intermittent fasting to maintain?

Its_Tina_Betch

Hi!
I'm looking to get support from others who do intermittent fasting to maintain c=
When I began intermittent fasting I didn't even know I was doing it I was just doing it because I wanted to...
Basically I fast all day till about 630-7 then I'll take a shower and once I get out of the shower I let myself eat my daily calories c=

Does anyone else do this type of fasting to maintain? I believe it's called 16-8 or how many hours you fast-how many you eat?

bacitracin

I did a month of 16-8 (mostly 19-5) when I hit a plateau in my weight loss. It was fantastic. I ate from 8am to 4pm but mostly was done by 1pm. Same amount of food I normally ate before, but in the time period of breakfast and lunch. No dinner, just water. I slept a little better and was able to hit the gym easier at night during that month.

captndalton

I eat once a day, generally a 23-25 hr fast. I'm not maintaining though, I try to stick around 1000 cal.
20-4 fast is the warrior diet and I did that for a while when I was weight training.
It works well. You can save a lot of money doing it, too.

FP4HSharon

Since you're at a maintenance level....good for you BTW :-)...you might want to read this article & reconsider IF.

http://www.paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/

Blokeypoo

I'm a maintainer and just eat normally. Horses for courses I guess but I wanted to get out of strange patterns/rituals or anything which felt too much like a diet or hard to sustain (to me!).

Lifts4IceCream

I have been doing IF for about 5 - 6 months now. I have maintained for about 2, I am now trying to slowly gain. I follow the 16-8 95% of the time. My eating window is from noon - 8 that night. If you eat 85% clean it can be tough to fit all your calories into that window simply because you get to eat a lot more. My goal is 1900cal/day. It can be tough to get those calories in the eating window because I eat clean the majority of the time (1 EPIC cheat meal/wk). So it may not be the best thing if you are trying to maintain because you may not hit your calories, and you will continue to be at a deficit. It really depends on what your diet and how nutrient dense it is...

I like IF because, it can allow you "treats" from time to time and you can apply the "If It Fits Your Macros" philosophy. Since I basically skip breakfast, I typically have 300-500 each day to mess around with as I please. So I can fit in chocolate, chips, ice cream, etc... you get the picture. I do not plan on stopping anytime soon.

einzweidrei

I went from 5:2--->6:1. I track calories for the week. My one "fast day" (~600 calories) allows one feast day (3500-4000.) Maintenance calories on all other days. I like it.

neanderthin

If it helps with your compliance to adhere to your diet then go for it, otherwise it really wouldn't make sense.

twixlepennie

I did alternate day IF for weight loss (JUDDD), 5:2IF as a bridge from weight loss to maintenance, and then I did 18:6IF when I first started maintenance. While I enjoyed all three I've found that I don't need to do IF anymore, because the tools I learned through them has allowed me to maintain within a 3lb window

nwg74

I am going to try this from this week. I am up a 1.5 stone (21 pounds) since my lowest weight 10 month ago. I was happy at a stone lighter (14 pounds) and would like to maintain that.

KateK8LoseW8

I'm still losing the last few pounds, but I'm planning on continuing while I maintain. It's just how I eat at this point. I usually consume all of my calories between 6:30 and 8:30 PM.

gregpack

i did it one or two days a week in an attempt to maintain. It was helpful to keep weekly caloric consumption in check.