Intermittent Fasting (IF) "experiment"

Thaeda

For the last three plus weeks, I have been using IF to see if I could lose a little more weight and also to see if it would be a good tool for maintenance. I will not go into a lot of detail about the pros/cons or methods of IF here-- there is a lot of info on the Internet about it-- feel free to explore if it interests you. My particular version of IF is 14/10-- 14 hour fast, 10 hour "feed"- what that means is I stop eating by 10pm and do not eat again until 12 noon or later the next day.

I have lost a few pounds in the month I have been doing this but even better, I have lost 4% bodyfat. I have not found it super hard. At this point, I do not plan to try another very popular form of IF which is to have 2 or 3 very low calories days each week (600 cals or less) interspersed with "free" days where you can eat pretty much whatever you want. I had considered trying it, but it seems too hard for me right now.

I have never censored myself and I am not going to start now- so here is how it is working out for me. Some days, I use IF the way it is supposed to be used-- feeding myself healthy, balanced meals during the "feed" time. However, I have also used it as a way to let me eat junk without worrying about gaining weight. For example, if I do not eat anything until 12 noon, then eat only a very light lunch, I have lots of calories left for the evening (my primary binge time) and can pretty much eat whatever I want. I fully understand this is not very healthy and it is something I am sure I will change on down the road-- but wanted to be totally honest about my experience.

I participated in a WLS support group for the first time last week. The group is run by a psychologist and is held at the surgery center where I had my appointments pre/post op. I mentioned struggling to find a balance between restricting and bingeing and some of the crazy food/exercise behaviors that have come out in the last year or so since having surgery. The psychologist said that was actually quite typical- going to extremes on either end-- and her experience has been as long as patients keep pressing on, eventually the majority of them find balance in diet/exercise. I am hopeful that will be the case for me and I felt very reassured by her words.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.

5BeautifulDays

I've never been a binge eater (as I see it), but I *am* a night-time eater. Can you tell me what it means to you, as a WLS person, to "binge" at night?

I ask because I naturally fall into a pattern of eating where my most calorie-dense calories (and my 1 self-allowed sweet food) happen between 6 and 11 pm. I do track everything and plan for my days and nights. I don't at this point find it possible to eat more than a single serving anyway, so I don't think of it as binging.

aylajane

I do not formally do IF, but I do work around my preference "binge" time. . I know that evenings I will be grazing, and right before bed I will eat my arm off. But during the day I have pretty good self control. So I skimp during the day when I have the most will power, eating 100-200 calories a few times, so that when 5pm hits and I get home, I have at least 1000 calories to play with. I dont always use them all, but I rarely go over my daily calories when I do that.

I love the idea of IF, but the thought that I "cant" eat is usually killer for me, so this way I get the same basic concept but still get to eat all day.

Way to go

freedomfighter1

I have been doing IF for a few months now.Eating breakfast at 11am or later and do not eat after 10pm most days. I find that the minute I start eating in the day, I feel hungry every 3-4 hours.So by starting later I normally am able to eat 1 less meal and/or snack, which keep my calories and carbs down. I am used to this now and are not hungry early morning.

Thaeda

5BeautifulDays wrote: »

I've never been a binge eater (as I see it), but I *am* a night-time eater. Can you tell me what it means to you, as a WLS person, to "binge" at night?

I ask because I naturally fall into a pattern of eating where my most calorie-dense calories (and my 1 self-allowed sweet food) happen between 6 and 11 pm. I do track everything and plan for my days and nights. I don't at this point find it possible to eat more than a single serving anyway, so I don't think of it as binging.

Ok-- so yesterday I did not eat "dinner" until 7pm-- I had 4oz of chicken and a slice of bread with 1 Tb of butter on it (about 400 cals). Then about 90 mins later I had microwave popcorn (about 5 cups), a large whoopie pie (two cake rounds with butter cream icing between them) and 2 large handfuls of peanut butter M&Ms (about 700 cals total). So I had 1100 cals in about 3 hours. I consider that a lot of food.

I feel somewhat reassured knowing I am not the only one who eats like this-- meaning eating most of your calories in the evening. Thanks.

Thaeda

freedomfighter1 wrote: »

I have been doing IF for a few months now.Eating breakfast at 11am or later and do not eat after 10pm most days. I find that the minute I start eating in the day, I feel hungry every 3-4 hours.So by starting later I normally am able to eat 1 less meal and/or snack, which keep my calories and carbs down. I am used to this now and are not hungry early morning.

I have not gotten used to it yet-- but I drink coffee and that helps.

5BeautifulDays

Thaeda wrote: »

5BeautifulDays wrote: »

I've never been a binge eater (as I see it), but I *am* a night-time eater. Can you tell me what it means to you, as a WLS person, to "binge" at night?

I ask because I naturally fall into a pattern of eating where my most calorie-dense calories (and my 1 self-allowed sweet food) happen between 6 and 11 pm. I do track everything and plan for my days and nights. I don't at this point find it possible to eat more than a single serving anyway, so I don't think of it as binging.

Ok-- so yesterday I did not eat "dinner" until 7pm-- I had 4oz of chicken and a slice of bread with 1 Tb of butter on it (about 400 cals). Then about 90 mins later I had microwave popcorn (about 5 cups), a large whoopie pie (two cake rounds with butter cream icing between them) and 2 large handfuls of peanut butter M&Ms (about 700 cals total). So I had 1100 cals in about 3 hours. I consider that a lot of food.

I feel somewhat reassured knowing I am not the only one who eats like this-- meaning eating most of your calories in the evening. Thanks.

I don't know that the calories are a problem, but did you feel in control of your eating? I guess to me, the "out of control" is what makes something a binge, you know? I don't think I could eat the volume of food you ate in that time period, but I'm only 9 months out from surgery. It does make me wonder where I'll be 9 months from now. I'm trying to keep my sweets to 1 item per day, because my tummy loves things like peanut m and m s (single serve bags only for me. There is no way I'd trust myself to a handful here and there. I tried that with Hershey kisses. Kisses of death to my will power!)

Friday nights can be tricky for me because we often go out to dinner and I have trouble estimating what I'm truly getting. So I had 5 pieces of bang bang shrimp, about 2 oz of arctic char (fatty fish like salmon), some steamed veggies (1-2 oz), and the end nubbin pieces (maybe an oz?) off the sour dough bread they brought to the table. I was stuffed. But I still had room for a cup of ice cream a couple hours later. Altogether, I had about 700 of my 1400ish calories for the day after 6.

freedomfighter1

I allow myself 1 small treat per week on Sundays and sometimes i will take a single bite of my kid's ice cream or what ever they are having. But sugar used to be my downfall and I don't want to trigger it again. Eating something sugary every day seem to me like standing on top of a slippery slope and I have worked too hard and dont want to fall back into old habits. So the rest of the week I eat mostly clean with protein first and lots of veggies. I eat a questbar or fruit if I crave something sweet.

Thaeda, I also drink coffee. I love a good cup of coffee

Thaeda

freedomfighter1 wrote: »

I allow myself 1 small treat per week on Sundays and sometimes i will take a single bite of my kid's ice cream or what ever they are having. But sugar used to be my downfall and I don't want to trigger it again. Eating something sugary every day seem to me like standing on top of a slippery slope and I have worked too hard and dont want to fall back into old habits. So the rest of the week I eat mostly clean with protein first and lots of veggies. I eat a questbar or fruit if I crave something sweet.

Thaeda, I also drink coffee. I love a good cup of coffee

I agree about the slippery slope but I have not been real successful with avoiding sugar. I end up eating what I planned and then sugar on top of it. At least this way I make sure my calls are super low for much of the day to avoid weight gain when I "indulge" in the evening. I understand it isn't ideal, but at least I'm not gaining.

janet0513

I have been toying with the IF as well. I am playing with a 16/8 split (Although my usual eating patterns are out the window this week due to vacation). For a start, I am not totally doing a 16 hour fast. It seems that a lot of the benefit is that is simulates some benefit of low carb ketosis. So to ease myself in by stopping eating around 6 and then I do have a scoop of protein powder in my coffee (around 6:30AM) and then eat a snack at 10AM. I am a little reluctant giving that up. I am going to play with it some more once I am on my regular schedule.

jove102

My fiancé and I go out to eat a lot and I hate it because I always feel like I ask for weird meals...but I was recently looking at a book called "eat this not that" and it was showing what kind of stuff you should be eating at restaurants and fast food...I don't eat fast food but it was interesting because things I thought would be better and lower in calories were not...anyways just thought it wAs interesting

pawoodhull

So I've been doing what you call IF and didn't even realize it. I go to bed around 10 so need to stop eating at 9, one hour before laying down or I am up in the night with bad acid reflux. I also am not a morning eater normally. It's like my stomach needs time to wake up slowly and if I eat too soon after getting up, it makes me nauseaus, so I normally eat breakfast about 10 or 10:30. Glad you are finding this working for you. It doesn't do anything for me and maybe that's because it's not new, just what my body is used to.

foxymitchell

I would possibly try this in the future! It would be easy for me to not eat until the afternoon.