Question for 16:8 Fasters

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nocgirl72
nocgirl72 Posts: 139 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I started this Monday to lose these last few lbs. My eating window is 11-7. I work all day and early and with me going to the gym after work and eating dinner after my work out this is really the only one that works for me.

I am finding I am VERY tired and sluggish until 1 or 2. According to tips on this fast I should avoid all artificial sweeteners until 11, so I miss my coke zero or diet Squirt in the morning so its nothing but water and black coffee until 11.

First of all what are your eating schedules like? I know I am not eating enough.

I love breakfast so I eat it late at 11 or 11:15. I have an egg, egg whites, turkey sausage patty and some berries. This meal is about 225 cals or so. I then eat snacks for rest of the day I will have a FAGe 0% yogurt here soon, then a little later 1/2 of small avocado, then before I leave at 3:30 I will eat my 1/2 cucumber and hummus. I go home change for gym and work out for an hour. Then go home and have a nice healthy meal and squeeze in a small healthy desert before 7.

I am wondering if I should just eat 2 full meals during this 4.5 hour window I am at work. I feel like I would be eating too much and not spacing my food out enough so honestly I know I am not eating enough.

Replies

  • asliceofjackie
    asliceofjackie Posts: 112 Member
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    So, you eat breakfast and dinner but no lunch in between - only snacks? I couldn't survive the gym if all I had before was some fage, half an avocado and half a cucumber.

    My general opinion is this: if you feel any kind of symptoms (in your case tired and sluggish), you can't go wrong with at least trying to change it up. Rearrange your meals a bit, add something more for a lunch meal and see if that makes it better. If things don't work out you can always go back.
  • nocgirl72
    nocgirl72 Posts: 139 Member
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    I am going too. I need to eat 2 meals and make sure I have a decent size dinner.

    asliceofjackie wrote: »
    So, you eat breakfast and dinner but no lunch in between - only snacks? I couldn't survive the gym if all I had before was some fage, half an avocado and half a cucumber.

    My general opinion is this: if you feel any kind of symptoms (in your case tired and sluggish), you can't go wrong with at least trying to change it up. Rearrange your meals a bit, add something more for a lunch meal and see if that makes it better. If things don't work out you can always go back.

  • gregc50
    gregc50 Posts: 47 Member
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    What is your total calories, sounds like 11am you need to have a bigger meal.

    I eat 12pm to 8pm (apart from morning coffee) and I have 30% of my calories at 12pm.
  • nocgirl72
    nocgirl72 Posts: 139 Member
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    Not enough. I have my calorie limit set at 1100 daily and I am not meeting that at all.

    I need to eat 2 bigger meals. I am still tweaking this so next week I will being 2 meals and a snack to work
    gregcault wrote: »
    What is your total calories, sounds like 11am you need to have a bigger meal.

    I eat 12pm to 8pm (apart from morning coffee) and I have 30% of my calories at 12pm.

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Doesn't sound like you are causing an insulin over-reaction from breakfast, nor those snacks really.
    Though, protein does cause an insulin response too. Artificial sweeteners do not though.
    So tiredness could be purely from not eating enough.

    You are following MFP correctly and eating more when you do more?
    Meaning - you log that workout, MFP increases your eating goal, and you eat to goal?

    And even if doing that correctly - is your deficit reasonable for amount to lose?
    You say down to last few pounds - that means 250 deficit, or 1/2 lb weekly, is reasonable.

    If you are being unreasonable and creating a bigger deficit by not eating back exercise calories - then body is going to adapt by exactly the effect you see, at first - slowing you down.

    If prevented from making that work - then it'll conserve calories elsewhere - like slowing nail and hair growth, skin replacement, ect.
  • Florida_Superstar
    Florida_Superstar Posts: 194 Member
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    If I added that up right, you're eating about 500 calories all day before dinner unless you're eating a lot of hummus. Is that about right? My concern is that you can't sustain this long term. I'm not sure how many calories are in your dinner, but maybe you can move some of those calories to earlier in the day.

    I've been successful in meeting my goal with 16:8 and a small calorie deficit. I drank diet soda the whole time and didn't even know you were supposed to avoid artificial sweeteners until I just read this. If that one thing would make it bearable, why not drink the soda while your body adjusts to fasting and wean off of it later?
  • nocgirl72
    nocgirl72 Posts: 139 Member
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    You are right. I am at 500-550 calories before dinner.

    xtrain321 wrote: »
    If I added that up right, you're eating about 500 calories all day before dinner unless you're eating a lot of hummus. Is that about right? My concern is that you can't sustain this long term. I'm not sure how many calories are in your dinner, but maybe you can move some of those calories to earlier in the day.

    I've been successful in meeting my goal with 16:8 and a small calorie deficit. I drank diet soda the whole time and didn't even know you were supposed to avoid artificial sweeteners until I just read this. If that one thing would make it bearable, why not drink the soda while your body adjusts to fasting and wean off of it later?

  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
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    Everyone is different and needs to find their sweet spot feeding window if practicing IF. I’m currently doing 18:6 and just started my feeding at 2:09 pm after a fasting period of 19 hours and 25 minutes.

    Just recently, I did OMAD 22:2 for 45 consecutive days and began my feeding once the sun set. I regularly worked out in a fasted state including a longer 60 minutes run on Sunday with no problem whatsoever. But, as I said, we’re all different and my sweet spot feeding window is different than yours and everyone else.

    Visit our Intermittent Fasting group here at MFP and ask your question there for other answers from fellow IF’ers practicing like you.

    Wishing you the best and success.
  • mangofish44
    mangofish44 Posts: 57 Member
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    You may want to try 2-4% fat yogurt. Less sugar and more filling. Fat isn’t so bad
  • zeejane4
    zeejane4 Posts: 230 Member
    edited April 2019
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    nocgirl72 wrote: »
    I started this Monday to lose these last few lbs. My eating window is 11-7. I work all day and early and with me going to the gym after work and eating dinner after my work out this is really the only one that works for me.

    I am finding I am VERY tired and sluggish until 1 or 2. According to tips on this fast I should avoid all artificial sweeteners until 11, so I miss my coke zero or diet Squirt in the morning so its nothing but water and black coffee until 11.

    First of all what are your eating schedules like? I know I am not eating enough.

    I love breakfast so I eat it late at 11 or 11:15. I have an egg, egg whites, turkey sausage patty and some berries. This meal is about 225 cals or so. I then eat snacks for rest of the day I will have a FAGe 0% yogurt here soon, then a little later 1/2 of small avocado, then before I leave at 3:30 I will eat my 1/2 cucumber and hummus. I go home change for gym and work out for an hour. Then go home and have a nice healthy meal and squeeze in a small healthy desert before 7.

    I am wondering if I should just eat 2 full meals during this 4.5 hour window I am at work. I feel like I would be eating too much and not spacing my food out enough so honestly I know I am not eating enough.

    I've been doing IF protocols for around 7 years and have always continued to used artificial sweetener during my non-eating windows (either splenda in my coffee or diet soda).
  • Hilogirl2018
    Hilogirl2018 Posts: 687 Member
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    The 'nothing but plain coffee, green or black tea, or water before your eating window' thing seems to be highly variable. Personally, I do find that if I have anything flavored before my window (gum, my beloved Coke Zero), I get hungry before I'm ready to break my fast (I also do 16:8), but not everyone functions optimally that way. IF is all about experimentation. And it's not for everyone. But you may just need to eat more, and/or play with the timing of your heavier meals.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    Are you trying IF for any other reason than to shed off the last few pounds? If that's the only reason, then there is really no need for you to implement IF. From your own post, you know you're undereating and you've been lethargic, so having a limited eating window doesn't seem to be working out in your favor.

    Unless there is something about eating in the morning that keeps you hungry and makes it difficult for you to adhere to a calorie deficit, it seems like you'd be better off just eating when you're hungry. If you insist on sticking with IF, you're going to have to incorporate more calorie dense foods into your diet.
  • awolf2011
    awolf2011 Posts: 265 Member
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    nocgirl72 wrote: »
    I started this Monday to lose these last few lbs. My eating window is 11-7. I work all day and early and with me going to the gym after work and eating dinner after my work out this is really the only one that works for me.

    I am finding I am VERY tired and sluggish until 1 or 2. According to tips on this fast I should avoid all artificial sweeteners until 11, so I miss my coke zero or diet Squirt in the morning so its nothing but water and black coffee until 11.

    First of all what are your eating schedules like? I know I am not eating enough.

    I love breakfast so I eat it late at 11 or 11:15. I have an egg, egg whites, turkey sausage patty and some berries. This meal is about 225 cals or so. I then eat snacks for rest of the day I will have a FAGe 0% yogurt here soon, then a little later 1/2 of small avocado, then before I leave at 3:30 I will eat my 1/2 cucumber and hummus. I go home change for gym and work out for an hour. Then go home and have a nice healthy meal and squeeze in a small healthy desert before 7.

    I am wondering if I should just eat 2 full meals during this 4.5 hour window I am at work. I feel like I would be eating too much and not spacing my food out enough so honestly I know I am not eating enough.

    I too was worried when I started the 16:8 fast that I would have periods of feeling sluggish & tired, but I have not found that to be the case....yet. I'm only past the first week. It sounds like you are needing some more calories to keep your body fueled. Instead of the 0% yogurt, go for the next one up, eat some oatmeal, etc. Fuel foods can help you get through these periods. For me, I need to not eat breakfast because if I eat breakfast & then skip lunch, I would not survive. I have to have the longer fast period in order for it to work. I also try to consume roughly 1/2 my calorie intake before dinner. This has helped to avoid that late night, before 8 pm cutoff, snacking.

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