Which fasting schedule suits you?
Six questions about your day and your experience. You get one schedule to try, the eating window that fits it, and a link that opens it in the calculator. If fasting isn't a good idea for you without medical advice, it says so instead.
How the schedule chooser decides
The chooser goes through your answers in a fixed order, and the first rule that applies decides the result. The rules are the site’s own, written down so the same answers always give the same schedule.
- Any box ticked in question 1 stops it. You get “Talk to a doctor first” and no schedule. The boxes cover pregnancy (and trying to conceive or breastfeeding), being under 18, and any history of an eating disorder. Diabetes managed with insulin or another medicine that lowers blood sugar is on the list. So are medicines you have to take with meals, and being underweight, frail or recovering from illness.
- Shift work sends you to a different planner. On nights or rotating shifts, a window set by the clock can land in your sleep. The chooser points you to the planner for shift workers, which sets the window by when you sleep.
- Your experience sets the fast length. It starts one step above what you do now and never goes past 18 hours.
| How much fasting you do now | Suggested schedule |
|---|---|
| None yet | 12:12 |
| About 12 hours overnight | 14:10 |
| 14 hours or more, three meals or meals and snacks | 16:8 |
| 14 hours or more, two meals or one | 18:6 |
- When you most want to eat places the window. Morning windows open early, middle-of-the-day windows sit across lunch, and evening windows stay open for dinner.
| Schedule | Morning | Middle of the day | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:12 | 7 AM to 7 PM | 8 AM to 8 PM | 9 AM to 9 PM |
| 14:10 | 7 AM to 5 PM | 9 AM to 7 PM | 10 AM to 8 PM |
| 16:8 | 8 AM to 4 PM | 11 AM to 7 PM | 12 PM to 8 PM |
| 18:6 | 9 AM to 3 PM | 12 PM to 6 PM | 2 PM to 8 PM |
Your goal in question 6 doesn’t change the schedule. It adds a note to the result. For weight loss, the note points you to a daily calorie amount. For late-night snacking, it says a fixed closing time is what stops it.
A worked example
Say you already go about 12 hours overnight and want a simple routine. You most want to eat in the evening, with your family. The chooser suggests 14:10, eating between 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM. Press Open it in the calculator to open the fasting calculator with 14:10 and an 8:00 PM last meal filled in. From there you can add it to your calendar.
Change your answer to “I already fast 14 hours or more” and pick two meals. The result becomes 18:6, eating between 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
What the result means
The result is a starting point to test for a week or two. If you are new, add an hour or two a week once 12 hours feels easy. A 12-month trial gave two groups the same reduced calories, and only one of them also ate within 8 hours. The difference in weight lost between the groups was not statistically significant. So if weight loss is your goal, the TDEE calculator is the next step, because it shows a sensible daily amount to eat.
The chooser only picks daily schedules from 12:12 to 18:6. If you would rather eat normally on most days and cut down on two, the 5:2 planner covers 5:2, 4:3 and alternate-day fasting.
Related tools and guides
For the longer schedules, 16:8, 18:6 and OMAD are compared in one guide. The intermittent fasting schedules page has every daily schedule in one place. When you know your schedule, print the week on one sheet with the fasting schedule template.
Frequently asked
Which intermittent fasting is best for me?
There is no single best schedule for everyone. If you have never fasted, the chooser suggests 12:12, a 12-hour overnight fast with no food after dinner. If you already fast, it suggests one step above what you do now. The eating window goes where you most want to eat.
Which intermittent fasting is best for weight loss?
A 2025 review of 99 trials compared fasting schedules with cutting calories every day. Weight loss came out about equal, which the authors called 'some indication', making the evidence moderate. The exception was alternate-day fasting, about 1.3 kg ahead, mostly in trials under 24 weeks. Pick the schedule you can keep to, and check your daily amount with the TDEE calculator.
Why won't the chooser suggest OMAD?
Our rule leaves it out, even if you pick one meal, because fitting a full day's food into one sitting is hard. Someone who already fasts 14 hours or more and likes one or two meals gets 18:6 instead. The OMAD guide covers it if you want to read more.
Is this an intermittent fasting quiz?
It works like a short quiz with six questions and no email or signup. The answer appears as you click, and it changes straight away if you change an answer. Nothing you tick is sent anywhere.
Why did the chooser tell me to talk to a doctor?
You ticked at least one box in the first question, such as pregnancy, being under 18 or diabetes treated with medicine. For those groups the chooser will not suggest any schedule. Ask your doctor, diabetes team or midwife if fasting is right for your situation.