Fasting

16:8 has been the key for me. I have dieted and gained back my whole adult life. But I also bought into the "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" mantra. For me, it is not. If I have breakfast I wake up the hunger monster. Since 2016 I have been doing 16:8 and it has worked well for me in both losing (a lot - I was obese and am now a healthy weight) and keeping off. It is now a lifestyle. I may occasionally have breakfast on holiday but even then I usually don't. I count calories and eat a quarter of my daily allowance at around 2pm, another quarter at around 5pm and the last half for dinner at around 8.30pm.

khcrmo wrote: »

Was it hard to start? I dont have too hard of a time not eating in the morning, but its hard for me to cut myselfnoff at night...

That's exactly why I started... to save calories for my evening snacks, lol!

I didnt find it too hard, especially once I realized how many extra calories I had for after dinner this way.

If you're hungry before your 'eating window' try some broth or hot tea/coffee. Hot beverages work much better than cold, IMO.

I'm not into fasting myself.

As you said, it is CICO. It works for many people because they are taking in less calories than they are burning off. Some people don't realize this exactly, others do, some people fail with it, some succeed with it.

One of my weight loss friends lost the majority of her weight through doing intermittent fasting. She was basically *the* intermittent fasting gal. She could almost be called an expert at it in her devotion. She absolutely thrived on it, and it made her weight loss go much smoother than if she hadn't used it.

I always knew fasting wasn't for me, but due to her enthusiasm, I did give it a try, just to see how it'd go.

I only did it about 3 times. It was so exciting for me. I had all these plans set up, what days I'd eat how many calories. Honestly, on those days where I ate under 500 calories, it wasn't hard.

But, I quickly gave up. I find it much easier to eat under 1800 calories 7 days a week than to eat 2,000 calories 5 days a week but 2 days of under 500. (Or other variations of intermittent fasting). It's mostly that I just can't stick with it. For example, if I were supposed to fast one day, I could say "Well, I'll just do it tomorrow instead..." but then I wouldn't.

If it's something you're interested in trying, I say go for it. You never know. It could be the method you need. Trying it out doesn't mean you need to make a commitment to it. It just means you're checking out if it's right for you. If it's not, that's fine, you can always go back to your old plan or try to find a new one.

I think most fasting methods should not be long-term. Once you reach your goal weight, it would be better to ease off the fasting. But that's just my opinion. My intermittent fasting friend still sticks to her fasting method even though she's at maintenance now.

It's also important to be careful with how you fast. You should build up to longer fasts and research how to come off of them safely. (As in, don't just suddenly try to fast for a full 24 hours and eat a huge meal once the time is up.)

I started intermittent fasting in Jan this year. I’ve already lost 18 lbs. I do 18:6. I wanted to try this because I was never really hungry until late in the day anyway. But I had to change what I was eating and late night binging. I stick to 1500 cal a day, low carbs. Healthy calories. No junk. Lots of water and regular exercise. I don’t plan on ever changing once I reach my goal.