Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it still comes down to calories. Eating 2000 calories over the course of 12 hours is the same as eating 2000 calories during an 8 hr or even 1 hr eating window. The reason people sometimes lose weight is if the skip a meal during a fast and thus eat less calories for the day.

DP here. I lost weight eating the same number of calories (or maybe more? I wasn’t really weighing or counting like I have in the past), but limiting myself to three meals a day instead of smaller meals plus snacks.

you were eating less calories. but you don't really know that because you weren't counting or tracking. You can't claim you were eating the same number of calories if you didn't track anything.

I was tracking with MFP before I started IF. I am not tracking now because part of IF for me is just not worrying about food anymore. But when I have added it up, it seems like more calories, or at least very close to what I was eating before.

Yesterday:
breakfast: oatmeal with cream and walnuts
banana
full fat yogurt

Lunch: tomato soup with heavy cream
salad with full fat ranch, nuts, sunflower seeds
2 eggs, scrambled with cheese

Dinner: beef tacos with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, guacamole, and sour cream
Ice cream

I would say this is pretty typical of what I eat.

I really like IF, but it has only helped me really lose weight when I combined it with another weight loss tool. However, those other weight loss tools don't help me without also doing IF. For me, IF seems to be necessary but not sufficient. I can either do IF plus cut sugar and starches (no grains or potatoes), or do IF plus calorie restriction (restrict to 1200 calories a day).

My regular eating pattern is what people call 16:8 - I just am not hungry in the morning. If I want to really jumpstart weight loss I need to do 5:2 - five days of normal eating (which for me is 18:6) and two days of fasting, which is eating 500 calories that day.

I never snack.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it still comes down to calories. Eating 2000 calories over the course of 12 hours is the same as eating 2000 calories during an 8 hr or even 1 hr eating window. The reason people sometimes lose weight is if the skip a meal during a fast and thus eat less calories for the day.

DP here. I lost weight eating the same number of calories (or maybe more? I wasn’t really weighing or counting like I have in the past), but limiting myself to three meals a day instead of smaller meals plus snacks.

you were eating less calories. but you don't really know that because you weren't counting or tracking. You can't claim you were eating the same number of calories if you didn't track anything.

+1. Some snacks such as nuts, while healthy, are actually packed with calories.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it still comes down to calories. Eating 2000 calories over the course of 12 hours is the same as eating 2000 calories during an 8 hr or even 1 hr eating window. The reason people sometimes lose weight is if the skip a meal during a fast and thus eat less calories for the day.

DP here. I lost weight eating the same number of calories (or maybe more? I wasn’t really weighing or counting like I have in the past), but limiting myself to three meals a day instead of smaller meals plus snacks.

you were eating less calories. but you don't really know that because you weren't counting or tracking. You can't claim you were eating the same number of calories if you didn't track anything.

Anonymous wrote:Because it still comes down to calories. Eating 2000 calories over the course of 12 hours is the same as eating 2000 calories during an 8 hr or even 1 hr eating window. The reason people sometimes lose weight is if the skip a meal during a fast and thus eat less calories for the day.

DP here. I lost weight eating the same number of calories (or maybe more? I wasn’t really weighing or counting like I have in the past), but limiting myself to three meals a day instead of smaller meals plus snacks.

You’re eating too much. IF, like weight loss surgery, like keto, like diet pills, are all just tools to help you eat fewer calories. And all can be circumvented

Maybe you don’t actually need to lose weight, and you are at a healthy weight for your body. I don’t really think this works to get from 5’8” and 140 lbs to 5’8” and 135 lbs.

But if you are overweight, it’s really helpful to stabilize your insulin levels throughout the day instead of creating multiple spikes and drops or, as I did, just having a steady stream of insulin all day long.

IF isn't for weight loss unless you cut out calories. Plenty of people don't eat three times a day, and they are not losing weight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF with no processed food is your best bet

And cut out the milk in the morning - that is breaking your fast. Shorten the window between lunch and dinner, too.

If oyu are worried about a little milk in your morning coffee, you're way overthinking things.

Anonymous wrote:IF with no processed food is your best bet

And cut out the milk in the morning - that is breaking your fast. Shorten the window between lunch and dinner, too.

IF with no processed food is your best bet

Because it still comes down to calories. Eating 2000 calories over the course of 12 hours is the same as eating 2000 calories during an 8 hr or even 1 hr eating window. The reason people sometimes lose weight is if the skip a meal during a fast and thus eat less calories for the day.

You've discovered the secret. IF isn't primarily for weight loss, it is for reduction of free insulin and for promotion of autophagy (which I think is more relevant for mice than for humans).

Dr. Fung is a nephrologist who sees lots of uncontrolled diabetics with ESRD. If you're not diabetic, then IF will reduce snacking but won't do much else for you.

How much milk are you using? Milk has a lot of natural sugars. That isn’t compliant with some versions of IF. You can try making your window longer, too, but it’s not a magic fix.

I thought that was bad, but now reading about it, it is supposed to help me lose weight? It hasn't so far. I eat around noon everyday for first meal (I do have tea with splash of milk in morning a few times), then I eat dinner around 7 and if I snack it is before 8:30. Hmmm, doesn't seem to work for me. Nothing does. Help? Is there a part of IF i'm not doing right?