Introduce Yourself!
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It's hard to tell how things are going. My scale was dead for a couple of weeks but I finally put new batteries in this week and took the plunge and weighed myself. I was down 0.6 pounds from where I was a month ago. It's not a lot but I wasn't expecting a huge change either so I didn't feel too bad. One of the things that I am liking about IF is not having to stress out about breakfast. It's hard enough sometimes meal prepping lunch and dinner so not having to think about breakfast has been a bit of a relief. I also find it much easier to stay within my calorie goals and don't find myself as hungry as I would when I was eating 3 meals or 6 small meals. Next week I plan on starting back at Crossfit after taking 2 weeks off. I'm hoping with the added exercise that I will start to see a change in my body, if not the scale just yet. Feel free to add me as a friend if anyone is looking for some extra encouragement! I know I could use some most days!0
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Hi Everyone,
Day 2 feeling energized and hopeful.
Alternating:
24 hour fast day 1
Eat between 12pm -7pm day 2
What is the best ratio for protein/fats/carbs on my eating day?1 -
My name is Beto
Been intermittent fasting for a couple years now. Mostly ESE and lean Gains type stuff. Great Results changed the way my body looked and worked.
Have gotten into 2,3, and now 5 day fasting in the last couple of months. Looking to stay healthy, fit, and disease free. Lots of cancer and degenerative mental disorders in my friends and family circles, and would like to do as much as I can to prevent or delay them.
Like to try out what works and doesn't, and will usually have a go at anything that sounds logical, fact based and substantiated. Tend to roll my eyes when listening to Diet advice that was impossible or haden't been invented 500 years ago
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Hello, everyone. I'm loving all the helpful information. I'm just starting out today. Have already found out that I need to do a better job planning my food at work to avoid snacking on junk. I'd love new IF friends to share advice, so add me if you like.
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Hi Everyone! Just started IF about a week ago, currently trying 16:8 with a window of around 10:30-6:30. It was a little hard at first because I'm such a breakfast person, but I want to stick with it to see if I can get these last few #$^*% pounds off. (Boy are they stubborn!) In the past I've tried to eat a bunch of small meals throughout the day in order to try and keep hunger at bay, but I found I was just pretty much hungry all day. I do feel fuller now, which helps a lot.
I still battle not eating when I'm bored, which happens a lot at work. (And don't get me started on my cubicle mate who has three different jars of chocolate on his desk right across from me!) I feel like IF is helping me not snack as much; I think a lot of this is a mindset for me as opposed to physical reaction to IF. The fact that my brain sees that it has parameters for when to eat/not eat seems to be helping a bit, but I am still struggling with calorie intake. (Not that it's IF's fault, I'm just having to tweak a lot of little things here and there as I get lower in body weight.) .
I am interested in the answers to @tumnus00 's questions, as I have the same dilemma. I weight train early in the morning, and there seems to be some debate on whether I would need to consume BCAAs around workout time in order to maintain muscle mass. I'd like to refrain from doing this if possible, but I'm curious if anyone's tested out consuming BCAAs vs not intaking anything til their eating window and what the results are.
Glad to be here!1 -
Hi all! I'm new to MFP but not new to the weight war. I started IF about six weeks ago and I love it! Truly. I need simple and IF is simple, at least the way I'm doing it. I eat no more than 2000 calories between 11am and 7pm. Most days I'm well under that and not feeling like I'm suffering. I'm down 13 lbs but more importantly I just feel better. I know there are a million ways to go about this and I'm on the first rung of the ladder. I'd like to try 24 hour fasts once a week but I have to admit that most days I'm really hungry by 11 or 12. Ironically about as hungry as I used to be for breakfast, now it's lunch. Is it really as simple as just going longer? I'm not doing anything different now except just not eating till 18 hours is up. And drinking water, which I always do, so that's not new. Am I missing something?1
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Hi all, I'm starting 16:8 intermittent fasting, feeding between 11 and 7. Looking forward to some serious weight loss on this system. Could do with some encouragement so add me and I'll do the same!3
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Hi, I'm new to IF and am just beginning and have decided on 16:8 as well. This sounds like such an overall benefit -
both weight loss and better health - and I'm so glad there's a group here on MFP!2 -
I have been doing IF for 3 weeks now and I love it. I do 20:4. I eat between 4 and 8 p.m. Works really well!1
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Hi All, I've been doing IF (16:8) for almost 2 weeks, and I usually stop eating around 6pm and break my fast around 10 am the next day. So far, it's not hard at all. I'm starting to "feel" the hunger, as opposed to eating mindlessly at my desk throughout the day at work (boredom and habit). My clothes are already starting to feel less snug, yay!3
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I am wrapping up my first week IF: 20:4 weekdays & 16:8 weekends (more family compatible). Upside: Since I was a breakfast skipper taking the milk out of my coffee was minor change for 16:8. Downside: Found it difficult to eat enough kcal in 4 hr window and the effects hit me on day4, so I reverted to 16:8 to recharge. Day4 also brought water retention. Day5 water retention is not resolved--not any worse. I will try supplementing with more mineral salt than I am currently taking and having some horsetail tea this afternoon.0
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Good morning, I'm glad I found this group. I've been doing low carb CICO for about a month now and am interested in IF. Going low carb was a real challenge -- I definitely experienced about 2 weeks of withdrawal symptoms, and that was difficult on its own. Then I started doing CICO, and I found that skipping breakfast didn't affect me at all and I enjoyed using those calories later on in the day. I learned that I was basically doing a 16:8 IF, so I started reading up on it and wanted to do it on purpose instead of accidentally. It was a great gradual way of starting though because it broke me of my bad habit of thinking "If I don't eat every 3-5 hours, it's bad for me!" It taught me to be ok with feeling hungry, and it taught me that not eating so frequently doesn't mean you're going to die of starvation. I like it!
A few questions though:
1. If you're doing a 16:8 fast, when do you start counting the hours? Let's say my last meal I started eating at 8pm, which puts me into the "fed" state at 8pm. Do I start counting to 16 at 8, or 9, or when I've digested?
2. What happens if you change up your fasting schedule? I'm starting my IF officially today, and I thought it'd be good to start off with a 24 hr fast. Keep in mind, I've basically been doing 16:8 so I'm not diving into the deep end too suddenly. I think I can handle it. Also, tomorrow is 4th of July and I've already planned to allow myself to indulge in some foods I don't normally eat (hot dogs, macaroni salad, barbecue chicken, etc.). But after the 4th of July, I'm going to do 16:8 as my norm. Is this ok to occasionally switch up the schedule? Or does this mess with you?
3. This leads to another question: Is there a max "recommended" fasting? I know some religions fast for more than 24 hrs but I think this typically allows for liquid calories and such. If I'm doing a "24" hr fast, but technically means my last meal was at around 9pm yesterday night, and I don't intend to eat until about 11am tomorrow, that will actually work out to be a 36 hour fast. Is this not recommended? Should I actually eat something at 9pm tonight?
4. Finally, I've searched websites and haven't found a clear answer. When you're "fasting", what if anything are you allowed to consume? Coffee, water, tea? Zero calorie drinks like Vitamin Water? "Zero" calorie foods like celery?
Thank you in advance for your help with these questions!1 -
I just learned recently about IF. I'm thinking about starting with 16:8, which would place me with breakfast at 8AM and supper at 4PM. That mimics my natural eating habits best. I don't know if you need to go longer or not? I see so many different IF ways, do you just play around until you find something that works with your body?1
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I started IF today, I am doing 5:2 and am exited to see what results I get. I started my weight loss journey (this time) at the beginning of June. I have stuck to about 1200 calories a day and worked out three days a week, and lost 10 pounds. I am feeling a little stuck at 10 pounds so am going to give IF a try for the month of July and see what happens. I will still be working out 3 days a week and monitoring calories. Today is my first fast and I am staying under 400 calories, tomorrow I work out and intend on eating up to 2,000 calories. I am planning to have 2 (400 calorie days) followed by 2 (2,000 calorie days), then 1,200 calorie days the other three days. Will adjust as I go.0
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Hi all. I am just beginning IF today, doing 16:8. My window will be 1 pm - 9 pm. Being day 1, I am feeling pretty irritable, but I know I will adjust quickly. I never used to eat breakfast growing up and would naturally get hungry around 11-12. I have been eating 6 small meals a day and have lost 18 lbs in the last few months, but meal preparation and planning is extensive and time-consuming. I am hoping that IF will help keep things simple!
Anyone can feel free to add me. I would love to have friends who are also utilizing IF!1 -
rachelbachel32 wrote: »Hi all. I am just beginning IF today, doing 16:8. My window will be 1 pm - 9 pm. Being day 1, I am feeling pretty irritable, but I know I will adjust quickly. I never used to eat breakfast growing up and would naturally get hungry around 11-12. I have been eating 6 small meals a day and have lost 18 lbs in the last few months, but meal preparation and planning is extensive and time-consuming. I am hoping that IF will help keep things simple!
I began IF about 2 wks ago. I have guests this week so I have had to adjust my plan down from 20:4 Mo-Th, 18:6 Fr-Su to fit better with the group. Still it looks like I will be down about 1pound. My key is eat lower carbs & higher fats.
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Hi all. I'm so glad to have found this group.
I've been doing 18:6 for awhile and maintaining, but I "think" my coffee drink is making it more like 14:10 and is holding me back now that I want to lose. So, I'm planning on trying 22:2. I've done it successfully on the weekends with my husband (if you don't count my coffee ), but it's tougher during the work day as going to get food gets me out of the office mid-day, but then I still want to eat with my husband in the evenings (he does 18:6 or 20:4 starting his eating cycle around 5 or 6pm). I haven't quite figured out whether I will eat lunch, then workout when I get home to keep my focus off of food, or to take a walk (without getting food) at lunch in order to eat dinner at home.
Biggest roadblock is finding a way to get my coffee intake in the mornings without triggering an insulin response. I've tried cafe Americano with splash of heavy cream, but I'm a coffee drinker in training and still "need" a little sweetener (and all of Starbucks have either sugar, fructose, or maltodextrin -- all with high glycemic index). Any ideas?0 -
Hi everyone. New to the group. Been IF for about a year and a half. Haven't been this lean in 25 years! Started 16:8. Now I do 18:6, 20:4 etc. Not too rigid. I just go at least 18 hrs since I last ate. Use MFP to keep my calories in check and its going well!1
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Hi everyone - I started 16:8 in January of this year. I'm not even sure where I heard about it but decided to give it a try. I couldn't believe the energy I started to have, as well as losing weight and this was without exercising. My husband was impressed and decided to give it a try. He found it difficult to omit the breakfast in the beginning but now he's all in and singing its praises. Typically we eat at around 11am and stop by 7pm. I also love the fact that I have one less meal to plan. Oh and I removed the snacking in between. Two big meals - lunch and dinner.
Forgot to mention that I have started exercising again, I feel fantastic!1 -
Hi everyone. I've been doing IF for about 4 weeks, and I am loving it. I worked my way up to a OMAD and usually eat between 6 and 9. I do have one question, does anyone get really tired after they eat? I've started noticing this in the last 4 days.0
