Questions on Intermittent Fasting (IF)

danamariers

Hi All,

So I've been reading through as much Paleo material as I can get my greedy hands on and there seems to be a lot of support about why IF is a great tool in the Paleo belt, and then reviews that it's not so great (esp. for ladies).

So I'm wondering for all you IF'ers:

1- How long do you go between meals? (including sleep)
2- What kinds of progress have you seen in weight loss/muscle defn?
3- Ladies, do you find this interferes and/or causes curious symptoms with your "lady time"
4- How long have you been IF?
5- Advice for those new to/considering incorporating IF?

Thanks everyone!

xstarxdustx

bump.

hilliardjoe

IF is just a fancy term for 'skipping a meal'.

Personally I don't eat breakfast anymore. This means my last eating is done around 7 or 8 pm in the evening and then I don't eat again until lunch the next day (11 am), so that means I go 15-16 hours typically for my 'fast'.

I will say that some days I go get a little hungry around 9 or 10 and then I just eat a hard boiled egg or two that I was going to have as part of my lunch.

As far as your questions go:

1- How long do you go between meals? (including sleep)

As per above overnight I generally go between 15-16 hours.

2- What kinds of progress have you seen in weight loss/muscle defn?

I started eating primal on Jan 1 of this year and have lost 50 pounds, 9 inches around my waist and seen my body fat % go from 40% to 28% and my lean body mass has gone up during this time. Now I didn't start IF until March or so but it just came about naturally as I really wasn't hungry in the morning anymore so I just stopped trying to eat a breakfast.

3- Ladies, do you find this interferes and/or causes curious symptoms with your "lady time"

Not qualified to answer.

4- How long have you been IF?

Since March, so almost 4 months.

5- Advice for those new to/considering incorporating IF?

I'd say it has made me pay more attention to my body's hunger signals. And free myself from eating because it's meal time. As I said earlier, I just kind of fell into it because I wasn't hungry when I woke up in the morning.

I've also heard that sometimes when you feel hungry what your body may really need is more water. So in the morning when I get up I do drink plenty of water.

I think you may need to ease into it by going longer and longer between meals until you have an IF time frame that makes sense for you.

I did try to IF during the day at work eating only breakfast and dinner but I found that much harder to stick with than just eating a lunch around 11 am and then dinner around 6 or 7.

Please note that when eating this way my lunch and dinners are generally bigger than they used to be when I ate three meals a day. My calories eaten during a day are pretty much the same although on some days I can be quite a bit under if what I've eaten has filled me up particularly well.

strychnine7

I have a six-hour eating window, usually between 12:00pm and 6:00pm. I typically eat two meals within these two times and try to make them as close together as possible. I don't snack in between. Has this done anything for me? I haven't noticed any real differences.

Fasting isn't anything magic. At least it hasn't been for me. I've been doing it for months but the only progress I ever see is when I do straight-up caloric restriction.

As for getting into it? I have no real advice. I just started doing it. I may be anomalous though, in that even when I was eating SAD, I could go for days without eating anything and not be screwed up. Super hungry, yes, obviously. But I have never had flagging energy levels because I missed a meal (or two, or whatever).

deanna198888

I usually eat from 11am until 5pm. Its difficult for me to eat in the morning because I am busy with an infant and try to do all my housework so IF works great for me and that is how it started, I have been doing it for probably about 5-6 weeks. I have lost 20lbs and would have lost more if I didn't cheat or include chocolate and dairy on a pretty much daily basis. I have not had a change in my cycle and no weird symptoms, I think IF makes me feel better in general. If you want to give it a try I would recommend just skipping breakfast for a couple days and see how it makes you feel. Also I believe some people drink a bullet proof coffee in the am when they are fasting and that keeps you from being hungry until well into the afternoon.

Shadowknight137

1- How long do you go between meals? (including sleep)
2- What kinds of progress have you seen in weight loss/muscle defn?
3- Ladies, do you find this interferes and/or causes curious symptoms with your "lady time"
4- How long have you been IF?
5- Advice for those new to/considering incorporating IF?

Thanks everyone!

1) Depends on the day. Typically go from around 8-9PM to 5-6PM most days, with the exception of a few when I feel peckish for chocolate or eat a small lunch so my friends don't feel uncomfortable - these exceptions are around 1-2PM.

2) I can actually eat all my food and not feel miserable doing so... I hate eating throughout the day, and struggle to eat the same equivalent of food in several meals as I can in one. So it's allowed me to not lose weight quite effectively.

3) Um...

4) Six months? Yeah, about that time.

5) Yes:
-Brush your teeth, a lot, Your breath can smell really bad from the amount of food being digested in larger meals.
-Do strength training. I advise that to everyone, anyway.
-Ensure you actually eat all your calories in your feeding window, don't use it as an excuse to undereat.
-It *may not be for you*, but that's okay, doesn't make you any "lesser" despite what some nutters out there may rave about.
-Don't overthink it. IF isn't magic. It's just giving you a smaller amount of time to eat your food.

homesweeths

Well, I fasted 12 hours today between breakfast and dinner, not intentionally, it just worked out that way. And funny thing, I wasn't even really hungry for dinner, but figured I'd better eat as otherwise I'd have been below 1000 calories for the day.