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[quote=Anonymous][quote]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?)[/quote]

1) I read The Obesity Code (I am not obese, but am interested in how keeping insulin/glucose spikes low/less frequent seems to improve health and longevity AND I have a small caloric daily need, so I wanted to maximize the two meals a day I eat).

2) I have never been a big breakfast eater but I had to wean myself off several cups of coffee with a little sugar. I added a bit of heavy cream instead. I also save money since I"m not buying 6$ lattes at starbucks. That being said, I learned somewhere that your body produces ghrelin when it expects to eat--we take this as  a hunger cue. You can push back that ghrelin clock by 45 minutes a day, so so intermittent fasting guides suggest moving your normal breakfast time (if that's what you are skipping) by 45 minutes each day until breakfast is really lunch.

3) I only feel hungry if I didn't get enough sleep and/or drank alcohol the night before, both of which affect blood sugar. Usually it passes, drink water etc. However, if I dont feel "right" I will eat something (low carbish though).

4) Hangry--see above. I think you learn to distinguish between hunger cues because you're used to eating at this time vs really really need food. I also recently did a 4 day water, coffee and broth fast and learned that hunger really does come and go--its not like a crescendo that just gets bigger and bigger until you can't stand it. I never ever thought I could do something like that, but it was fine. I dont particularly recommend it but I wanted to try it. I only did it when everyone was out of town.

5) health improvements: my cholesterol, which has been high since my 20s, has dropped into normal range. I haven't changed what I eat really (I generally have good eating habits). I sleep  better because I am not eating near bedtime.  I also have pretty good blood sugar which I think is partly IF and partly not having a lot of high sugar/high carb foods and if I do have something like that on occasion, I do it with a meal to slow down the spike of sugar/insulin.

6) This is the hard part. According to a lot of researchers, the healthiest version of IF would be to have breakfast and lunch and skip dinner. My own personal ideal--eg when I feel most like eating, would be 10:30 am and 4 pm. But we have family dinner and often not until 6:30/7 because of various classes, etc. I do not skip meals or anything in front of my kids because I have one child who is somewhat overweight and self conscious and one who is underweight and extremely picky. I cannot afford to introduce anything that could further undermine the goal of a healthy family dinner. I am, however, pretty consistent about not eating once dinner is done and try to end dinner by 7:15 or so. I go to bed between 10 and 10;30, and 3 hours minimum between a meal and bed is best.

Finally, I want to say that this, for me, is a lifestyle. I am not losing weight on it, because between two meals and an occasional snack between them, I am still eating my maintenance calories (which is low, like 1300-1400 calories). It does mean that I can actually eat two satisfying meals, rather than dribbling little snacks all day long. I of course also exceed this at times, when I go out to dinner or have a dessert, etc, but in the main it helps me stay relatively normal weight (bmi is 22 or so) , which is tough for a 5'1 " 52 year old woman. My goal this year is to cut out alcohol almost entirely (never at home, just on occasions out) and to get back into working out and lifting more weights. I had an injury and surgery so for the last 5 months I have only been walking and I have lost a lot of muscle. [/quote]

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