Mixing IF & Calorie Restriction

nopizzamakesmecry

Hi Everyone.

Multi-step question here.

1. What intermittent fasting (IF) schedule do you suggest? (16:8 is what I'm aiming for)
2. I'm limiting myself to 1,600 calories a day currently. Do you know if calorie restriction paired with IF is that much more effective, or does one take away from the other? I can't find any research on pairing the two. IF mostly just states "eat whatever you want", but a full little caesar's pizza is what I want, and I can't imagine that's a great idea haha.

I appreciate everyone's help/knowledge. Thanks!

heybales

Calories Restriction is for hopefully just fat loss. Only way.

IF is an eating pattern that may allow that to be easier for you to do.
Some even get to point they don't have to count calories.
Others have gone years doing IF and gained fat weight.

Nutritional quality is it's own thing too, obviously eating at deficit can make it more interesting if not careful.

I fell into a 20-22:4-2 routine just from busy schedule, last thing at night - which really wasn't great.

Attempting a more daytime 6 hr eating window now and seeing how that goes.

LyndaBSS

IF is just a specific window in which you eat all of your meals.

Losing weight is created when you are in a calorie deficit.

MFP will have given you your calorie allotment when you filled out your profile information. Where did you get the 1600 number from?

nopizzamakesmecry

Oh I made the 1600 up myself, I wanted to lose more than 2 pounds a week haha. It's a bit extreme, but I don't go hungry or anything.

snapshotstacy

1) I was doing 16:8 for a while, but just switched it up to a 5:2 (Circadian). -That's a 24 hour fast 2xWeek and 5 days a week of "regular", and my regular being not eating between 8pm and 9am at a minimum (usually run 13-16 hours fasting on my 5xWeek days). I do it mostly to keep my weekly CICO in check easier. I like larger meals, so two large meals a day is more satiating for me than 3+ smaller ones.
Honestly, the schedule that works best is the one that works best for YOU. What works with your body? What works with your daily habits? And don't be afraid to adjust/modify for yourself as you learn what your body responds to.

2) This really depends on why you're IFing. Many of us do it to make our CICO easier. If your goal is to lose weight, then the only thing that truly works is calorie restriction (yeah, I know there are people who argue otherwise... but...) They don't take anything away from each other. At least from my experience, they pair _perfectly_.

Hmm... on the pizza... A whole Little Ceasars is 2000+ calories, so if you REALLY want to do that, just be aware of the calories. Having pizza (a few slices, of course) can totally fit in your calories. No point in denying yourself if you don't have a bad reaction to it.

Feel free to friend me if you like, I've got an open food diary for friends to see.

snickerscharlie

nopizzamakesmecry wrote: »

Hi Everyone.

Multi-step question here.

1. What intermittent fasting (IF) schedule do you suggest? (16:8 is what I'm aiming for)
2. I'm limiting myself to 1,600 calories a day currently. Do you know if calorie restriction paired with IF is that much more effective, or does one take away from the other? I can't find any research on pairing the two. IF mostly just states "eat whatever you want", but a full little caesar's pizza is what I want, and I can't imagine that's a great idea haha.

I appreciate everyone's help/knowledge. Thanks!

Weight loss is solely governed by consistently eating less calories than your body burns. Intermittent Fasting is merely a way that helps some people achieve that necessary caloric deficit. Intermittent Fasting doesn't have any additional benefits that somehow speed up this process.

If eating in a restricted time period per day helps you stay in a deficit, then that's the benefit it has for you. But know that meal timing, in and of itself, is irrelevant to weight loss. It's all about how much you eat, not when you eat it.

snickerscharlie

nopizzamakesmecry wrote: »

Oh I made the 1600 up myself, I wanted to lose more than 2 pounds a week haha. It's a bit extreme, but I don't go hungry or anything.

What are your stats? Height, current weight, goal weight?

Losing more than 2 lbs a week - unless you are morbidly obese and under a doctor's supervision - is not a route you should consider. The burn-out/binge rate is exceedingly high, plus, long-term, it has some very serious side effects.

Why the hurry?

anubis609

IF is usually used as a tool to create the calorie deficit, especially when nutrient density is the focus of food during your eating window. There's no optimal timing other than what fits your schedule and hunger pattern.

ahoy_m8

nopizzamakesmecry wrote: »

Oh I made the 1600 up myself, I wanted to lose more than 2 pounds a week haha. It's a bit extreme, but I don't go hungry or anything.

It's fairly obvious how overeating can impede fat loss. Less obvious is how detrimental under-eating can be to fat loss. It can result in muscle and bone loss, hormone imbalance, low energy and persistent hunger. A loss rate of more than 2lb/week (calorie deficit of >1000 kcal/day) is usually recommended only for people with >100lb to lose. So often people come to the message boards with a host of problems that all relate to an inappropriate calorie goal. It really pays to take the time to calculate an appropriate calorie goal in the first place. It can save you a lot of heartache and potentially physical harm as well. IF is simply an eating schedule, and no eating schedule will compensate for an inappropriate calorie goal. Good luck, OP.

LyndaBSS

nopizzamakesmecry wrote: »

Oh I made the 1600 up myself, I wanted to lose more than 2 pounds a week haha. It's a bit extreme, but I don't go hungry or anything.

If you want to do this safely and sustainably, stick with the calorie allotment mfp gave you.

lemurcat2

nopizzamakesmecry wrote: »

Hi Everyone.

Multi-step question here.

1. What intermittent fasting (IF) schedule do you suggest? (16:8 is what I'm aiming for)
2. I'm limiting myself to 1,600 calories a day currently. Do you know if calorie restriction paired with IF is that much more effective, or does one take away from the other? I can't find any research on pairing the two. IF mostly just states "eat whatever you want", but a full little caesar's pizza is what I want, and I can't imagine that's a great idea haha.

I appreciate everyone's help/knowledge. Thanks!

The main idea behind IF is that if you are someone who eats throughout the day and you limit your eating time to a smaller period, you will naturally restrict calories. That doesn't happen for all (especially if you aren't mindful about what you eat), so it can be a very good idea to limit cals too. For some people, they feel more satisfied and find it easier to limit cals when doing IR, so for them they work well together. Others just aren't hungry until later in the day, and for them it's a waste of cals to eat when they aren't hungry.

So to answer the questions:

(1) Experiment to see what feels easy and good for you. 16:8 seems to be a common one.

(2) It's good to combine the two if you are IFing, but 1600 seems way too low for you if your goal is still a 200 lb loss. Use MFP's goal to start and then adjust based on results. You can lose faster than average (1% of current weight, typically), but 1600 is for a smaller man, not someone who still has a lot to lose (and I have no idea of your height, way low if you aren't on the shorter side). What does MFP give you for 2 lb?

NovusDies

nopizzamakesmecry wrote: »

Hi Everyone.

Multi-step question here.

1. What intermittent fasting (IF) schedule do you suggest? (16:8 is what I'm aiming for)
2. I'm limiting myself to 1,600 calories a day currently. Do you know if calorie restriction paired with IF is that much more effective, or does one take away from the other? I can't find any research on pairing the two. IF mostly just states "eat whatever you want", but a full little caesar's pizza is what I want, and I can't imagine that's a great idea haha.

I appreciate everyone's help/knowledge. Thanks!

1. I recommend that you do not change your eating schedule from whatever it is currently yet.
2. Go back through the guided set-up and get yourself a proper calorie goal and eat that amount.

The secret to losing weight fast is having a plan that you can stick to for a very long time. I know this because I tried for years and years to lose weight fast with plans I could not sustain and I was wasting my time. Fast led to failure which made it ultimately slower.

Get inside a proper calorie deficit. Learn to log accurately. When you have those 2 things down then begin experimenting. IF is a tool. There is no recommendation for you to try because it doesn't matter. It is just whatever is easiest for you.

kiddycat73

IF will not bring about weight loss unless you are in a calorie deficit.

lgfrie

IF16:8 and 1750 cals here. 50+ lbs lost and going strong. I find 16:8 + diligent calorie couting works beautifully and consistently. Getting two full sized "non diet" meals everyday, as IF makes possible, satisfies me and has killed off my desire to binge. I think it's one of the easier ways to comply with a calorie target. Good luck. Reminder: calories first, everything else second in importance.