IF - how do you choose your eating window?

AMV91

I'm not very hungry until noon, sometimes later, and I like to be full when I go to bed. So for me I just do 12-1 and 8-9 as my cut off. I am full (but not overly) by the time I go to bed. By the time I get hungry I don't have long to go.

Kst76

kimny72 wrote: »

karintalley wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

karintalley wrote: »

what the hell are you guys talking about..lol. Obvously i missed the newest diet trend.
it sounds interesting though. How does it work?

Pssst... google.

Well thanks for that. Nothing like a diet and weight loss forum where your fellow members tells you to go and look for answers somewhere else.

I think the idea was there is no need to hijack OPs thread, they already know what IF is. You could either Google it or start your own thread.

Short answer - IF is intermittent fasting - Eating during a short window of time or in a specific eat/fast cycle to control hunger.

How am I hijacking a thread for simply asking a question. He could have simply explained it the way you did. Nice and polite without being a jerk.
So it seems pretty interesting. Maybe I should try it.

kommodevaran

karintalley wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

karintalley wrote: »

what the hell are you guys talking about..lol. Obvously i missed the newest diet trend.
it sounds interesting though. How does it work?

Pssst... google.

Well thanks for that. Nothing like a diet and weight loss forum where your fellow members tells you to go and look for answers somewhere else.

MFP is a little different (as you will learn if you hang around). "Google first, ask questions later", is in line with an overarching philosophy of self-efficacy, which is crucial to permanent weight and health management. Way too may weight loss forums, and clinics, take personal responsibilty away from the person/patient, and create a mindset of dependency and apathy. Asking for help when you need it is good and right and important, but don't let others do for you what you can just as easily do yourself.

xxzenabxx

jelleigh wrote: »

I see people do 16:8, 20:4 (that sounds hard) 14:10. How do you choose what window to do? Do you start with a larger window and 'ease I to it'? Does having a smaller window impact how effective it is?

I mix up IF where some days I do 16:8, or other days it's 18:6 and these days I'm even doing 20:4 and I feel great! Of course I also take a break from fasting because it's good to take a break from your normal routine. How did I choose my window...I just simply did it. Don't really know how else to answer that! Having a smaller window does have a bigger impact because you're not eating for 20-23 hours so you're controlling your caloric intake as well as depleting glycogen and tapping into your fat stores. So you get into ketosis which is using body fat as fuel. This obviously doesn't happen overnight but when your body runs out of glucose fuel it then turns to reserve fat stores for fuel. Very interesting.

jelleigh

Wow lots of feedback on this one! Thanks for the input. I have to say I'm a bit ... Surprised ? At how intensely people feel that fasting has no other health benefits other than calorie deficit. After watching the documentary by the doctor who originated 5:2 and seeing how many people here like 5:2, I would have thought that more people valued the benefits that he researched and demonstrated (as in blood pressure changes , and general improvements across the board in blood lab results - sorry can't remember all the details now). In fact - the fact that he lost weight was a side point - it wasn't even why he did it or why these top US universities studying nutrition etc were advocating fasting. When he saw he also lost weight, that's when he wrote the 5:2 book and it caught on as a weight loss technique. Since IF is just another form of fasting I would have thought more people believed the research being done on the topic...

xxzenabxx wrote: »

I mix up IF where some days I do 16:8, or other days it's 18:6 and these days I'm even doing 20:4 and I feel great! Of course I also take a break from fasting because it's good to take a break from your normal routine. How did I choose my window...I just simply did it. Don't really know how else to answer that! Having a smaller window does have a bigger impact because you're not eating for 20-23 hours so you're controlling your caloric intake as well as depleting glycogen and tapping into your fat stores. So you get into ketosis which is using body fat as fuel. This obviously doesn't happen overnight but when your body runs out of glucose fuel it then turns to reserve fat stores for fuel. Very interesting.

Ya I guess what I'm hearing is that most people just sort of start doing it and go from how they are feeling. I suppose I will just give it a try! I do worry though how I can possible eat over 100 grams of protein in only 4 hours!!! I think I would be stuffed!! Do you ever find it hard to hit your macros when you have a small window?

cmriverside

jelleigh wrote: »

Wow lots of feedback on this one! Thanks for the input. I have to say I'm a bit ... Surprised ? At how intensely people feel that fasting has no other health benefits other than calorie deficit. After watching the documentary by the doctor who originated 5:2 and seeing how many people here like 5:2, I would have thought that more people valued the benefits that he researched and demonstrated (as in blood pressure changes , and general improvements across the board in blood lab results - sorry can't remember all the details now). In fact - the fact that he lost weight was a side point - it wasn't even why he did it or why these top US universities studying nutrition etc were advocating fasting. When he saw he also lost weight, that's when he wrote the 5:2 book and it caught on as a weight loss technique. Since IF is just another form of fasting I would have thought more people believed the research being done on the topic...

xxzenabxx wrote: »

I mix up IF where some days I do 16:8, or other days it's 18:6 and these days I'm even doing 20:4 and I feel great! Of course I also take a break from fasting because it's good to take a break from your normal routine. How did I choose my window...I just simply did it. Don't really know how else to answer that! Having a smaller window does have a bigger impact because you're not eating for 20-23 hours so you're controlling your caloric intake as well as depleting glycogen and tapping into your fat stores. So you get into ketosis which is using body fat as fuel. This obviously doesn't happen overnight but when your body runs out of glucose fuel it then turns to reserve fat stores for fuel. Very interesting.

Ya I guess what I'm hearing is that most people just sort of start doing it and go from how they are feeling. I suppose I will just give it a try! I do worry though how I can possible eat over 100 grams of protein in only 4 hours!!! I think I would be stuffed!! Do you ever find it hard to hit your macros when you have a small window?

All my blood lab results improved with weight loss. Full Stop.

Nothing to do with my eating window. I think that's the thing you're not understanding. And, sure he touts the 5:2. Sells more books, ya know?

Do what you want, but there is no big benefit other than adherence in regards to IF. I do 16:8 - but only for convenience and adherence purposes.

rybo

jelleigh wrote: »

Wow lots of feedback on this one! Thanks for the input. I have to say I'm a bit ... Surprised ? At how intensely people feel that fasting has no other health benefits other than calorie deficit. After watching the documentary by the doctor who originated 5:2 and seeing how many people here like 5:2, I would have thought that more people valued the benefits that he researched and demonstrated (as in blood pressure changes , and general improvements across the board in blood lab results - sorry can't remember all the details now). In fact - the fact that he lost weight was a side point - it wasn't even why he did it or why these top US universities studying nutrition etc were advocating fasting. When he saw he also lost weight, that's when he wrote the 5:2 book and it caught on as a weight loss technique. Since IF is just another form of fasting I would have thought more people believed the research being done on the topic...

xxzenabxx wrote: »

I mix up IF where some days I do 16:8, or other days it's 18:6 and these days I'm even doing 20:4 and I feel great! Of course I also take a break from fasting because it's good to take a break from your normal routine. How did I choose my window...I just simply did it. Don't really know how else to answer that! Having a smaller window does have a bigger impact because you're not eating for 20-23 hours so you're controlling your caloric intake as well as depleting glycogen and tapping into your fat stores. So you get into ketosis which is using body fat as fuel. This obviously doesn't happen overnight but when your body runs out of glucose fuel it then turns to reserve fat stores for fuel. Very interesting.

Ya I guess what I'm hearing is that most people just sort of start doing it and go from how they are feeling. I suppose I will just give it a try! I do worry though how I can possible eat over 100 grams of protein in only 4 hours!!! I think I would be stuffed!! Do you ever find it hard to hit your macros when you have a small window?

MFP is not a fasting friendly site. Mostly because there is SUCH backlash and wariness when it comes to fads and quick fix dieting, IF is still viewed as such. Also because the research is a little new in it's stages, with not much wide scale human trials. However, what research that has been done, looks very positive. My interest in IF actually has very little to do with weight loss and almost entirely about the other health benefits, with metabolic flexibility being pretty high on that list. That research is still newish too but very very interesting.

mmapags

Compliance, sustainability and preference.