If you’ve ever thought about losing weight and getting leaner, chances are you have been tempted to try intermittent fasting. Advocates claim it can make you lose weight, prevent disease and help you live longer. Its huge popularity has been driven – at least in part – by influencers and celebrities including Rich Roll, Hugh Jackman, Elon Musk and Jennifer Aniston, all of whom attribute their chiselled physiques to the dietary regime. Gary Lineker recently revealed that he follows a one-meal-a-day diet to keep his weight similar to when he played professional football. But intermittent fasting has also gained a following among cyclists. It is reputed that Bradley Wiggins used fasted training rides to shed weight and improve his body’s ability to burn fat before he won the 2012 Tour de France.
Intermittent fasting is a diet, or a style of eating, whereby you don’t eat for an extended period of time, consolidating all of your meals within a specified eating window. There are several types of intermittent fasting, but the most popular is time-restricted eating (TRE), where you consume all your calories in a prescribed eight-hour (or shorter) window – a much smaller time frame than many people are used to. A popular split is 16:8 where you eat within an eight-hour window and fast for 16 hours. Another variation is the 5:2 diet, which involves eating normally for five days each week and ‘fasting’ on the remaining two days. On each of the two ‘fast’ days, you would typically eat between 500 and 600kcal. There’s also alternate-day fasting where you fast every other day, keeping your calories under 25% of your usual intake; not eating at all on a rest day; setting an early evening cut-off, after which eating is prohibited; or simply skipping breakfast.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
CLASSIC BIKE COLNAGO SUPER
A trailblazing bike immortalised by Merckx and Saronni
"Strava activities are the only way I know some of my friends are still alive"
...or that Bernard is doing his weekly shop
AN EXPERT'S TAKE ON... SADDLE SELECTION
Crucial advice to guide your next purchase
JUST A NUMB#R?
Approaching a landmark birthday, Charlie Graham-Dixon explores how ageing affects cycling performance and what can be done to stay ahead of the curve
RURAL PERIL
More UK cyclists are killed on rural lanes than on busy city streets. Rob Kemp investigates why and what can be done to keep us safe while riding in the countryside
A BLESSED RIDE THROUGH THE FOREST OF BOWLAND
Forgoing cloak, cassock and cross, Trevor Ward goes in search of the holy roads that helped make a Tour winner
Dame Sarah Storey claims road and 19th gold double
More success for Team GB's Paralympians in Paris, but Storey slams women's time trial course
Roglič matches Vuelta win record
Slovenian takes fourth Tour of Spain title after hunting down O'Connor's lead, writes Adam Becket
Williams crowned Tour of Britain champion
Welshman leads home resurgence at the stage race to crown an Israel-Premier Tech clean sweep, reports Tom Davidson in Felixstowe
CLASSIC BIKE CLAUD BUTLER OLYMPIC ROAD
Iconic British brand's Holdsworth-era road bike