A person can eat what they want when following an intermittent fasting plan. However, to reach health and weight management goals, it is a good idea to follow a balanced, high protein, high fiber, vegetable-rich diet during the eating periods.
Many people randomly eat things during the eating window. The half knowledge that fasting period is enough to lose weight prompts them to consume unhealthy processed foods. Eating junk foods during intermittent fasting negates the benefits of intermittent fasting and enhances the growth of weight.
However, not many people know what to eat and what not to eat during IF. Thus, many ask, can you eat pizza while intermittent fasting? The answer is - yes! You can most certainly eat pizza and execute your diet successfully.
Honestly, you can eat whatever you want on the 16:8 diet. There's no calorie- or macro-counting required as part of the plan.
Technically, yes. But depending on a person's body size, eating 2,000 calories in a 4-hour window might not yield any weight loss. I don't know this person's size, though. Now, most people lose weight on 1,500 calories, but one of the pros of IF is that it's hard to eat a ton of calories in a short window of time.
A person can eat what they want when following an intermittent fasting plan. However, to reach health and weight management goals, it is a good idea to follow a balanced, high protein, high fiber, vegetable-rich diet during the eating periods.
You can eat whatever you want during the 8–hour period. Think of it as a feeding window and a fasting window. You're not limited to two meals or three meals or some arbitrary number of eating times.
Foods like smoothies, soups, broths, and cooked vegetables and fruit are more easily digestible. After breaking your fast with these types of foods, it's OK to then move into other types of foods that might be a little bit tougher to digest, such as complex carbohydrates and protein sources and raw vegetables.
The practice of 16/8 intermittent fasting involves limiting your intake of foods and calorie-containing beverages to a set window of 8 hours per day. You abstain from food for the remaining 16 hours, though you're still allowed to drink water and other no-calorie beverages, like plain coffee or tea.
You're eating too much during your eating window.
“If you end up consuming the same number of calories (or more) during your eating windows as before you started intermittent fasting, then you won't lose weight.”
After the first week of intermittent fasting, you'll probably notice less bloating and a tighter, slimmer look and feel to your midsection. Some people will enjoy some weight loss by week two, but don't be discouraged if your weight scale hasn't budged. Continue for another 4-6 weeks, and you should see changes.
People often wonder whether or not they can eat fast food while intermittent fasting and the answer is that yes, you certainly can!
“If your eating hours consist of fried foods and sweets, you will miss out on important nutrients and feel crappy overall,” says Rizzo. “You still need to get your fair share of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, whole grains, and lean proteins [when intermittent fasting].”
So, how many calories to eat during intermittent fasting 16/8? There is no general guideline for what you should eat or drink on fasting days, with the exception of the fact that your total calorie intake should not exceed 500 calories on these days.
2 - Diet Sodas and Zero Calorie Beverages
Any sugary drink will technically break your fasting, so make sure that the diet sodas you consume are really sugar and calorie free. So, while diet soda is acceptable while you are fasting, there are many other zero calorie beverages that are healthier and naturally flavored.
If you don't eat for 10–16 hours, your body will go to its fat stores for energy, and fatty acids called ketones will be released into the bloodstream. This has been shown to protect memory and learning functionality, says Mattson, as well as slow disease processes in the brain.
You should stay away from foods that are calorie-dense and contain high amounts of sugar, fat and salt. “They won't fill you up after a fast, and can even make you hungrier,” Maciel says. “They also provide little to no nutrients.”
The truth about lemon water and intermittent fasting
Long story short - the answer to the question “Does lemon water break a fast?” is no, lemon water does not break a fast. Lemon water contains almost no calories and zero sugars, it doesn't raise insulin levels, which means it will not break your fast (1).
What Is Dirty Fasting? Dirty fasting is a different take on time-restricted in which more calories, or certain foods, are allowed during the otherwise clean fasting window. The goal is to disrupt the concept of fasting as little as possible while achieving similar benefits as a clean fast.
Intermittent Fasting isn't about what you eat – it's about WHEN you eat it. You have a 24-hour period to set your eating schedule, giving you lots of flexibility. Whether it's the weekend, a holiday, or vacation, you never have to “go off” your intermittent fasting program.
However, if it takes place too often, it can affect your metabolism and slow down your weight-loss progress. Thus, you still need to be careful when incorporating a cheat meal or a cheat day into your intermittent fasting schedule, and you shouldn't necessarily have cheat days every week.
If something has zero calories, it must be ok to consume during your fasting window, right? Unfortunately for you diet soda lovers, that's false! Calories aren't the only fast-breaking culprits—other ingredients in these fizzy beverages can derail your fasting goals.
The Research So Far. A systematic review of 40 studies found that intermittent fasting was effective for weight loss, with a typical loss of 7-11 pounds over 10 weeks. [2] There was much variability in the studies, ranging in size from 4 to 334 subjects, and followed from 2 to 104 weeks.