IF

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Good morning, is anyone on here doing IF?

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  • WailingDusk
    WailingDusk Posts: 58 Member
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    I take it IF means intermittent fasting?

    Yes, I do. I do the 20/4 fast, doing 1-2 day full fasts once a month.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    I do, but this isn't a very IF-friendly community, so I don't choose this place as venue to find support for it.

    That said, a lot of IF-friendly online spaces are full of total BS pseudo-science nonsense, so there's that issue as well.

    But it is nice to be able to talk through the experience with people who are going through it first hand.

    I've been doing it for the better part of a year, and am very, very happy with it. I've done 16:8, 18:6, 20:4, OMAD, alternate day fasting, moved my eating window all over the place.

    For me, what worked best at the beginning was very different from what worked best after a few months after my body really adjusted to it.
  • Anya_000
    Anya_000 Posts: 723 Member
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    I've been doing 16:8 for a couple of months. Eating what I want during the 8 hour period, and losing approx 1/2 pound a week. It's simple.

    I've also done the calorie counting method, years ago, and got the same results, 1/2 pound loss per week. It was nice to be able to have a late snack, and breakfast.

    So for me, both methods have worked to lose weight.
  • alexandravictoria88
    alexandravictoria88 Posts: 138 Member
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    Its been nearly 3 weeks for me. I've noticed how good I feel in the mornings without eating but I keep getting bloated each time I break my fast and pretty much throughout the day.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    Its been nearly 3 weeks for me. I've noticed how good I feel in the mornings without eating but I keep getting bloated each time I break my fast and pretty much throughout the day.

    This might go away, or you may need to ease into eating, or you may need to switch what you open your eating window with.

    Everyone is different, but I have seen this as a common complaint. I had the same issue, but it eased up over time.
  • alexandravictoria88
    alexandravictoria88 Posts: 138 Member
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    Xellercin wrote: »
    Its been nearly 3 weeks for me. I've noticed how good I feel in the mornings without eating but I keep getting bloated each time I break my fast and pretty much throughout the day.

    This might go away, or you may need to ease into eating, or you may need to switch what you open your eating window with.

    Everyone is different, but I have seen this as a common complaint. I had the same issue, but it eased up over time.

    Thanks, I hope it does ease up! How long did it take you?
  • azuki84
    azuki84 Posts: 212 Member
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    IF is just another form of calorie restriction. It will work for some, and it doesn’t work for others. I need to spread out my meals in order to meet my daily calorie intake otherwise I will overly stuff myself trying to eat 2500 cal in 1-2 meals.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    Xellercin wrote: »
    Its been nearly 3 weeks for me. I've noticed how good I feel in the mornings without eating but I keep getting bloated each time I break my fast and pretty much throughout the day.

    This might go away, or you may need to ease into eating, or you may need to switch what you open your eating window with.

    Everyone is different, but I have seen this as a common complaint. I had the same issue, but it eased up over time.

    Thanks, I hope it does ease up! How long did it take you?

    Well I tinkered with the way I was eating quite a bit, so it's hard to say if changing what/how I was eating or time room care of it.

    I do know that I had major changes in my level of comfort with IF around the 3 month mark and around the 6 month mark. It takes time for your body to adjust.

    But in the meantime, you should experiment to see what your body responds to better. Like altering what you are eating when you open your window or how much.

    I would experiment with trying small portions of different food when you open your window and seeing what bothers you most and least.

    I was shocked to find that bread was the best way to open my window. I haven't been a bread eater for decades, but now pretty much daily, I open my window with a piece of toast because it's so easily digestible and gets my stomach going without pissing it off.

    If I open my window with raw vegetables, which used to be my go-to snack, that's too hard on a stomach that isn't primed to digest.

    When you eat multiple times a day at predictable times, your body actually starts prepping to digest food about an hour before it expects you to eat. This is the sensation that a lot of people perceive as hunger, when really, it's the body making itself ready for food.

    Digestion is actually a pretty traumatic process for the body, so this is why it has an anticipatory preparation for food it expects to arrive. IF messes with when the body expects food, so messes with this prep. That can make digestion more traumatic.

    So if your body has gotten used to not getting food, it doesn't prepare for it, and then digestion can be harsh when it suddenly gets it.

    Experiment and listen to your body. What your body responds well to in IF may be wildly different than what it responds well to when it's used to predicting meals multiple times a day.
  • hasmig4u
    hasmig4u Posts: 3 Member
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    Yes. 16:8 for me. Although, lately for reasons I don't understand I've been off - just not hungry at all during the day, and then hungry at night. Also, this seems silly, but I buy all these wonderful fruits and vegetables which I don't want to throw in the compost, so, even if I'm not hungry I will eat them. Anyways, more than what you asked for.... :)
  • ashverdo
    ashverdo Posts: 12 Member
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    azuki84 wrote: »
    IF is just another form of calorie restriction. It will work for some, and it doesn’t work for others. I need to spread out my meals in order to meet my daily calorie intake otherwise I will overly stuff myself trying to eat 2500 cal in 1-2 meals.
    azuki84 wrote: »
    IF is just another form of calorie restriction. It will work for some, and it doesn’t work for others. I need to spread out my meals in order to meet my daily calorie intake otherwise I will overly stuff myself trying to eat 2500 cal in 1-2 meals.
    azuki84 wrote: »
    IF is just another form of calorie restriction. It will work for some, and it doesn’t work for others. I need to spread out my meals in order to meet my daily calorie intake otherwise I will overly stuff myself trying to eat 2500 cal in 1-2 meals.

    Most people don’t have a target that high lol wish I did.

    I sometimes (when my adherence is low to my deficit) do 2MAD so I can break my calories into 2 filling meals lol
  • Seasonal_One
    Seasonal_One Posts: 49 Member
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    hasmig4u wrote: »
    Also, this seems silly, but I buy all these wonderful fruits and vegetables which I don't want to throw in the compost, so, even if I'm not hungry I will eat them.

    I'm the same way. Added a bit more lettuce to a salad tonight because I know it will be spoiled before I make another salad.