Intermittent Fasting/Flexible Dieting

laura3977

I tried IF for about a week - I actually liked it a lot and it did make it easier to stick to my calories for the end of the day. I ended up giving it up because even though I've heard a few first hand experiences of women who have done IF and have been able to maintain their fertility and have even gotten pregnant while doing it, there is some question as to how possibly detrimental it could be a woman's fertility and since my husband and I would like to grow our little family and give our daughter a sibling I figured I should avoid anything that is questionable in that respect.

With that said if you are someone who finds it easy to skip breakfast and wait until 11/12 to "break your fast" then I say give it a shot! I don't think it will burn more fat or help you drop weight faster BUT I do believe that doing an eating schedule that might make it easier to make your calories last longer will help you in the long run.

Sephixteeo

I think it works, but only for certain people. I don't like breakfast, and just have coffee through the a.m., but I am hungriest mid afternoon, through early evening. By dinner, I want something filling. Then, I am good until the next day.

My husband, on the other hand, eats much more often than me, and feels it if he goes very long without food.

FoxyMars25

Yes, for me, this is pretty similiar to zig-zag dieting or calorie cycling as I tend to go way overboard on weekends when it comes to drinking and my diet as well. I can be doing awesome all week and then drink two bottles of wine on a Saturday night, which screws everything up. Now, I am using 5:2 to create a larger deficit in two days instead of trying to stick to the same 1700 cal each day (which of course, I always surpass with the wine). This week, I had my two 500 cal days on Monday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday and so far today, I am not even that hungry. I have been up since 4:00 am (as I workout in the mornings before work) and I still have not had anything to eat today because I simply am not hungry. So, even though I am allowed to eat at maintenance on these other days, so far, that is not happening as I am not even that hungry. Which is great news for when the weekend approaches as I should be able to have my wine/go out to dinner without destroying the deficit I worked to create all week.
This is also incredibly bizarre as I am ALWAYS hungry. I was doing the TDEE method where I calculated my TDEE based upon the amount of exercise I do (6 days a week average 40 min each day) and was eating at about 20% below that, and I was ALWAYS STARVED. I have been searching the forums trying to find out why I am always hungry. I find people saying to eat more fat, eat more protein, etc etc, well, I was.

And I was still. hungry. all. the. time.

But now, I feel wonderful and I know I just started doing 5:2 but I am simply amazed at how this is really controlling my cravings and my appetite. I also feel more alert and focused at work and have plenty of energy. I just hope this continues as I really think this is going to work for me. I lost 65 pounds since 2012 and then stalled for about a year, and then gained 10 pounds last fall (due to a medication I went on). I stopped the medication but have not been able to get this 10 pounds off. The sad part is that I was not even at my goal yet ( I was maybe 10-15 lbs away and now I am 20-25 away) and have been incredibly frustrated and upset because the weight just won't come off, mainly due to the fact that I like to drink on the weekends and that hurts the deficit I created all week.

Sorry about the long post, I am just so excited about this so far!

LovelyIvy466

It has worked for me, but I was another person who never liked breakfast anyway. Best part is it helped me curb my nighttime snacking habit, which was always my downfall. I worry about some women on IF though, because I think that they use it to mask or rationalize severe undereating. IF is a great tool to manage your hunger, but it's just a tool. If you overeat you gain weight. If you are prone to ED then it can be dangerous.

Metruis

I often IF and skip say, eating until I'm home from work at around 5. Because I'm just not hungry in the morning and I don't have any 'breaks', because I'm the only one here most of the time. I have kind of messed up and stopped doing it lately though, right now I'm eating most of my calories for the day in one blow right now because I'm going to be out after work all evening.

I prefer to work out fasted because I hate feeling full and trying to lift. If I start to get dizzy then it's a clear sign to stop but that's almost never happened.

I never liked breakfast anyway.

liekewheeless

I tried the every other day thing. Where you eat 500-600 every other day and eat a normal diet (maintenance calories) on the other days.

For me it failed, I learned I don't have the discipline to put down that fork yet.

For some reason I can stick to the low part but totally mess up on the high days...Plus I was eating to much junk on my high days... it was like a free for all.

Back to 1300 -1500 for now.

freeoscar

Lexicpt wrote: »

I unintentionally do IF most days. I don't eat until noon and am done eating for the day by 8pm. It just works out that way because I'm not hungry in the mornings.

Same thing here. I found that no matter what I ate for breakfast it didn't reduce my hunger later in the day. I'd much rather have those calories for later in the day to eat meals which really satisfy me.

lthames0810

16:8 here.

I tried it out just out of curiosity and found, to my surprise, that it solved a couple of my chronic problems with calorie restricting:

1) It helps me manage my hunger. I used to always eat breakfast as soon as I got up but was always hungry again very soon after and all day long. I would sometimes have eaten all my calories before even sitting down to dinner. Holding off on breakfast untill around 10 or 11AM, I don't really feel hungry beforehand and that hunger between meals has gone away, I guess, because I eat everything within a compressed time frame. Who knew I wasn't a breakfast person afterall (after 60 years?)

2) I don't snack in the middle of the night anymore. I'm often up (can't sleep) in the night and especially vulnerable to snacking at that time. Somehow, in my mind (such as it is) I have it that the fasting part of the day is critical and that provides additional incentive not to blow it. I don't know why the desire to lose weight wasn't incentive enough all by itself before, but there it is.

I'm having difficulty on the weekends because I often take a long bike ride on Saturday mornings and I don't want to risk bonking far from my car or a store. Also I find it difficult to manage on weekend days if my eating schedule doesn't sync up with my husband's. For now, I'm just going with a 12 hour fast on the weekends.

RatherBeInTheShire

I'm a 5:2'er. Been doing it since the beginning of this year. I've lost 11 lbs. I've not exercised in that time, so for me, it's working. I obviously want to exercise more but with a full time job, 10 month old baby, and cold weather, it wasn't happening. I love 5:2 and can really see this being something I can stick to long term. The fast days get easier the longer you do it.

lautour

Side note: I had to look up Flexible Dieting and I thank you for using that term. It's IIFYM, the diet the majority of MFP forum regulars seem to follow. But by only having IIFYM as a search term before I was missing a lot of information. I don't do it although I'm considering it as a way to better manage my up days.

I have been doing Alternate Day Fasting (TDEE/500 rotation) for a month. I did it before and loved it but had some blood sugar problems that have since been straightened out. I feel really comfortable with it and I'm happy to do it again.

I feel like I could eat like this forever. I've gone out to restaurants and social events on fasting days and been able to enjoy something low calorie (or just water) while spending time with my family and friends. For some reason I didn't do this very well when I restricted calories every day. I always ate a lot when I ate out because I saw it as a "diet break", whereas now I have a "diet break" every other day so I don't feel the need. At the same time, fasting days are also welcome breaks from worrying over and thinking about food. It's just really nice for me.

I see it as a structure that helps me maintain calorie restriction. It is harder for me to watch my calories like a hawk every day. But it is not hard for me to go many hours without eating.

lautour

liekewheeless wrote: »

I tried the every other day thing. Where you eat 500-600 every other day and eat a normal diet (maintenance calories) on the other days.

For me it failed, I learned I don't have the discipline to put down that fork yet.

For some reason I can stick to the low part but totally mess up on the high days...Plus I was eating to much junk on my high days... it was like a free for all.

Back to 1300 -1500 for now.

Yeah, that's a concern and I hope you have found what works for you.

I felt that way the first time I tried every other day. 90% (my rough guess) of people who do it seem to struggle with the high days. Everyone thinks it will be the low days but it's the high days. Dr. Krista Varady (author of The-Every-Other-Day Diet and the one person who has led the most research on this particular way of eating) says to give it 6-8 weeks and focus on consistent low days. I've been at it for 4 and a half weeks and certainly have some wacky Up days (like this past Sunday when I consumed an entire loaf of cinnamon raisin bread). I'm still losing weight, just more slowly as I work on the binges. It can get scary and frustrating but it helps that even if I have a hellacious Up Up And Away Day I know that the next day I'm taking a break.

For example, when I was doing 1500 a day there might come a day when I ate too many brownies and hit 3000 calories. Then the next day I'd try to get back down to 1500 and I'd plan for it but still count it as a victory if I had an extra midnight snack and hit 1700 because, hey, it's better than 3000! I still did good right? These little cheats doomed everything for me. But with ADF, hitting a 3000 calorie day will be followed by a 500 day where very few calories are consumed no matter what. Super easy to plan because there isn't much leeway, and being so stuffed from the day before can make it even easier. The hardest thing for me is not freaking out when I fail but instead using it as a learning opportunity, and this is useful no matter what way of eating a person follows. Yes I ate an entire loaf of cinnamon raisin bread (and...other things) but I weigh less today than I did that morning before I went a little crazy. I've lost 6 pounds in a month which isn't the world's fastest weight loss but it's a pound and a half a week and it's manageable for me.

liekewheeless

lautour wrote: »

liekewheeless wrote: »

I tried the every other day thing. Where you eat 500-600 every other day and eat a normal diet (maintenance calories) on the other days.

For me it failed, I learned I don't have the discipline to put down that fork yet.

For some reason I can stick to the low part but totally mess up on the high days...Plus I was eating to much junk on my high days... it was like a free for all.

Back to 1300 -1500 for now.

Yeah, that's a concern and I hope you have found what works for you.

I felt that way the first time I tried every other day. 90% (my rough guess) of people who do it seem to struggle with the high days. Everyone thinks it will be the low days but it's the high days. Dr. Krista Varady (author of The-Every-Other-Day Diet and the one person who has led the most research on this particular way of eating) says to give it 6-8 weeks and focus on consistent low days. I've been at it for 4 and a half weeks and certainly have some wacky Up days (like this past Sunday when I consumed an entire loaf of cinnamon raisin bread). I'm still losing weight, just more slowly as I work on the binges. It can get scary and frustrating but it helps that even if I have a hellacious Up Up And Away Day I know that the next day I'm taking a break.

For example, when I was doing 1500 a day there might come a day when I ate too many brownies and hit 3000 calories. Then the next day I'd try to get back down to 1500 and I'd plan for it but still count it as a victory if I had an extra midnight snack and hit 1700 because, hey, it's better than 3000! I still did good right? These little cheats doomed everything for me. But with ADF, hitting a 3000 calorie day will be followed by a 500 day where very few calories are consumed no matter what. Super easy to plan because there isn't much leeway, and being so stuffed from the day before can make it even easier. The hardest thing for me is not freaking out when I fail but instead using it as a learning opportunity, and this is useful no matter what way of eating a person follows. Yes I ate an entire loaf of cinnamon raisin bread (and...other things) but I weigh less today than I did that morning before I went a little crazy. I've lost 6 pounds in a month which isn't the world's fastest weight loss but it's a pound and a half a week and it's manageable for me.

I may give it another go in the future. I didn't give it much of a go to begin with. Glad it works for you!

PeachyCarol

18:6 here

I was naturally eating 18:6 and didn't even know it was a "thing" until I came on here. Being older and short, I have a pretty small calorie budget, so when I started feeling hungry on my deficit, increasing my intake wasn't an option. I started playing around with some things, and one of the things I did was close down my IF window by 2 hours. It really does help manage my hunger a lot. In that 6 hours, I eat 4 small meals about every 2 hours (noon, 2, 4 and right before 6 pm).

I find it quite manageable, as I've never been one much for breakfast anyway, and I always naturally stopped eating well before bed time.

zerothree84

It works perfectly. I wourkout 4-5 Times a week and my feeding window is 16/8 and im in a caloric deficit of 770 calories. I just started IF a month ago but I already see results. I would recommend this feeding schedule to everyone who wants to loose weight.

CSlupe11

Annie_01 wrote: »

CSlupe11 wrote: »

How many of you follow intermittent fasting/flexible dieting? Do you feel it works better than when you eat just your allotted calories/macros whenever you want throughout the day?
Trying to decide if its truly a good "diet" plan or if it works more like a placebo affect.

You might also take a look at zigzag dieting. I am trying it now to see if it fits my life style. My calorie level is 1370. Two days a week I eat lower...two days higher...and three days at 1370.

I was interested in the 5:2 but just didn't know if I could go that low in calories for those two days. The zigzag allows me to have one day on the weekend at a higher range and one day mid-week.

That's a good idea. I tried that for 1 week and it was much easier than IF.

fastforlife1

Hi my new blog http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/fastforlife1 tells of my experiences with Intermittent Fasting and gives a brief description of different types. Whatever plan you choose, calories count. I think the Warrior Plan is the most effective for weight loss, but I usually eat 1000-1400 calories in a 6 hour window 5 days a week. 2 days -1800 calories. But I'm older than you and it is a real struggle to lose weight.

CSlupe11

FoxyMars25 wrote: »

Yes, for me, this is pretty similiar to zig-zag dieting or calorie cycling as I tend to go way overboard on weekends when it comes to drinking and my diet as well. I can be doing awesome all week and then drink two bottles of wine on a Saturday night, which screws everything up. Now, I am using 5:2 to create a larger deficit in two days instead of trying to stick to the same 1700 cal each day (which of course, I always surpass with the wine). This week, I had my two 500 cal days on Monday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday and so far today, I am not even that hungry. I have been up since 4:00 am (as I workout in the mornings before work) and I still have not had anything to eat today because I simply am not hungry. So, even though I am allowed to eat at maintenance on these other days, so far, that is not happening as I am not even that hungry. Which is great news for when the weekend approaches as I should be able to have my wine/go out to dinner without destroying the deficit I worked to create all week.
This is also incredibly bizarre as I am ALWAYS hungry. I was doing the TDEE method where I calculated my TDEE based upon the amount of exercise I do (6 days a week average 40 min each day) and was eating at about 20% below that, and I was ALWAYS STARVED. I have been searching the forums trying to find out why I am always hungry. I find people saying to eat more fat, eat more protein, etc etc, well, I was.

And I was still. hungry. all. the. time.

But now, I feel wonderful and I know I just started doing 5:2 but I am simply amazed at how this is really controlling my cravings and my appetite. I also feel more alert and focused at work and have plenty of energy. I just hope this continues as I really think this is going to work for me. I lost 65 pounds since 2012 and then stalled for about a year, and then gained 10 pounds last fall (due to a medication I went on). I stopped the medication but have not been able to get this 10 pounds off. The sad part is that I was not even at my goal yet ( I was maybe 10-15 lbs away and now I am 20-25 away) and have been incredibly frustrated and upset because the weight just won't come off, mainly due to the fact that I like to drink on the weekends and that hurts the deficit I created all week.

Sorry about the long post, I am just so excited about this so far!

Don't be sorry for the long post. LOVED reading it! Glad you have found something that has worked for you. As far as being hungry all the time, you're exercising often which means you have a higher metabolism than people who don't exercise. When I strength train I'm hungry all freaking day! LOL

Yes the wine calorie intake doesn't help so that's good that you're taking that calorie deficit into consideration BUT I will tell you that alcohol can totally destroy all your hard work. I used to like to drink on the weekends but when I read on what it does to the body, it totally ruins all the exercise, diet, etc you did all week. Bummer!

fastforlife1

@SLL & @HSmith - IF and HIIT have lowered my fasting glucose to 85 - before it was 99. (Nor bad for a 59 year old who still has 50 pounds to lose). When working out in a fasted state, the body's glucose has already been depleted, so the body draws its energy from fat. If nothing else the hormone blast and the high that follows makes working our fasted awesome! I also walk and lift.

MimGSR

I do 16:8 too, although most days is closer to 20:4. I am really hungry in the evenings and get very irritable! It just makes sense for me to save my calories and eat in the late afternoon/evening (and then I don't want to kill my husband!). I still weigh and count everything I eat/drink but it makes it much easier to stick to my goals.