Weekly Intermittent Fasting

This page is dedicated to intermittent fasting methods that are based on weekly fasting periods. If you want more information about intermittent fasting in general, you can read all about it here: Intermittent fasting

How weekly intermittent fasting works

The weekly intermittent fasting can follow two different schedules. Both schedules will include certain days when you are allowed to eat anything at any time and days when you fast or eat a strictly limited amount of food.

The 5/2 Method

The 5/2 method is a weekly intermittent fasting method. You spend 5 days each week eating all the food you normally eat and there are no time or portion restrictions. The remaining 2 days will be spent fasting. On the two fasting days, you can eat small amounts of low-calorie food which should not exceed 500 kcal (2092 kJ) daily, or you can fast entirely for one or both days, which means you don’t consume any food and only drink water, black tea or black coffee.

Which 2 days of the week will be your fasting days is completely up to you, but don’t fast on two consecutive days. Make sure to have at least one day with no restrictions between the two fasting days.

As an example, you can eat normally on Monday and Tuesday, fast on Wednesday, eat normally on Thursday, fast on Friday, eat normally on Saturday and Sunday and again fast on Monday. Every 7-day period needs to include 2 fasting days, but they don’t always have to fall on the same days of the week.

The 24-Hour Method

The 24-hour method is based on switching between fasting and non-fasting days. You can eat normally for 24 hours, fast the following 24 hours, then eat normally again for the next 24 hours and so on. On the fasting days, you can eat very small amounts of low-calorie food which should not exceed 500 kcal (2092 kJ), or you can fast entirely on those days, which means you don’t consume any food and only drink water, black tea or black coffee.

If you want more information about intermittent fasting, check out our pages about the Intermittent Fasting Diet and Daily Intermittent Fasting.