Intermittent Fasting

I think the most important thing I learned doing IF is that I can now tell the difference between when I'm really HUNGRY and when I just want something because I can have it. I learned to control my hunger and that, to me, is huge.

I also have found that I enjoy training fasted. I lift heavy at 11am-noon and I don't eat my first meal until 2-4pm. I have read that training fasted encourages your body to use stored fats for energy rather than what you just put into your body (breakfast). I enjoy the concentration and focus I get from being fasted + some coffee.

I've just started reading about this way of eating and most of what I"m reading also mentions heavy lifting. Is this intermittent fasting designed for lifters or can it work for the rest of us also?

I think that if IF suits your natural eating habits you can have a ton of success with it. There's so many people just naturally AREN'T HUNGRY until later in the day. I'm one of them. When I started out, I was forcing myself to eat breakfast and sometimes having to choke lunch down. Then I'd hit dinner, my 'natural' big meal and I'd go over or close to it and I was always on edge about eating.

Now I do 5/2 but I also don't feel obligated to follow the eating schedule you think you have to (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) you think you have to for losing weight because I've seen a lot of people lose plenty on the daily IF (sorry, bad with official terminology). I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but I stopped tracking calories, started just being aware of what I was eating, taking in more water and eating proper portions . . . and from the plateau I'd been stuck at for 4 weeks I started losing again.

I think anyone who is by nature not hungry in the early part of the day might want to consider IF.

Thanks for posting your experiences-- very helpful.

I was thinking about doing this, but then i realised i am a hungry monter in the mornings, i can easily go without food during rest of the day, except for dinner.

Is there also a fasting way that allows you to eat breakfast and dinner only? Ofcourse i can do it, but not sure if there is a fasting term for it.

Right now i am doing IIFYM, doing a fasting i am pretty sure i won't hit my macro's. Ofcourse i will then need to lower my calorie intake for the day first by i think another 600-800 (cause this is what i eat for lunch and snacks during the day)

I also am afraid i might faint during my workouts in my lunchbreaks. So need to change my workouts to evenings, after dinner then.
And does fasting allows you to drink coffee and water all day, or is that also only when you are supposed to eat?

This story kinda got my attention now, and wanna learn a bit more first about it before trying it out 3-4 weeks

You could do 5:2 fast diet. There's a support group on here with a lot of helpful people on it.

How do you combat headaches on that type of eating schedule? I know if I wait too long I get a headache.

Thanks everyone for the info and comments. I'm just starting IF on a trial basis, trying to find out what eating window works best for me and if this way of eating will help me start losing weight again. This thread has been very encouraging!

During my last month or so of school I tried out IF with an 8 hour window. I lost five pounds in a month doing that, mainly because I taught myself to avoid unnecessary snacking and I learned how it felt to really be hungry. Since I was limited in time, I also naturally made healthier, worthwhile choices. I unfortunately had to stop it once I came home for summer because of having to eat with my family's schedule, but I do plan to get back to it in a month when I go back.
Eating from either 11 to 7 or 12 to 8 worked for me. I would have a small lunch, snacks (bananas, yogurt), and whatever I wanted for dinner. I remember one day one of my clubs had free pizza and I binged on four pieces and ate lightly for the rest of my eating window and surprise surprise... no weight gain. It's a great way to manage calories.
You have to be careful not to get too extreme, though. At times I took the "I'm really not that hungry" a little too harshly and would end up not eating nearly enough for the day. I know that messed up my metabolism short-term. It definitely takes some experimenting, but it is a nice asset to weightloss. I will probably do it M-F and take Saturday and Sunday off.

I was thinking about doing this, but then i realised i am a hungry monter in the mornings, i can easily go without food during rest of the day, except for dinner.

Is there also a fasting way that allows you to eat breakfast and dinner only? Ofcourse i can do it, but not sure if there is a fasting term for it.

Right now i am doing IIFYM, doing a fasting i am pretty sure i won't hit my macro's. Ofcourse i will then need to lower my calorie intake for the day first by i think another 600-800 (cause this is what i eat for lunch and snacks during the day)

I also am afraid i might faint during my workouts in my lunchbreaks. So need to change my workouts to evenings, after dinner then.
And does fasting allows you to drink coffee and water all day, or is that also only when you are supposed to eat?

This story kinda got my attention now, and wanna learn a bit more first about it before trying it out 3-4 weeks

The 5:2 diet allows you to eat as you would normally for 5 days of the week. On 2 days a week (which days are up to you, together, space, doesn't matter) you eat a total of 500 calories for women and 600 for men. You can split those calories in half and have 2 meals or have it all in 1 meal. Only water, coffee or tea with no sweeteners or dairy.