HELP - Question about intermittent fasting!?

What can drink/eat during my 20:4 intermittent fasting each day?

I know tap water, plain unsweetened ice tea, and coffee with no sugar or cream.

What are other options?

What about flavored water with zero sugar or calories like LaCroix?

Water with lemon?

Sugar free Mio water additive?

Any foods?

Replies

  • Rannoch3908
    Rannoch3908 Posts: 177 Member
    I just done like to eat breakfast (slows me down - more focused without).

    At lunch im not hungry but I eat because it's lunch time. I don't get hungry till about 4pm. We eat dinner at 7.

    Plus I have better luck trying not to eat for 20 hours than eating three meals and trying to eat healthy. If I don't eat at work I don't get tempted by fast food. Then I go home and have lots of health snacks and meals.

    It also saves me money. Not having to buy lunch and breakfast. That's a nice chunk of change.
  • sarahkatzenelson452
    sarahkatzenelson452 Posts: 37 Member
    Do not use any zero cal sugar substites at all, especially during the fast period. It will throw your body for a loop getting a sweet signal but no calories.
  • Rannoch3908
    Rannoch3908 Posts: 177 Member
    Okay so perfect - I can have flavored water, diet soda, etc as long as it's zero calorie. I didn't know if the artificial flavoring and sweetener was an issue.

    I already eat for eight hours a day (noon to 8pm) so not sure how switching to 16:8 would help me. I eat my first meal at noon (fast food or delivery every single day) then snack all afternoon then eat a dinner and desert after.

    Switching to 20:4 allows me to continue to not eat breakfast, skip the fast food lunch, not eat mindlessly all afternoon snacking. At 4pm I can start eating but only till 8pm. So come home and have a snack to hold me over till dinner at 7pm which is keto (loving, loving, loving keto - been doing it two years). Then no snacks after 8pm (we like to snack late night so this will stop that).

    It allows me to control my calories easier than just pure will power (order something healthy at lunch god damn it and then fail to do so and eat two pizzas instead) -- it's easier to just not eat lunch and then I can't mess that up. Plus I don't eat for hunger at lunch - I eat because I'm supposed to. Once I eat I feel like crap and the days over -- if I don't eat my energy is through the roof and focus is on point!

    Plus like I said it cuts out tons of money. We only have $45 for our groceries per week for a family of 2. It's hard to make that work for 2-3 meals a day (7 days a week). This would help.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    edited June 2020
    If it's about money, that's a whole different issue.

    I mean, if you're trying to lose weight anyway then looking for meal timing solutions makes sense - but you still have to eat the same amounts of food or you'll lose weight quickly.

    I get it on the money thing, there have been several times in my life when I couldn't really afford food...but you still need to get those calories in if you want to hold on to your health.

    Here's a thread from a couple years ago on stretching your grocery budget. Scroll down on that first page, there's a post at the bottom with a ton of helpful links.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10635985/25-weekly-food-budget/p1
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    The medical point of fasting is to avoid insulin.
  • Rannoch3908
    Rannoch3908 Posts: 177 Member
    It's not only about money.

    It helps me hit my calorie goal which is the most important reason I like the idea of intermittent fasting.

    Yesterday went good. Pretty easy.
    Day #2. Coming up.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Do not use any zero cal sugar substites at all, especially during the fast period. It will throw your body for a loop getting a sweet signal but no calories.

    This is true for some of us but not all. Sweet without calories sends my appetite into hyper-hungry mode but others don't experience this.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    I don't get any increased appetite from artificial sweeteners. I use them plenty outside the eating window, for instance in my iced tea, or black coffee with splenda. I doubt they're good for you, but I can only focus on one or a few challenges at a time, and I figure if I'm losing weight, I will deal with footnote-issues like artificial sweetener some other time.

    IF is best done as simply as possible. "No calories outside the eating window" is plenty to work with. I wouldn't personally bother fussing with rules around artificial sweeteners, since they have no calories, unless you found it was making you hungry.
  • GeneralSTpower
    GeneralSTpower Posts: 25 Member
    Zero Calorie drinks dont mess with my appetite , but i guess it differs from person to person.