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Teen, Fasting Questions

Hello , I'm Male 16 yrs old and new to this fasting stuff, started two days ago and wanst really following any fasting like 16:8 or 20:4 etc, just been eating two meals a day ,breakfasts at 6am and lunch at 3 or 4pm and water the rest the hours. I'm 5"6/7 and weight 137.I want to get in 16:8 but I skips breakfeast and 8 hour period 12-8. Since I'm a teen here my schedule I wake up at 5:15am for school ,take a shower and get ready.By 6:15am I'm eating my boiled egg and bread for breakfeast and don't eat school lunch cause its just junk and In that time period I only drink water and school ends 2:30.I come home around 3pm and eat at 3:30 and water fast till next morning. So how do I implant 16:8? ,should I stop eating breakfeast or change something up.Thanks. Also few Questions 1.Should I be fasting everyday? 2. Is it good at my age? 3. Will I lose weight? 4.Will it stunt growth? Or benefit it 5.Lastly I practice and play basketball, will this benefit all in sports? 6.Will I get enough calories, I don't know how to check?.

Answer

  1. Yes, you do it every day. 16:8 fasting is basically just restricting your eating to two meals within those 8 hours, and is usually a long-term habit.

  2. (and 4.) If you want to lose weight at any age, you need a caloric deficit. If you’re a girl, restricting calories will affect you less at 16, but if you’re a boy, you still have a lot of growing to do. Restricting calories will invariably affect growth, but can be mitigated with a smaller deficit and making sure to get all the necessary nutrition.

  3. Yes, restricting your calories through intermittent fasting (IF) will help you lose weight. But your current BMI is ~22 and although they tend to be lower for adolescents, you’re hardly overweight.

  4. Answered above.

  5. No, being at a caloric deficit will mean you have less energy. On the other hand, if you do have some pounds to lose, that would help you.

  6. You will likely get fewer calories than needed for maintenance, which is why IF is used for weight loss. If you want to know how to count calories, it’s easy to learn if you just search on Google, but many people do IF because they don’t want the hassle of counting.

I would wait with dieting until you’re done growing, since you’re not obese or anything. But if you have any other questions; shoot.