Losing weight and keeping it off is something many dieters struggle with.

But while weight loss diets come and go, one eating pattern has existed since the dawn of time.

Intermittent fasting was done out of necessity because food was not always readily available.

But now intermittent fasting has become a popular choice for dieters, who find it easier to restrict the time spent eating, restricting the foods they are eating.

And it turns out many weight loss experts claim intermittent fasting is the key to slashing fat.

Alternate Day Fasting (ADF):

The dieter will alternate between days of no food restrictions, with days where they will only have one meal providing them 25% of their daily calorie needs.

For example – Monday, Wednesday and Friday are fast days, and the alternate days have no restrictions.

Whole-day fasting:

This is when the dieter fasts for one to two whole days per week, which means eating up to 25% of their daily calorie needs.

On the other days there are no food restrictions.

The 5:2 diet:

This approach to losing weight sees the dieter eat with no restrictions for five days, but has a 500-600 calorie diet for two days.

This diet was made popular by British journalist and doctor Michael Mosley.

Time-Restricted feeding: This is when someone eats between certain times of the day, and fasts for the rest.

The 16:8 diet: This method typically involves fasting every day between 14 and 16 hours.

This means you are restricting yourself to a 8 to 10 hour “eating window”.

With this method you decide when you want to fast, but one popular method is having your last meal at 8pm and don’t eat until 12 noon the next day.

If you do this you could simply skip breakfast.

But you can still drink water, coffee and other non-calorific drinks during the fast.

Meanwhile, the NHS warns the only way to lose weight healthily and to keep it off is to make permanent changes to the way we eat and exercise.

The NHS recommends eating less and choosing drinks lower in fat, sugar and alcohol.

The site states: “If you’re overweight, aim to lose about 5 to 10% of your starting weight by losing 0.5 to 1kg (1 to 2lb) a week.

• NHS
• Weight loss

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