Take the 7-11 fasting approach
Over the past few months, especially after deepening my yoga practice, I have naturally been gravitating to a two-meals-a-day approach (with little or no snacks and only a cup of milk tea/masala chai in between). I’m still perfecting this routine, and I think it makes a lot of sense overall.
In truth, compressing your daily meals into an eight-hour window — say, lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner by 7 p.m. — may be one of the most powerful dietary changes you can make, especially if fat loss is your goal.
The principle is simple. Eat two proper meals within that window, then fast for the remaining sixteen hours. During the fasting period, you're not truly depriving yourself — water, herbal tea, and black coffee or tea are all fair game. This is actually easier than you'd expect.
Your body, freed from the constant work of digestion, shifts into a fat-burning mode it rarely gets to enter when you're grazing on snacks from morning to night. This is a good thing.
The benefits extend beyond weight loss. Intermittent fasting has been linked to improved insulin sensitivity, reduced inflammation, and enhanced mental clarity. This is mainly because a stable, unfed state produces fewer blood sugar spikes and crashes. Many people also report that hunger, paradoxically, diminishes once the pattern becomes habitual. The body doesn’t take long to adapt.
The hardest part is usually psychological: we've been told breakfast is non-negotiable and technically you’re going against the grain (no pun intended!). But if your last meal was at 7 PM and you sleep eight hours, you're already fifteen hours into a fast by mid-morning. If you have a proper, active morning routine in place, pushing through to 11 AM is a modest extension with incredible rewards.
So, why not adopt this 7-11 fasting method? Just skip breakfast. Eat well a couple of times. Stay disciplined. And let your body do the rest.
PS: Intermittent fasting comes naturally to me, but it may or may not work for you. Please do your own research and only adopt it if you think it is a good fit for your lifestyle. If in doubt, please consult your doctor or family physician. Understanding the pros and cons of intermittent fasting with a healthcare professional is always a good move before taking the plunge.
While intermittent fasting is safe for a majority of people, it may not be a healthy pattern for people who:
- Have an eating disorder.
- Are pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Are at high risk of bone loss and falls.
