Intermittent fasting
Image Source: Intermountain Healthcare

There’s one thing you might not know about intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is not a diet. It’s a pattern of eating.

Intermittent fasting is a beneficial way to get lean without following a crazy diet plan. Initially, you’ll try to keep your calories the same once you start. Also, intermittent fasting is an excellent way to build muscle mass while getting lean.


Intermittent fasting is a popular method people use to ease their life, shed some pounds,
lose weight, and focus on their overall health and well-being. Intermittent fasting is also great for minimizing the process of aging.

Six methods of intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting extremely safe for most healthy, well-nourished people. However, it may not be suitable for individuals who have health conditions. For those who are all set to get on with, here are six different methods of intermittent you can opt for.

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1. 16:8 fasting

In this method, one would need to fast 16 hours a day, leaving a window of 8 hours to which is why it’s called the 16:8 way.

During the 16:8 diet, men are required to fast for 16 hours each day, and women are expected to fast for 14 hours. Moreover, this method may be helpful for someone who has already tried the 12-hour fast.

In this method of fasting, people usually finish their evening meal by 8 pm and then skip breakfast the next day and have lunch.

2. Alternate day fasting 

On days when people aren’t fasting, they tend to eat as much as they can. Whereas on days when they are, they tend to avoid solid food while others set a target of up to 500 calories.

Alternate day fasting is an extreme form of intermittent fasting. It may not be suitable for beginners or those with health conditions. Moreover, this method would not be ideal in the longer run.

3. 5:2 fasting

Image Source: Good Housekeeping

The 5:2 diet requires eating five days of the week while controlling your calorie intake to 500–600 for two days of the week.

This method is also called the ‘Fast Diet’ and became popular by British journalist Michael Mosley. On the days of fasting, it’s recommended for women to eat 500 calories and men to eat 600 calories.

4. 24-hour fasting or Eat-Stop-Eat

This method is also known as eat-stop-diet. In this method, one is required to fast entirely for one or two days a week. It restricts you from eating for 24-hours. However, people on this method can have water, tea, and other calorie-free drinks.

Moreover, people opting for this method should know that this might be very challenging as it may cause fatigue, headaches, or irritability.

5. The Warrior diet

This method requires eating small amounts of fruits and vegetables during the day and eating one massive meal at night. Which means, you fast all day and treat yourself at night with only a four-hour eating window.

The food that should be eaten is quite similar to food eaten in the paleo diet, which is mostly whole food and unprocessed food.

6. Skipping Meals

This particular method may be suitable for beginners. It involves occasionally skipping meals. In this method, people can decide which meals to skip according to their level of hunger or time restraints. However, what is essential is to eat healthy meals.

Since some people do have a habit of skipping meals, this would feel more natural and doable.

What are your thoughts on intermittent fasting? Let us know in the comments below.

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