Intermittent fasting is when you reduce or eliminate your food intake for a specific time. There are numerous ways, that you can do intermittent fasting. Every method can be quite effective, but to figure out which one works best that depends on the individual.
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1.) Meal skipping
This means you can skip one meal of your choice. As a start, you do not need to do it every day. Just start maybe twice a week then, if you are getting comfortable with the thought, you can add one more day at a time.
Which meal should you skip? Well, it is totally up to you. If you are a morning person, wake up early and love to have a great breakfast, then maybe you should skip dinner.
On the other hand, if you are like me, and you are hungrier at night than in the morning, then skip breakfast. Decide which meal gives you more satisfaction, when are you feeling hungrier - in the morning or at night.
2.) The 5:2 Diet
This one means that you should fast for 2 days per week. For 5 days you eat as usual, and for 2 days you will eat less, much less - your calories should be restricted to about 500 or 600 calories per day.
Now you can divide these calories for two meals. For example, a breakfast with 250 calories, then later for lunch or dinner - again with about 250 calories.
3.) Alternate-day fasting
Means you fast every second day of the week. If you are just starting out with this eating pattern, I recommend that you take a few hundred calories on these days.
A big change might be really extreme to your body and mind, and skipping meals the whole day. Eat at least 500 or 600 calories per day, you can divide these into two meals, like 250 calories for lunch and 250 calories for dinner.
4.) The 16/8 method
In this eating pattern you are going to fast 16 hours and than eat in the remaining 8 hours. You can choose that 8-hour window when you will consume food. Again, choose wisely.
When are you are feeling hungrier, in the morning or in the afternoon? For example, if you do not want to skip the morning meal, then start your eating window at 8 'o clock in the morning and finish it by 4 'o clock in the afternoon. And you will start again the next morning.
5.) Eat-Stop-Eat
Okay, this is harder, you will do a 24-Hour Fast, once or twice a week. If you want to try this method, first try it once a week, if you can handle it. Then you can try it twice a week. This means you are not going to eat anything during your fasting day.
If you start your fasting 9 'o clock in the morning then you can eat next day 9 'o clock in the morning.
6.) The Warrior Diet
You fast all day and eat within a four-hour eating window. Again, decide, which is that time period that works the best for you to eat, when you feel most hungry. Use that time for this method.
Some say do not eat anything through the fasting hours, some say you might have some vegetables or fruits.
Me, personally, right now, I am doing the Warrior Diet mixed with 16/8 method. This is very convenient for me, but I tried at the beginning meal skipping as well. If you are starting out with Intermittent fasting, I highly recommend starting with the lightest one, and seeing how it goes. Then you can go to the next step.
Do not rush, you are not in a race, this is more like a marathon, with long term goals. Take your time when you try out a method, and watch your body signals, how you react, if you can handle it.
It depends as well, how you eat, how healthy your meal plan is, and if you are eating more processed foods than you should. If this is the case, it will take you a bit longer to make that shift. It’s not impossible, but be patient. If you are already on the healthy meal plan, then the shift might be faster for you.
Related article : Can you drink during intermittent fasting?
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