Diet Guide
You eat normally, just within a shorter time window each day.
Intermittent fasting is not about what you eat. It is about when you eat. The most common version is called 16:8. You fast for 16 hours and eat all your meals within an 8 hour window.
For example, stop eating at 8pm and do not eat again until 12pm the next day. That is 16 hours of fasting. Water, black coffee, and plain tea are allowed during the fasting period.
No food is banned. You just eat all of it within the window.
Think of it like a shop with opening hours. The shop only opens from 12pm to 8pm. Outside those hours, it is closed. Less time open means fewer chances to eat. Fewer eating opportunities means fewer calories consumed overall. That is how most people lose weight on IF without counting anything.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No foods are restricted | Morning hunger can be strong |
| Simple one rule to follow | Hard when schedule or social life changes |
| Reduces total calorie intake without tracking | Social meals may fall outside the eating window |
| May improve insulin sensitivity | Not suitable for early morning training |
Intermittent fasting reduces total calorie intake in most people by limiting the hours available to eat. A 2016 review found that IF produced comparable weight loss to continuous caloric restriction in most studies. Hormonal changes during fasting, such as reduced insulin levels, may also contribute to fat burning. IF works best when the eating window is used for nutritious, satisfying food rather than making up for the fast.
Read the researchThousands of people doing this diet share their experience on Reddit. Visit r/intermittentfasting
Fasting works for the same reason every diet does: a calorie deficit. Here is the only diet that actually works long term and how I went from 128kg to 86kg.
Mind what you drink in your eating window with the Malaysian drinks calorie guide, or browse the full food calorie database.