Challenge #3 16:8 (Fast : Eating Window)

So this weeks challenge has become my new way of eating since the first lockdown (I’ll post another longer article about pros and cons, but there are a lot of pros!).

It’s very simple, for eight hours you can eat, and for sixteen you can’t. This generally means avoiding food in the morning, or finishing your eating earlier. You could do this at a set time but personally I prefer to start the clock when I’m ready to fast (this takes some of the stress out of it), and then start eating again once the timer is up. There’s a fantastic app called Zero which is designed for this, plus you can log your weight, sleep times etc.

The main benefits I’ve found are weight / fat loss, better sleep and better concentration in the mornings, why not try and see how it works for you?

Make sure you eat enough, particularly protein (meat, eggs, fish, dairy, nuts), and you can fast for longer if desired.
Any effective diet needs some level of restriction, and a lot of people find IF (intermittent fasting) allows them to be a little more relaxed than calorie counting or portion controlling. You still need to eat well, but it seems to generally help ensure you’re reducing the calories enough for fat loss.

Two considerations; firstly, the beginning is quite tough, but once you’ve got the rhythm it can be pretty easy to stick to (I would advise breaking it sometimes, like you would if taking a cheat meal on another diet). Secondly is that if you can become obsessive with restriction or binging, then you may be better suited to a portion control type diet over IF, it’s worth speaking to a qualified professional if you have concerns in that area.

I suggest try it for a week, take your weight at the start an end and see how you get on. You may stumble into a fantastic way to lose / maintain your weight long term!

ps combine it with the low sugar and you’ll definitely be getting leaner. Enjoy!