Intermittent fasting (IF) can have a ton of health benefits that go beyond weight loss. It can reduce oxidative stress, increase longevity, improve the functioning of your hormones, amongst others. If you fast while on a low carb diet, such as the keto diet, it can have numerous positive results.

The keto diet is a popular weight loss strategy because it focuses on you eating protein and fat to fuel your body. Going through ketosis can make you feel less hungry, which can make intermittent fasting almost effortless. Intermittent fasting is encouraged while on the keto diet since it can speed up weight loss when done correctly. It also helps you maintain muscle.

Intermittent fasting can be done in a number of ways, which the Body Reboot book discusses. Below is a quick how-to guide to three popular ways to fast intermittently – 16:8, 20:4, and OMAD (One meal a day).

16:8 Method
16:8 is one of the most popular fasting protocols, and is very easy to follow. Within a 24 hour period, you need to NOT eat for 16 hours (and that includes the hours when you sleep) and consume your food within an 8-hour eating window.

Most people who follow a 16:8 fast do so every day, sometimes with the occasional day off (or weekends off), depending on their life circumstances and schedule, but you can do it as often as you like.

The easiest way to do a 16:8 fast is to just skip breakfast. You can then eat between noon and 8 PM, and at 8 PM you resume fasting until noon on the next day.

This means that you can still enjoy lunch (with your colleagues, for example) and dinner (with family or friends), which are the two meals that have the biggest social importance, and you won’t be awkwardly sipping a cup of water while everyone else is enjoying their food.

As most people take breakfast alone and there’s not a huge social importance attached to it, so most likely nobody will care if you skip it.

The 20:4 Method

20:4 is another fasting protocol that is very similar – you fast for 20 hours and eat your calories within the remaining 4 hours.

If you would like to experiment with it, we recommend doing so after gaining some experience with 16:8 fasts. If you dive straight into it, you might experience some dizziness and excessive hunger, and for that reason, you might find it more difficult to stick to your daily macros.

You could also do 17:7, 18:6, 22:2, and so on. Try them out and see what fits you best.

OMAD (One meal a day)
One-meal-a-day is essentially a 23:1 fasting protocol, where you consume all your daily calories and macros in a single meal.

A lot of people see great results with that type of fast, since it is difficult to overeat and go above your caloric needs if you’re only allowing yourself to have a single meal.

While it is a completely natural eating schedule as such, we recommend OMAD to people who already have some experience with fasting, as your body needs time to adapt to it.

Keep in mind that in no way is fasting magical. In fact, calories still matter. It should never be an excuse to eat a ton of food after you're done fasting, either. Done correctly, fasting while on the keto diet can be an incredible tool. It can boost your metabolism, control your appetite and can assist in breaking a weight loss stall. For more on fasting while on a keto diet, head to Keto Vale.

At the time of writing this post, we're currently giving away free copies of the Body Reboot book! It's our mission to increase awareness and to help people lose weight and get healthy and we want to help you achieve your goals. If you help us cover the cost of shipping, we’ll send a copy to your door FREE. Go over to this page to see if there are any copies left.