If you’ve just started your journey with intermittent fasting, you might be a bit overwhelmed with options and questions. Should you fast everyday, or practice the popular 5:2 schedule? Can you drink coffee and bone broth or not? Should you fast through dinner or breakfast? How long should you fast and how often?

People in the online fasting community love to share their personal experiences with fasting and what has worked for them, which is great! However, just as with diet and exercise, one size of intermittent fasting does not fit all. The best way to develop an intermittent fasting practice that advances your health is to self-experiment. Also, speak with your own healthcare team, primary care physician or dietitian/nutritionist if you have any questions about how fasting fits in with your own health goals, health status, medications, diet, etc.

But to help you get started, we’ve created a beginner’s guide below that answers questions that many people have when they first start fasting!

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a metabolic health intervention that often involves a daily cycle of fasting and feeding. Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term that refers to different approaches to restricting calories intermittently, including alternate day fasting and time-restricted eating.

There are many ways to fast and to reap the underlying benefits of going for some time without the calories that raise your blood glucose and insulin levels and activate mTOR, a cellular growth pathway that prevents the cells in your body from “cleaning up shop” through autophagy. There are even dietary interventions that mimic fasting, including ketogenic diet that minimize the types of foods that most strongly activate insulin and mTOR signaling. Any fasting schedule or diet that raises your ketone levels on a regular basis has health benefits for your body and brain.

Common intermittent fasting schedules include:

Time-restricted eating or daily fasting for 10, 12, 14 or 16 hours, for example.

OMAD or one-meal-a-day, often involving fasting for 18-23 hours per day and eating the other hours.

Alternate day fasting, or fasting every other day (usually with a few hundred calories on fasting days).

5:2 diet, or fasting for two days per week, either consecutively or non-consecutively.

Prolonged fasting for 2-5 days, with medical supervision.

Is intermittent fasting safe for me?

Most people can benefit from practicing moderate fasting. However, there are safety concerns for pregnant women, children, individuals with type 1 diabetes and individuals who are malnourished.

Learn more about intermittent fasting safety here.

Why should I fast?

There are many benefits of intermittent fasting. They include weight loss, reduced inflammation, improved lipid levels or biomarkers of heart health, improved blood sugar control, improved insulin sensitivity and increased cellular recycling known scientifically as “autophagy.” Overnight fasting can also help prevent weight gain and preserve metabolic health and glycemic (blood sugar) control. Intermittent fasting may be particularly beneficial for overweight individuals in terms of improving their expected healthspan, or length of healthy life.

I’ve never fasted before – how should I start?

If you’ve never water fasted before, we recommend that you start with overnight fasting. This form of fasting has added benefits of reinforcing healthy circadian rhythms if you start fasting a few hours before bedtime – even your gut microbes and brain will love it! You can practice this fasting schedule most nights of the week, if you’d like.

Even 12 hours of overnight fasting can require a few weeks of adjustment for many people. But it should get easier (with little to no hunger pains) within a month! If you normally eat a snack or enjoy a drink late in the evening, try to move that up to at least 1-2 hours before you go to bed. Then try waking up and just drinking some hot tea or coffee with no cream or sugar.

If you can begin to fast for 10, 12 or even 14 hours overnight, you’ll be well on your way to an intermittent fasting lifestyle! You can work up from there. Let us know how it goes – share your story with us on Instagram or Facebook!

How long and how often should I fast for?

Great question! How long and how often you should fast for on a regular basis depends on your health goals and current health status. For example, if you are overweight or have a high BMI, you might be able to fast more often that someone who is already lean. However, you still need to ensure that your daily eating window gives you enough time to consume a healthy variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and plant oils, whole grains and protein.

It’s best to begin your intermittent fasting journey by progressively working up from overnight fasting (12+ hours per night). And yes, sleeping counts as fasting! If you are looking for significant weight loss, you might consider working up to 18-20 hours of daily fasting (OMAD or one-meal-a-day), alternate day fasting (fasting every other day, with up to 500 calories on fasting days) or a 5:2 schedule (fasting for two days per week). Learn more about fasting for weight loss and other benefits here.

But what if I get hangry?!

Hunger is normal during a fast, especially when you first start fasting. However, if you keep a set fasting schedule daily, you’ll probably find that you begin to not even feel hungry until near the end of your typical fasting window. You might also begin to relate to your hunger differently, recognizing true hunger from cravings.

But don’t worry – even on fasting days you get to eat some calories! Clinical trials of intermittent fasting typically involve having people eat up to 500 calories on fasting days of 24 hours. There are still scientifically validated benefits of having regular 500-calorie fasting days.

If you ever feel very hungry, hangry, irritable or light-headed during a fast, try the following:

Drink some water with added electrolytes! SmartWater or water with lemon and a dash of pink salt are some great choices. You may also need to supplement potassium and magnesium while fasting. Have a small snack. A small low-carb snack is fine to have during a fast, especially when you first start fasting to help you achieve your goal of 12, 16 or 24 hours. A few calories rich in healthy plant fats or fibers may help ease your stomach groans but won’t substantially decrease your ketone body production or activate insulin signaling and mTOR (the pathway that normally keeps your cellular recycling processes turned off). Based on clinical trials of intermittent fasting, you can have up to 500 calories on fasting days of roughly 24 hours. Try some celery sticks or some bell pepper slices with olive oil or hummus! You can also try drinking a bit of bone broth during a longer fast – this provides both electrolytes and nutrients without substantial calories. Just end your fast early, especially if you feel dizzy or weak. There’s always another day to fast! This is a lifestyle, so it’s best to be kind to yourself and make it sustainable for you.

What can I drink while fasting?

You can drink anything that doesn’t have calories! Ideally, also avoid beverages sweetened with artificial sweeteners, as these can impact your metabolism through your gut microbes. Some artificial sweeteners raise your insulin levels more than others (aspartame more than stevia, especially when consumed with other calories), but there’s a connection between many artificial sweeteners and negative gut microbe changes, insulin resistance and metabolic disease. While a recent meta-analysis suggests we need further research, it may be best to avoid sucralose, aspartame and saccharin in general.

While fasting, you can drink things like black coffee, unsweetened hot and cold teas, water with added electrolytes, carbonated water, water with lemon, etc. Learn more about what you can drink while fasting here.

If you are feeling like you need a little pick-me-up during a longer fast, you can enjoy some bone broth, some kombucha tea or other beverages with very small amounts of natural flavorings or healthy fats added. For example, you might enjoy some coffee with a little bit of butter or coconut oil added.

Can I have cream and sugar in my coffee while fasting?

To stay in a fasted metabolic state, it’s best not to add any sugar to your coffee. Cream is a better option. If you’ve already fasted overnight for 12 or so hours and you just can’t drink black coffee, a bit of cream, butter (a very small amount), coconut oil, MCT oil or other healthy plant fat likely isn’t going to kick you out of ketosis or a fat-burning state.

At most, these coffee fixings might lengthen the time it takes you to get into ketosis after an overnight fast. They can slightly and temporarily activate your insulin and mTOR pathways, telling your body that nutrients are around and thus delay entry into some fasting metabolic processes such as autophagy (cellular recycling). However, it’s normal in human clinical studies of fasting to allow participants up to 500 calories on fasting days; fasting benefits occur regardless of these few calories!

Sugar is another beast, as it can quickly raise your blood sugar levels. Try to avoid adding sugar into your coffee, opting for cream or other healthy fats instead. Also watch out for sugar-added creamers.

What should I eat to break my fast?

There are many great ways to break a fast – you should experiment with what helps you feel your best. Intermittent fasting is great in that it is a relatively simple intervention that appears to have health benefits regardless of diet.

However, you may notice that with a regular intermittent fasting practice you start to tune into your body and sensations of hunger and satiety more closely. You can let your own hunger sensations while fasting prompt you to explore what your body is really craving and asking for! Also tune into how your body feels as you break your fast, and experiment breaking with different types of foods. I used to break my fast with my favorite breakfast foods of bagels or muffins, but found that I felt nauseous and tired afterwards. I started breaking my fasts with a crisp apple and found that I felt fantastic, with no symptoms reflective of a blood sugar spike. Needless to say, I keep a dozen apples of different colors and varieties in my house at all times now!

A good rule of thumb is to break a fast slowly and intentionally by enjoying a snack or balanced meal with plenty of vegetables and fruit, healthy plant fats (olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, etc.), some protein and some whole grains. Trying going low-carb in the first meal after a long (18+ hours) fast to avoid overly spiking your blood sugar and insulin levels.

What is ketosis, and how will I know that I’m there?

Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body starts to break down and burn fat. Ketosis is characterized by the production of ketone bodies in your liver, which include acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate and the breakdown product of acetoacetate, acetone.

If you have water fasted for over 12 hours, you are likely in at least nutritional or light ketosis! Your liver glycogen has been depleted. Your body is producing ketone bodies as an alternative fuel source for your brain through the breakdown of fat and fatty acids. (Ketone bodies have health benefits for your body and brain, included reduced oxidative stress and inflammation.) You can also reach ketosis with an alternate day fasting or 5:2 protocol with up to 500 calories per fasting day, but it’s best if these calories come from low-carb or keto-friendly foods.

The best way to measure ketosis is through a blood ketone meter. You can measure your ketone levels to see when you reach ketosis and if anything you are drinking/eating during your fast substantially affects your ketone levels. Urine ketone strips are not very accurate. They don’t detect all forms of ketone bodies, such as the important beta-hydroxybutyrate or BHB. So the best bet is to grab a blood ketone meter like Keto-Mojo!

I’m trying to fast but I feel like it’s reducing my energy levels. Is this normal?

It is very normal to feel tired or to have low energy levels when you first start fasting. This can also happen when you first start a new fasting schedule. But if you stick with a set intermittent fasting schedule or fasting duration for 2-3 weeks, you should adapt and have similar energy levels during your fasting windows or days as during your eating windows or days.

However, if you continue to feel tired or to have low energy levels during your fasting window several weeks into your new schedule, you may be overdoing it. You may be trying to fast for too long for too often, or not getting enough calories in during your eating windows. Especially if you are already at a healthy BMI, try backing off of your fast durations or spread your fasts further apart.

To boost your fasting energy levels, you should also:

Stay hydrated! Drink water with added electrolytes during longer fasts. You can also have a low-carb snack during your fasting window, especially if fasting for longer than 18 hours in a day. Eat enough calories to reach your daily energy requirements when you aren’t fasting. The to reach your daily energy requirements when you aren’t fasting. The Mayo Clinic and American Cancer Society have online calorie calculators you can use to determine your daily needs. You can enjoy some black coffee and tea in the mornings during your fasting windows. Make sure you get enough sleep – at least 7 hours per night. Don’t push your eating window late into the night if possible. Keep moving and exercising even while you are fasting! It’s generally safe to exercise while fasting and physical activity will help with both energy levels and preservation of muscle mass during weight loss.

Can I exercise while fasting, and when is the best timing?

Yes! It’s generally safe to exercise while fasted. However, talk to your physician if you have diabetes or have experienced hypoglycemia during or after fasted exercise.

People practicing alternate day fasting choose to exercise on fasted days as often as on their feeding days. However, when approaching the end of a long fast you may want to stick to light to moderate physical activity.

There aren’t necessarily best practices for exercise timing with fasting. However, there’s evidence that fasted exercise can send you into deeper ketosis (and autophagy, or cell recycling) more quickly. Light exercise right before or after you eat can also help your body soak up glucose more quickly from your meal, which is a good thing. High intensity exercise can even raise your blood glucose levels temporarily as your muscles release glycogen and your liver produces new glucose, which could leave you feeling uplifted during a prolonged fast. It all depends on how you feel and what your goals are, but there are many ways to combine fasting with exercise. Learn more here.

How quickly will I lose weight with Intermittent fasting?

The amount and rate of weight loss people achieve with intermittent fasting depends on various factors, including their eating habits and current weight. With alternate day water fasting, overweight individuals typically lose somewhere around 1% of their body weight, or 1 pound for every 100 pounds of body weight, every 10 days. Alternate day fasting with up to 500 calories per fasting day may result in similar weight loss results every 2-3 weeks.

You may experience a bit of a slower weight loss with daily time-restricted eating, but if you increase your fruit, vegetable, fiber, plant fat and protein intake and reduce your carbohydrate intake, even just at some meals, you’ll probably see more rapid weight loss. Some people also find that early time-restricted eating (fasting after sundown) stops their late-night “empty calorie” intake, which can help a lot with both weight loss and metabolic health.

The important thing to remember is that fasting has benefits beyond weight loss, including better sleep, better blood glucose control, lowered insulin levels and greater cellular recycling. Learn more about the weight loss and other benefits of fasting here.

What if fasting slows my metabolism? Will I gain more fat if I stop fasting?

Intermittent fasting does not slow your metabolism, counter to popular belief. In other words, intermittent fasting does not significantly impact your resting metabolic rate (RMR) – it does not decrease the amount of energy your body burns at rest. In fact, fasting may increase the amount of fat you burn over time. See this related study on alternate day fasting and metabolic rate.

Resting energy expenditure has also been found to be better preserved with intermittent fasting than with other forms of weight loss – learn more here. But if you are concerned, another way to increase your resting energy expenditure is to engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity! Examples of this include walking briskly for 1-2 miles or riding a bike in hilly terrain (info via Harvard Health). Also eat plenty of fiber-containing plant foods including fruits, veggies and nuts during your re-feeding windows!

It’s also important to practice intermittent fasting not as a fad diet that you might “rebound” from in terms of weight loss and regain, but as a long-term healthy lifestyle. For example, you could practice 10-16 hours of overnight fasting for the rest of your life with metabolic health benefits even in the absence of weight loss, while occasionally practicing longer or more frequent fasts if you are trying to lose weight.

Find Support!

Check out and join our “First Time Fasters with LifeOmic” featured Circle in the LIFE Fasting Tracker app if you are new to intermittent fasting and want support! Encourage others and share your own story, struggles and how you are overcoming them.