Intermittent fasting

tifsimmons91
tifsimmons91 Posts: 84 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Anybody doing or has done intermittent fasting for weight loss? What were the results, is it worth it? Im starting at 280 need to lose well over 100 lbs

Replies

  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    tifsimmons91 wrote: »
    Anybody doing or has done intermittent fasting for weight loss? What were the results, is it worth it? Im starting at 280 need to lose well over 100 lbs

    There are a lot of people who do IF here. As far as results, if IF helps you stay within your reduced calorie goal, it works great. If not, not. Whether it is worth it or not only you can decide. I find it helpful.

    BTW, a quick search will reveal literally 100s of threads about IF. Some are contentious due to questionable claims.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    For many people IF makes it easier to stick to a calorie deficit because you are limiting the amount of time that you eat all your calories. You still have to be at a calorie deficit to lose weight, but it's a technique for ease and sustainability of a calorie deficit.
  • kds10
    kds10 Posts: 452 Member
    edited October 2019
    I think the longer fasting windows are more challenging for sure for me...I have done an 18:6 (so 18 hours fast and six hours feeding window) and found that challenging. I now do a 14:10 so I eat three meals a day however I am just eating less. Personally I find the 14:10 way easier (so I stop eating at 5:30 p.m. and have breakfast at 7:30ish - and by stop eating I will have nothing but water and or plain tea)

    FOr me it is easier eating less for dinner now because I know I can have breakfast as opposed to when I was skipping breakfast. I would tend to eat more for dinner because I knew I would not be eating until lunchtime next day so to me it all evens out now and is more practical for me. I do love breakfast so not having it was challenging. However between end of March 2018 and mid August 2018 I lost 25 lbs doing the 18:6. I have about 8 lbs left to lose and the scale is still moving for me just by eating less.

    IF though really taught me structure and I like that fact that I can easily go 14 hours without eating (some of that sleeping time obviously) so I am a fan of IF and I still do it but as stated I do 14:10 instead of the standard 16:8.
  • kiddycat73
    kiddycat73 Posts: 67 Member
    The only way it helps me with weight loss is that by only eating in an 8 hour window, I can have 2 larger meals and 2 small snacks versus 3 small meals and maybe 1 snack. It just suits me better. I eat from 12-8 because I like a snack after dinner. The first week was a bit hard waiting till 12 to eat but now I’m used to it and sometimes even wait till 1 or so.
  • mlsh69
    mlsh69 Posts: 31 Member
    I do it but, only because it is easier to stay in calorie deficit for me that way. If u dont stay in calorie deficit u might not lose as much or as quickly or at all.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    I eat in an 8 hour window. I don't call it IF. I call it my life.

    If you believe that it would benefit you in some way to eat within a certain window of time, then do it. We all have to figure out what works for us.

    Good luck!
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    kiddycat73 wrote: »
    The only way it helps me with weight loss is that by only eating in an 8 hour window, I can have 2 larger meals and 2 small snacks versus 3 small meals and maybe 1 snack. It just suits me better. I eat from 12-8 because I like a snack after dinner. The first week was a bit hard waiting till 12 to eat but now I’m used to it and sometimes even wait till 1 or so.

    This is me. I eat my first meal after my lunchtime workout. It's usually a larger lunch. Then, I typically don't snack and eat a decent sized dinner and a small snack before 8 PM. For me, if I did eat breakfast, I'd just eat more. I'm not hungry in the AM but I'm famished after my workout, so it works out much better for me. Nothing magical about it, though.
  • Lanag12
    Lanag12 Posts: 10 Member
    I just started doing this. Get the app called zero right when you stop eating you let the app know and it starts your fast time and you press end when you start to eat again. of course my eating window isn’t perfect everyday due to school and work. But typically I eat lunch at 12 or 12:30ish then dinner at 5-6 and a snack before 8. when your eating window ends drink lots of water I woke up with I woke up with bad headaches the first few days!
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    I'm very hungry at night, not so much during the day so I don't eat during the day and eat at night. I guess you could label what I'm doing as IF but it's not like I made a conscious choice or decided that I was gonna "do" IF.

    I also don't think I'd fit the IF mould as I have no problem whatsoever eating at during the day if circumstances dictate. If I'm going out to lunch, there's food on offer in the office, or even if I just feel a bit hungry I will 100% eat something during what would normally be considered my "fasting period".
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    Been doing the 8 hr window (11 am - 7 pm) for 5 months, with good results. I eat to an exact calorie limit as provided to me by the MFP goals tool. IF makes it easy for me to hit that target with 2 full sized meals (lunch and dinner) and a snack in between. Nothing goes in my mouth besides water or black coffee outside the eating window. I used to have a terrible problem with completely undisciplined nighttime binging - not anymore. I have no hunger pangs or interest in food outside the eating window anymore. IF has really been an amazing tool for me. 50 lbs lost, still going strong. I plan to stay with IF loooong after I reach my target weight, maybe forever.
  • mbfrom91024
    mbfrom91024 Posts: 1 Member
    I have found that IF works best in the context of low carb or keto. Once you are fat adapted hunger is much lees of a problem, since you are literally wearing a bunch of calories that are now available. My routine is 18/6 and then 5/2 on top of that. I have been doing this for about 15 months, went from 275 to 180 (I'm 6'2" and 66 years old).
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  • gingerbeericecold
    gingerbeericecold Posts: 23 Member
    I used to do moderate intermittent fasting naturally when I was in my 20s and 30s. Didn't do it every day, but several days in a week. Didn't do snacks or drink coffee in those days. So, basically, a few days a week I had supper at 6 or 7 p.m. and simply wasn't hungry till 11 a.m. and if I was busy I couldn't be bothered to stop and eat. So I would get in 14-20 hours of fasting pretty easily. And of course I was young and very active and it wasn't hard to stay slim. I tried to do IF recently and at 65 years old found it very difficult to keep my energy up with a fast of approximately 16 hours. Gave it up after three weeks. I'm having better luck now with counting calories. Still adjusting my diet (just started a week ago) but it looks really doable. In fact, I think I am beginning to feel better and better as I tinker.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    mbfrom91024 wrote: »
    I have found that IF works best in the context of low carb or keto. Once you are fat adapted hunger is much lees of a problem, since you are literally wearing a bunch of calories that are now available. My routine is 18/6 and then 5/2 on top of that. I have been doing this for about 15 months, went from 275 to 180 (I'm 6'2" and 66 years old).

    Eh, I eat in a shorter window a couple or three times a week often and occasionally do a longer fast (for religious reasons or just because my day worked out that way) and hunger is not an issue, yet I don't do low carb or keto. I think keto helps some with hunger issues but many who do it assume wrongly that others who don't have extreme hunger or need to eat constantly, and that's just not so. Most who IF are likely not eating a low carb diet. (We all can burn our body fat, that's how everyone -- including those not doing keto -- eating at a deficit loses fat. And no, keto is not more muscle sparing -- you actually need a bit more protein if doing low carb to preserve muscle.)
  • Avidkeo
    Avidkeo Posts: 3,204 Member
    I've just started If because I have fallen into a habit of late night snacking that I'm trying to break.

    From what I've read, around 14hrs fasting is better for women than 16hrs so I'm going to start with that, so fast from 7pm till 9am. Though as I work to a varied roster this may change. I'm basically just going to not allow snacks after 7pm.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    mbfrom91024 wrote: »
    I have found that IF works best in the context of low carb or keto. Once you are fat adapted hunger is much lees of a problem, since you are literally wearing a bunch of calories that are now available. My routine is 18/6 and then 5/2 on top of that. I have been doing this for about 15 months, went from 275 to 180 (I'm 6'2" and 66 years old).

    IF only works with a calorie deficit that you obviously created with your low carb add-on. You have done extremely well.

    Just so you know some people, myself included, do not find fat controls our hunger as well. I mention this so that you will know that low carb is not universally satisfying to everyone nor is it necessary to use our fat suits for energy.
  • bekahlou75
    bekahlou75 Posts: 304 Member
    What's worked for me is only eating one meal a day. I have coffee with sugar free cream in the morning and mostly drink water and hot tea during the day. Then I eat a really good dinner. Keeps my calories down and the water retention down.

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