This will ultimately be up to you and your schedule. However, here are some considerations you can follow as a general guideline for your schedule:
- You’ll want to hit your total daily protein intake. Furthermore, if you can split up your protein feedings into 3-6 meals, then even better. An eating window of 8 hours (fasting 16 hours) appears to be best to ensure you’re hitting these targets.
- If you’re consuming under your calorie targets because it’s difficult to eat all the calories you have to, then consider opening up your feeding window even more or consider following a regular meal pattern. Your calorie targets are set as such for a reason, so undershooting those targets consistently is not optimal.
- Unless for religious purposes, we don’t recommend prolonged fasting (>24 hours) consistently. This’ll only make it more difficult to progress towards your goals because of the ramifications towards performance, increased energy deficits, and decreased protein intakes. We understand that during Ramadan, that this might have to change and goals may shift.
- You’ll want to ensure your training session is scheduled within your feeding window. This’ll be the most optimal situation to ensure your performance is as high as it can be, as well as ensuring you can have some protein around your workout. If you do have to work out fasted, then you’ll want to have a protein feeding after your workout or even consider just having a normal eating pattern throughout the day.
- If you enjoy eating breakfast, then stick with just a normal eating pattern throughout the day.
- If you notice low energy levels outside of your feeding window or difficulties with concentration or cognition, then it would be best to consume a frequent meal schedule instead of intermittent fasting.
- If you are pursuing a muscle building phase, we do not recommend intermittent fasting because of how difficult it can be to incorporate all the food you’ll need in order to build muscle.