Did you start IF cold turkey or did you gradually reduce your window?

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oat_bran
oat_bran Posts: 370 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm seriously considering trying IF to make it easier to stick to my deficit because I've been struggling with intense hunger for months which makes it hard to keep even a small deficit. But I'm not sure how to go about it. At the moment, going straight to 20-4 schedule seems unrealistic. These days I usually wake up with intense, almost painful hunger pangs in the morning and sometime at night. And I often start feeling very hungry an hour or two after a pretty big meal (I've tried many things and I'm yet to find the reason for this sudden intense hunger).

So I wonder if it's best to reduce the eating window gradually or switch to eat cold turkey hoping my body will adjust in a few days and I won't feel like I'm starving in my fasting hours? How did you do it? Or did it already feel natural to you to go without food for many hours?
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  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    edited November 2016
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    Before you change your meal timing, I'd reevaluate what you're eating. For me, IF only "works" when my diet is full of foods that I know will keep me full (protein and fat).

    That said, I started after a day where I ate a lot. It was easy to make it to the afternoon the next day because I was still full from my gluttony the day before.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
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    I started at 16:8 with only brunch and dinner.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    I'd start with 16:8 as it shouldn't restrict you too much. Once you have adjusted to being fasted in the mornings you can push the first meal back. 90% of the time I do 20:4 but I have done 1 meal a day before which was surprisingly easy.
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,789 Member
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    I had success with 18:6 intermittent fasting a few years ago, so this time around I'm planning to do it again. I've been easing into it slowly by gradually reducing the size of my breakfast. Today's my first day with no breakfast and I feel pretty hungry, which tells me I should give it another week with a light morning meal (Greek yogurt or a soft-boiled egg or something).
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    I started 16:8 today because I'm really struggling with maintenance. I'm not very hungry in the mornings but have been eating breakfast because you're "supposed" to. But I'm always starving when I get home from work (so from 5-7pm) before dinner. So I'm really just shifting my breakfast and morning snack calories to the afternoon.

    My goals are to not be so darn hangry before dinner and to have more energy for afternoon weighlifting . Eating window 12-8, calories remain at 1660.
  • lmmilbert
    lmmilbert Posts: 15 Member
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    I practice 4:3. Eat at 1500-2000 cals 4 days a week, and at 500 or less 3 days a week. I don't limit myself to certain times of the day to eat, but I usually stop on an up day at 7pm and can go to 6pm on a down day with no issues. I do get hungry, but I push through it and the feeling passes... or I have a cup of hot tea to get me through. I'm on my 4th week now and actually look forward to my fast days. I'm also down 5 pounds and have more energy.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    I intermittently do IF.

    Most days I eat between 9am-5pm and some days 11-5pm. Regardless of when I start eating I always finish by 5pm. This cut off time seems to do something to help with the late night munchies, I'm not sure if there is something behind it or I've just made up my mind to stop eating at 5 that helps.

    note: I don't like going to bed on a full stomach so I just quit eating around 5pm for that reason then noticed it helped with munchies and overall hunger.
  • StephieGrace2210
    StephieGrace2210 Posts: 6 Member
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    I've been doing 16:8 the last couple of weeks, and I was doing ok until yesterday when I did my usual hour swim hour spin workouts, just about survived it and then today I've been beyond ravenous and completely fell off the wagon
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
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    I started cold turkey--skipped breakfast and didn't have lunch until noon. Made sure I was finished eating by around 8 pm. I did 16/8 for a while and have settled into 17/7 daily.
  • walkdmc
    walkdmc Posts: 529 Member
    edited November 2016
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    16:8, last meal done by 7pm, eat around 11 am next day. During the fast I have water and two cups of coffee each with 1 tsp. cream.

    Cold turkey, not that hard, IMO.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,452 Member
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    I went straight for it, but I was already in a pattern of eating three meals a day, with no snacking (so was already "fasting" for 12 hours most nights) and I was eating lowish carb. I aimed for a 24 hour fast on the first day, deciding to give up if it felt too much, and decided I'd had enough after about 20 - 21 hours, IIRC. The next time, the full 24 hours was easy.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    I mean.....How is it hard to limit yourself to eating 6-8 hours a day xD? Your asleep for a large portion of that then just stop a few hours before bed and boom you have a starting point.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    I started out with 16:8 and moved on to 5:2 recently.

    I would like to think being used to eating later has made my fast days easier to deal with.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    johunt615 wrote: »
    I intermittently do IF.

    Have you just invented IIF? Intermittent Intermittent Fasting
  • scarlettesong
    scarlettesong Posts: 108 Member
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    I found myself falling into 16:8 very naturally, but I'm currently in a position where I don't make own food and the cafeteria is only open at set meal times. So for this reason, I tend to skip breakfast, grab lunch and dinner, and skip the night meal and go straight to bed. All my eating just fits right into IF. If I eat lunch late and dinner really, it's actually closer to 20:4.
  • awinner_au
    awinner_au Posts: 249 Member
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    longstocking wrote: »
    These days I usually wake up with intense, almost painful hunger pangs in the morning and sometime at night. And I often start feeling very hungry an hour or two after a pretty big meal (I've tried many things and I'm yet to find the reason for this sudden intense hunger).

    The question you need to answer is, if you eat so that you don't get these hunger pangs on the days you are not fasting, can you cut your calories enough on fasting days to achieve weight loss?

    What is the calorie deficit are you on?


  • oat_bran
    oat_bran Posts: 370 Member
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    awinner_au wrote: »
    longstocking wrote: »
    These days I usually wake up with intense, almost painful hunger pangs in the morning and sometime at night. And I often start feeling very hungry an hour or two after a pretty big meal (I've tried many things and I'm yet to find the reason for this sudden intense hunger).

    The question you need to answer is, if you eat so that you don't get these hunger pangs on the days you are not fasting, can you cut your calories enough on fasting days to achieve weight loss?

    What is the calorie deficit are you on?


    My average deficit lately has been about 400. Some days its 0 or I might even eat over my maintanance calories I still feel hungry. A couple of weeks ago I tried to eat like 3000 for several days in a row and still had this unsatisfied hunger sensation behind the sensation of fullness, if that makes sense. So I don't think eating more is the solution here.

    Judging by how much I've been losing my estimations of burn/intake are accurate.

    I even thought the sensation was digestive and not true hunger, but after I have a day of a big deficit (over 500) I feel much hungrier.
  • awinner_au
    awinner_au Posts: 249 Member
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    longstocking wrote: »
    A couple of weeks ago I tried to eat like 3000 for several days in a row and still had this unsatisfied hunger sensation behind the sensation of fullness,

    Seems strange that you feel hungry eating 3k, but i dont know what your TDEE is. Feeling full and hungry at the same time is bizarre, perhaps there is something other than hunger at play here. Have you been to see your GP?
  • oat_bran
    oat_bran Posts: 370 Member
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    awinner_au wrote: »
    longstocking wrote: »
    A couple of weeks ago I tried to eat like 3000 for several days in a row and still had this unsatisfied hunger sensation behind the sensation of fullness,

    Seems strange that you feel hungry eating 3k, but i dont know what your TDEE is. Feeling full and hungry at the same time is bizarre, perhaps there is something other than hunger at play here. Have you been to see your GP?

    Yes, I know it's really strange. It wasn't always like this. I used to wake up and not be hungry until lunch and I'm used to be able to go hours without food. And when I was hungry it didn't feel so intense. The weird hunger started several weeks ago. And I can't figure out what changed. I weigh petty much the same (I even gained some weight since it's so much harder to eat under a deficit). My TDEE nowadays seems to be 2200 on average (I'm quite active). I'll see a doctor as soon as I can afford it. But in the meantime I'm trying to figure out ways to control the hunger.

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