How often do you wake up after a full night of sleep and feel like you can go right back to bed again? Are the sluggish mornings – full of brain fog and a slow-moving body – the signature of your working week? What if you could turn it around in just couple of days, and have a boundless amount of energy in the morning, right when you wake up?

The root causes for (s)low morning mojo are numerous, and they are different for different people. However, in my health counseling practice I have noticed that many of my clients (myself included) greatly benefit from fasting and use it to keep their body in top fitness – not only in the morning.

A 12-hour fast is the time between your last meal of the day (supper) and the first meal of the next day (breakfast). Even the word ‘break-fast’ indicates that it is the first meal after the fasting period at night.

Why is a 12-hour fast effective for boosting your energy in the morning?

When we eat matters just as much as what we eat. This is because our metabolic rate fluctuates during the day. We generally tend to burn most calories in the morning and at midday. Our metabolism slows down towards the end of the day as the body is preparing for a regenerative sleep. Nighttime is crucial for the body to repair broken cells/tissues and dispose of undesirable metabolites. It is especially important for the reset of the nervous system & detoxification – both being necessary for our health and feeling energized during our waking hours.

Another reason why night fasting boosts daily energy & aids weight loss is the fact that the food we do not use up for fuel within 3 hours from consuming a meal gets stored in the body as fat. Therefore, having dinner at 21:00 and going to bed at 23:00 or midnight not only will make you feel sluggish in the morning but may greatly contribute to weight gain over time. The reverse is true, as well: stop eating at 19:00 and notice that you have more energy in the morning – it becomes easier to wake up, and after a week you’ll even start feeling lighter and gradually lose weight without having to change your diet.

Yes, this one small change in your eating schedule – to stop eating at 19:00 – can have a profound effect on your morning energy and your body weight. Have your dinner at 18:00 and be done with eating or drinking around 19:00 (water & herbal tea is still allowed). This will give your body enough time to digest your meal before sleeping, using up all the “fuel” consumed during supper, and will aid it in the detox & regeneration processes that go on at night.

Sounds like a simple solution, right?

Unfortunately, “simple” does not always mean easy. We are creatures of habit and we are culturally programmed to dine at 19:00 or later – which inevitably sets us on the path to sluggish energy throughout the day, toxin build-up and weight gain. With all our daily stresses and over-packed schedules, we tend to treat food as a de-stressor (or a medium of relaxation) way too often. There’s also a physiological common sense to it, since late night snacks/dinners/etc. trigger dopamine, serotonin and even melatonin production – hormones which serve as a ‘reward & relaxation system’. This may explain some of your late night food cravings, and why we succumb to it so eagerly, but similar calming effects of the ‘relaxation’ hormones can be achieved through other means – instead of through late night eating, which only ends up slowing you down in the morning.

How can you break the vicious cycle of late night eating?

In order to be able to make it through the 12-hour fast at night, you need to commit yourself to “the front-loading of calories” – having breakfast and eating the biggest meal in the middle of the day. This will ensure less or no cravings at night, while also providing you with steadier energy levels and stress protection throughout the day. Instead of diving into a large meal at the end of the day, you can choose to have a bowl of light soup, a smaller dinner dish – think half of your normal portion; the end of the day is for relaxing, so eat slowly & mindfully, chewing each bite well. If you are not particularly hungry at this point, then opt for a nice, tall, steaming cup of herbal tea, such as chamomile, roiboos or fennel seeds tea – these will give you a sense of great flavor and have virtually zero calories. Roiboos or Tecchino (a caffeine-free herbal coffee) can be paired with a splash of almond milk for an even more satisfying treat.

You could also take a 30-minute stroll with a friend or your partner; do some light stretching & meditation; listen to your favourite music while pottering around the house; or watch a funny movie or simply light some candles and wear your comfy home clothes, while preparing a foot soak or a bath.

When you feel that must eat something even though it’s already past 19:00 – maybe because you didn’t get the chance to eat anything in the afternoon and just had a small salad or a nutritional bar for lunch – then have a small snack. A good choice in this case would be a little bit of turkey/chicken, or beans & lentils, or some cooked buckwheat – all are rich tryptophan sources and promote relaxation & sleep. You may add a handful of pistachios, which are very rich in vitamin B6 (crucial for GABA – sleepiness neurotransmiter – production). You may also pair that with 1/2 apple and a couple of grapes (no more than 6-8 grapes). Keep it small and gradually decrease the amount over the course of the week, until you are able to not eat at night at all.

Treat yourself to the 12-hour night fast if:

• you want to have more energy in the morning

• you feel sluggish during the day

• you don’t sleep well at night and feel tired all the time

• you want to feel lighter in your body and start losing weight

• you’d like to reset your body & digestion after a couple days of binging

Try it and let me know how you feel afterwards!

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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in March 2014 and was updated in March 2019 for accuracy.

Photo/Hair/Makeup × Dunja Kara/Powder Paper