Intermittent fasting is a period of not eating, followed by a period of fasting. Fasting days have limited feeding, perhaps as few as 500 calories on those days. Feast days don’t have calorie or food-type limits. One IF plan has fasting every other day. Another has two fasting days per week.
Time restricted feeding limits the timing of your food intake. Your eating window lasts about eight hours each day. You consume all of your food within that window and drink water the rest of the day.
With alternate day fasting, you have one fasting day alternating with one feasting day. You can have your 500 calories in one meal or spread it out over the fasting day. People enjoy this because there is a break from dieting every other day. There’s no need to totally change the pantry.
Listen as Dr. Krista Varady joins Dr. Pamela Peeke to share how fasting and feasting may help you lose weight.
Krista Varady, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Nutrition at the University of Illinois, Chicago.