intermittent fasting for dummies (i.e., me)
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Anonymous
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For those who do this... I have so many questions!
How did you start? (book, article, other guide you'd recommend?) How was the adjustment period? How long until you adjusted to this new way of eating? Do you feel hungry? What if you get hangry? What health improvements have you had? How do you do this within a family? (e.g., do you eat dinner w/your family?) |
Anonymous
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IF or "time restricted eating" is actually the easiest and simplest way to control your calorie intake. You don't need a book or anything else really, except for a clock. I use an app because I'm visual and a gadget called Zero which is free- and it's really just a time clock where you press start to start your fast or end fast each time.
I strive for a 16 hour fasting period which usually looks like this: First meal (eating window) is at 11am, and my last meal is between 6pm-7pm. That is when I start my 16 hour count. Now one caveat for the way I do IF- I'm not strict IF where I only drink water between my last and first meal. I have coffee with heavy cream in the morning before my workout. There are some who say this breaks your fast, and some who say it doesn't. Either way it works for me in helping me to control my weight, and also hunger levels. After my workout I have my first meal which is protein based. Last meal is salad with protein. I try to get around 100 grams of protein per day. This actually keeps me from feeling hungry until I eat again the next day at around 11am. Do I feel hungry? Hardly ever. How long to get adjusted? For me not long because I was already pretty careful about my eating. Family eating? As I mentioned earlier I eat my last meal between 6p-7pm which is a normal time to eat dinner so it's seamless. |
Anonymous
| Pp: thank you for sharing! I am interested in trying IF in a non intrusive way, and it sounds like you’ve mastered it. |
Anonymous
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This is simple OP. You just skip breakfast and go as long as you can before eating lunch. For me this is usually around 12/12:30.
I don’t eat breakfast with my family so it doesn’t make a difference. Took me a few weeks to push the first meal back to afternoon but totally doable! |
Anonymous
| For me, this is the easiest way to control my calories. Although I have never been a big breakfast eater. My last meal of the day is usually no later than 6:30 PM. That’s when my fast starts and I don’t break it until 1130 or 1230 the next day. Although, like PP above, I do drink coffee with milk in the morning. This probably breaks my fast, but i’m still not eating a full breakfast. 🤷♀️ |
Anonymous
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I find this easy as well. It is harder now that I'm FT working from home, but when I went into the office daily - I'd work out, go to work, not eat until 1:00 or so. Easy. I also drank tea/coffee in the morning (with milk/cream) because that worked for me.
If I got hunger pains, just wait 10 mintues and they go away. If you go to long without eating you can over-eat. Try to restrict snacks after you start eating ... so just have lunch and dinner (or breakfast and lunch and skip dinner, if that is more your style). I never had a problem with exercising while fasting. Adjustment period wasn't that long, especially if you are still having a morning beverage. I'm old enough now that I don't get hangry. In my teens, I definitely did! Not that I was doing IF in the 80s. I do eat dinner with my family! We eat around 6-7. |
Anonymous
| I honestly don't understand the need for a book or an app etc. You stop eating after dinner and dont eat for 16 hours. I mean really !! |
Anonymous
Very difficult if you are an early morning exerciser. |
Anonymous
Not really. Not if you eat properly the day before. I work out around 8:30am, don't eat until 10:30ish. My meals are protein and fat heavy, and my carbs are eaten in the early part of the day not at night time. |
Anonymous
| How much are y'all down? Curious to see if it's working |
Anonymous
I’m the pp and I agree with you. This would be very difficult for me if I were a morning exerciser. Since you are, could you shift your fast to start around lunch? It’s not ideal because if you have a family you will want to sit and have dinner with them. |
Anonymous
| But does it actually work? |
Anonymous
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I started it after the new year and I'm really liking it. Seems much more sustainable than other weight management plans/strategies. I've lost 4 pounds so far which is obviously not much but it's only been a couple of weeks. I also haven't been super strict about it - I've skipped a couple of fasts because I had a brunch or an evening party. I do feel like it's reduced my cravings and I love the simplicity.
I have been doing a 16-8 so I don't eat anything from 8pm-12pm. I have black coffee in the morning and I drink a lot of water throughout the fast time. I have always been an evening workout person so fueling exercise hasn't been an issue for me. |
Anonymous
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I have found, as someone new to attempting to IF, that it was actually my drinks that impacted the duration. An after dinner glass of wine at 8 or 9pm, or creamer in my coffee at 6am.
We usually finish dinner by 7pm. By skipping evening indulgences like dessert or alcohol, and then switching to black coffee, boom I'm now already doing a 12hr fast. Stretch it out until late morning if you can. I'm averaging about a 14hr fast right now, usually eating a late breakfast/early lunch around 10 or 11am. It's a start - we'll see if it makes a difference the way some people claim. |
Anonymous
Yes, but not if you gorge yourself with food during your eating window. |