14:10 intermittent fasting schedule
14:10 intermittent fasting means 14 hours without calories and a 10-hour eating window, for example 9 am to 7 pm. It is a gentle schedule that still leaves room for three meals. A 12:12 overnight fast is the step before it, 16:8 the step after, and trials of 10-hour windows are small and early.
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026
On 14:10 intermittent fasting you leave 14 hours between dinner and the next day’s first meal, then eat within 10 hours. Finish dinner at 7 pm and your window opens at 9 am, so breakfast, lunch and dinner all still fit. Set your own last meal below to get your times.
Choose your protocol
You eat again at --:--
Enter your last meal to see your window.
Why this number? (show the maths)
Your fast starts when you finish your last meal and runs for the length of your protocol. The eating window is whatever is left of the 24 hours.
fast ends = last meal + fast hours
window closes = fast ends + (24 − fast hours)
So on 16:8, a meal finished at 8:00 PM means the fast ends at 12:00 PM the next day and the 8-hour window closes at 8:00 PM. Times adjust automatically across midnight.
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What is 14:10 intermittent fasting?
In 14:10, the 14 counts fasting hours and the 10 counts eating hours. Written 14/10 or 14 10, it means the same schedule. During the 14 hours you have water, black coffee or plain tea. For most people, much of the fast happens during sleep.
The calculator adds 14 hours to the time you finished eating. That gives the moment your window opens, and the window closes 10 hours later.
14:10 sample days with real clock times
| Dinner finished | Window opens | Window closes | Three meals that fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:00 pm | 7:00 am | 5:00 pm | Breakfast before work, lunch, dinner at 4:30 pm |
| 6:00 pm | 8:00 am | 6:00 pm | Breakfast at 8, lunch at 12:30, dinner at 5:30 |
| 7:00 pm | 9:00 am | 7:00 pm | Breakfast at 9, lunch at 1, dinner at 6:30 |
| 8:00 pm | 10:00 am | 8:00 pm | Late breakfast, lunch at 2, family dinner at 7:30 |
The second row is a 6 pm to 8 am fast. A full day on the 9 am to 7 pm window looks like this:
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 7:00 pm (day before) | Dinner finished. The fast starts. |
| 7:00 am | Wake up. Water, black coffee or plain tea. |
| 9:00 am | Breakfast. |
| 1:00 pm | Lunch. |
| 6:30 pm | Dinner, finished by 7:00 pm. |
Start with 12:12 first
A 12:12 intermittent fasting schedule means a 12-hour overnight fast and a 12-hour eating day. Examples are 7 am to 7 pm, or 8 am to 8 pm. For many people, that only means no snacks after dinner. The schedule chooser starts anyone new to fasting at 12:12. Once you already go 12 hours, it moves you to 14:10.
The chooser places your 14:10 window by when you most like to eat:
| You prefer to eat | 12:12 window | 14:10 window |
|---|---|---|
| In the morning | 7 am to 7 pm | 7 am to 5 pm |
| Around midday | 8 am to 8 pm | 9 am to 7 pm |
| In the evening | 9 am to 9 pm | 10 am to 8 pm |
Twelve hours is where the calculator’s “metabolic switch” stage begins. The switch itself, towards burning more fat and making ketones, comes somewhere between 12 and 36 hours in human studies. On 12:12 you reach the start of that range but not beyond it.
Is 14 hours enough for intermittent fasting?
That depends on what you want it for. For weight loss, total calories matter more than hours. A year-long trial with calories matched, and a 2025 review pooling 99 trials, both found fasting schedules and ordinary calorie cutting gave similar weight loss. This point has moderate evidence behind it, from human trials. So a longer fast has not been shown to lose more when you eat the same amount.
For the fat-burning switch, 14 hours may cross it on some days, depending on your last meal and how much you move. Autophagy (cell recycling) has no start hour that any human study has pinned down, so no window can promise it. The fasting timeline sets out each stage by hour.
What trials of 10-hour eating windows found
Two trials checked for this site used a 10-hour window:
| Who and how long | What happened | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| 19 adults with metabolic syndrome, 12 weeks, most on statins or blood-pressure tablets | Weight fell about 3% (3.3 kg). Waist fell 4.5 cm, systolic blood pressure about 5 mmHg and diastolic about 6.5 mmHg. LDL cholesterol fell about 11%. | Early: small, and no comparison group |
| 137 firefighters on 24-hour shifts, 12 weeks, randomised | People aiming for 10 hours cut their eating day from about 14 to about 11 hours. No harmful effects were reported, and quality of life improved. In those with higher heart risk at the start, long-term blood sugar (HbA1c) and diastolic blood pressure fell compared with usual care. | Early: one trial, mostly men, one kind of job |
Even with a 10-hour target, the firefighters’ average eating day settled near 11 hours. Expect your own window to drift a little too.
For 12-hour schedules, the “12 hour intermittent fasting results” people search for are thin. In two small trials, a 12-hour eating day was the comparison group, set against windows of 6 hours. None of the trials checked for this site tested 12:12 as the main schedule.
Who 14:10 suits, and who should skip it
As a beginner intermittent fasting schedule, 14:10 suits people who already manage 12 hours overnight. It also suits anyone who wants to keep three meals or eat breakfast and dinner with family. If a 10-hour window feels too loose, 16:8 is the next step. On nights or rotating shifts, the shift-work planner places the window around your sleep instead.
The fasting for women calculator often suggests 12:12 to 14:10, for example during a period and in perimenopause. Those phase windows are this site’s own framework, and there is little evidence behind them. Our guide for women explains them.
A gentle window is still a fast. Ask your doctor or midwife before starting if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or under 18. The same applies if you use insulin or a sulfonylurea, because both can lower blood sugar too far between meals. Even a gentle 14:10 is a fast we advise against for anyone underweight, or anyone who has had an eating disorder. A medicine that must be taken with breakfast also needs a word with your doctor before you move that meal.
Moving from 14:10 to 16:8, or back to 12:12
To step up, move breakfast one hour later and keep dinner where it is. After a week at 15 hours, move it one more hour for 16:8. Longer windows get their own 16:8 vs 18:6 vs OMAD breakdown.
To step down, bring breakfast back an hour or two. Waking hungry every night, sleeping badly or needing to snack late are all reasons to sit at 12:12 for longer.
A realistic first week of 14:10
This plan is our suggestion for someone who already eats nothing after dinner.
| Day | Dinner finished | First meal | Fast |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | 7:00 pm | 8:00 am | 13 hours |
| 3 and 4 | 7:00 pm | 9:00 am | 14 hours |
| 5 (late dinner out) | 9:00 pm | 11:00 am | 14 hours |
| 6 and 7 | 7:00 pm | 9:00 am | 14 hours, with protein at breakfast to carry you to lunch |
On day 5, dinner runs two hours late, so breakfast moves two hours later as well. The first weeks are covered in more depth in our beginner’s plan.
The fasting timer has a 14:10 goal and lets you set a start time that has already passed. The printable schedule puts the week on one page, and every window from 12:12 up is on the schedules hub.
Your first step is to enter tonight’s dinner time in the calculator above.
Frequently asked
Does 14:10 count as intermittent fasting?
Yes. Any fixed daily window with a long overnight gap counts, and 14:10 is the step between a 12-hour overnight fast and 16:8. Researchers call daily windows like this time-restricted eating.
Is 12 hours OK for intermittent fasting?
Yes, as a starting point. A 12-hour fast often means only that nothing is eaten after dinner. Several small trials used a 12-hour eating day as the comparison group for shorter windows.
Should my eating window be 8 or 10 hours?
Choose the one you can keep. With calories matched, trials put eating windows level with ordinary calorie cutting for weight loss. A 10-hour window keeps three meals, while 8 hours usually means two or three closer together.
Can you lose weight on 14:10?
Some people do, if the shorter eating day means eating less overall. In a 12-week study of a 10-hour window, 19 adults with metabolic syndrome lost about 3% of their weight. That study had no comparison group, so the evidence is early.
What can I drink during the 14 hours?
Water, black coffee and plain tea. A tablespoon of milk in tea or coffee adds about 6 to 9 calories. Juice, sugar and milky drinks count as food.
General information, not medical advice. See the medical disclaimer for who should not fast. Talk to a doctor before fasting longer than 24 hours. If you feel faint, confused or unwell, or have chest pain, stop the fast and get help: call your local emergency number (for example 999 in the UK, 911 in the US and Canada, 112 in the EU).