IF and consuming enough calories

It takes some trial and error to find out what combinations of food work for you. Adding in some red meat will probably help with both total cals and protein.

Cottage Cheese
Canned Chicken
Canned Tuna
Egg Whites
Whole Eggs
Whey Protein Powder
Peanut Butter
Greek Yogurt
Roasted Edamame

chicken breast, turkey, pork tenderloin and shrimp are my go-to protein bangs for my buck - I do 130g a day and easily hit that (could do within 8hrs if I desired)

I would not do IF just to do it, if you can hit your macros over the course of the day that is more important than using a particular protocol. When calories and protein are the same, IF vs a non-IF protocol will yield the same results. Do what works best for you, not because someone said you will lose a bunch a weight on IF. Keep protein high and stay in a caloric deficit and you will reach your goal.

One of two ways:
Extend your eating window by an hour at a time until you hit your sweet spot
Eat more calorie dense foods

In both both cases, eating things like meat and dairy will help with the protein.

I do IF and get most of my protein from eggs and chicken. I also do a protein shake for a shot of 25g.

One reason I haven't tried IF is that I don't think I could meet my protein goals eating in a small window (or just 1-2 times). I seem to do better getting about 30 g of protein at each meal, plus a bit extra a dinner. I can't eat enough at a time to get it all at once.

kenjhammond65 wrote: »

I did change my protein powder to a zero carb, 50g per serving. It has helped get pretty close. But trying to digest that much protein is difficult in the 8hr window. I like the 16hr fast and it has been slow taking hold but I believe it's starting to help. Has anyone had success with longer fasts? I just read a book advocating 24, 36, 48 and even week long or weeks long fasts. Not sure I'd want to go that route but I'm curious if it has helped anyone.

24, 36, and 48 are fine. Doing a 24 or 36 hour fast once a week could help raise your calorie allotment for the rest of the week, but it might be unnecessarily hard for some people and may not be worth it.

I would very strongly recommend against doing anything longer than 3 days. Learned it the hard way and landed in the hospital about 16 years ago with bowel obstruction because the digestive system was not capable of properly processing food after a long fast when I was "seeking enlightenment". Theoretically, you are supposed to start introducing foods in liquid form (juices and broths not shakes) and consuming them in very small spread out sips for about a week before moving to blended foods for the second week and soft foods for the 3rd, but you get so damn hungry after a long fast it feels like absolute torture to adhere to that rule that you fail even if you pride yourself with the strongest willpower. It creates an almost compulsive desire to stuff your face whenever you have the opportunity causing you to regain every gram you lost and then some. It's very unhealthy, extremely risky, and unnecessary to go that long without nutrition.