Fasting has a pretty dusty image, interval fasting on the other hand is one of the biggest weight loss trends in recent years. The reason: It is less strict, promises great successes on the scale and one fasts only hourly or daily. The best known method of intermittent fasting is the 16:8 diet. What exactly is behind it, how many hours a day you have to fast and whether you can actually lose weight with it, we tell you here.

How does the 8-hour diet work?

In principle quite simply: The day has as well known 24 hours. 8 hours (at a stretch) of it you may eat, the remaining 16 hours is fasted. That’s why the interval fasting method is also known as the 16:8 diet. And don’t panic: 16 hours sounds a lot at first, but you sleep about 8 hours of that, so you’re halfway there.

That’s why interval fasting is so healthy for the body

But isn’t it unhealthy to starve yourself for so long? No, intermittent fasting is actually really healthy, because your body copes wonderfully with short periods of fasting. In the days of hunter-gatherers, intermittent fasting was almost constant, because at that time there was only something to eat if the hunt was successful. Unlike our ancestors, today we have an overabundance of food and eat mostly around the clock. And this is anything but good: constant snacking leads to non-stop digestion – which upsets the body’s natural rhythm. And this not only leads to a permanently full stomach, but even interferes with the hormone balance. You can read about the positive effects of long breaks from eating on your body here.

Study situation: Do you lose weight automatically with a 16:8 diet?

Whether you can lose weight with the 8-hour diet, is still being scientifically studied. The first study was conducted in 2012 by the Salk Institute in California under the direction of the US biologist Satchin Panda – but on mice. In an experiment, the scientists tested the 16:8 eating rhythm and at the end, the mice that fasted in the interval had ideal weight. The other group of mice, which was allowed to eat whatever they wanted for 24 hours, gained a lot of weight. Another result of the research group at the Salk Institute: The longer you extend the daily eating time, the more sluggish your metabolism becomes. If, on the other hand, you only eat for 8 hours a day, you boost your basal metabolic rate, and that makes the pounds fall off particularly quickly.

But what’s true for mice doesn’t automatically apply to humans. In 2019, a study of the Institute for Molecular Biosciences in Graz, Austria, came to similarly positive results. The study was carried out on normal-weight and healthy people, but they did not test the 16:8 method, but an extreme form of interval fasting, known as alternate day fasting, or ADF for short, in which you fast for 36 hours and then eat for 12 hours. Not only were the subjects proven to lose weight, they were also able to reduce dangerous visceral abdominal fat and lower cholesterol levels.

The latest US study of the University of California in San Francisco from the year 2020 brought again sobering results to light: The overweight test persons could not register a significant weight loss in comparison to the control group and lost more muscle mass instead of fat mass.

With the 8-Stunden Diät one does not decrease thus automatically, because alone the limited time window with the meal does not lead yet to the weight loss. But the 16 hours chamfering time is not only there to save calories. Rather, the break from eating serves as a time-out for the body from food, which should activate its self-cleansing powers.

Our app tip: Using Fastic you can approach your interval fasting project in a targeted way and track your progress via app. A smart fasting timer, the body status and water tracker and last but not least a huge community that helps you with tips and tricks to persevere are available in the AppStore and at Google Play.

Instructions: the 3 basic rules of the 8-hour diet

Many believe that during the 16:8 diet you have to stick exclusively to the given time slots and are allowed to chow down on whatever you want during the meal phases. Theoretically, yes, but if you eat just as much and just as unhealthy during the 8 hours as usual, nothing will change on the scale. Therefore, observe the following rules:

1. You are allowed to eat “only” 8 hours a day

Instead of constantly feeding your body new food, you limit your daily eating time to 8 hours. You are completely flexible in terms of when you fast during the day. Early risers or breakfast fans should eat the first meal at 9 a.m., so that there is time for dinner at 5 p.m. You can’t eat in the morning anyway? Then move your 8-hour block back and skip breakfast. Advantage: If you break your fast at lunchtime, you can eat dinner until 8 p.m.

2. The 16:8 diet doesn’t work without exercise

A small, but intensive workout may not be missing with the 16-8-Diät. The empty stomach is in the morning namely a booster for fat burning! This mini-sports unit is best done directly after getting up, before the first meal. In this way you ensure that carbohydrate residues in the energy stores of the liver and muscles are used up immediately and the body falls back on its fat reserves even faster.

3. You can eat (almost) anything you want

With the 8-hour diet, you can basically eat whatever you want. Who wants to decrease however purposefully, should not indiscriminately Fast Food and CO. in itself stuff. Because at the end the calorie balance of the day counts: If it’s positive (i.e. you’ve eaten more than you could burn), you’ll gain weight – even intermittent fasting won’t help. Just continue to eat as usual – but not around the clock. Don’t try to “make up” for a missed meal, like breakfast, later by ordering an extra large refill for lunch.

Do you have to eat in the same 8-hour period every day?

No, it’s just important that the eating period spans 8 hours and the fasting period spans 16 continuous hours. For example, you can eat breakfast at 8 a.m. one day and have your last meal in the late afternoon. On another day, you can skip breakfast and celebrate dinner with your best friends at 8 p.m.

What is allowed to drink during Lent?

Coffee and tea are allowed, as well as water and unsweetened tea or broth. Caffeine is even welcome, as it keeps your appetite in check. Milk and sugar in coffee, on the other hand, are strictly speaking not allowed. Juices, soft drinks and pure milk are also an absolute no-go during your fasting session. You should generally avoid cola and soda if you want to lose weight.
The only exception: the protein shake. If there is no other way to incorporate the shake during the day, then you are breaking the rules. But remember: The best success is achieved by strictly following our guidelines. Any deviation will only lead to the second best results.

What can I do about cravings during fasting?

Hunger and thirst are registered by the brain in one and the same region, in the hypothalamus. So drink when you feel hungry: tea (hot or cold), mineral water with lemon, it doesn’t matter. The main thing is that this drink does not contain calories. Also important: distraction. Take a walk, talk to colleagues, do a sports session.

What are the disadvantages of the 16:8 diet?

For some people, the restrictions and compromises you have to make on the 8-hour diet are just too great. Social life can suffer. A spontaneous guys’ night out can end with a rumbling stomach if your last meal was on the table at 5 p.m. And beer after 5 p.m. is taboo. Alternatively one can try however also another Intervallfasten method out.

Conclusion: The 8-hour diet is ideal for fasting novices

You don’t have to count calories, you can eat whatever you want for 8 hours a day and, in the best case, you’ll lose weight: we’ve dreamed of a diet like this. Of course, there are a few restrictions due to the eating time window, but the renunciation of your favorite dishes is definitely not one of them. Just try light fasting and see if the concept fits into your everyday life.

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