Side Effects of Intermittent Fasting

While intermittent fasting can be a great tool to help you lose weight, control your 
eating, and learn healthier patterns with food and workouts, there are some side effects 
to consider. Intermittent fasting won’t work for everyone, just like any other healthy 
eating method you try. Here are some potential side effects to keep in mind.

Becoming Too Full for Eating

One of the potential drawbacks to intermittent fasting has to do with the shorter eating 
window. You might be used to spreading your meals out a bit, eating smaller meals but 
more often throughout the day. With intermittent fasting, you eat more at a time, and in 
a shorter phase during the day. What might happen is that you become too full after 
these bigger meals, to where you feel uncomfortable. The trick here is to eat as many 
nutrient-dense foods as you can, so that you are getting adequate nutrition without 
feeling ill.

Constantly Thinking About the Eating/Fasting Windows

Intermittent fasting should be a simpler way to eat healthy and train your body when you 
are hungry and not hungry. It is not meant to become an obsession, which is the 
problem with many restricting diets out there. You should develop a healthy relationship 
with food, understanding it is only meant to fuel your body, not to become a hobby or 
something to help with your emotional health. Therefore, when you first start IF, you 
might find that you are constantly staring at the clock and counting down the minutes 
until you can eat again. Try to set timers or eat at the same time each day so that you 
aren’t obsessing about it quite so much.

Reduced Athletic Ability

When you are fasting, you may notice that you have reduced athletic performance. It is 
okay to do fasted workouts, but they should not be high intensity. If you do high-intensity 
cardio, HIIT, or Cross Fit, you might want to do your workouts during your eating 
periods. Otherwise, moderate activity should be fine while you are fasting.

Hormonal Changes in Women

One of the main side effects for women is having hormonal changes or hormonal 
imbalances. You should pay attention to your body, and if you notice things like irregular 
periods, cramping, or bleeding, stop intermittent fasting and talk to your doctor. It is 
possible you just need a new protocol or that you were not following the IF protocol 
correctly.


