Fasting

I don’t technically do IF because it’s too strict for my taste. But I do generally skip breakfast and just have a cup of coffee with my creamer. Because having or not having that 35 calories doesn’t matter.

Not eating until 11-12 helps me manage my calories better throughout the day. But I still do what works for me each day. Like this morning I was really hungry after my run so I had a bagel. IF isn’t a magical solution to weight loss. If that way of eating makes managing your calories easier, awesome. But nothing bad will happen if you eat outside your window. No matter what diet you are following in the end it all comes down to calories in vs calories out.

I'm debate free on purpose but I find this a tad confusing.

"All feedback I take with a grain of salt. Thank you for your help 😌😉"

I can name 28 people off the top of my head that have found long term weight stability via this forum. They offer every bit of encouragement they've got to give. They give and give and give. While our time may be free it's not worthless.

I don't honestly get anything out of the various IF books, of which I've read all of them. All the rigamarole about insulin levels and leptin modulation through fasting and all that.

BUT...

I have been eating a fairly strict IF diet since June 9, 2019. Almost 14 months, almost every day, maybe 1-2 days off per month like when I'm out socializing and can't live up to my 7 pm food cutoff. My food window is noon to 7 pm. I sometimes "cheat" (hate that word) by putting creamer in my coffee in the morning, but didn't at first. I've lost almost 80 pounds. It's the first and only successful time I've lost more than 30 pounds and not regained. However, I still have 40 lbs more to go to get to a Normal BMI so it's too early to declare it a complete success. But I will call it a strong interim success, so far.

Couple of thoughts in no particular order.

What seems pretty hard at first - not eating outside the food window - actually gets really easy after 3-5 weeks and then you experience a kind of remarkable lack of appetite and interest in food outside the window. At least I did. I have much less appetite than I did before IF. My body got used to not getting even a morsel of food 17 hours each day and it seems to have made its peace with that. That is the most powerful aspect of IF, imho.

IF is the only thing that's ever helped me control my nighttime binging, which stopped the day I started IF. Previously, I had real binging issues, easily capable of gorging on 4,000+ calories in an hour (the usual suspects - ice cream, chips, queso, cookies, etc). I have had 4 or 5 instances of severe gorging over the last 14 months, so I know the tendency is still there, but IF does help me control it most of the time.

I think it is best to be kind of hard core about it at first - zero calories outside the eating window. This is to develop good habits and really get you in the right frame of mind. Later on, if you need to loosen things up a bit, it won't hurt you. There is no penalty for putting a skootch of creamer in your morning coffee or having a few carrots before bedtime. But first you need to "lock in" the IF mindset and habit, so I'd suggest doing it right - zero calories outside the window.

Those books on IF are kinda weird. They have a lot of pseudo theories that kinda half make sense but also kind half sound ridiculous. Having seen my own test results, I think there may be some advantages to IF aside from just weight loss, as far as blood sugar levels, blood pressure, RHR, etc. These might be minor or significant, depending on the person. For these reasons and also because time restricted eating can be a great way to lose weight, I think IF is worthy. But the arguments for IF being tossed around out there are kind of way out there and unnecessary. Just the fact that IF for many people becomes a natural appetite suppression after a month or so is all the justification needed to give it a shot.

Hope that helps.