What Is The 16:8 Diet And Why You Should Try It

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Throughout the years, there have been tons of diet fads that people have jumped at the chance to try out in order to lose weight. From the Atkins Diet, to South Beach Diet, to more recent Ketogenic Diet, many have been tried and testing, with some claiming they work and others sharing that they don’t. But one that actually has been on the rise with tons of celebrities doing it is the 16:8 Diet, otherwise known as The Intermittent Fasting Diet. If you’ve never heard of it, then let this be your guide.

Read ahead to find out not only what the 16:8 Diet is all about, but to discover the benefits, the food you can eat and why people are choosing this over any other weight loss program they have found so far.

So what exactly is intermittent fasting?

So you might ask what exactly intermittent fasting is all about? Simply explained, it means that you have an eating period of 8 hours a day, while you don’t take in anything for the other 16 hours, which are your fasting hours. A good example of this would be having your first meal at 10 a.m. and your last by 6 p.m. That means that you need to consume your daily intake of food within those 8 hours only.

While not being allowed to eat or drink anything for 16 hours sounds daunting, you can have water, black tea or coffee sans sugar or creamer, and some diet sodas too. Of course this depends per person, but if you want the diet to be highly effective, it is suggested that you just stick to water during those fasting hours. Although it can sound difficult to go without food for 16 hours, it’s truly just a matter of time before your body and metabolism get used to it. Of course it is always necessary to speak to your doctor about starting a diet that requires fasting, especially for those patients that suffer from medical conditions like hypoglycemia, diabetes, dehydration and those needing to take medications with meals, amongst many other conditions.

16 hours may sound long, but depending on the time of day that you wake up would really be the best way to plan the fasting hours that would work for you. For example, if you wake up at 7 a.m., you can fast up to 11 a.m., making your first meal in the day. You can have your next meal around 2 p.m. and the next at 6 p.m., eating nothing after 7. So this will allow a large portion of the fasting time to be during your sleeping hours as well. And if it all seems a bit too overwhelming, you can slowly get into it as well, starting off with 12 or 13 hours at first, then gradually bringing it up to 16 in total.