Limiting food intake for a period of 3 months could potentially aid in maintaining weight loss.
Intermittent Fasting Comes Out on Top for Weight Loss
Lately, time-restricted eating, aka intermittent fasting, has been making waves in the weight loss community. A recent study at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) 2025 discovered that maintaining long-term weight loss is possible through time-restricted eating, regardless of when you eat as long as you stick to an 8-hour eating window.
Regardless of whether you start your eating window early or late, this dietary approach can help you shed those unwanted pounds and keep them off. While some people may find it easier to stick to a specific time frame, the study suggests that there's room for flexibility.
Researchers recruited 99 participants from Spain, with an average age of 49, who were considered overweight or obese. The participants were randomly assigned to four groups for 12 weeks: the habitual eating group with eating windows of 12 hours or more, early time-restricted eaters with an 8-hour eating window starting before 10:00 AM, late time-restricted eaters with an 8-hour eating window starting after 1:00 PM, and self-selected time-restricted eaters who ate during their chosen 8-hour window.
The researchers recorded the participants' body weight, waist, and hip circumference at the start of the study, after 12 weeks, and 12 months post-study. After 12 weeks, all of the time-restricted eating groups lost more weight than the habitual eating group. The study found that limiting the eating window may help people naturally reduce their energy intake, leading to weight loss.
At the 12-month mark, the people in the habitual eating group experienced a weight gain, while all three time-restricted eating groups maintained their weight loss. This finding shows that time-restricted eating can be a sustainable long-term approach to weight loss and maintenance.
Flexibility in Intermittent Fasting
While you can choose your own 8-hour eating window, the study suggests that more structured early and late time-restricted eating regimens may lead to more sustainable changes in eating behavior compared to self-selected windows. Researchers found that the very early and very late eating windows led to a larger decline in waist and hip circumference.
So, whether you're an early bird or a night owl, intermittent fasting has your back when it comes to shedding those extra pounds and keeping them off. Give it a try, and you may find that this flexible dietary approach works for you!
- The study at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) 2025 found that time-restricted eating, or intermittent fasting, can aid in long-term weight loss.
- Regardless of when you start your 8-hour eating window, time-restricted eating can lead to weight loss and maintenance.
- The study suggests that structured early and late time-restricted eating regimens may lead to more sustainable changes in eating behavior compared to self-selected windows.
- By limiting the eating window, one can naturally reduce energy intake, leading to weight loss and potentially obesity prevention.
- Intermittent fasting is not only a flexible dietary approach, but it also seems to be a sustainable choice for weight management within the broader context of health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise.
