Intermittent fasting is a method of eating meal after giving a certain hour of rest to the mouth. It is also known as intermittent energy restriction, in which one eats as per setting meal timing and reduce the intake of calories.
As most of the people moving towards a healthy lifestyle, intermittent fasting has become a very trendy dieting plan in recent years. Most expert dieticians suggest that Intermittent fasting is beneficial for everyone, especially it can be a miracle for those who are suffering from weight gain issues. Its claim to the cause of weight loss, improve metabolism, and even capable of extending lifespan.
With the so many benefits of intermittent fasting, there is no surprise that experts have come with so many different methods and ways of intermittent fasting and dieting plan. There are several methods of intermittent fasting, and every method is so effective and working that it can quickly give you the required results within a short period. However, figuring out the best methods that suit you is entirely depends on your needs.
Here are five different methods and ways to do intermittent fasting that you can follow as per your body requirements:
Method 1: 5:2 Intermittent Diet – 2 Days Fast Per Week
In the 5:2 intermittent fasting method, one can normally eat for 5 days of the week, restricting the high-calorie intake in meals up to 500-600 and do fasting for two days in the week.
Experts also called this diet as Fast Diet and were popularized and highly recommended by Michael Mosley, a British journalist.
It is recommended by the experts that on fasting days, women can eat calories up to 500, whereas men can eat 600 calories.
For instance, you might eat food normally every day and decide to do fast on any two like giving a difference Mondays and Thursdays. For those two fasting days, you can eat two small-size meals that contain 250 calories each meal for women and 300 calories for men.
Method 2: 16:8 Intermittent Diet – 16 Hour Each Day Fast
The 16:8 Method of intermittent fasting involves doing fasting on each day for up to 14-16 hours and restrict the eating window for 8-10 hours. Within this restricted eating window, one can fit meals for up to 2-3 or more times.
This method of fasting is also known as Leangains and was get popularized by the fitness expert Martin Berkhan.
Following this method of intermittent fasting is actually simple as one has not to eat anything after dinner and can skip breakfast.
For instance, if you do your dinner meal at 8 p.m. and do not eat anything until noon of the next day, then you’re technically doing intermittent fasting for 16 hours.
For women, it is recommended to do fasting for up to 14-15 hours as their body naturally develops to assimilate all-day food faster.
However, this method of intermittent fasting can be more difficult for those people who are used to get hungry in the morning and have a habit of eating breakfast. As a matter of fact, many who are breakfast skippers actually used to eat their meals this way, thus, this method can be suitable for them.
If you feel hungry in the morning, you can have healthy and light drinks, water, coconut juice, or any other noncaloric beverages during the fast.
Method 3: 24 Hours Fast Once or Twice in a Week
24 Hour fasting is another method of fasting in which one has do fasting for the entire day in a once or twice in a week. In this method of intermittent fasting, one did not eat anything for a whole complete day and have a light, supple, and healthy meal on the next day.
This method of fasting was popularized by Brad Pilon, a fitness expert, and has been popular for years.
In the 24-hour fasting method, one had dinner, and then the next dinner on another day. This amounts to no eating for the entire day long and reduces harmful toxins from the body.
For instance, one finishes dinner at 7 p.m. and does not eat anything till another day dinner at 7 p.m., in this way one has done a full day 24-hour fasting.
One can also customize the fasting plan as per their body requirements, like from breakfast to breakfast or lunch to lunch. The end result one gets the same as they do for dinner.
It is recommended to have healthy drinks like juices of fruits, water, light coffee, and other noncaloric beverages like coconut water during the fast, but no any heavy and solid foods.
Method 4: Skipping Meal Once In A While When Feeling Convenient
One does actually not required to follow a strictly structured intermittent fasting to reap out the benefits. One can do fasting as per their body needs, and when they are convenient to do so.
Another option is that one can skip meals from one in a while and gradually build up a plan for fasting as per the mention methods. One can also do fasting when they do not feel hungry or busy to cook a meal or eat.
In fact, it is a myth that it is necessary to eat food or snacks every few hours; otherwise, it hit the body hard, leads to starvation mode and damage body immunity.
Studies show that the human body is well designed to handle and manage the long periods of famine. Thus one can miss the meals once or twice in a week or month, it has miraculous effects on one’s body.
So, if you are not really feeling hungry, you can skip doing breakfast and can eat a healthy lunch or dinner. If you are in a traveling mode and do not have anything good to eat, you can go for fasting and eat some healthy when you find it.
Method 5: Alternate Day Fasting
Alternate-day intermittent fasting is a method of fasting in which one has to do fast just after another day.
There are several other versions of this alternate fasting method. Some method allows us to eat meals of about 500 calories during fasting days. Many of the studies showed the health benefits of this version of intermittent fasting on various people.
A full day fast on each other day can seem to be extremely hard for beginners. With this method of fasting, one can going to be very bad hungry several times a week and not be very pleasant and might be unsustainable for the long term.
There are numerous benefits of intermittent fasting that can keep your body healthy for longer time. You can also make your intermittent fasting full of taste also.
Sources: Ecowatch
