Intermittent Fasting 101 — The Ultimate Beginner's Guide
WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING
Intermittent fasting limits eating time daily, weekly, or monthly. By limiting eating time, the body has time to digest food, store nutrients, and recover before the next meal. This improves health and encourages healthier eating.
DIFFERENT METHODS OF INTERMITTENT FASTING
You may want to try intermittent fasting to improve your health. It can help you have more control over when and how you eat during the day or week.
The 16:8 Method
Most individuals intermittent fast this way since it can be tailored to their lifestyle. Fast for 16 hours and eat for the remaining 8 hours—the timing is up to you.
The 5-2 diet
Fasting becomes a weekly meal plan on the 5-2 diet. For five days, you eat a normal, unrestricted, healthy balanced diet. On two non-consecutive days, you eat 500-600 calories.
One meal a day
This 20:4 intermittent fasting regimen, also known as the Warrior diet, involves eating 2,000–3,000 calories in one major meal. Though nutritionists don't suggest it.
24-48 hour fast
The "Eat-Stop-Eat" method involves fasting for 24 hours, maybe many times a week. Many do this by eating dinner and then not eating again until the next day's dinner.