Start low, go slow.
There are several common Intermittent Fasting (IF) Routines:
16/8 Schedule: Best for Beginners
16 hour window of fasting (eating) and 8 hour window of not eating.
16 hours is a magic number for many people where your body starts eating your own fat.
The first objective for beginners is to get to 16 hour fasting windows on a daily basis.
This is performed every day, even weekends. You need at least 2-3 months of solid consistency to get the maximum benefits.
Alternate Day Fasting
This means you switch off one day you eat how you normally eat and the next day you fast. 24 hour fasting window every other day.
5 and 2
Every week, you fast 2 days out of those 7. This is a variation of alternate day fasting.
So Which Fasting Routine Do You Choose? Which one is the best?
There are benefits experienced from each these main routines, as well as other variations of these that do exist.
You can experiment with each variation.
It is entirely based on your personal preferences and experience fasting.
However, if you are a beginner, it may benefit you tremendously to start with the 16/8 fasting schedule.
Why? There are several reasons:
1. You can start slow and ramp up.
Decide whether your are skipping breakfast or dinner. For me, I can’t go to bed on an empty stomach. So I skip breakfast. Some people need breakfast to get their day started. This is completely up to you.
From there, delay your breakfast by an hour or eat your dinner earlier by an hour. Then increase every day until you hit 16 hours.
2. It is habit building and will require less of your will power over time
Switching your habits midweek can be very challenging.
Dealing with life’s emergencies, work, family obligations can eat away your willpower and cause you not fast the right amount of time.
Intermittent Fasting does not work when you are not consistent.
3. You can build your fasting tolerance to handle longer fasts for more effective weight management.
4. You can experience a reward every day with meals. This is critical for habit formation and long term success.
As you increase your fasting window to 18 – 20 hours you will maximize your weight loss. The best way to reach this level is to extend by smaller amounts of time each fasting window.