Over the past month I’ve been eating 1500 calories a day, doing 16:8 IF and cardio for 30 minutes a day. I’ve seen results, but sometimes my schedule gets in the way.
Nights like tonight are not uncommon. My responsibility schedule gets a bit unpredictable and it’s now past 8 p.m. and I haven’t had a chance to have dinner. I’m sitting at about 1000 calories and could, hunger wise, just ride it out to keep my 16:8. But 1000 calories isn’t exactly healthy.
Is it better for my overall weight loss and health goals to go ahead and scrap 16:8 for this round and eat another 500 calories?
Keep a deficit and you will lose weight (if that’s what you’re going for). When I ate that little amount I would get light headed and lack energy and focus (but that’s me).
Eat a salad or chicken breast and call it a night. Start again tomorrow. That’s what I would do.
You don’t technically need to ingest any calories at all, as long as you’re metabolically flexible and have sufficient fat stores to burn. The fat will provide all the calories you need. Of course, if you’re not metabolically flexible, your body will likely not be able to burn fat fast enough, and if you don’t eat, you’ll likely feel exhausted, weak, irritable, light-headed, dizzy, or even faint.
The good news is that all you need to become metabolically flexible is time and discipline. Just keep slowly extending your fasting window and eventually your body will optimize the processes and pathways used for burning fat, and will be able to supply all the energy you need.