In recent years, intermittent fasting has become quite popular.
It’s said to help people lose weight, enhance their metabolic health, and possibly even live longer.
Intermittent fasting has spawned a slew of diverse types and approaches, which is unsurprising considering its popularity.
Every strategy has the potential to be helpful, but determining which one works best for you is a personal decision.
Intermittent fasting can be done in a lot of variations, here are six different ways:
The 16/8 Method: Fast for 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
The 16/8 Method entails fasting for 14 to 16 hours every day and limiting your daily “eating window” to 8 to 10 hours.
You can eat two, three, or even four meals within the dining window.
Fitness instructor Martin Berkhan pioneered this strategy, which is also known as the Leangains regimen.
It’s as easy as not eating anything after dinner and skipping breakfast to follow this fasting method.
For instance, if you eat your last meal at 8 p.m. and don’t eat again until noon the next day, you’ve fasted for 16 hours.
Women are often advised to fast for about 14-15 hours because they seem to do better with shorter fasts.
This strategy may be difficult to adjust to at first for persons who are hungry in the morning and like to have breakfast. Many breakfast skippers, on the other hand, eat in this manner instinctively.
During the fast, you can drink water, coffee, and other noncaloric beverages to make you feel less hungry.
During your eating window, it’s critical to eat mostly healthful meals. If you eat a lot of junk food or consume an excessive amount of calories, this strategy will not work.
The 5:2 Diet: Fast twice a week.
The 5:2 diet consists of eating normally five days a week and cutting calories to 500-600 calories two days a week.
Michael Mosley, a British journalist, popularized this regimen, which is also known as The Fast Diet.
On fasting days, ladies should consume 500 calories and males should consume 600 calories.
You might, for example, eat normally every day except Mondays and Thursdays. You consume two tiny meals each day for those two days (250 calories per meal for women and 300 calories for men).
There are no research testing the 5:2 diet itself, as detractors properly point out, but there are plenty of studies on the benefits of intermittent fasting.
Eat-Stop-Eat: Once or twice a week, go on a 24-hour fast.
Eat-Stop-Eat is a 24-hour fast that can be done once or twice a week.
Fitness instructor Brad Pilon introduced this strategy, which has been fairly popular for a few years.
This translates to a full 24-hour fast if you fast from supper one day to dinner the next day.
You’ve just completed a full 24-hour fast if you finish dinner at 7 p.m. Monday and don’t eat again until dinner at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
You can also fast from one meal to the next, such as from breakfast to lunch. The outcome is the same.
During the fast, you can drink water, coffee, and other non-caloric liquids, but you can’t eat solid foods.
It’s critical that you eat normally during the eating intervals if you’re trying to lose weight. As in, eat as much as you would if you weren’t fasting at all.
A full 24-hour fast may be challenging for many people, which is a possible disadvantage of this strategy.
You don’t have to go all-in straight away, though. It’s acceptable to start with 14-16 hours and work your way up from there.
To finish the full 24 hours, you need a lot of self-discipline as you might frequently find yourself giving up and eating dinner earlier.
Alternate-Day Fasting: Eat normally one day and fast the next.
Fasting every other day is known as alternate-day fasting.
This approach is available in a variety of forms. During fasting days, some of them allow roughly 500 calories.
This strategy was employed in many of the lab experiments that showed the health benefits of intermittent fasting.
A complete fast every other day may seem excessive, so it is not recommended for beginners.
You’ll be going to bed hungry several times a week if you use this strategy, which isn’t very pleasant and possibly unsustainable in the long run.
The Warrior Diet: Fast During the Day, Eat a Large Meal at Night
Fitness instructor Ori Hofmekler popularized the Warrior Diet.
During the day, you consume little amounts of raw fruits and vegetables, and at night, you eat one large meal.
In essence, you “fast” throughout the day and “feast” at night within a four-hour eating window.
One of the earliest popular “diets” to involve a sort of intermittent fasting was the Warrior Diet.
This diet also stresses food choices that are very similar to a paleo diet – entire, unadulterated foods that look and taste like they did in nature.
Meal Skipping on the Spot: Skip Meals When It’s Convenient.
Some of the benefits can be obtained without following a formal intermittent fasting schedule.
Another alternative is to miss meals on occasion, such as when you aren’t hungry or when you are too busy to cook and eat.
It’s a common misconception that people must eat every few hours or risk going into “starvation mode” and losing muscle.
The human body is well-equipped to withstand long periods of hunger, much alone missing one or two meals every now and again.
So, if you’re not hungry one day, skip breakfast and eat a nutritious lunch and dinner instead. Alternatively, if you’re traveling and can’t locate anything to eat, go on a short fast.
A spontaneous intermittent fast is when you skip one or two meals when you feel like it.
During the other meals, make sure to eat healthful items.
Takeaway
Many people have had great success with some of these techniques.
Fasting on a regular basis is not for everyone. It isn’t anything that needs to be done. It’s just another tool in the toolbox that some individuals could find beneficial.
Some argue that it may not be as advantageous to women as it is to men. It’s also not a good idea for persons who have or are at risk of developing an eating disorder.
If you decide to practice intermittent fasting, remember that you must also eat a nutritious diet.
It’s impossible to expect to reduce weight and enhance health by bingeing on junk food during meal times.
Calories still matter, and food quality is still paramount.
