What is Time-Restricted Eating?

We all know that there are fads that come and go when it comes to losing weight and healthy living and it is sometimes challenging to work out what is nonsense and what actually has merit.  Today, we are going to take a very top-line peek at time -restricted eating and how you can incorporate it into your lifestyle.

 In essence, time-restricted eating means you are limiting your eating to a window of time – typically advocates of the practice will only eat during an 6-12 hour daytime window and they will then fast for the remaining 12 to 18 hours in a 24 hour period.   So yes, that means you don’t consume any kilojoules outside of the window although you can, and should, have kilojoule free beverages such as water, herbal or black teas or black coffee.

 How could this possibly help with weight loss I hear you ask.  Think about ‘normal’ eating habits – we wake and we are straight into breakfast, sometimes we will slip in a snack, followed by lunch and maybe more snacks or a milky coffee and then dinner and maybe another snack after dinner.  Studies have shown that time restricted eating can lead to reduced caloric intake as it can reduce the number of times you eat which in turn can reduce the number of calories you consume.  And let’s be honest, we can all only fit so much in at one sitting so this also helps with reducing the consumption load.

Keep in mind though that reduced caloric intake is still going to depend on the food choices one makes.  If you think that you can follow time-restricted eating and choose only to eat processed and sugary foods AND lose weight, you are fooling yourself.  You still need to make healthy choices and follow a balanced approach to food selection.

OK, now you know what it is, how do you do it?  Well like anything to do with your health, the sooner you implement a change, the better and it’s as simple as making a decision as to what your window will be.  Following are a couple of examples that you might like to adapt depending on your needs.  I would suggest possibly commencing with the 12:12 window and building up to 16:8 as an ideal.  If you can go longer, by all means go for it. 

Type of time restricted eating	Explanation	Sample schedule
Time restricted eating 12:12	Fast for 12 hours overnight and condense meals into an 12 hour window during the day	Finish dinner by 7 pm then fast until 7am the next day
Time restricted eating 14:10	Fast for 14 hours overnight and condense meals into a 8 hour eating window	Finish dinner by 8pm and fast until 10am the next day
Time restricted eating 16:8	Fast for 16 hours overnight and condense meals into a 8-hour eating window	Finish dinner by 8 pm and fast until 12 pm the next day

Just remember to keep yourself hydrated and to listen to what your body needs which is not chocolate and chips by the way!  Fuel it with lean meats, fish, in-season veggies and some fruit and enjoy how much better you feel.