By This is a great question, and many people do run into this question when they first start out along the fasting journey.
The great thing about IF is that you really don’t have to do it every day to experience results. There are many scientific papers outlining the effects of fasting, during different phases of implementation. I’m assuming you want to know how your weight loss will progress if you decide to take a break.
6 different ways to fast intermittently
- Time restricted fasting. This is my favourite type of fasting. You pick and choose an eating and fasting window every day. This can be between 12–24 hours, depending on what works best for your lifestyle. It has been said that women should not fast for longer than 14 hours, due to hormonal concern’s, but I find that everything works fine in my case. Seek your doctor if you have any hesitations. (everyday health).
The great thing about this method is that it’s completely flexible. If you want to go out for breakfast or dinner on a particular day, you can structure your fasting around it. - The 5:2 – Fasting for 2 days per week. This method is eating normally for the 5 day duration, and restricting calories for 2 days in the week. Usually it’s around about 500–600. This allows for lots more flexibility than the time restricted diet, and can be implemented on days you do not train. Women are encouraged to eat 500 calories, where as men are to eat 600. It is a matter of assessing the caloric content of particular food, so you may snack during the day on particular items, not exceeding your limit.
- Stop eat stop plan, which is a 24 hour fast once or twice a week. This is by fasting from breakfast on day one, up until breakfast on day two. This can be done for dinner and lunch. It all will depend on your schedule at hand. The results will become the same whether you choose to do this in the evening, or during the day. No solid food is allowed during this fasting period, but you may drink beverages such as tea, herbal tea, coffee and a lot of water. This is a large stretch, but it’s absolutely achievable and with many benefits.
A good starting point is to begin fasting for shorter periods of time, then moving on to larger stretches. It becomes a lot simpler to transition into long duration fasting that way. - Warrior – Fast in the day time, eat at dinner time. This particular plan allows for consumption of small amounts of fruit and veggies during the day. It’s mainly based on the paleo principle of avoiding grains and processed foods during the feast duration. This eating plan is suitable for those on the run during the day, and are time poor to have a meal. Consumption of water, tea and coffee during the day is also permitted.
- Skipping one meal during the day. This is probably the best place to start for beginners. A lot of people may prefer to skip either breakfast or dinner. Either one, you will still get some great results. Fasting for longer periods of time does produce the most optimal results regarding health, and a suggestion is maybe to try skipping 2 meals a few times a day in order to tap into those benefits.
I do hope this has sparked some desire to use any of these flexible transitions, making fasting an easy part of your life – for life.
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