The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting

by Jason Fung

the timing and frequency of meals is as important as the composition of the meal.

So the optimal strategy seems to be eating the largest meal in the midday, sometime between noon and 3:00 p.m., and only a small amount in the evening hours. Interestingly, this is the traditional Mediterranean eating pattern. They eat a large lunch, followed by a siesta in the afternoon, and then have a small, almost snack-sized dinner. While we often think of the Mediterranean diet as healthy due to the type of foods in it, the timing of meals in the Mediterranean may also play a role.

If we assume that 2,000 calories are burned during a normal day, and we know that one pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories, then during an absolute fast—when no calories at all are being consumed—we would expect 0.57 pounds to be lost each day (2,000 calories expended / 3,500 calories per pound = 0.57 pounds lost).

Can you exercise while fasting? Absolutely. The benefits include: 1. You can train harder due to increased adrenaline. 2. You’ll recover from a workout and build muscle faster due to increased growth hormone. 3. You’ll burn more fat due to increased fatty acid oxidation. Train harder, build muscle, burn fat. Perfect! I usually go 3