Feedback on IF
fernie8787
Posts: 31 Member
Has anyone done Intermittent Fasting and if so how did it go? I know you restrict to eat in a certain window. I want to try it but I want to have my eating window between 9am - 4pm. Have you tried this window, if so did it work or did you change to other hours? Any help is appreciated.
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Replies
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You can search the forum posts here to read up on what's been discussed here so far:
Overall concensus is that Calorie Deficit is the key to losing weight.
There is not as much agreement about IF having a direct impact on weight loss, but, anecdotal stories abound, so YMMV.
Me personally likes to eat between 7.30am and 6pm, but that's because eating too close to bedtime gives me reflux attacks. I don't think it has any direct effect on my weight loss.
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It doesn't matter, pick whatever "window" you want. I have done IF without even knowing what it was for years and years because I've never been hungry until late afternoon. I gained weight doing this, and lost weight. If it fits your schedule, then it would work for you. If you are thinking it will help you lose weight, it won't necessarily. You still need a calorie deficit.5
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Calories are what matter for weight loss, not what time you eat them. Some people find that intermittent fasting of some sort works well with their natural/preferred eating patterns, and the restricted time window helps them control calorie intake. But there's no magic beyond that.
Personally, 9am-4pm would be miserable for me, as I prefer to eat dinner around 6-6:30 pm and am hungriest in the evening. I start eating somewhere around noon, and finish eating (usually) somewhere around 8:00 pm. But if I'm hungry outside of that window on a particular day for whatever reason, I eat (and make it fit into my calories).7 -
It is a tool that can be useful to help hit your calorie goal and feel more satisfied at certain times of the day.
Many of the purported benefits are overstated or empirically false.
I typically use it to skip breakfast so I can eat more at night.4 -
I don’t know. I had a registered dietitian tell me to try it because she says there is evidence that it works.10
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john_not_typical wrote: »I don’t know. I had a registered dietitian tell me to try it because she says there is evidence that it works.
It does work, if it puts you in a calorie deficit. Plenty of people skip breakfast, go to bed early, and still get fat. Because they still eat too much
OP, honestly there's no way to know other than give it a shot! Expect you might have to fight some appetite issues for the first few days if your body is used to eating at times it now won't be. Log to make sure you stay within your calorie goal and maybe keep notes to keep track of how you are feeling.10 -
There’s nothing physiological about IF that “works”10
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Pros and cons and whether or not it "works" are 99% subjective. IF is simply a schedule for when you eat and when you don't. It says nothing about how much you eat, what you eat, etc... so weight loss will still come down to calorie deficit, and basic health will still come down to a reasonable intake + a reasonably balanced diet.
If having a tighter schedule for when you eat helps you better control how much you eat, then there are almost no cons to IF. If it doesn't help with that, then there are almost no pros to it.
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I've been eating withing a window for years, long before it was a thing, simply because it was my natural eating pattern. I ate within an eating window and got to my highest weight ever.
There's nothing magical about eating windows if you're not controlling your calories.7 -
Feedback - my weight tracked my calories just as any reasonable person would expect, didn't find it made any difference apart from feeling more restrictive than eating the same calorie allowance in whatever pattern suited me on any particular day.
No I didn't do 9-4 as that would be in conflict with when I prefer to eat.
My suggestion would be eat in any pattern that helps you personally adhere to your calorie goal. Experiment if you like but don't expect anything beyond it affecting your adherence.4 -
I can't say I strictly do IF but I have noticed if I eat less in the early part of the day I do better overall for my calories taken in. What I mean is I eat a late very light breakfast and a late light lunch then have more calories for the latter part of the day because once I start eating I want to eat all day. I have never been good at stopping my eating late in the day so I save most of my calories for the evening. If you are thinking of IF where you can eat anything you want within a small window of time I doubt that is going to work. Your daily intake is what determines weight loss. The IF is simply a tool to help you restrict calories for the day.5
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I've been eating withing a window for years, long before it was a thing, simply because it was my natural eating pattern. I ate within an eating window and got to my highest weight ever.
There's nothing magical about eating windows if you're not controlling your calories.
^^This1 -
Me too:(. I use much the same strategy as you do.cheryldumais wrote: »...because once I start eating I want to eat all day.....
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john_not_typical wrote: »I don’t know. I had a registered dietitian tell me to try it because she says there is evidence that it works.
I like to see the evidence, and I have no hesitation to ask a professional to share their resources.
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john_not_typical wrote: »I don’t know. I had a registered dietitian tell me to try it because she says there is evidence that it works.
Anything works, as long as it results in a calorie deficit. You could eat twenty meals a day or one meal a day, if the calories were the same the results would be the same.
If intermittent fasting is so miraculous compared to other diets, I'd like to see somebody explain how so many bodybuilders have had so much success over so many years eating the "bro diet" of six meals per day.7 -
cheryldumais wrote: »I can't say I strictly do IF but I have noticed if I eat less in the early part of the day I do better overall for my calories taken in. What I mean is I eat a late very light breakfast and a late light lunch then have more calories for the latter part of the day because once I start eating I want to eat all day. I have never been good at stopping my eating late in the day so I save most of my calories for the evening. If you are thinking of IF where you can eat anything you want within a small window of time I doubt that is going to work. Your daily intake is what determines weight loss. The IF is simply a tool to help you restrict calories for the day.
This is how it works for me. It reduces my appetite and makes it easy to stay in deficit. The earlier I eat the more I eat all day. I try to stay within a 15/8 window. Not always successful, but a noticeable decrease in appetite when I am.1 -
john_not_typical wrote: »I don’t know. I had a registered dietitian tell me to try it because she says there is evidence that it works.
I like to see the evidence, and I have no hesitation to ask a professional to share their resources.
They sound like she should be an UNREGISTERED dietician if they think IF “works” lol. Like wtf does “work” mean?😂0 -
IF definitely helps me keep to my calorie targets because I don't have much of an appetite until I start eating for the day...so if I don't eat until 1pm it's easier to stick to goal since there are fewer hours left before bed to battle the appetite monster.2
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I've been eating withing a window for years, long before it was a thing, simply because it was my natural eating pattern. I ate within an eating window and got to my highest weight ever.
There's nothing magical about eating windows if you're not controlling your calories.
same with me. I experienced weight gain as well eating too much while fasting.0
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