New To Intermittent Fasting

StephReed8884

Hi!!! I am starting Intermittent Fasting and was hoping to get any insight about this particular diet because I am new to it...how do you wean into a 16/8 fasting cycle or do you jump right in??? Any advice on how to be successful would really help me out!!! Thank you!!!

tinkerbellang83

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to Intermittent Fasting, it's just an eating schedule that helps some people manage their calorie intake better.

Do what you think will work for you. 16/8 is essentially just skipping breakfast or dinner, depending on your time-frame and using the calories you would normally have for that meal for 2 meals instead of 3.

I do this most weekends, not intentionally calling it IF, I just happen to eat Brunch on weekends so I can have a more calorie dense dinner and some drinks without messing up my calorie intake too much.

Work it around your schedule and your hunger. If you're more hungry in the morning, start your window earlier in the day, if you're more hungry in the evening start it later in the day. If you work/school/home life has an impact on when you can eat, factor that in.

sijomial

When I did it I just had a think about which was the easiest part of the day for me to avoid eating and conversely when was the time of day I liked to eat.
Breakfast is a very optional meal for me and I've always enjoyed eating the majority of my intake in the evening so I simply stopped having breakfast and made my eating window 12:00 - 20:00.

But I actually found it frustrating to have rigid rules so now I'm an intermittent intermittent faster!
Skipping breakfast is an easy way for me to trim a few hundred calories if I want to correct an upward weight drift but I don't feel the need to do it all of the time, if I'm genuinely hungry or have a big bike ride coming up I eat.

lemurcat2

What is your eating pattern now? I was already eating 3 times a day and not snacking, so for me it just meant skipping breakfast (which also is a meal that has always been optional for me -- on the weekends already I was usually eating a late breakfast/early lunch and then early dinner) and then making sure I ate dinner a bit earlier than I used to when I would work late and then have to commute home (sometimes working out first) before cooking dinner.

I like to eat not too long after running, but now I have the flexibility to start work earlier and run just before lunch on days when I run. (If I go back to running first thing in the morning I may start eating breakfast again.)

conniewilkins56

I hardly ever eat breakfast except for coffee....I eat at noon until about 9 at night...rather have two bigger meals and a snack!

StephReed8884

lemurcat2: I usually eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but a larger dinner with more calories at night so am planning on not eating breakfast and starting my 8 hour time frame from 11 to 7 pm...I have tried intermittent fasting before, but quit right away without making a real effort...this time I want to be more diligent and stick with this diet. So that is why I am seeking any advice I can get so that I am better prepared and successful

lemurcat2

I think if you identify what was hard about it before, that can help you figure out what would make it easier. Was it hunger, boredom eating, wanting to eat with other members of the family, not eating enough during your window, workout schedule, etc.

I also think that if experimenting doesn't make it easier, there's no particular advantage over eating 3 meals/day. I am currently trying to lose a little covid weight after having been in maintenance for a while and also have a schedule where skipping breakfast and having a bigger lunch is easier for me, but I lost a bunch of weight in 2014, and did so eating 3 meals/day (basically breakfast after working out in the morning, around 7, lunch around noon, and dinner not until 9 most of the time due to working and commuting). I'm IFing now since it's just easier for me to cut cals doing that at the moment.

LisaGetsMoving

I eat at approx. 10 am, 2 pm, 4 pm and 6pm. The hardest thing for me, but the most impactful, is not eating after dinner when I would like to snack in front of TV.

AmunahSki

I am a natural Intermittent Faster, and have preferred to eat most of my calories between 5pm and 9pm by choice for most of my adult life... I can get by on just a couple of (sugar-free) coffees or teas. I just don’t feel at all hungry until about 3pm, and by then it’s not long until dinner. Before the IF term was invented, people would get quite aggressive with me for missing meals, telling me how unhealthy it was... “missing the most important meal of the day”, “breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince, dinner like a pauper” and all that...

I found it really easy to reach my goal weight (using MFP) last time round back in 2015, and it’s similarly easy this 2nd time too. I eat once, usually at 6pm, a main meal and a glass of wine, sometimes a dessert (if it fits my calories/macros) and that’s it, all over by 8pm... I guess that makes me a 22/2? I never really bothered with a label.

I would say try it by skipping or delaying one meal at first - but if it proves a real willpower battle then it’s just not worth making yourself miserable for. When I have to change my ‘natural’ eating pattern to eating 2/3 times a day EVERY day (on a week’s skiing holiday), I find it really, really hard - but I know I need to fuel my body in order to rack up the kilometres. I particularly struggle to eat breakfast - it’s my nemesis!

StephReed8884

Thank you all for sharing, I really appreciate it!!! Good advice

anawake13

I do it a little differently. I start my fast after dinner anywhere from 6 to 8 then count my next meal to be 16 hours later. It gives me more flexibility than rigid hours. It seems to work for me with my lifestyle. However it works I feel the main benefit is just making sure you have an extended fast period.