Intermittent fasting

Whydahdad71

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has used intermittent fasting, as a weight-loss approach? I use it (16/8) and I enjoy it.

NovusDies

For me it is just how I naturally eat. I have gained, maintained, and lost weight eating this way for decades. My weight loss approach is to maintain a calorie deficit most days. Eating this way does help if I make mindful choices and log my food. If you are new to this style of eating the deficit may happen naturally. If you do it for years and years you find it is not too hard to eat too many calories even in less time than "normal."

Good luck.

Whydahdad71

Thanks for the feedback!

lgfrie

Been doing 16:8 for 6 months, very happy with the approach and the results. Two weeks ago I amped it up to 17:7 (noon to 7 pm) and like it even better, but I think 17 is as far as I will go, no interest in pushing for 18:6. Wife does IF too. We plan to stay on IF after the weight loss phase and into maintenance and beyond. It just suits us really well as a lifestyle thing, I could see it being the permanent way we eat. It's brought us a much improved relationship with food on a variety of levels, but the main benefit to us has been the complete elimination of nighttime snacking, which was a total paradigm shift for us and has led to relatively easy weight loss.

One thing we've discovered is that IF is really easy if you simply don't do IF on a day when you don't want to. Sometimes we're out and it just isn't practical to have an eating window, or we're watching a movie and just feel like having popcorn or something. When we started just accommodating those non-IF days on an ad-hoc basis and doing IF the rest of the time, everything fell into place perfectly.

Whydahdad71

lgfrie wrote: »

Been doing 16:8 for 6 months, very happy with the approach and the results. Two weeks ago I amped it up to 17:7 (noon to 7 pm) and like it even better, but I think 17 is as far as I will go, no interest in pushing for 18:6. Wife does IF too. We plan to stay on IF after the weight loss phase and into maintenance and beyond. It just suits us really well as a lifestyle thing, I could see it being the permanent way we eat. It's brought us a much improved relationship with food on a variety of levels, but the main benefit to us has been the complete elimination of nighttime snacking, which was a total paradigm shift for us and has led to relatively easy weight loss.

One thing we've discovered is that IF is really easy if you simply don't do IF on a day when you don't want to. Sometimes we're out and it just isn't practical to have an eating window, or we're watching a movie and just feel like having popcorn or something. When we started just accommodating those non-IF days on an ad-hoc basis and doing IF the rest of the time, everything fell into place perfectly.

Whydahdad71

Yes! I love your approach to IF. I think that the best part of the protocols is that it is more of a lifestyle change than a "diet". As we all know diets fail. A healthy lifestyle is what we all need and want. Definitely take a day off and enjoy life. You can't expect to be happy being miserable

Annagrace75

I love it! I fase from 8:00 pm to 12:00 pm. I workout in the mornings at 5:15 am. It works for me!

Zedeff

Have used for years.

You know how some people say they have self control problems? "I can't buy potato chips because I'll eat the whole bag" type thing? Well IF works well for those people - like me.

IF means I don't "buy the bag". I don't have to exercise self control in portions when my portion is zero. Changing the frequency that I eat means that I don't over-eat at each eating session. It also means that when I DO eat, I get to eat the large satiating portion that I crave.

Make no mistake, IF works only by caloric restriction. A calorie deficit is simply easier for me to maintain on IF than without IF.

chrislewis646

What are your eating patterns like whydahad71

lgfrie

Zedeff wrote: »

Have used for years.

You know how some people say they have self control problems? "I can't buy potato chips because I'll eat the whole bag" type thing? Well IF works well for those people - like me.

IF means I don't "buy the bag". I don't have to exercise self control in portions when my portion is zero. Changing the frequency that I eat means that I don't over-eat at each eating session. It also means that when I DO eat, I get to eat the large satiating portion that I crave.

Make no mistake, IF works only by caloric restriction. A calorie deficit is simply easier for me to maintain on IF than without IF.

Me too. IF has completely taken the grazing/snacking issue off the table for me. If it's outside the 8 hr eating window, I'm not eating, so one chip can't turn into a bag of chips late at night because there's no first chip to begin with. Meanwhile, when I'm in the eating window, I want every calorie going toward big, filling, satisfying meals, so I tend not to waste them on chips and such. All in all, I've found IF quite liberating from the "slippery slope" problem of dieting, wherein little treats turn into binges.

Whydahdad71

chrislewis646 wrote: »

What are your eating patterns like whydahad71

I eat dinner at 6 PM then I eat again at 1 AM (work nights). So my window is 6-2.

Jim_1000

I've completed about 204 16:8 fasts, over the last 2 years or so. It get's my weight down pretty quickly. The hard part for me is self sabotage and attitude in general. If life is rough, it's hard to stay motivated. I think I'm going to start telling myself that no matter how hard life is, being thin makes it somewhat better. I believe maintaining a healthy weight is more mental than anything else. If you don't have the right mindset, nothing will work.

rumbaimom

I’ve been doing 18:6 for about three months. 24 pounds down and it’s been fairly easy to stick to it. Calorie deficit is still a must as well as a clean fast.

Whydahdad71

The eating window is what builds discipline. The caloric deficit is what biologically strips the weight. It's a mind-body approach.

LyndaBSS

I naturally eat within an 8 hour window. I don’t call it IF. I call it life.

keranaivojaona

Started with 16/8, now I lost 20.6 pounds on 20/4. Loving it so much bc it’s so convenient and I don’t get hungry at all

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sgt1372

I have used IF for loss technique and am still using it for wt maintenance.

J72FIT

I've done IF in the past. It's great if it fits your lifestyle and preferences, if not, not so much...

Vjmikesell

Yes, I have been intermittent fasting for a little over 3 years, mostly 16:8, sometime 18:6, and can’t imagine ever going back to wasting all that extra time shopping, planning, preparing, and cooking breakfast/AM snacks. I literally get an extra hour of sleep every morning by not having breakfast ( not to mention $$ savings on not stopping at breakfast drivethru or Starbucks) Although I haven’t lost the massive amount of weight I’ve seen in a lot of IF success stories, my weight has remained stable and I absolutely love how much IF has simplified my life.

Besides the simplicity, IF has also changed my relationship with food, completely cut out any urges to mindlessly eat or binge, and I live how the extra 400+ calories I save from not eating breakfast/morning snacks go toward being able to eat larger lunch/dinner without putting me over daily calories (as a 5’0 female with BMR of only 1232 those extra calories saved means o can actually eat like a human instead of a bird for dinner)

alauna84

I do, 16/8. Have been doing it since July. I rest from it on Sundays because of church and I don't want to starving in church because then I can't focus and listen!