It likely depends on your goals… for me personally, my goal is fat loss. I am following an OMAD (one meal a day) protocol, so I have a 1 hour window to eat each day. I generally eat what I want, but I also want a calorie deficit so I can lose weight.
For this reason, I eat one large meal over the course of 30-40 minutes, and end with some fruit right before I begin the next 23 hours of fasting. That one large meal is nutrient dense, low carb (but not no-carb), high in protein and healthy fats: a couple different veggies air fried, chicken breast or piece of salmon, some avocado, and some quinoa. Maybe a piece of bread. Maybe some nuts and cheese. And then the fruit / something small and sweet.
Eating slowly over that 30-40 minutes allows me to listen to my body so it can tell me when it’s full and satiated.
Really I didn’t change much. I just made my breakfast my lunch because I really love eggs. I have never been a huge snacked besides fruit, nuts and yogurt so I may have that. Dinner I don’t really do anything special besides try to avoid ordering out.
I lost 30 lbs 3-4 months. I did 18:6 5 days a week. In general just try not to eat junk food and should see progress.
My goal is weight loss so I do not eat enough to “make up” for my fasting periods, I count my calories to ensure that I’m in a deficit (burning more calories than I eat).
When I’m deciding what to eat I focus on veggies and protein first so those are the biggest part of my meals. I keep my carbs low in general and when I do eat carbs I make sure they’re complex carbs. I very rarely have sugary foods or snack foods like chips/crisps because these are triggers for me and often cause me to overeat.