Intermittent fasting: You’ve heard stars rave about it, but what exactly is it? And more importantly, does the diet trend work?
First off, intermittent fasting is almost exactly what it sounds like. It generally consists of going without food for a period of time, then eating normally. The most popular type — 16:8 — consists of getting all of your calories for the day in an eight-hour window (say, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), then fasting for 16 hours overnight. Another method is the 5:2, in which you eat normally for five days a week, then restrict your calories severely (typically 500 for women) for the other two.
As for weight loss Opens a New Window. , the stars know what they’re doing! “In a nutshell, intermittent fasting works,” NYC-based dietitian Keri Glassman tells Us. “Here’s why: For most people, you’re restricting calories and largely cutting out food you shouldn’t be eating anyway.” However, warns the nutrition pro, “That doesn’t mean that I would necessarily recommend it for everyone.” The fasting method Opens a New Window. “requires regimented commitment,” she notes, adding that for some, it can lead to unhealthy eating and “set the person up for yo-yo dieting.” The best candidates, Glassman explains, are already-healthy eaters who don’t mind skipping breakfast and can make solid food decisions even when they’re hungry. Above all, she says, besides having the willpower to fast, “you need to eat a healthy, balanced, real-food diet during the other hours.” Scroll down to see the svelte celebs who swear intermittent fasting works for them!
Lance Bass
Bass has gotten, well, in sync with one of Hollywood’s biggest diet trends. After he started reading The Longevity Diet, the pop star revealed that author Valter Longo, PhD changed the way he ate — and he feels healthier and slimmer. “The way it’s written is brilliant. This guy is so great,” Bass said in January 2019 at the L.A. Art Show Opening Night Gala to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Now I do intermittent fasting. I go 12 hours without eating, and I guess that’s healing me or something. I just do what [Longo] says!”
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Chris Pratt
On December 10, the Jurassic World star revealed he’s giving intermittent fasting a try. “So I’m doing this intermittent fasting thing,” he said on his Instagram story. “Don’t eat ‘til noon, trying to get my cardio in in the morning — super exciting actor stuff — but I finally get my coffee.” (He later clarified the coffee he was drinking contained oat milk; black coffee is allowed during fasting periods.) So far, Pratt digs the diet: “Look it up, check it out, it’s actually kinda cool,” he continued. “It works pretty good and I’ve lost a little weight so far.”
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Kate Walsh
Doctor’s orders: Intermittent fasting does wonders. “I did it quite recently, before I started working intensely again,” the Private Practice alum told Us in November 2018 of the diet trend. “I saw results and I really felt like it was great.” Walsh reveals that the method she used was different than the 16:8 or the 5:2. “I was doing one day a week of fasting, from 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. to 7 p.m.” Though she admitted “you feel a little nutty,” it was worth it in the end. “I did find that you definitely lose a lot of water weight,” she says, adding that she got through the hours by eating an early dinner, then drinking lots of water the following day. “And I feel like it’s really good for clarity and energy.”
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Halle Berry
She seems to be aging in reverse, and intermittent fasting — combined with her keto diet — is one of the reasons. But Berry puts a small twist on the technique. After she wakes up, “she does a Bulletproof style coffee or she’ll do an MCT oil or coconut oil with her coffee,” her trainer Peter Lee Thomas told Us in October 2018. Before a workout, she’ll also have a green juice “or some kind of green shake that’s really, really low on calories, so that way you can still be in that fasting window,” he adds. The trainer notes Berry’s method of fasting is beneficial for both mind and body. “When you’re doing things like coconut oil in your coffee, it’s great and fuels the brain, and you can really get a nice morning jumpstart to your day,” adds Thomas. “I think that intermittent fasting paves the way for a successful start in her busy schedule. So yeah, she loves that and it’s a really, really cool feeling when you can feel the power of it.”
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Moby
For the slender musician, intermittent fasting isn’t a fad diet; it’s a way of life. “I actually do intermittent fasting every day,” Moby told Us in October 2018. “I try minimum 12 hours, usually 16. Basically, I just don’t eat dinner.” He notes that skipping supper is admittedly a strange thing for him to do since he owns a restaurant, Little Pine in L.A.’s Silver Lake neighborhood. “It’s really absurd, I go out to dinner with my friends and I just don’t eat.” Still, the vegan says it’s worth it. “I like it because that way, during the day, I can be really indulgent. Then skipping dinner, there is sort of, like, a martyrdom quality to it.”
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