Has anyone tried intermittent fasting?

FLCindy

Has anyone tried intermittent fasting termittent fasting? Has it worked for you ? What are the times you eat?

jjpptt2

I do it because it's how I tend to want to eat naturally. But it has almost no bearing on my ability to manage my weight... I can overeat between 11am and 7pm just the same as I can 8am-11pm. I still have to be aware of how much I'm eating and manage my calories.

cmriverside

What do you mean by, "worked for you?"

It's just a schedule and it helps some people to schedule feeds. There is no magic that happens as far as weight. It's still about calories in and calories out.

Lietchi

I skipped breafast for the first 9 months of my weight loss journey: skipping breakfast made it easier for me to stay within my calorie goal and still have calories left over for an evening snack. Also, I noticed that breakfast didn't make me any less hungrier at noon, so I didn't see the point of making a rushed departure for work even more rushed.
I usually eat breakfast now (because I wanted to increase my protein intake, and because I can eat a later breakfast now, working from home), but I still skip breakfast occasionally, mostly on days when I know I'll have a high calorie lunch/dinner.

lemurcat2

I do currently because I'm out of the habit of eating breakfast and enjoy 2 larger meals vs 3. Beyond being a schedule I like it has no particular benefits for me -- I lost a bunch of weight and maintained for a while eating 3 meals. What can help is understanding what schedule (if any) tends to make it easier for you to eat at your proper calorie level. I found it definitely did help me to eliminate snacking since I feel more satisfied with 2-3 proper meals and eating more often throughout the day just caused me to feel less satisfied and think about food more and be more likely to impulse or emotionally eat. But others really like snacking and find it helpful.

I usually eat between 1 and 7 or so (more specifically, a lunch and a dinner, as not eating between meals is more important to me than any window), although that might change since I am working from the office most days again.

joyanna2016

I love it! I eat from about 3:00-10:00ish. This works for me because I don't have to worry about bringing any food to work and I get to eat more food in the evening which is when I want to eat it anyway. I still count calories though...that's always the most important aspect of any plan. This way of eating just feels good to me and makes it easier to stay in my calorie budget.

cwolfman13

FLCindy wrote: »

Has anyone tried intermittent fasting termittent fasting? Has it worked for you ? What are the times you eat?

I've done it on and off for years. In fact, I did it pretty much the entire time I was putting on weight from 30 - 38 years old as I never ate anything until lunch. There's nothing magical about it, it's just an eating schedule. You can lose weight, maintain weight, and gain weight with IF...all dependent on your overall calorie intake vs calorie requirements.

I've been doing it for about 6 weeks now as I'm back in the office full time and get crunched for time in the mornings and don't have time for breakfast. All I have in the mornings is black coffee and water until lunch. I usually eat lunch around noon and some snacking in the afternoon and usually eat dinner around 7:30. I've been maintaining my current weight regardless since about March after having dropped about 10 Lbs of my 20 Lbs of COVID weight. I just haven't been in the right headspace to diet these last few months.

cahl1990

Yes, works well for me as it's more in sync with my natural eating habits. I've combined it with ketogenics, and my fasting schedule of 18:6 helps to keep my body in ketosis. I try to stay away from too much fat and lean towards a more protein rich diet, though. But for me, fasting, ketogenics and 30-60 minutes of exercise 5 days a week is getting me to my goals. I started 10 weeks ago and have two more pounds to lose to reach my first goal of a 25-pound weight loss.

NVintage

I intermittently fasted for most of my life, but didn't know it! I generally stayed around 128-130lbs. I remember working mid shifts for a long time waking up around 9am and having coffee. I'd take a lunch break at 2-3, and eat a kids meal at Cracker Barrell, Barbaritos (a burrito place), McDonalds or Chickfila...usually with a good sized sweet tea...then eat whatever I wanted, a somewhat inexpensive, healthy dinner that night.
I'm still not crazy about breakfast, but I have to admit, as I've gotten older in my 40s, that I am really feeling better eating a small breakfast when I wake up even though I don't have much of an appetite. This morning I just had almonds and a banana.

sijomial

Has anyone tried intermittent fasting termittent fasting?
Yes, two different methods.

Has it worked for you ?
If you mean controlling my weight then one version made losing weight easier for me and another version made weight maintenance harder and less enjoyable.

What are the times you eat?
Variable, I don't stick to a rigid pattern as fixed eating windows really got on my nerves! Breakfast is an optional meal for me unless I'm doing multi-hour exercise. Most of my food intake is biased towards the evening.

lgfrie

Yes. I've been doing noon to 8 pm for around two years and have found it very helpful. I'm a nighttime binger, so anything that gives me a rule to follow that even has a chance of keeping me from not going into the kitchen to graze, or worse, going to 7-11 to hit the chip aisle, is a major plus. I have lost around 80 pounds total doing IF and calorie counting. I am not as wedded to the early morning side of IF as the evening side and will sometimes have a 100 calorie muffin or something if I'm hungry. I'm usually diligent about not eating anything after dinner, and that's been helpful in my weight loss efforts.

Dvdgzz

I can go up to 8 hours a day, sometimes 10 if I ate a lot before bed.

MerryFit519

FLCindy wrote: »

Has anyone tried intermittent fasting termittent fasting? Has it worked for you ? What are the times you eat?

Tried it, and am currently very happily still doing it. I combine 2 schedules, 4:3 (4 feast days eating up to TDEE, 3 fast days of 500 or less calories) ..and I try to eat between 6am when I get home from the gym, up to 2pm (4 o'clock once a week when I go out to eat with my husband)

It has worked for me tremendously. (down 30 lbs in 2.5 months with about 20 to go to my ultimate goal) I strictly weigh/measure my intake on fast days and aim for the most nutrition possible (broccoli, fish, eggs etc) and more loosely track on feast days. (mostly because I literally cannot eat up to my TDEE even when planning ahead..I end up with leftover uneaten stuff.)

I'm a bit odd though, in that I actually like feeling more "empty" now after feeling so bloated and yucky after putting on weight during quarantine last year, so limiting my eating windows just feels good/satisfying. (my biggest weakness is wine, lol) After doing IF for a week, my general "hunger" diminished drastically, and I get full much much faster. It also feels good to free up a lot of my time to not be thinking about/obsessing over food. (like, food and regular meals no longer control my day)

fr3smyl

I have been doing it for 10 months and lost 50 pounds. It helps to keep from snacking and think more about eating when I’m hungry. I mainly did a 18:6 schedule eating two meals a day between 1000-1500. I few times I did a 20:4 schedule, OMAD, and a few 2-3 day fasts to help with gut issues. I have a lot less pain now due to giving my gut a rest.
Whatever works for you and you can stick to is best.

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