Does IF work if you don't do it every day?

[Anonymous]

If I were to do it, say, every weekday, or every M/W/F only, would I see results? Or does it have to be done every day to be successful? I feel sick when I don't eat breakfast so if I'm going to do this, it needs to be worth it!

[Anonymous]

If you get sick when you don’t eat breakfast....why do you want to do it?

[Anonymous]

No because you have to train your body. A better way would be 5 on, 2 off.

Also, you will live if you don't eat breakfast. That's all mental.

[Anonymous]

You won't see results. Do a different diet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No because you have to train your body. A better way would be 5 on, 2 off.

Also, you will live if you don't eat breakfast. That's all mental.

Don’t do 5-2 if you have a kid old enough to notice.

[Anonymous]

What is your definition of "worth it?"

[Anonymous]

depends on how much you restrict calories on the days you do it and what you are eating the other days. IF is a tool to reduce calories. I do agree that it is easier/your body adapts better to not eating breakfast if you do it every day vs every other day, but whether or not it "works" for you in terms of weight loss all comes down to the calorie deficit you create.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been doing IF to help me sustain the 500/day calorie deficit to lose a pound a week. I was plateauing and getting frustrated so I decided to give 16:8 a try and, in conjunction with calorie tracking, it has worked to help me shed a few more lbs. I’m sooo close to goal.

I do drink coffee with half and half outside my eating window, which I guess is not true fasting, but I’m really just doing IF to help maintain a calorie deficit. I also will eat a small amount of food if my workout requires it, like I’ll eat an English muffin or something if I’m doing a morning run over 7 miles or so.

[Anonymous]

You feel sick if you don't eat breakfast. What does that mean? Light headed or dizzy? (are you a diabetic or prediabetic?) Or do you mean upset stomach? (Are you taking pills in the morning without food or have post nasal drip?)

I find that IF helps me keep my eating in check. If I eat breakfast, I eat ALL DAY. I'm starving by lunch time and the eating just never ends. Whereas if I wait until 2pm, I'm hungry, but okay and everything is calmer all day.

[Anonymous]

People who are naturally hungry in the morning are not well suited for IF. Without calorie tracking you will very likely overeat during your eating window. IF might work for some but it is no magic bullet. If your goal is to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. How you achieve it does not matter. It sounds like another approach would work better for you.

[Anonymous]

I do IF (not that strictly) but I still eat breakfast - it's my favorite meal! I just wait until 11 am to eat most days (this would not work if I were an early riser). I am just not satisfied if I only eat two times per day.

I didn't do any calorie counting to lose 35 pounds. I just figured if I cut out enough calories since I used to eat something (ok, it was cookies) between breakfast and lunch, a late afternoon snack, a late dinner and dessert. Now I have oatmeal, soup or a salad with protein, and a normal dinner, maybe one small snack. If I'm starving at midnight (5 - 6 hours post-dinner), I just have a slice of lunchmeat or something. You won't explode or gain the weight back if you eat something outside the window.

[Anonymous]

People call me paddy cake

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You won't see results. Do a different diet.

This isn't true. I've lost 8 pounds in two months by eating less (including some IF elements) and exercising more.

I eat breakfast 2-3 times a week but most days I just wait until 11:00 or 11:30 to eat for the day. I have coffee those days.

I eat breakfast because either a) I am playing a sport that requires fuel in the late morning or b) it's a weekend and I want to eat breakfast with my family.

[Anonymous]

Absent a few very specific medical conditions, IF is a horrible way to lose weight. I’ve been a CPT for almost 30 years. I’ve seen so many diet fads. IF has to be up there with Keto as one of the worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absent a few very specific medical conditions, IF is a horrible way to lose weight. I’ve been a CPT for almost 30 years. I’ve seen so many diet fads. IF has to be up there with Keto as one of the worst.

You keep showing up on multiple threads saying this yet provide supporting documentation to support these assertions. Put up or shut up.