I know what you’re thinking…

Oh, no… yet another blogger on the intermittent fasting bandwagon? This better involve food. I’m here for the cookies. 

(That’s what I’d be thinking.)

And if that’s what’s going through your mind, worry not. Today is more about eating than it is about not eating, and c’est très bien comme ça.

Today I’m sharing a delicious meal plan for the 16:8 method of intermittent fasting. Now, if you’re not familiar with the difference between fasting and intermittent fasting, here’s the skinny:

• Intermittent fasting is just eating within a certain window to give your digestive organs a well deserved break. Bonus: It does in fact aid in weight loss – they’ve done studies. Oui? Cool.
• Fasting-fasting, where you don’t eat anything (or much) for more than a day-ish should probably be medically supervised, and I’m not talking about that kind today.

If you’re interested in losing some LBs, let’s get one thing straight…

The key to sustainable weight loss is, like, 80% what you eat, and not when you eat it.

One aspect that I find particularly irritating, if I may, about intermittent fasting is that since it is effective, some people think they can eat whatever they jolly well please as long as they’re eating in their predetermined window. And though this is often true – they may still lose weight – but their internal organs are weeping.

Remember, weight loss is never the ultimate goal. I repeat: Weight loss should never be the ultimate goal. HEALTH should be. (Weight loss comes as a gorgeous bonus and side effect.)

‘Cause, like, sure, you can lose weight even if you follow some sort of Atkins-y type of diet, for example, but, again, who cares if you’re skinny if you’re on the road to heart disease? Right? It’s just not worth it.

The win-win here, if you’re looking to lose weight and not keel over in a few years, is a plant-based diet, avoiding too much fat, and – cherry on top – “restricted eating” in a window of time. Voilà. Now you know everything.

So, let’s talk food. (The best part, always.)

One popular kind of intermittent fasting is the “16:8” method, which is quite simply fasting for 16 hours, and eating for 8. It sounds more dramatic than it is because remember that you’re probably sleeping for a good many of those hours during the 16. So you could start eating at 9 and end at 5, no harm no foul.

So I promised food… here it is:

If this post has piqued your interest about intermittent fasting, then definitely check out the first episode of Season 2 of One Healthy World, the show I work on with Dr. Gemma Newman and Chuck Carroll over at PCRM. We have a rollicking good time, and you’re always invited to the party.

Thank you so much for tuning in today, reader. Anyone here going to take a whack at the 16:8 method?

Talk soon,