Intermittent Fasting

PeachyCarol

NotQuiteNorm wrote: »

I've done a bit of reading and I think I'm going to go for 18:6 for a few days and depending how it goes be open to both 16:8 and 20:4 depending how I feel. Because I'm used to eating small amounts of rubbish in only a small window of time I really find myself forcing food the rest of the day so I think this will be fab

Thanks for all the positive responses, I feel a lot more certain about this now!

Ps. Anyone notice they drink more during IF? I don't feel hungry so far but I am well into my 3rd water since 9am and am usually lucky to have 3 glasses/mugs of anything in a full day.

I have chronic dry mouth thanks to a medication I'm on, so I don't know if it's down to my eating pattern or that... but I drink a TON of water.

NotQuiteNorm

I

OdesAngel wrote: »

You still have to be in a deficit to lose, IF is just a different way to stay within that deficit. I don't do the traditional IF method but I tweaked if for myself and its working. I have to eat 1600 a day to be at a deficit. I find that I naturally tend to skip breakfast and can have a piece of fruit and coffee for lunch without headaches and negative effects. I will eat the rest of my cals for dinner and still stay within 1600.

If I start eating in the morning I find myself hungrier and looking for food throughout the day, which makes staying within 1600 cals harder. I suggest experimenting with different eating windows to see what works for you. But to reiterate, you still have to be in a deficit to lose.

Yeah, IF just seems like the best way to curb my late afternoon cravings as I can have more calories then because I didn't have them earlier. Thanks for the heads up anyway I kinda worried about posting this as I see a lot of people being treated like an idiot for even asking (which, even if they don't know much, is not the right way to talk to someone) but I'm so glad to see all polite, informative posts on my thread

slideaway1

NotQuiteNorm wrote: »

I

OdesAngel wrote: »

You still have to be in a deficit to lose, IF is just a different way to stay within that deficit. I don't do the traditional IF method but I tweaked if for myself and its working. I have to eat 1600 a day to be at a deficit. I find that I naturally tend to skip breakfast and can have a piece of fruit and coffee for lunch without headaches and negative effects. I will eat the rest of my cals for dinner and still stay within 1600.

If I start eating in the morning I find myself hungrier and looking for food throughout the day, which makes staying within 1600 cals harder. I suggest experimenting with different eating windows to see what works for you. But to reiterate, you still have to be in a deficit to lose.

Yeah, IF just seems like the best way to curb my late afternoon cravings as I can have more calories then because I didn't have them earlier. Thanks for the heads up anyway I kinda worried about posting this as I see a lot of people being treated like an idiot for even asking (which, even if they don't know much, is not the right way to talk to someone) but I'm so glad to see all polite, informative posts on my thread

That's exactly how it works. It's just a tool that can be adopted to suit the users needs to hit a calorie goal for the day. Meal timing is not important and there is no law that says you cannot skip breakfast and lunch to save your calories for a bigger, satisfying meal of an evening etc. There is also no rule that says you should instantly refuel after a workout if you do not need to. Weight loss is primarily about being in a deficit when you put your head on the pillow to go to sleep for that day. However people get to those magic numbers is what ever method best suits them.

NotQuiteNorm

slideaway1 wrote: »

However people get to those magic numbers is what ever method best suits them.

Realising you mean it as timings etc, but some people reading might take this to mean anything I'd like to clarify to anyone else reading this for info that he's presumably doesn't mean fast for 20 hours then eat just under your goal in cake and chocolate. Sadly.

RoxieDawn

Like the above posts states, all of people already have adopted this way of scheduled eating because of their lifestyles so moving up or moving out the schedule is easy.

Most people do not do a 20:4 or 19:5.. It is very easy to do a 16:8 or 17:7 or even a 18:6. I would not recommend eating all your calories in one or even two sittings right away unless you are already sort of on this schedule.

For example, most people get up and go to work and have a mid morning snack or nothing at all until lunch besides coffee or tea.

Make this work for you and if eating chocolate at night is something you need to do, fit is in the deficit you have setup in MFP. It is simple as that..

Do I eat chocolate before I go to bed not but I do fit a low calorie or low carb dessert that I prepare. But it fits in my macros (IIFYM).

rainbow198

I've been doing IF naturally for the past 2 years. When I first started logging my food I noticed mini-meals and snacks didn't satisfy me and actually caused me to eat more since I was usually still hungry.

I decided to try to start eating when I was hungry and discovered delaying breakfast and eating in a window works really great for me. I didn't even know what IF was when I started it.

When I first started my window was more between 8 - 10 hours and I ate about 4 times and included a snack some days.

Now I eat all the calories I need each day in about a 4 - 6 hour window. This translates to 2 to 3 very filling well-balanced meals and I make sure I'm hitting my macros. (The window may increase during vacations, holidays, events etc. I'm not overly strict during those times).

There's no hunger, I sleep better, fat loss accelerated and I believe it has made maintaining for me much easier as it helped me develop a much better relationship with food. I used mindlessly snack after dinner or I would look at the clock waiting for the next snack. No more. I'm in control now!

I think it's important to start off slow. I talk to so many people that go from eating 6 - 8 times and day, then go balls to the wall with IF and have a really tough time. Start off with a 12 hour window and build from there. If that's too easy, increase to 14 hours and so forth. It can take a couple weeks for the body to become fat-adapted.

Secondly research the various protocols and see what might fit better for your lifestyle. Like for me I am very active and maintaining so I need a lot of calories. 5:2 would not work for me. I need food and lots of it. Also make sure you don't have any health problems like blood sugar issues.

Good luck!