What can I eat on intermittent fasting?

Any normal foods, in your eating window. Intermittent fasting sets the hours, and no food is banned. What and how much you eat in the window still decides your weight, so build meals around protein and vegetables and watch drinks with calories.

How many meals should I eat on 16:8?

Two meals and a snack fit an 8-hour window well, and that is what the 7-day plan uses. Three smaller meals also work. The total for the day matters more than the number of meals.

Can I eat fruit while intermittent fasting?

Yes, in your eating window. A medium apple is about 95 calories and a medium banana about 105, so fruit makes an easy snack. During the fast itself, fruit breaks it.

Is there a 1,200-calorie intermittent fasting meal plan?

Our TDEE calculator never shows a target below 1,200 calories a day for women or 1,500 for men. Those figures are the bottom of the usual diet targets in a 2013 US obesity guideline. Don't plan to eat less than that without medical supervision.

Do I have to skip breakfast on intermittent fasting?

No. If breakfast is your favourite meal, move the window earlier. On 16:8, an 8 AM to 4 PM window keeps breakfast and moves the fast to the evening and night.

Intermittent Fasting Diet Plan: A 7-Day 16:8 Meal Plan

A good intermittent fasting diet plan is a normal, balanced week of meals placed inside your eating window. No foods are banned and none are required. The 7-day 16:8 plan below uses an eating window from 12 PM to 8 PM, with two meals and a snack each day. Set your calorie target first, then adjust the portions to fit it.

Is intermittent fasting a diet?

Intermittent fasting is a timing rule. It decides when you eat and leaves the choice of food to you. That is why the amount you eat in the window matters so much.

Trials that give both groups the same calories find that intermittent fasting and plain calorie cutting produce similar weight loss. A 2025 review pooled 99 trials and agreed, calling it “some indication”, so the evidence is moderate. Fasting hours pay off only when they lead you to eat less in total.

So you can eat anything in the window, but not any amount. Drinks count too. A few milky coffees or a glass or two of wine in the evening can cancel the calorie gap a 16:8 schedule creates.

How many calories should you eat?

Start from your maintenance figure, the calories you burn in a day. Our TDEE calculator works it out from your age, height, weight and activity.

Here is a worked example from the calculator:

A 40-year-old woman, 165 cm and 70 kg, who exercises 1 to 3 days a week.
Her resting energy use (BMR) is about 1,370 calories a day.
Her maintenance (TDEE) is about 1,884 calories.
To lose fat, the calculator suggests about 1,507 calories, which is 20% below maintenance.
Her protein range is 98 to 140 g a day.

The 20% cut is our own rule. A 2013 US obesity guideline suggests eating 500 or 750 calories a day below your needs. The activity multipliers in the calculator are common ones, not an official standard. For two meals in her window, the calculator gives about 754 calories and 60 g of protein per meal.

Protein targets depend on you. Every adult needs at least 0.8 g of protein for each kilogram they weigh, daily. People who exercise need about 1.4 to 2.0 g per kg. From the age of 65 the floor rises to 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg.

A 7-day intermittent fasting diet plan for 16:8

This beginner-friendly plan uses everyday foods and a window from 12 PM to 8 PM. Days 3 and 7 have no meat or fish. Swap foods for ones you like, keeping a protein food in each meal.

Day	First meal (about 12 PM)	Snack (about 3 PM)	Last meal (before 8 PM)	Protein from the main foods
1	3 scrambled eggs, spinach, wholegrain toast	Apple and 30 g almonds	150 g roast chicken breast, 150 g rice, vegetables	About 65 g
2	200 g Greek yoghurt, 40 g oats, berries	Banana	150 g salmon, potatoes, salad	About 53 g
3	Lentil soup with 1 cup (198 g) cooked lentils, bread	Apple and 30 g almonds	200 g firm tofu stir-fried with vegetables and rice	About 52 g
4	200 g cottage cheese with fruit and crackers	Banana	Wrap with 150 g chicken breast and salad	About 71 g
5	3-egg omelette with vegetables	150 g Greek yoghurt	150 g salmon, rice, green vegetables	About 52 g
6	200 g Greek yoghurt, 40 g oats, fruit	Apple and 30 g almonds	150 g chicken breast, potatoes, vegetables	About 66 g
7	200 g cottage cheese on toast with tomatoes	Banana	Curry with 1 cup (164 g) chickpeas and 150 g tofu, rice	About 65 g

The last column counts only the eggs, yoghurt, cottage cheese, chicken, salmon, lentils, tofu and chickpeas. Bread, oats, rice, almonds and the day-5 snack add more. The figures are for plain, unsalted foods, so brands and recipes will vary.

The main foods give about 52 to 71 g of protein a day. That covers the 0.8 g per kg minimum for an adult of up to about 65 kg. Someone aiming higher, like the woman in the worked example, needs bigger portions or a third protein serving.

Protein and calories in the foods used

Food	Portion	Calories	Protein
Eggs	3 large (150 g)	About 215	About 19 g
Greek yoghurt, low-fat	200 g	About 146	About 20 g
Cottage cheese, 1% fat	200 g	About 144	About 25 g
Chicken breast, roasted	150 g	About 248	About 47 g
Salmon, farmed, cooked	150 g	About 309	About 33 g
Lentils, boiled	1 cup (198 g)	About 230	About 18 g
Firm tofu	200 g	About 288	About 35 g
Chickpeas, boiled	1 cup (164 g)	About 269	About 15 g
Almonds	30 g	About 174	About 6 g

Fats add calories quickly. Each tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil adds about 120 calories, so measure it when you cook. A medium apple is about 95 calories and a medium banana about 105.

How to build your own intermittent fasting meal plan

Open the window with protein and vegetables. A small study of 11 adults with type 2 diabetes found a smaller blood-sugar rise after meals when the carbohydrate came last. The evidence is early, but the order costs nothing to try.

Keep the snack small, or drop it if two meals fill you up. Put the last meal before the window closes, so the next fast starts on time. Our fasting schedule template prints your fasting and eating times for 1 or 4 weeks, or saves them as a PDF. It has a column for how each day felt and an optional weight column. It shows times, not meals, so jot your meals in the “how it felt” column if you want a record.

Outside the window, have only drinks with almost no calories, such as water and black coffee. The grey areas, such as sweeteners and milk, are covered in our list of safe drinks.

If breakfast is the meal you would miss most, move the window. On 16:8, eating from 8 AM to 4 PM keeps breakfast in the plan.

Vegetarian, vegan and keto plans

Days 3 and 7 show that a vegetarian week works the same way, with lentils, tofu, chickpeas and cottage cheese as the protein foods. A guide to vegan intermittent fasting is coming later.

Keto limits carbohydrate. Intermittent fasting sets the hours. You can combine the two, and a separate guide will compare them.

Women can use the same plan with their own calorie and protein figures. Our intermittent fasting for women guide covers the cycle and age.

Set your numbers first

Put your details into the TDEE calculator and choose two meals in your eating window. It gives your daily calories and protein, and an amount for each meal. Then scale the portions in the 7-day plan to match.