Here is all about intermittent fasting that the ContaCal blog has published, organized in the order you will need it: picking a schedule, setting your window, deciding what to eat and understanding the results.
If you want the whole method explained in one article, read the complete intermittent fasting guide. This page does a different job: it points you to the article that answers the question you have today.
If you are pregnant, take medication for diabetes, have a history of eating disorders or another chronic condition, talk to your doctor before fasting.
Where to start with intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting: complete guide explains what it is, what happens in your body while you fast, the most common protocols, what the science shows and who should not do it. If you have never fasted, read this first.
Beginner intermittent fasting schedule lays out the ramp from 12:12 to 16:8, week by week. It is the most useful article if you want to start without a miserable first week.
How to do intermittent fasting is the step-by-step: the protocols, the best timing, what to eat in the window and how to progress safely.
Setting your window and hours
How to calculate intermittent fasting shows you how to pick a protocol, set the eating window (12:12, 14:10 or 16:8) and fit the hours into your day, without fighting your work schedule or family dinner.
If you would rather skip the math, the intermittent fasting calculator gives you the times to open and close your window for the protocol you choose.
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What to eat in the window
The clock does not burn fat on its own. What you eat when the window opens decides whether fasting becomes a calorie deficit or just a longer gap between meals.
16/8 intermittent fasting meal plan gives you 7 days of meals with portions, what to eat when you open the window and why total calories still decide the result.
How to break a fast focuses on the first meal: the best first foods, what to avoid, how long to wait before a full plate and the overeating mistake to skip.
To know how much to eat inside the window, the calorie deficit calculator gives you a calorie estimate for weight loss.
Intermittent fasting for women
Intermittent fasting for women matches the fasting window to each phase of the menstrual cycle and explains when not to fast.
Results: what to expect and when
Intermittent fasting 1 week results answers how much comes off in the first week and how little of it is fat. Read it before you get excited or discouraged by the scale.
Intermittent fasting before and after follows 12 weeks: what actually changes week by week and how to make the results last.
Intermittent fasting benefits separates the 5 benefits science backs from the 3 that are mostly hype. Useful for setting expectations.
A suggested reading order
- Before you start: the complete guide and the beginner schedule.
- Week one: how to do it and how to calculate your window.
- Week two: the meal plan and how to break a fast.
- From month one on: the results and benefits articles.
Women can add the article on fasting for women right at the start, because it changes how you choose the window.
Sources
Organized and reviewed by Lucas, nutritionist. For a balanced view of what is known about fasting in people, the US National Institute on Aging keeps an updated summary: Calorie restriction and fasting diets: what do we know?. Each article in this guide lists its own references.