How do you break a fast properly?
Start small and protein-forward rather than with a large or heavily refined meal. After a 16-hour fast this is a comfort question; after a much longer one it matters more.
After a normal 14 to 18 hour fast, there is no special protocol. Eat your usual meal. The main thing people get wrong is the size: a very large first meal after a long gap tends to leave you sluggish and can undo the appetite control that made the fast worth doing.
Protein and fibre first, refined carbohydrate later, is a reasonable default. It steadies blood sugar and it is more satisfying, which matters if you are eating in a compressed window and need the meal to last you.
After a genuinely long fast — a full day or more — go slower and smaller. Something warm and easy to digest, then wait, then eat properly. Refeeding after extended fasting is a real clinical consideration, not a wellness affectation, and it is one of several reasons long fasts are not something to improvise.
General information, not medical advice. Intermittent fasting is not right for everyone. Talk to a clinician before starting if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have or have had an eating disorder, have diabetes, or take prescription medication.