fresh fruits or herbs to replenish electrolytes and enhance hydration.
By following these guidelines and tuning into your body’s needs, you can effectively transition from a 24-hour fast back to regular eating without any adverse effects.
Remember to be mindful, patient, and gentle with yourself during this process, allowing your body the time it needs to adjust and thrive.
Best of Luck During Your 24 Hour Fast!
For the past 4-5 years, fasting has been a piece of my life and becoming a little bit healthier each and every year.
After fasting, I feel more focused and ready to tackle the next tasks in my life.
Sometimes it’s good to get out of your comfort zone and try something new.
Whether to experiment with fasting, learn more about your relationship with food, or to help you finally complete a 24 hour fast, hopefully this article has been valuable to you.
If you want to lose weight, fasting might be beneficial for you. Since fasting reduces the number of calories you take in for that day, you will be in a caloric deficit. However, there are other factors you need to consider before truly knowing if a 24 hour fast will help keep the weight off!
I hope you have a great 24 hour fast!
By: Erik (Previous owner of PFB)
Creating a budget can be a great way for you to improve your financial situation. There are many different budgeting methods you can use, and in this post, you’ll learn about 5 simple budgeting methods.
Budgeting is one of most common ways for a person to get on their way to personal finance success.
With budgeting, you can determine ahead of time what you will spend your money on, and what you will have left over each month.
Budgeting is to personal finance what dieting is to nutrition. Both require a self-discipline and accountability, and they can be challenging and seem discouraging at times.
However, with consistency and effort, budgeting works.
Budgeting and dieting also share another common trait: they run on deficits and surpluses.
If you want to gain weight, you need to consume more than you burn.
If you want to gain wealth, you need to have income higher than your expenses.
This deficit and surplus theory is the no-nonsense foundation of diets and budgeting methods alike.
In this post, you’ll learn about 5 simple budgeting methods, and how you can budget to make the most of your money.
First, let’s talk about your spending habits and think about what you need vs. what you want.
Applying Simplicity to Your Budget and Life
For those new to the site, you should know I’m a big fan of simple living. This mindset of simplicity applies to budgeting and spending as well.
First, before looking to start budgeting, it’s important to think about your financial goals and current lifestyle.
- Are you looking to save up money for a new purchase?
- Are you looking to get a house or new car?
- What about take a vacation?
- Do you want to start prioritizing health and wellness, and are fine with spending more on healthy food?
With these thoughts, then you can start to determine how much more you want to spend on other categories, and align your goals with your actions.
But first, what is a budget?
What is a Budget?
First, what is a budget?
A budget is just a plan for how you spend your money every month.
That’s it. Nothing fancy. It’s just you telling your money what to do.
But it can be a lot more than that if you’re constantly stressed over your finances. When you make a budget, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to:
- See where your money is going
- Figure out what you’re wasting money on
- Create a plan for paying down debt
- Build an emergency fund for rainy days
- Save and invest for retirement or your kids’ college
- Plan out your financial goals
- Understanding your spending patterns and triggers
- Stop freaking out over money
That last one is really important.
Money is not everything in life, but it is a tool you can use to create the life you want and deserve – without stress.
With these pre-budgeting thoughts and questions out of the way, let’s get on to the 5 simple budgeting methods for personal finance success.
5 Simple Budgeting Methods for Personal Finance Success
Budgeting doesn’t have to be hard or complex, and there are a number of different ways to make sure you are spending your money on what brings you joy.
Below are 5 simple budgeting methods for you to choose from:
- The 50 / 30 / 20 Budgeting Method
- The 80 / 20 Budgeting Method
- The 60% Solution Budgeting Method
- The Cash Envelope Budgeting Method
- No Budget
In the following sections, we’ll go into detail to learn more about these budgeting methods.
It may take some experimenting to find what works for you. After all, personal finance is personal!
1. The 50 / 30 / 20 Budgeting Method
Elizabeth Warren, a law professor and U.S. Senator, first referenced the 50 / 30 / 20 budgeting method in the book “All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan.”
Simply put, the 50 / 30 /20 budgeting method involves spending 50% of your take-home pay on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on investing and/or debt repayment.
With the 50 / 30 / 20 budgeting method, you only have 3 line items to track every month – it cannot get much simpler than that!
What this method requires is for you to clearly define what is a need vs. what is a want in your life.
After defining your needs and wants, you just need to sort all your monthly expenses into a need or a want, and add up each category.
Then, you can review monthly to see if your spending percentages were roughly on par with the 50 / 30 / 20 guideline.
It should be mentioned that 50 / 30 /20 is just a starting point. These percentages are not practical for everyone.The nature of needs is that they are must-haves, irrespective of your income.
Say your household’s needs are $40,000 a year. If your take-home household income is $60,000, then your needs make up 66% of your income.
If that take-home income were $100,000, then needs would only make up 40% of your income!
So the percentages are variable depending on your situation.
Also, one other limitation is this method may be great for those with salaried jobs, but it’s not ideal for those with highly variable incomes.
Variable income is typical for self-employed people, commission-based jobs, and hourly jobs where the hours worked fluctuate week to week.
Luckily, there are a few other budgeting methods you can read about below.
2. The 80 / 20 Budgeting Method
The 80/20 budgeting method is an even easier version of the 50/30/20 method.
If you don’t want to make the effort to discern between wants and needs, you can just lump them into one.
In this budgeting method, 80% goes to your wants and needs, and 20% goes to investing and/or debt repayment. That’s really all there is to it!
This budgeting method runs on a “pay yourself first” mentality. First, you should invest the 20% (or use it to pay off debt faster), and then you are free to spend the rest on your wants and needs.
This simple budgeting method is great for people who want to improve their sense of financial accountability.
Following this method will give you an impressive 20% savings rate on your income!
However, it should be noted that those who feel they are stuck living paycheck-to-paycheck would not benefit from this budget.
You’ll need to use a method that discerns between wants and needs, allowing you to see where costs can be trimmed.
3. The 60% Solution Budgeting Method
The next budgeting method is the 60% Solution.
The 60% Solution was first referenced in an article written by MSN Money editor-in-chief Richard Jenkins. This budget has five categories for your GROSS income (ie. pre-tax) outlined below:
- 60% to “commited” expenses
- 10% to retirement savings
- 10% to long-term savings
- 10% to short term savings
- 10% for “fun money”
This budgeting method effectively suggests you can live off 60% of your gross income. According to the original article,
“I determined that we needed to keep our committed expenses at or below 60% of our gross income to come out ahead at the end of the month.
Committed expenses:
* Basic food and clothing needs.
* Essential household expenses.
* Insurance premiums.
* Charitable contributions.
* All of our bills — even such non-essentials as our satellite TV service.
* ALL of our taxes”
This budgeting method really simplifies expense tracking since all your “committed” costs are lumped into one category.
However, it carries the same challenges as the 50 / 30 /20 method since 60% may not work for your household.
I suggest starting with 60%, and changing it by +/- 5% depending on how easy or difficult it is.
For the other buckets, here are some examples of what they could involve:
- The 10% retirement savings would be akin to an IRA or 401(k).
- The long-term savings could be a goal such as saving up for a new vehicle or home down payment.
- Short-term savings could be contributions to your emergency fund, or some purchase you are making in the next 12 months.
- Fun money is self-explanatory!
This 5 category budgeting method is great for those who want to itemize their spending a little more, without evolving into a full-grown line item budget.
4. The Cash Envelope Budgeting Method
The cash envelope budgeting method is the oldest form of budgeting out there.
In fact, the word budget originated from the Old French word for purse.
While the cash envelope method requires the most effort out of any method on this list, it is still relatively simple.
The cash envelope budgeting method requires you to go old school by using nothing but cash for all your purchases.
You need to create a few spending categories and make an envelope for each one. At the beginning of each month, you then put a predetermined amount of cash in it, which makes it impossible to overspend.
Here are some common categories:
- Vehicle expenses
- Groceries
- Entertainment
- Clothing
- Childcare
This method is just great for people who struggle with impulse spending, or people who prefer visual organization.
As mentioned before, it is impossible to overspend if you follow the method correctly. This budgeting method helps build discipline for those who need it when it comes to discretionary spending.
There are some negatives with the cash envelope method however.
First off, not using any plastic means you may be forgoing credit card rewards (assuming you’d pay your balance in full and on time).
Secondly, carrying wads of cash in today’s day and age is slightly impractical and potentially unsafe.
Finally, the amount of effort required is far greater than other budgeting methods in terms of tracking expenses. There are no monthly statements prepared for you when using cash!
5. No Budget Method
The last budgeting method may shock you, but the best budget may be no budget at all! This may sound silly, but hear me out.
Of course, from a solely financial perspective, there is no valid reason not to have a budget.
However, personal finance is more than just numbers.
Psychology plays a huge role.
Many people dislike budgeting due to the scarcity mindset it may force on you. Granted, this mindset may be necessary if you’re paycheck-to-paycheck and trying to get out of that cycle.
But, is it really sustainable?
With the No Budget budgeting method, all you really need to keep an eye on is your savings rate. You can improve your savings rate greatly by reducing big expenses.
Of course, the higher savings rate, the better.
The concept of savings rate is actually incorporated in the other simple budgeting methods mentioned.
For example, if you have no budget and have a 20% savings rate, you’re actually inadvertently following the 80 / 20 budget.
This idea is great for those who aren’t in any deep financial trouble but still want to improve their financial situation.
Simply monitor your savings rate; as long as you are happy with the number, there is no reason to track more in-depth!
Which Budgeting Method is Right for You?
At this point, you are probably wondering, “which budgeting method is best and right for me?”
The best one is likely the one that resonated the most with you when reading the above.
Objectively speaking, some methods are more effective than others, but you should remember that this is not solely an objective matter.
The budgeting method has to be one that YOU think will work for yourself.
A budget is useless if you don’t think it’s a method you can reasonably follow.
If you can’t pick a budgeting method today, then to start improving your financial situation, I’d recommend to start tracking your expenses today. Don’t wait until the first of next month to act.
Look at your daily spending for a couple weeks, you can see where you’re at. With these measurements, you can figure out roughly how your budget is going to work starting next month.
