WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING

The intermittent fasting is based on alternate times when eaten with others that are fast. There are many types of intermittent fasting depending on the hours or days you fast:

WEEKLY INTERMITTENT FASTING 5: 2

It consists of doing two days of fasting during the week in which you eat very little and 5 days in which you eat normally, although it is recommended not to exceed 1,500-1,800 calories in the case of women. On fasting days –which should never be consecutive–, eating is not stopped, but the calories consumed are reduced to only 25% of what is usually consumed, that is, a maximum of 500 kcal, divided into one or more two meals.

• Advantages of fasting 5: 2. For some people it may be easier to fit this type of fast into their life and their daily commitments.

FULL DAY FAST

It is based on fasting full days. The best known are the Büchinger fast or the maple sap syrup fast. The first consists of fasting only taking broths, infusions or natural juices. The second follows the same formula but taking only a preparation based on maple sap, water, lemon juice and paprika.

• How long. It is usually recommended to fast 24 hours two days a week not consecutive, although other currents prefer fasts of 3 to 7 days in a row, once a week or a month depending on its length.
• Risks These types of fasting must be medically supervised because fasting for more than two days in a row can cause nutritional deficiencies, in this case yes, loss of muscle mass and slowing down of metabolism, as well as fatigue and other health disorders.

12/12 INTERMITTENT FASTING

It is the easiest to do because in reality it is a type of fast that adjusts quite a lot to the schedules of many people even though we are not aware of it, since it can mean having breakfast between 8 and 9 in the morning and having dinner early, about 8 or 9 in the afternoon. An easy way to start the 12-hour fast is to bring dinner forward to 8:00 p.m., which by the way is a very healthy habit to avoid going to sleep with a very full stomach. If when you wake up you have breakfast at 8 in the morning, you will already be getting a 12-hour fast.

INTERMITTENT FASTING 16/8

In the case of 16/8 intermittent fasting, a period of 8 hours in which food can be taken alternates with another period of 16 hours in which it is fasted. In the 16 hours of fasting you cannot consume food but you can drink calorie-free beverages such as water, tea, coffee alone or infusions. As the 16 hours of fasting generally include the hours in which you rest, in practice fasting only involves delaying the time of the first meal, breakfast and advancing the time of the last meal of the day, dinner. Here are tips for moving from a 12-hour fast to 8/16.

INTERMITTENT FASTING 6/18 AND 4/20

They are much stricter guidelines because eating is only allowed for 6 or 4 hours after 18 and 20 hours of fasting. In these cases, you have to plan very well what you eat to avoid dizziness or even nutritional imbalances.

DOES INTERMITTENT FASTING WORK?

All the studies done to date confirm that this diet works like any other low calorie diet, no more, no less. The difference is that it has a greater adherence than low-calorie diets, that is, less is abandoned. And one of the reasons it is less neglected is its adaptability. The intermittent fasting diet is better adapted to the schedules and tastes of the person who performs it and not the other way around.

Of course, for it to really work, during the hours when you can eat you have to do it in a balanced and healthy way.

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EASY 16/8 INTERMITTENT FASTING PLAN

“For intermittent fasting to work and especially for you to be healthy now and in the future, it is important that you provide your body with the nutrients it needs,” stresses Sara Mir , a pharmacist specializing in sports nutrition.

1. Eat complete meals of between 400 and 600 kcal. And ideally they include protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats.
2. Include vegetables in all your meals. If in each meal you include vegetables and also fruit (although in less quantity than vegetables) you will not only see that you lose weight easily but also that you will feel healthier and your skin will be more luminous.
3. Better fish than meat. Try to make the weekly servings of fish more than those of meat.
4. Take legumes combined with cereals. This combination (traditional rice and lentils, for example) gives you protein of high biological value.
5. Eat little or no processed meat. If you are going to eat meat, better a steak than sausage.
6. Avoid ultra-processed ones. They do not provide you with the nutrients you need and some even cause more hunger than they are supposed to remove.

CAN YOU DO INTERMITTENT FASTING?

To find out, answer these questions.

1. Are you under 18 years of age?
2. Are you over 65?
3. Do you have diabetes?
4. Do you want to lose more than 10 kilos?
5. Are you underweight with a BMI less than 20?
6. Have you suffered from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, purging)?
7. You are pregnant?
8. Are you breastfeeding?
9. Do you suffer from a chronic disease?
10. Do you suffer from hypoglycemia?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you should not do intermittent fasting. Remember that if you have answered “Yes” to any of the questions and want to lose weight, you should consult a doctor and follow a supervised diet.

Related article

Intermittent fasting: how to go from 12 to 16 hours of fasting effortlessly

WHAT CAN BE TAKEN DURING THE FASTING HOURS

1. Water
2. Tea and Infusions
3. Light vegetable broths
4. Just coffee

WHAT SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN DURING THE FAST

1. Food
2. Calorie drinks
3. Sweetened beverages
4. Milk or vegetable drinks

INTERMITTENT FASTING MENU

If you want to start practicing intermittent fasting and you don’t know what you can take or how to organize your menu, here is a typical one-day menu to make it easier for you. You can also download a free weekly 16/8 intermittent fasting menu in pdf.