Thomas DeLauer made intermittent fasting mainstream. Here's how to coach an eating window instead of leaving it to the client.
Half your clients have already tried fasting off a YouTube video. The coaching job isn't to be for or against it - it's to turn "I skip breakfast sometimes" into a structured eating window with a protein floor and a daily check. This breakdown covers DeLauer's approach in our own words, adds our honest take for coaching real clients, and shows how to set an eating-window habit once and verify it every day.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
DeLauer's whole message is that intermittent fasting is really time-restricted eating - a defined daily window that makes protein-forward nutrition fit a busy life, rather than another list of banned foods. The one thing a coach should do about it: treat the window as an adherence tool layered on top of correct calorie and protein targets, set it around the client's real schedule, and verify it daily - not hand someone the idea and hope it sticks.
Thomas DeLauer - This is my 100lb Intermittent Fasting Transformation - Thomas DeLauer
Source: Thomas DeLauer on YouTube - "This is my 100lb Intermittent Fasting Transformation - Thomas DeLauer". Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video, title and channel belong to Thomas DeLauer, and nothing here implies his endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Thomas DeLauer, and why coaches watch
Thomas DeLauer is a nutrition educator with one of the largest health-and-fasting followings on YouTube (in the millions of subscribers). He is one of the people most responsible for taking intermittent fasting from a niche protocol to something an everyday busy professional has heard of, alongside content on low-carb eating and metabolic health. For coaches that matters less because you'll copy his exact protocol and more because your clients already have: when someone arrives saying "I want to do fasting," there's a good chance the framing came from him. This page is written for that moment - not "is DeLauer right," but "how do I turn a client's interest in fasting into something I can actually coach and verify."
What DeLauer actually argues (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas he's known for, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for his exact examples and story.
- 1
Fasting is really time-restricted eating. The core idea isn't starvation - it's confining food to a defined daily window and leaving the rest of the day to water, black coffee or plain tea. It's a structure, not a new food list.
- 2
It's built to fit a busy life. The appeal he leans on is practicality: fewer eating occasions to plan means nutrition bends around a hectic schedule instead of adding another layer of restriction on top of it.
- 3
Keep the meals protein-forward. A shorter window is only useful if the food inside it is built well - anchoring meals on quality protein is what keeps the approach from becoming "eat less of everything."
- 4
He frames it in a metabolic-health context. His content sits fasting alongside low-carb and metabolic-health themes - the argument is about how and when you eat, not just a number on a scale.
- 5
It's a tool for adherence, not a free pass. The window makes eating within limits simpler for a lot of people - but the underlying intake still has to be right. Fasting organises when you eat; it doesn't erase what you eat.
Coachway's take
We're with the practical core of this: for the right client, a defined eating window is one of the simplest adherence tools there is. Fewer eating hours often means fewer decisions, fewer mindless snacks and an easier deficit to hold - without a single "forbidden" food. As a way to make nutrition fit a busy life, it earns its popularity.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: the window is the wrapper, not the diet. If a client's calories and protein aren't set correctly, an eight-hour window changes nothing - they can just as easily over-eat inside it. So in our world fasting never replaces the targets; it sits on top of them. Calories and protein stay the non-negotiable, and the window is the mechanism that makes hitting them realistic for someone who can't stop to eat every three hours.
The other coaching-specific point: fasting is not for everyone, and prescribing it by default is where coaches get burned. Clients with a history of disordered eating, clients doing heavy training who need fuel around sessions, and anyone whose medication or medical situation depends on meal timing should be handled with care or referred to their physician. Offer the window where it fits the person, don't hand it out as a rule.
So our version of his advice is: set correct calories and protein first, then - if it suits the client - place an eating window around the hours they genuinely can't eat, start wide and tighten it over weeks, and anchor the first meal on protein. Then make it coachable: capture the window as a daily habit the client logs, so you can see whether it actually held instead of asking "how's the fasting going?" at the next check-in.
Coach the eating window - don't leave it to guesswork
A fasting protocol is only real if you can set it and verify it. In Coachway you build the client's day in the meal planner - a protein-anchored first meal and the rest of the plate around it - then set the eating window as a habit the client checks off daily, so "did the window hold" and "did they hit protein" become two Yes/No logs instead of a vague conversation. Client progress and check-ins surface that adherence week over week, and automations and reminders nudge the window without you sending a manual message every day. Fasting stops being something the client is doing off a YouTube video and becomes a structured protocol you can see.
If you want the strategy layer first, our guide to intermittent fasting for fat loss weighs when a window actually helps, how to set protein targets for clients covers the floor that has to sit underneath it, and habit coaching for fitness clients covers turning the window into something that sticks.
Time-restricted eating setup (client intake)
A short intake you can copy for any client who wants to try fasting. It sets the window around their real schedule, keeps protein as the floor, and turns the whole thing into two things they log every day. Only offer it where it fits the client - see the notes on who it's not for.
Eating-window setup
The setup
- 1
Hours you realistically can't eat (work / sleep): ____________
- 2
Choose an eating window (e.g. 12:00-20:00); start around 12 hours, tighten weekly.
- 3
First meal = 40g+ protein. Last meal at least 2h before bed.
- 4
Fasting-window drinks: water, black coffee, plain tea only.
- 5
Non-negotiable: daily calories + protein still hit target - fasting is a tool, not a free pass.
Daily log
| Day | Window held? (Y/N) | Protein target hit? (Y/N) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | — | — |
| Tue | — | — |
| Wed | — | — |
| Thu | — | — |
| Fri | — | — |
| Sat | — | — |
| Sun | — | — |
Not for everyone: use care or refer to a physician for clients with a history of disordered eating, heavy training that needs fuel around sessions, or medical/medication timing needs. The window is offered where it fits the person - it is not a default.
TIME-RESTRICTED EATING SETUP (client intake) - via Coachway 1. Hours you realistically can't eat (work/sleep): ___ 2. Choose an eating window (e.g. 12:00-20:00); start ~12h, tighten weekly. 3. First meal = 40g+ protein. Last meal >=2h before bed. 4. Fasting-window drinks: water, black coffee, plain tea only. 5. Non-negotiable: daily calories + protein still hit target - fasting is a tool, not a free pass. Daily log: window adherence (Y/N) + protein target hit (Y/N). NOT FOR EVERYONE: use care or refer to a physician for clients with a history of disordered eating, heavy training needing fuel around sessions, or medical/medication timing needs.
Coaching intermittent fasting - FAQ
What is intermittent fasting / time-restricted eating?
Time-restricted eating means confining all of a client's food to a defined daily window - say noon to 8pm - and taking only water, black coffee or plain tea outside it. It is DeLauer's core theme: not a new set of foods to ban, but a structure that makes nutrition fit a busy schedule. For a coach the useful reframe is that fasting is a scheduling tool, not a diet in itself - it changes when a client eats, and the calorie and protein targets underneath still have to be right for it to do anything.
Does intermittent fasting actually cause fat loss on its own?
The honest coaching answer is that a fasting window mostly helps by making a calorie deficit easier to hold - fewer eating hours often means fewer chances to over-eat. It is not magic independent of intake. That is exactly why we keep daily calories and protein as the non-negotiable target and treat the window as the adherence mechanism on top. If a client eats their whole week's worth of surplus inside an eight-hour window, the window did nothing. Coach the calories and protein first; use the window to make hitting them realistic.
How do you set an eating window for a client?
Start from the client's real day, not an ideal one. Map the hours they genuinely cannot eat - work, commute, sleep - then place the window around the hours they can. A common, gentle starting point is a wider window (around 12 hours) that you tighten over the following weeks as it becomes a habit, rather than dropping someone straight into an aggressive fast. Anchor the first meal on protein and keep the last meal a couple of hours before bed. Then track two simple things daily: did the window hold, and did they hit their protein.
Is intermittent fasting right for every client?
No, and treating it as universal is where coaches get into trouble. It suits clients who prefer fewer, larger meals and want structure that fits a hectic schedule. It is a poor fit - or needs real care - for clients with a history of disordered eating, clients doing heavy training who need fuel around sessions, and anyone with medical conditions that affect blood sugar or medication timing. For those clients a coach should defer to their physician and reach for meal timing or habit changes instead. Fasting is one tool in the kit, offered where it fits, not prescribed to everyone.
More nutrition-science breakdowns
- · Eric Helms on the nutrition pyramid - the hierarchy that puts calories and protein above meal timing.
- · Layne Norton on diet adherence - why the plan a client sticks to beats the optimal one.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep dialing in nutrition coaching
all guidesIntermittent Fasting for Fat Loss: An Honest Guide
Intermittent fasting (16:8, 5:2, OMAD) is an eating-window tool, not metabolic magic - it works through the calorie deficit and adherence. What it is, who it suits, and how coaches handle it.
Read the guideHow to Set Protein Targets for Clients (2026 Method)
Setting a client's protein target is a per-kilogram decision, not a generic macro split: pick a range from goal and training age (1.6 to 2.2 g/kg to build, 1.8 to 2.4 in a deficit), base it on lean or goal weight for heavier clients, split it across three to five meals, and coach it to the number they will actually hit. General information, not medical or dietetic advice.
Read the guideHabit Coaching for Clients: A Coach's Playbook (2026)
Habit coaching for clients is a repeatable system, not a pep talk: choose one keystone habit anchored to something already in the client's day, have them log it daily while you review weekly, and set a minimum-viable floor so a streak survives a bad day. The operational playbook that pairs with the frameworks deep-dive.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Calories Per Meal Calculator · Reverse Diet Calculator · Water Intake Calculator
Coach the eating window - and see it hold
A fasting protocol only works if you can set it and verify it. Coachway lets you build a protein-anchored day in the meal planner, set the eating window as a daily habit, and watch adherence through check-ins and automated reminders - so fasting becomes a structured protocol instead of something a client is doing off a video. Start your 14-day free trial and set up your first client's window from one screen.
