Intermittent Fasting Guide for Beginners (2023 Updated)

Intermittent fasting is scheduling your meals for specific time intervals so that your body gets the most benefit out of it.

The results of intermittent fasting (IF) for weight loss can be astounding.

This plan isn't focused on which foods you eat (or often even how much). Rather, it's when you eat that makes all the difference.

The key to intermittent fasting is that it changes when your body is in a fed state and a fasted state.

Your body acts differently depending on which state it is in.

Fed State - After you eat a big meal, your body is in the fed state for 3 to 5 hours while it digests and absorbs all the nutrients it can get from your food.

This means it won't be turning to its fat stores for energy, especially if you've eaten lots of carbohydrates and starches that raise your insulin level.

Maybe you've been trying to lose weight for months without seeing much result.

Perhaps the last few pounds are proving to be the most difficult to dislodge.

If this sounds like you, your eating habits could be benefited from trying intermittent fasting.

Starting an intermittent fast is easier than most people think. Simply cut out some of the times that you eat food and experiment until you find what feels right for your body.

Some people do better with a small breakfast at the beginning of the day, while others are able to skip food entirely until the afternoon. The key is to try different methods until you find what your body responds best to.

There are several types of intermittent fasts, all that rely on different intervals of time between eating and fasting. Six of the most popular diet plans are explained below.

As one of the most popular fasting methods for beginners, the Lean Gains method was created by Martin Berkhan as a way to make fasting both convenient and habitual.

The premise behind this diet plan is simple; dieters don't eat anything for 16 hours and then eat within an eight hour eating window - sometimes referred to as 16/8 fasting.

The Eat-Stop-Eat fast was created by Brad Pilon and is ideal for healthy eaters looking to get an extra boost out of their diet.

The premise is that followers of the plan go on 24 hour fasts for one or fewer days every week. Some practitioners fast as just a few times a month.

Surprisingly enough, even occasional fasts like this has been shown to lead to the health benefits.

Created by Doctor James Johnson, the Up Day Down Day fasting program is all about weight loss and is structured to cause you to lose as much weight as possible in a healthy way.

The idea is that alternating the amount of calories you eat everyday activates the SIRT1 gene, which helps prevent your body from putting fat into long term storage.

The Warrior Diet, started by Ori Hofmekler, combines a 20 hour fast with a 4 hour eating window for eating.

The long fast increases the functionality of the sympathetic n system (responsible for fight-or-flight tendencies) in order to stimulate lipolysis and increase the metabolic rate of fat burning.

This helps the body to absorb glucose properly and recover more efficiently after a big workout, while also increasing your alertness and boosting your energy levels.

Popularized by the British doctor Michael Mosley, the 5:2 diet allows you to eat normally for five days out of the week, and to eat only 500-600 calories on two non consecutive days.

There are no eating requirements besides counting calories two days a week, and you have complete control over which days those will be.

Many people chose to fast Monday and Thursday and eat regularly for the rest of the week.

By far the most complex plan to follow, Fat Loss Forever starts you off with one cheat day every week, which is followed by a 36 hour fast.

The rest of the week is split into varying intervals of fasting and eating periods.

Romaniello and Go (founders of the diet) recommend that your longest fasts take place on your busiest days, and that you keep yourself busy and productive to keep your mind off your hunger.

Women - There is some evidence that IF might not be a beneficial for women as it is for men. Some studies have shown that while IF can improve insulin sensitivity levels for men, it can actually have the opposite effect for women and worsen their control of their blood sugar levels [5].

Regular fasting often stops a woman's period, though it usually comes right back when they stop fasting.

Pregnant women - The practice can also be damaging for women that are trying to get pregnant, are already pregnant, or who are breastfeeding. If you are female, the best way for you to start intermittent fasting is to ease into it.

Start for a few hours at a time and up the amount weekly if you continue to feel good. If you start to notice negative side effects from fasting, you should stop the practice right away.

Diabetics - There are also medical conditions that can make fasting a bad idea.

If you have diabetes or need to regulate your blood sugar, it's not a good idea to force your body to go for hours without food.

Like what most always say, it's better to be safe than sorry.

History with eating disorders/underweight - If you are prone to eating disorders or are already close to being underweight, fasting won't give you much benefit and might even trigger to you start an eating disorder.

All this to say, intermittent fasting is a safe and effective dieting method for a huge number of people. If you are healthy and well nourished overall, you shouldn't have any problems.