May 154 min read

14:10 Intermittent Fasting: Your Fasting Schedule & Meal Plan

As many of you who have been following my post-partum weight loss journey know, I've recently switched to a 14:10 Intermittent Fasting schedule after years of following a 16:8 fast.

This simple switch has helped me to more easily maintain my weight loss goals while also making it easier to hold onto muscle and therefore prevent weight regain.

What is a 14:10 Intermittent Fast?

A 14:10 Intermittent Fast is a form of Intermittent Fasting (more specifically time restricted eating) that has you fast for 14 hours and eat all of your meals during a 10 hour eating window.

The 14 hour fast includes when you're sleeping, so for most people you're only "fasting" for about 5-6 waking hours.

Benefits of a 14:10 Intermittent Fast

A 14 hour Intermittent Fast has nearly all of the same benefits of a 16 hour Intermittent Fast, such as:

boosted gut cleaning (via a process called the Migrating Motor Complex)
boosted metabolic flexibility (the ability to easily switch back and forth from burning fat as fuel)
weight loss (when done the right way)
improved gut health (from the enhanced Migrating Motor Complex)
generally improved sleep (again, when done the right way)

A 14 hour fast differs from a 16 hour fast by allowing for two extra hours of eating.

This extra eating time allows for a little bit longer of gaps between meals and therefore makes it much easier to fit in all of the necessary nutrients to support body recomposition and general wellness.

This is also why athletes, those who are more active and those who are postmenopausal tend to benefit from this slightly shorter fast.

These categories of folks tend to have increased protein requirements.

Protein is incredibly satiating on its own, so when you go to increase protein further it can make it nearly impossible to fit it all within an 8 hour eating window.

The 10 hour eating window allows for a bit extra time to let the body digest protein at the previous meal and prepare to eat enough protein at the next meal.

By having a 10 hour eating window when protein needs are higher, you can better balance the benefits of Intermittent Fasting with the benefits of eating high quality protein.

14:10 Intermittent Fasting Schedule For Best Results

When structuring your 14:10 Intermittent Fast, you ideally want to aim for the eating window to be a bit earlier in the day.

Research has shown that breaking the fast earlier in the day (such as at 8 or 9am) rather than later in the day (such as at 12pm or later) can provide better weight loss and hormone balancing benefits.(1,2)

When you choose to break your fast will also be dependent on your schedule.

Because if you don't typically wake up until 12pm due to working night shifts or if your schedule causes you to wake up very early (like at 3am), then it wouldn't make sense for you to choose a break-fast at 8am.

A good rule of thumb is to aim for your break-fast to be about 2-3 hours after waking up when following a 14 hour Intermittent Fast.

So if you wake up at 5am, then your first meal would be around 8am.

Or if you wake up at 7am, your first meal would be 10am.

Once you have your break-fast determined, you would count to a point 10 hours later to figure out when your fast starts again.

Using that same 5am wake-up time example, the fast would start again at 6pm. Or with the 7am wakeup example, the fast would begin again at 8pm.

Related: The Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle

How to Break a 14:10 Intermittent Fast

As much as the fast matters, what you break your fast with matters even more.

If you break your fast with the wrong foods, then this could result in either muscle loss, weight gain or possibly even both.

When breaking a fast, it's absolutely crucial to focus on foods rich in protein, fat and fiber.

These foods provide the necessary nutrients to prevent muscle loss (and therefore help prevent the metabolism from slowing down). They are also incredibly nutrient dense, which helps the body to thrive while achieving a body recomposition goal.

Protein is the ingredient that most people lack, so if you are unsure on how much or what type of protein you should be eating, check out my blog post HERE.

High quality sources of fat include avocado, full-fat greek yogurt and cottage cheese, full-fat kefir, olives, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, walnuts, almonds, peanut butter, olive oil, grass-fed butter and tallow.

As for fiber, there are a LOT of options. Checkout my full list with THIS blog post.

I've also found it crucial to stick to meals and avoid snacking.

This helps to better emphasize quality proteins at a meal and double down on the blood sugar stabilizing perks.

Eating meals, not snacks, ironically also makes it easier to feel satisfied and prevent hunger and cravings, according to research.(3)

This is the format that we follow in the Complete Intermittent Fasting Bundle, which has helped thousands of men and women around the world along their weight loss and wellness journey.