Fasting offers infinite flexibility. You can fast for as long or short as you like, but here are some popular regimens. Shorter fasts are usually done daily, while longer fasts are done only a few times a week.
Shorter fasts (<24hrs)
16:8
This way of doing intermittent fasting involves daily fasting for 16 hours. Sometimes this is also referred to as an 8-hour eating ‘window’. You eat all your meals within an 8-hour time period and fast for the remaining 16 hours. Generally, this is done daily or almost daily.
For example, you may eat all your meals within the time period of 11:00 am and 7:00 pm. Generally, this means skipping breakfast. You generally eat two or three meals within this 8-hour period.
18:6
For those who want to take 16:8 just a little further, they chose 18:6. It is the same as 16:8, except that the eating window is 6 hours instead of 8 hours. For example, if you finish dinner at 6:00 pm on Sunday night, then you would fast until 12:00 pm on Monday. You’re usually still getting in 2 meals a day on this plan.
20:4 or OMAD (One Meal a Day)
This involves a 4-hour eating window and a 20-hour fast. For example, you might eat between 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm every day and fast for the other 20 hours. Generally, this would involve eating either one meal with a few snacks or two smaller meals within this period.
23:1 or OMAD
This involves a 1-hour eating window and a 23-hour fast. This can also be referred to as OMAD. The difference between 20:4 and 23:1 is that with 20:4, you’re generally eating one MEAL, but you can also have snacks in your 4 hour window. With 23:1, there’s simply no time for snacks. You have time for your one meal and that’s it.
Longer fasts (>24 hours)
24-hour fasts
This way of doing intermittent fasting involves fasting from dinner to dinner (or lunch to lunch). If you eat dinner on day 1, you would skip the next day’s breakfast and lunch and eat dinner again on day 2. This means that you are still eating daily, but only once during that day. This would generally be done two to three times per week.
36-hour fasts
This involves fasting for the entire day. For example, if you eat dinner on day 1, you would fast for all of day 2 and not eat again until breakfast on day 3. This is generally 36 hours of fasting. This provides more powerful weight loss benefit. The other great benefit is that it avoids the temptation to overeat dinner on day 2.
48-hour fasts
This will max out your weight loss rate, but it will also be a little more difficult than the ones listed above. Here’s how it works: you eat dinner on day 1, you would fast for all of day 2 and not eat again until DINNER on day 3. This is generally 48 hours of fasting.
Extended Fasting (EF)
You can fast almost indefinitely. Generally for fasts greater than 48 hours, I recommend supplementing with electrolytes to avoid micronutrient deficiency. The world record for fasting is 382 days, so going 7-14 days is certainly possible.
For fasting more than 14 days, please consult a doctor.
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