Note: We recommend consulting with your healthcare provider before starting any new diet program. Here are some of the most popular intermittent fasting apps, and what users are saying about them. Most of the IF apps are essentially customized stopwatches that have built in notifications and reminders to keep you on track Sassos says, with a few added bells and whistles like hydration tracking and more.
Of course, as with everything else in life, there’s an app that can help you out. “If you do choose to try IF, just make sure that the quality of foods you eat in your feeding window are nutritious and provide all of the proper nutrients that your body needs,” advises Sassos.īut no matter which plan you try, counting down those hours until you can bite into a sandwich again-or keeping track of calories and other stats-can be a bit of a grind. the 5-2, in which you eat normally five days a week, and then limit yourself to about 500 calories on the other two days and the OMAD (one-meal-a-day) plan, which is exactly what it sounds like. Some of the more popular ones are 16:8, in which you limit your eating to an 8-hour window, say noon to 8 p.m. There are several variations of the IF diet. “Fasting can potentially reprogram your metabolism, but the likely reason why fasting may contribute to weight loss is that you’re simply eating fewer calories overall when you are restricting eating to specific time periods.” “When it comes to weight loss, research for traditional intermittent fasting is compelling,” says Stefani Sassos, MS, RDN, CDN, Registered Dietitian for the Good Housekeeping Institute. And unlike some other fad diets, this one actually has some solid evidence behind it.
Intermittent fasting (IF) seems to be here to stay.