Which Fasting Technique is Right for You?

The 16/8 method

Best for: If you don’t get hungry in the morning

How does it work?

The 16/8 method involves limiting eating to an eight-hour window daily. This is typically between noon and 8 p.m. The best part about this method is that you don’t need to restrict yourself to fewer calories – as long as you eat healthily in your eight-hour window, you should lose weight.

You can also pick your 8-hour window to suit your day. If you don’t feel hungry first thing, the 16/8 diet could work for you, since you won’t touch a piece of food until the afternoon. Plus, you can still drink black tea and coffee alongside water to help boost feelings of fullness.

Eat-stop-eat

Best for: Super healthy eaters looking for a boost

How does it work?

This fasting technique is up there as one of the most popular ways to intermittent fast because of its ability to kickstart your metabolism slightly. When you reduce your eating window, you create a fasting period in which the body works to use its own stored glycogen from carbohydrates and fat as fuel.

Eat-stop-eat is where you have a ‘modified’ fast every other day. For example, you can limit your calories to 500 on fasting days and then go back to your normal healthy diet the next day. If you’re already on a strict diet and are used to eating less than you normally would, this approach would work for you.

You could even go the extra mile and totally restrict yourself of food on alternate days, for a whole 24 hours.

The warrior diet

Best for: Nocturnal eaters

How does it work?

Based on the eating patterns of our ancient ancestors, the Warrior Diet is where you consume little food during the day and then feast at night. For 20 hours every day, you eat little food and small servings of food such as raw fruit or vegetables, fresh juice or hard-boiled eggs.

After 20 hours, you can then essentially eat any meal you want within a four-hour eating window. This is ideal if you eat most of your food later in the day.

Eating at night is said to maximize the Parasympathetic Nervous System’s ability to help the body recover, promoting a sense of calmness and relaxation while aiding digestion. It may also help the body produce hormones and burn fat throughout the day. Eating just one meal a day has been shown to reduce fat mass and increase muscle mass[4].

The 5/2 diet

Best for: Maintaining muscle mass

How does it work?

Similar to the eat-stop-eat method, the 5/2 diet involves eating normally for five days a week and around 25% of your normal calories for the other two days. This means you’re spending at least two days of the week eating around only 500-600 kcals.

You will be required to count some calories with this technique. Many men use the 5/2 diet as their primary cutting diet as it’s surprisingly good at helping you maintain lean muscle mass. You don’t have to endure a consistent calorie deficit but the two days of the week allow your body to use body fat as energy and drop the weight. This method is effective for losing body fat and improving insulin sensitivity[5].