16:8 females

It's just an eating schedule. It's not a diet. You still have to restrict your calories.

I found I just naturally ate this way. I didn't know it was a "thing" until I joined MFP.

There are no rules with how often one does IF (intermittent fasting). You do what's comfortable for you. The only thing I've seen recommended is to gradually ramp up to the longer duration (7-day+ ) fasts. If you plan on going that long, talk to your doctor. If you're a diabetic or take medications, talk to your doctor first.

Recently I did a combination of ketosis and 19:5 IF. During the eating window I ate 1200-1400 calories. I lost weight and felt great but it would've been much harder if I wasn't in ketosis. There are benefits to short fasts aside from weight loss. Did you research the benefits? Knowing them will help you stay focused when you want to cave.

It's funny to me we call the 16:8 a fast. In today's society it is indeed a fast but 30 years ago, that was how people ate. Dinner at 5-6pm then you're done until the next day, mid-morning.

There are amazingly helpful Reddit groups for IF, if you'd like more feedback. MFP has some IF people but it gets hairy because IF could be a 24-72+ hour fast during which you're not eating and that will contradict the MFP CICO tenant and break their rules.

I've been 16:8 for 3+ weeks now and I find it helps me in a big way to manage physical and especially "mental" hunger. I stretched my fasting window to 18:6 yesterday and my body went into overdrive at 12pm going "let's do this, eating time!!", but after 3 weeks I can simply notice this and have a cup of herbal tea and let it pass. When I have breakfast I "crave" food with a ridiculous urgency or need, yet when I fast (I do have coffee with a splash of milk) I don't have cravings, and only a few hunger pangs (after the first week).
I did find that, after a few weeks, my unreasonable cravings would come back in the afternoon, once I broke my fast. It's more a case of thinking "ooh, I have all these calories left, let's go nuts!!" then that my body wants anything in particular. That's why I've decreased my eating window, to make it easier to stay under my calories goals.
I think it's a matter of tweaking it to suit your schedule and body.

By the way, since this is a female thread... I did notice that 2 days after ovulating and 2 days pre-period i had difficulty adhering to fasting. Other than that I find it easy.

I do 16:8 in conjunction with Keto and less than 1400cals a day, it's pretty easy because I'm not all that hungry most days due to the keto. You still have to restrict your calories if you are going to lose weight, you can still cram a ton of food in an 8hr window so make good choices for your body! I find the days that I can fast I have better results with my keto, but some days I'm just really hungry and listen to my body. Would say on average I fast 4 days a week.

I guess what I usually do is about 19:5, sometimes 20:4 or 18:6. I started doing it for weight loss because I'm not hungry in the mornings. When I first eat (at 2 or 3 in the afternoon), I usually have something light (230 calories is my typical lunch), and then I eat a normal-ish dinner (that I track when dieting, when I keep to 1200 total for the day).

This eating schedule made it easier for me, and it made my weight loss much easier for my husband since I usually could eat a normal meal each evening with him.

The biggest benefit from my perspective is that it really helps me with maintenance. I'm currently cutting again after three back to back trips messed up my eating schedule and hunger cues, plus of course all the good food available! However, I find that I can maintain easily, without tracking if I keep to my eating schedule of 1.5 meals a day (one very light, one normal).