This is something I wrote over on NHS Weight Loss healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...
How to move from standard modern eating to IF/TRE
* Start with lowering carbs and increasing fat.
* Cut out snacks and move to 3 meals a day only.
* Extend your overnight fast to make sure it's 12 hours.
Then you are 12:12 IF. Well done!
At that point, you could start skipping breakfast or dinner if that's easy for you, otherwise you should gradually lengthen the gap overnight. I like dinner, so my suggestion is eliminating breakfast. You could do similar to remove dinner.
* move your dinner to the earliest time that suits you. It should finish several hours before bed. No snacking afterwards.
* Gradually move your breakfast to later in the morning.
* As it approaches lunch, replace both meals with a brunch.
* Move brunch gradually to after midday, and start calling it lunch again.
There you are: 16:8 or 18:6 pattern. Job done!
ALTERNATIVELY: you could move dinner earlier, breakfast later and lunch to halfway between, and enjoy 3 meals in your eating window.
Types of fasts
This is definitions, not advice and these definitions apply to IF as well as longer fasts. I am happy to be corrected on this.
* Michael Mosley's: you eat 500,600 or 800kcal on "fast" days. That's not really fasting, it's calorie cycling. Edit: it could be fasting, if you kept the calories to one or two meals a day, and fasted 16 or more hours.
* Dirty fasting: where you allow yourself a small amount of calories and artificial sweeteners, eg broth, cream, lemon in water etc. I have been known to eat a gherkin while dirty fasting.
* Clean fasting: Nothing with any calories, or any artificial sweeteners, so just plain coffee and teas, and flat or sparkling water, no flavourings, not even lemon. Salt should be added.
* Water fasting: nothing but water. Salt should be added. This might be required for autophagy.
* Dry fasting: I think this is only for religious or spiritual purposes. Ramadan is a dry fast. You don't swallow anything during the fast.
* Hard, dry fasting: This sounds OCD to me. I am not aware it has any health or spiritual benefits. You don't let water come in contact with your body: don't clean teeth, wash face or shower.
These may seem a bit judgemental of others' practices; that is not my intention. If you have input or experiences on any fasting approaches, feel free to share. I would be excited to learn more.
The benefits of fasting and best types of fasting 🍽
Psychological benefits of fasting?