Intermittent fasting???

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I'm considering doin the intermittent fasting but have a few questions,
1. Which hours do u prefer to use for the 8 hour eatin period?
2. Are u able to continue havin water throughout the day?
Any advice will be great x
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Replies

  • kschwab0203
    kschwab0203 Posts: 610 Member
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    I am new to this as well, so definitely no expert but here's what I've done...

    I prefer to eat between 10-6 or 11-7. That way a lot of my time is spent sleeping so I don't really notice I've gone 16 hours without food. I drink water and I've heard that it's ok drink a small cup of coffee or tea.
  • dcristo213
    dcristo213 Posts: 117 Member
    edited November 2016
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    I eat between 12noon and 8pm. I drink black coffee, diet soda, and water during fasting hours. I also supplement with BCAAs. So far, it's worked out really well.
  • jopalis
    jopalis Posts: 238 Member
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    What I did when I did it was to start with dinner. So I ate something each day. For example, to start eat breakfast and lunch ( I chose to eat a healthy meal with normal calories, some folks don't) then fast dinner and fast breakfast and lunch next day and eat dinner, breakfast & lunch...etc. etc. I juice fasted (mostly green) on fast days. It does end up so your days differ as you go along. If you want to fix it, just fast say...two days a week. Hope not confusing. It's: B,L,F Then F,F,D. Then B,L,F, etc. Each day you can eat something that way and a large part of the fast is while you are sleeping.
  • _benjammin
    _benjammin Posts: 1,224 Member
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    1. Noon to 8pm
    2. Yes. I also drink Diet Soda and coffee before noon.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
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    Usually 1:00 to 7:00 or 8:00. Black coffee, water, and tea anytime.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
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    I eat 2-10pm and drink black coffee and water as much as I want during my fast hours.
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
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    I eat about 1-9pm, drink coffee, tea, and water anytime. Good luck with it, I love it!!
  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
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    I eat between 1-9pm. I do have my usual 2 cups of coffee with milk in the morning because I would be a great big beeotch without it.
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
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    I normally do 17/7, stop eating around 8 pm and have my first meal of the day around 1-2 pm. I have hot tea in the morning with a splash of half and half, other than that just water.
  • Pierre_is_a_cat
    Pierre_is_a_cat Posts: 89 Member
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    Join the intermittent fasting group here on MFP. :)

    I do my IF different from most other folks (from what I've seen). My window is 5am to 12pm -- I like having food before work. :)

    Oh, and of course you can drink water during a fast! In fact I would recommend using it as a crutch for the first few days as you get used to your new routine. Whenever you're feeling peckish, drink water instead. It'll help until you get used to the new schedule.
  • LynseyZombie
    LynseyZombie Posts: 69 Member
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    I'm doing the 16/8. I can easily go without breakfast as it's not my most hungriest time of the day
  • alyssa0061
    alyssa0061 Posts: 652 Member
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    I get up at 5:30am andhave coffee at 8am. My eating window is from 2pm.to 8pm, give or take.
  • sydnisd183
    sydnisd183 Posts: 247 Member
    edited November 2016
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    I first tried IF in 2010 for about a year....I really liked it but fell off the wagon. I started out again 6 weeks ago with 12p-8p. I basically had 2 meals per day (for a total of 1500-1600 calories a day)

    This week i'm trying out 7p-9p....a 2 hour window. that's one big azz meal but i'm liking it so far. I have a large cup of coffee in the morning with a half cup of almondmilk, then drink hot water (weird, I know, but I really like it) and regular water all day.

    I'm not keeping that up forever, but I have to admit, for me it's kind of freeing not to be fixating on food all day. It's not for everyone, but I really enjoy eating IF style.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    I'm doing 5:2 right now and wind up waiting until 1 to eat on maintenance days because that's what I'm used to.

    On fast days, I'll wait until at least 5 and have coffee at 1
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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    I'm considering doin the intermittent fasting but have a few questions,
    1. Which hours do u prefer to use for the 8 hour eatin period?
    2. Are u able to continue havin water throughout the day?
    Any advice will be great x

    I've been doing IF in one form or another for over 4 years now. When I do the 'window' method I do 11am-7pm. Outside of that window I drink water, diet soda and black tea with 0 calorie sweetener.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    Water is fine in a fasted state. Any calories will break your fast. Pick which window works for you.
  • dawnie_t
    dawnie_t Posts: 11 Member
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    sydnisd183 wrote: »
    I first tried IF in 2010 for about a year....I really liked it but fell off the wagon. I started out again 6 weeks ago with 12p-8p. I basically had 2 meals per day (for a total of 1500-1600 calories a day)

    This week i'm trying out 7p-9p....a 2 hour window. that's one big azz meal but i'm liking it so far. I have a large cup of coffee in the morning with a half cup of almondmilk, then drink hot water (weird, I know, but I really like it) and regular water all day.

    I'm not keeping that up forever, but I have to admit, for me it's kind of freeing not to be fixating on food all day. It's not for everyone, but I really enjoy eating IF style.

    If you are breaking the fast with almond milk, you arent technically fasting though.
  • walkdmc
    walkdmc Posts: 529 Member
    edited November 2016
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    There's a really good book by Jason Fung, MD, that serves as a comprehensive intro to fasting. He's someone who not only has extensive medical training, he runs a busy diabetes clinic and incorporates fasting into his treatment plans.

    In his book, he states you can drink coffee and broth during the fasting portion and even allows for 2/3T. Heavy cream. The point is, no sugar/carb intake during the fast, to avoid insulin spike.

    There are conflicting views on what constitutes a fast but I follow his recommendations. I've seen a 50 calorie limit floating in regards to fluid intake during the fast, to remain in the fasted state. I've never seen literature in that number.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    dawnie_t wrote: »
    sydnisd183 wrote: »
    I first tried IF in 2010 for about a year....I really liked it but fell off the wagon. I started out again 6 weeks ago with 12p-8p. I basically had 2 meals per day (for a total of 1500-1600 calories a day)

    This week i'm trying out 7p-9p....a 2 hour window. that's one big azz meal but i'm liking it so far. I have a large cup of coffee in the morning with a half cup of almondmilk, then drink hot water (weird, I know, but I really like it) and regular water all day.

    I'm not keeping that up forever, but I have to admit, for me it's kind of freeing not to be fixating on food all day. It's not for everyone, but I really enjoy eating IF style.

    If you are breaking the fast with almond milk, you arent technically fasting though.

    Not technically, but from what I've read re: IF if you stay under 50 calories then it doesn't affect the fast.