Intermittent Fasting While Traveling Was Easy With Italy’s Cappuccinos

Why Intermittent Fasting in Italy Is a Surprisingly Perfect Setting

When I tell people I managed to keep up with intermittent fasting while traveling in Italy, the usual reaction is something between disbelief and a raised eyebrow. In Italy? The land of pasta, pizza, gelato, and wine? And that’s exactly why I could easily maintain intermittent fasting there: those are all lunch and dinner foods—foods that are definitely worth waiting for. And since Italy isn’t known for its breakfast items, skipping breakfast was a no-brainer.

My Daily Cappuccino Fix

Okay. . .so I didn’t skip breakfast entirely. Every single day I had one of their ridiculously good cappuccinos (sometimes more than one!), and I relished every single sip. They were off-the-chartsI I must say, I have never in the States had a cappuccino quite as good as those Italian delights, but Milo’s Coffee & Co., a fun mobile coffee truck comes closer than any Starbucks or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf ever could. If you’re ever in the Orange County, California area, check Milo’s Instagram to see where they are for the day, and give them a try!

Breaking the Fast—with Delight and a Side of Sightseeing

Sure, technically, one little cappuccino broke my fast (cream = calories = fast broken [read about my coffee and cream crutch when I first started intermittent fasting: here]). But because they were so incredibly smooth, rich, and dreamy, they were 100% worth it—and, I was on vacation! Plus, we were able to get to sightseeing a lot faster since we weren’t lingering over a big breakfast.

Lunch and Dinner: Why Italy Feels Like Intermittent Fasting Heaven

By the time lunch rolled around, we were ready to partake in Italy’s true treasures: leisurely meals of pizza, fresh seafood, and indulgent charcuteries. Dinners were absolute magic. Think candlelit trattorias, velvety wine, and dishes that seemed simple but tasted as if someone’s Italian grandma had cooked all day. It felt like we were eating more than we normally ate, yet we never felt overly stuffed. In other words, fasting in Italy never felt like deprivation, it just synced perfectly with the culture.

Tips for Intermittent Fasting While Traveling

If you’re planning a trip and want to keep your fasting lifestyle intact, here’s what worked for me (and what research supports):

1. Match the local culture.
In Italy, skipping breakfast is easy because the locals don’t linger over eggs and bacon. In Spain, late dinners might make an earlier eating window trickier, but you can adapt. If you’re visiting a country known for their breakfasts, like England or France, you can move your eating window to include it every day or whenever the mood strikes. Basically, you just need to work with the rhythms of the place you’re in.

2. Plan around activity.
Sight-seeing, hiking, or long city walks? These are natural appetite suppressants. Staying busy keeps you from thinking about food, and when it’s time to eat, you’ll appreciate it so much more.

3. Stay hydrated.
Flights, walking, heat—all can leave you dehydrated. Water, sparkling water, or even iced teas help bridge the fasting hours.

4. Be flexible.
Don’t let fasting stress you out on vacation. If you “break” your fast with a cappuccino or a gelato before lunch, it’s not failure—it’s life. There’s always the next day to get back into your fasting rhythm.

What the Research Says

Science backs up the idea that fasting and travel can actually work hand-in-hand:

• Jet lag reset: A study published in Science found that fasting for 16 hours before and after long flights can help reset your circadian rhythm faster, reducing jet lag.
• Metabolic flexibility: Research in the Endocrine Reviews shows intermittent fasting trains your body to be more metabolically flexible, meaning you can switch between burning carbs and fat more efficiently. That flexibility helps when meals are irregular or indulgent, like when you’re on vacation.

The Bottom Line

Intermittent fasting while traveling in Italy wasn’t just possible, it felt natural. With lighter breakfasts, incredible lunches and dinners, and so much walking and sight-seeing, the fasting lifestyle fit perfectly into our travels. I came home not only full of memories but realized that: yes, you can fast your pasta and eat it too—even in Italy.

My husband and me, Tuscany, 2019

Have you fasted while on a trip? If so, I’d love to hear how you did it and what you thought. Please comment below!