Intermittent Fasting vs Calorie Restriction: All the Differences

When it comes to losing weight, a bit part of this is the calories that you are eating. However, there are several ways in which people are doing this. Two of the most popular is intermittent fasting and calorie restriction. Which is the best approach? Find out!

Intermittent Fasting vs Calorie Restriction: The Difference

Intermittent fasting is basically where you choose several hours or even a day at a time that you are not eating at all aka not taking in any calories. This follows with hours that you can eat as you want. There are those who just fast for 12 hours and choose about 6 hours in which they can eat. Other people take it a step further and have 3 days that they eat what they want, then 1 day that they eat nothing.

A calorie restriction diet is going to restrict how many calories that you can eat per day. In most cases, this is based on the weight loss goals and your current eating patterns to determine how many calories that you should be eating. Most people aim for a 2000 calorie diet for their health and these calories are coming from good foods giving them the nutrition that they need.

The difference is really if a person can stick to not eating during a certain period of time or if they would rather count calories with the calorie restriction diet.

What are the Different Types of Intermittent Fasting?

There are plenty of different intermittent fasting diets out there. These include:

• Time restricted feeding in which a person chooses at what times of the day that they will eat.
• Alternate-day fasting in which the person has “feast” days where they can eat what they want, while they have “fast” days where they go without food.
• 5:2 eating pattern: In this, you will have 5 days of unrestricted eating, then 2 days of fasting.
• Periodic fasting: You will choose days that you restrict food intake then the other days can be unrestricted.
• Eat-stop-eat: This is where you go 23 hours without eating, then eat the next 24 hours, and keep repeating this. However, professionals warn it should only be done once or twice a week.

Which approach is best? It truly depends on your own willpower. Studies have been done and there are those medical professionals who like one or the other better. So, decide what will work for you.