Looking to lose weight, burn fat, or boost your metabolism? A 16:8 intermittent fasting morning workout may be the one-two punch that helps you knock out your goals. But how do you mix fasting and working out in the morning safely and effectively? Here's what our experts say about intermittent fasting and morning workouts.

Intermittent fasting regularly shows up as many health-seekers' go-to eating plan, and for good reason.

Our bodies, being the wonderfully efficient machines that they are, have a kind of self-cleaning function called autophagy. The research is still very new, but there are some promising results that point to intermittent fasting and autophagy being a sort of health and wellness dream team. Intermittent fasting may trigger the process of autophagy. And the intermittent fasting benefits we know and love (listed below) may actually be due to their connection with autophagy. Some of these fasting benefits are: weight loss, specifically from fat loss, improved cognitive function, reduced inflammation, lower risk of metabolic syndrome, improved heart health, reduced risk of diabetes.

For an effective method of losing weight and improving your health, intermittent fasting is refreshingly light on rules (ironic, given the title of this article). And, because we know that change happens more easily when people control their own path, we're not here to start laying down the intermittent fasting law.

In a world where miracle remedies and magic solutions are showcased everywhere, from billboards to nightly news to your social media feed, it can be tricky to sort through all the hyperbole, exceptions, and twisted truths to distinguish fact from fiction. This filtering process can be incredibly convoluted when it comes to health and nutrition, especially because everyone's body is different, and everyone has different needs and goals.

So, you heard about the Eat Stop Eat method of intermittent fasting: two days of 24-hour fasting five days of eating as you wish to and you're intrigued. It's low on rules and high on flexibility, plus the results look promising. Maybe this is the schedule for you!

So, you've been practicing intermittent fasting diligently and have lost weight. You feel better, have more energy, and are making healthier choices. Congratulations! Now what? Learning how to lose weight is only half the battle. Understanding how to lose weight and keep it off is the more significant challenge.

We've all been there: that day when you put on your pants and … ouch. The waistband is scrunching your stomach. The elastic isn't elastic-ing quite enough. Or the belt holes seem to have suddenly shifted in the wrong direction. Whatever the reason, you might have had at least one encounter with clothing waistbands that made you think: could I change my belly shape and size?

Over the past several years, taking regularly scheduled breaks from eating — in other words, intermittent fasting — has become something of a phenomenon. But does intermittent fasting really live up to the hype? Is fasting really good for your health, or is it an unhealthy option in the long term?

It's probably no surprise that your heart is pretty dang important. The constant beating of your heart circulates oxygen-rich blood to each organ, muscle, and tissue down to the very last cell. Heart damage or disease can rapidly affect your entire body. So, it pays to take good care of your heart — as well as the associated structures, like blood vessels — that do all of this crucial work.