Intermittent fasting for beginners - 3 easy methods
You now know the benefits of intermittent fasting. These three easy methods make intermittent fasting for beginners simple to try
Intermittent fasting for beginners #1: 16/8 method
This is the gentlest introduction to intermittent fasting.
All you do is omit one meal: finish dinner at 8pm, skip breakfast and cruise through to a 12pm lunch. You’ll have fasted for 16 hours. Simple!
You then have 8-hours in which to eat two or even three meals before repeating the process (if you wish). You can progress the 16/8 method a few ways:
- Fast during the day rather than overnight: have a 5am breakfast and fast until 9pm
- Complete multiple days per week on the 16/8 method
- Complete consecutive days of 16/8 fasting
Intermittent fasting for beginners #2: 5:2 diet
The 5:2 diet involves eating normally for five days and restricting calorie intake to 500 per day the other two days per week.
This is a common diet and another great one to start with. Once you’ve ridden the initial hunger pangs, you’ll enjoy stable energy levels which come from tapping into your fat stores.
Boost your fasting: Complete your two 500-calorie days back-to-back.
33Fuel's award winning Ultimate Daily Greens are your perfect fasting companion - replenish your stores with high quality nutrients
Intermittent fasting for beginners #3: The Warrior Protocol
Popular among the paleo diet community, the Warrior Protocol has you eating like our ancestor cavemen. Eat little during the day - such as a handful of nuts and some fruit - before tucking into a large evening meal.
Advanced intermittent fasting: 24 hours straight
In our article listing the benefits of intermittent fasting, we explain how to fast for 24-hours. Simply finish one meal and don’t eat again until the next day’s meal.
Play around with which works best for you: breakfast to breakfast, lunch to lunch or dinner to dinner.
Intermittent fasting for beginners – conclusion
Intermittent fasting is a great way to boost fat loss, improve concentration, stabilise energy levels and improve key health markers.
The key to making it work comes from starting slow and enjoying the process. Beginners often find it easier to have structure to their fasts so, whichever method you adopt, the accountability of a defined start and finish is helpful.
After a period of fasting, get the nutrients in. Our eroica protein bar is the perfect post-feed nutrition: high in protein, healthy carbs and fats and crammed with nutrients.
Eroica protein bar: the perfect post-fast feed
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