Intermittent fasting

Immawhatsup · August 2019

Hi! I am going to jump on the intermittent fasting wagon and just need some general advice (and yes, I already searched within the community for info). So, I get up for work at 5 am and usually have toast or something easy that I can eat on my way to work around 6am. I leave work around 3:30 pm and go to the park or the gym. If I have my last meal at 6pm, would I be doing it right?! That would leave about 12 hours until my first meal of the day. Or should I shoot for my last meal at 5pm? Side note: I really need to eat each morning because I’m a nurse and there’s no telling when/if I would get a morning break once I get to work. Thanks everyone!

TeaBea · August 2019

Intermittent fasting is an eating schedule, there are many protocols. The only "right" is the schedule that helps you eat at a consistent calorie deficit.

Beyond that most of the information out there on IF is largely untested, or when it is tested it's the unscientific "my results were."

Lots of groups out there to find the schedule that works for you.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/49-intermittent-fasting

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100058-5-2-fasting

pierinifitness · August 2019

What are your fitness, health and goals?

Immawhatsup · August 2019

pierinifitness wrote: »

What are your fitness, health and goals?

Lose 50+ lbs, and stave off some bad family genetics..

kimny72 · August 2019

If your goal is weight loss, the "right" way to do IF is whatever way controls your appetite the best so you are easily staying in your deficit.

If you are looking for other theoretical benefits, there are different protocols and different gurus who claim different things.

The typical protocol is 16:8 which would mean fasting for 16 hours. If you need to eat something at 6AM, that would mean your eating window is 6AM to 2PM. Fasting for 12 hours isn't really fasting, it's pretty normal for anyone who closes the kitchen after dinner. But regardless of whether it counts as IF or not, if that schedule controls your appetite, it will help you lose weight

MikePTY · August 2019

Traditional intermittent fasting schedules usually begin at at least 16:8. I wouldn't really think of 12:12 as intermittent fasting. That is really just traditional 3 meals a day eating, without a late night snack.

But that being said, IF is definitely not needed for weight loss, so if you find this eating schedule to work for you and be beneficial, I would go for it. You will lose weight from a calorie deficit, regardless of the times you eat each day. If setting up this structure helps you better reach your goals, then it is beneficial.

pierinifitness · August 2019

Recommend you start with a fasting period and number of days that you can achieve 100 percent compliance and then inch towards 16:8 for 7 days a week with 100 percent compliance. Log your eating 100 percent of the time here using the MFP app and work with a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories.

Continue for every day until you have at least 30 days of 16:8 at 100 percent compliance. Then evaluate and decide what you want to do for the rest of your fitness, health and wellness journey.

For best results, share.

Today is my one year anniversary of beginning my current fitness, health and wellness journey and my morning BW is 41.2 lbs. less than one year ago. I’ve practiced IF every single day since September 15, 2018, every as in EVERY. If I can do it, so can you.

Wishing you the best.

Immawhatsup · August 2019

Thank you all! Now that I think about it, it does sound silly to not just eat for 12 hours! Maybe I will try to live off coffee for the first couple hours at work, and keep a power bar or something quick in my locker at work to break my fast around 8:30-9am. Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my question.

pierinifitness · August 2019

I edited my post and added.

The first week is the hardest. A good and strong cup of coffee will be a good IF friend.

lgfrie · August 2019

16:8 person here. Been doing it for almost 5 months, with almost 50 lbs lost. I find it to be a good approach. I feel like I have new eating habits from IF that have helped me even on the occasional off day - I am really out of the habit of eating in the morning and at night now, even when I am "off plan", and that has been very beneficial and a true game-changer for me.

I wouldn't sweat the details of IF too much right now, honestly. You could just have your breakfast at 6 am and then wrap up your food day by 6 pm. That'd give you a 12 hour fast, which whether or not it qualifies as some textbook definition of a "fast" or not, is a nice way to introduce yourself to the general idea of time-restricted eating and see if you like it. You might not like it, in which case you've lost nothing. Or you might like it and can then think about ways to narrow the eating window. Or maybe 12:12 will work out great for you. You can cross that bridge when you get to it. Meanwhile, you'll be training yourself to have nothing but water after 6 pm and that will be a huuuuuuuuuuge accomplishment on the road to your weight loss goal, regardless of where you end up with IF, which may not end up fitting with your work schedule.

So I would just do 6 am to 6 pm for now if I were you.

You still have to pay strict attention to your calories on IF. IF does nothing but structure your eating day to make it easier to hit a target calorie deficit. If you exceed the target, you will not get the weight loss. I assume you know that, but it's still useful to point that out.

lemurcat2 · August 2019

If the only goal is weight loss, you are going to be able to achieve that with a 12 hour eating window as an 8 hour one, calories equal, and what's important is what makes it easier for you. If your intuition is that eating in 8 hours despite your schedule would make it easier, try it, but I lost 90 lbs easily eating 3 meals a day at pretty standard times (in fact, with dinner on the later side because my work hours can be crazy).

Intermittent fasting

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