Intermittent Fasting — The Best Diet When You’re On A Holiday

Vacationing is all about unwinding, enjoying and exploring your surroundings. Everything seems perfect when you’re far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And with all the travelling and indulging, it is natural to lose track of your eating routine. If you’re a diet conscious person, this can be a big drawback. The thought of disrupting your balanced diet and gaining some extra pounds can stress you out even on an exciting holiday. But fret not! Because the ultimate solution for this problem has been discovered. It’s the fitness world’s latest obsession — intermittent fasting ak.a. the millennial way of skipping breakfast. We kid! Read on to learn why and how you should practice this when travelling.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

If you’re a social media geek, you’ve probably seen the term intermittent fasting floating around here and there. It’s currently a highly popular health and fitness trend, but it’s more than just a fad diet. The term Intermittent Fasting (IF) refers to an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. Unlike a diet plan, it doesn’t specify which foods you should eat, rather when you should eat them. In simpler words, it requires you to skip certain meals each day, hence fasting. For example, you already fast a few hours every day — the gap between your last meal at night and the first meal of the next day. In intermittent fasting, you’re required you extend those fasting hours.

Methods Of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is not a single plan and there are actually a few different ways to practice it. For optimal results, it’s best to find out which method will work the best for you, especially when you’re travelling.

• The 16/8 method: Also known as Leangains protocol, it’s a simple time-restricted eating plan. It involves fasting for up to sixteen hours and only eating during an eight-hour window. The most common way people practice it is by skipping breakfast and restricting their daily eating period to 8 hours in the evening/night.
• Eat-Stop-Eat:This method involves fasting for a total of 24 hours, once or twice a week. The right way to do it is to go from dinner-to-dinner. Have your dinner one day and fast till dinnertime the next day.
• The 5:2 Diet: This method allows you to eat normally five days of the week, but on the remaining two days you’re required to restrict your caloric intake to between 500–600 calories.

Why Is It Perfect For When You’re On Holiday?

If you’re already an intermittent faster, there’s no reason you should stop doing it even when on a trip.  In fact, a vacation can be the best time to start if you’ve never done it before. Since intermittent fasting doesn’t require an elaborate meal plan, it’s extremely simple and easy for you to follow irrespective of where you are and what foods are available to you. Another reason intermittent fasting makes for the ideal diet for a traveller is because of its requirement of not eating for an extended period of time. This is perfect for someone who is busy with a hectic travel schedule.

How To Practice Intermittent Fasting While On A Holiday?

When you’re on holiday, you can benefit most from the 16/8 method. Try fasting for the first half of your day so you can enjoy a delicious meal later on. For example, if you have your dinner at 9 pm, you can start fasting then and skip breakfast the next day while you’re out exploring. By the time you have lunch at around 1pm, you’ll complete your 16 hours of fasting. This way you won’t find it difficult and will reach your goal and keep your eating habits balanced.