Intermittent Fasting Question

californiagirl2012

ready2lose2101 wrote: »

Hi everyone. So I’ve been hearing a lot about IF and want to try it out. I’ve decided to try the 16:8 version since skipping breakfast doesn’t usually phase me much.

Has anyone else had success with IF and what do you like/dislike about it? Also, what type of foods do you eat when you come out of fasting?

Thank you

The 16:8 is actually daily fasting. Intermittent fasting is "intermittent" or 1-2 times a week, but not always, and longer fasts compared to 16 hours. Does that make sense?

Fasting of any type can be a good tool but it's not always a long term strategy. It can depend on the stress and amount of body fat, and the amount of calorie deficit.

It's a great tool to experiment with. There are some health benefits, and there can be some huge drawbacks if it's abused.

The main thing to remember is to not get stuck in a rut. Don't forget that it's okay to decide some days fasting isn't the best option, and that other day it's so perfect it feels surreal.

It always comes down to calories in a 24 hour period. That fine line of just enough, not too much, not too little, just like Goldilocks.

And yes, to answer your question: I have had tremendous success with every variation of fasting you can think of, and also had many disasters, and have helped many with the disasters.

Have fun and learn. Don't get stuck in a rut!

Roberta

ready2lose2101

Thanks guys for the amazing feedback!! I started IF this morning and know there will be challenges but I feel that this is something I can stick with to meet my weight loss goals.

My biggest problem in the past was snacking and eating the wrong kinds of foods late in the evenings. With limiting the times I eat to 11 am to 7 pm, i fee that I can maintain that schedule without deviating from my normal routine too much.

I need to lose about 50 pounds and have an open diary if anyone would like to friend me.

MFP is awesome and you guys are the best.

Thanks again!!

kimny72

ready2lose2101 wrote: »

Thanks guys for the amazing feedback!! I started IF this morning and know there will be challenges but I feel that this is something I can stick with to meet my weight loss goals.

My biggest problem in the past was snacking and eating the wrong kinds of foods late in the evenings. With limiting the times I eat to 11 am to 7 pm, i fee that I can maintain that schedule without deviating from my normal routine too much.

I need to lose about 50 pounds and have an open diary if anyone would like to friend me.

MFP is awesome and you guys are the best.

Thanks again!!

Honestly, this is what it worked best for me. I like a big dinner and an evening snack, and by pushing most of my calories to later in the day I could have that and still hit my goal.

Some people find coffee to be a slight appetite suppressant, so I found coffee in the AM to be really helpful. Not sure if it was actually suppressing my appetite or just that being tired without it made my body crave another form of energy in food!

NovusDies

erickirb wrote: »

lgfrie wrote: »

NovusDies wrote: »

lgfrie wrote: »

I do find IF very useful as a subset of CICO dieting and speaking for myself a positive lifestyle change I feel I could do indefinitely. And I am hugely less hungry or obsessed with food on IF than other dieting approaches.

CICO is an energy equation not a dieting method. It applies to maintaining and gaining weight as much as losing.

CI<CO lose weight
CI=CO maintain weight
CI>CO gain weight

I've been using CICO for 20 years. It is an energy equation. It is also a dieting method.

One dieting method would be to, say, eat no more than 20 grams of carbs per day. Another dieting method would be to, say, eat a grapefruit first thing in the morning. And a 3rd dieting method would be to monitor and log your calories in and calories out and ensure that you are creating a deficit that's safe and produces the amount of lbs lost you want to achieve per week. That is CICO dieting. A method, based on an energy equation.

Not quite... all diets work via CICO, calorie counting is the dieting method that people try to control CICO directly

This. CICO simply explains the energy. It starts with the first calories a newborn receives and continues until death. Food isn't even necessary for the equation because CI can equal zero but CO never will as long as a person is living. You wouldn't say that a certain type of exercise is CICO either.

lgfrie

ready2lose2101 wrote: »

Thanks guys for the amazing feedback!! I started IF this morning and know there will be challenges but I feel that this is something I can stick with to meet my weight loss goals.

My biggest problem in the past was snacking and eating the wrong kinds of foods late in the evenings. With limiting the times I eat to 11 am to 7 pm, i fee that I can maintain that schedule without deviating from my normal routine too much.

I need to lose about 50 pounds and have an open diary if anyone would like to friend me.

MFP is awesome and you guys are the best.

Thanks again!!

Nighttime snacking was my and my wife's demon as well, and it's why we started IF. Took a while to really get into the flow of it, but it did take hold and the results have been amazing. Now I won't even finish a coffee sitting around earlier if it has milk in it. We have zero calories between dinner and next day's brunch. You won't believe what a huge difference it can make for evening snackers. Eventually you do lose the desire to eat at night and you stop thinking about food, because it's just not part of your life after dinner. But that took us a few weeks.

Word to the wise: be lenient with yourself at first. I don't think anyone nails IF perfectly at first. By which I mean, cut yourself some slack. IF is a huge change in food behavior from how most people grew up with food and are used to thinking about mealtimes, so if you end up nibbling after the food window, just go with it and move on to the next day.

Another word to the wise: get a box of cheerios and a small dish for the first couple/few weeks. You'd be amazed how much 30 or 40 calories of dry cheerios can do to get you over nighttime hunger pangs before they subside in a few weeks. Better than ending up at the Chick Fil A drive through at 10 pm LOL