If you read the obesity code, which is a great read about IF, Dr. Fung discusses the impact of insulin on obesity and the fact that What the fasting is doing is reducing insulin resititance. The sweetener in the coffee (sugar or artificial sweeteners) has an insulin effect. Heavy cream has almost no sugars (.3 grams per cup) while whole milk has 13 grams of sugar per cup. I only have cream in my coffee during the fast (I do 16:8).

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PS. I just like coffee, and want to have it every so often.

I’m doing 16:8. 10am-6pm works perfectly for me. I’m a SAHM and we eat dinner at 5. I’m rarely hungry past 6pm.

I guess I could have coffee at 10am. Duh.

I am up at 6am so I drink coffee then and then again at 8. I trained myself to drink black...didn’t realize using milk might not be cheating.

Thanks PS. I just like coffee, and want to have it every so often.

I’m doing 16:8. 10am-6pm works perfectly for me. I’m a SAHM and we eat dinner at 5. I’m rarely hungry past 6pm.

I guess I could have coffee at 10am. Duh.

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I need more info.

Does it have to be every day to be effective?

Can I have coffee with creamer and sugar? It might be over 50 calories. Does it have to be all or nothing?

You don't have to do everyday - but you will get slower results. Some people prefer 5:2 or every other day fast. If you are missing a lot of days, your body doesn't train to it and its going to feel harder.

The advice is 2 tablespoons creamer/milk. They usually say no on the sugar - not because of the calories, but what it does with insulin etc. They also suggest broth if you need something.

I need coffee in the am for the caffeine, so I just measure out 2 tablespoons of whole milk and works for me.

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I need more info.

Does it have to be every day to be effective?

Can I have coffee with creamer and sugar? It might be over 50 calories. Does it have to be all or nothing?

Depends on whether you are thinking of 18:6 or 5:2 - 18:6 is basically an every day thing, and 5:2 is a twice a week thing. Either way, of course you can have cheat days. It won’t ruin it or anything, just lessen the benefits the less you do it. It isn’t all or nothing. Having coffee with cream in the morning is okay - not ideal, but okay. I do 5:2 and have probably 100 calories of cream a day, even fast days. Just leaves fewer calories for real food later.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have experience doing morning exercise while following this plan? How does that work?

I do morning exercise at 5.30 - running or rowing for 30 - 45 minutes. I'm slightly hungry for a few minutes during the exercise and then I'm fine for a while I'm not one who goes to noon - however. I prefer an earlier dinner so I don't go as long. I also get results just going 14 hours - maybe not as much as I would 16, but I'm fine with that.

I love exercise for non-weight loss benefits - I don't tend to lose more when I exercise more. With this, I seem to be able to lose a bit.

OP here.

I need more info.

Does it have to be every day to be effective?

Can I have coffee with creamer and sugar? It might be over 50 calories. Does it have to be all or nothing?

Does anyone have experience doing morning exercise while following this plan? How does that work?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying this. I last ate at 7 p.m. last night and I've been hungry since about 8 a.m., stomach growling. I'm envious of those of you who don't get hungry without breakfast.

My DH didn't need breakfast so he could fast more easily from day 1. I had to go so much slower and it got easier.

Start with 12 hours for several days and reduce snacking. Slowly work up to 14 and then slowly go to 16. Maybe switch dinner closer to 6 or earlier if you can. When you start it helps, if you can time it when you are very busy and do not require heavy focus. Even if you don't get to 16 hours, people can see benefits. I fluctuate how much I fast based on schedule, but it gets easier and I see improvements.

You could also try 5:2 rather than 18/6, meaning two days a week you eat 500 calories and the other days you eat a normal amount of calories at whatever time you want. I like that because it means I have two days out of 7 where I am hungry. I like that better than being hungry every day for a shorter period of time, which is what happens to me if I count calories, as I have to get down toward 1000 calories per day to lose weight. I chose workdays for my fast days because I am busy and sometimes don't eat normally anyway, and then I just drink coffee and water and know I'll be able to eat normally tomorrow. Its not bad.

+1 the 5:2 has totally worked for me - I've lost about 15lbs and kept them off for about 18 months.

I kind of naturally do IF in the sense that I usually dont eat breakfast--just coffee with milk. But if I am really hungry I will have something. I find that if I had a very light dinner the night before (like, a salad) then I need to eat by 10 am. Or, if I have a hard workout in the morning, I'll have a smoothie within an hour, otherwise I feel shaky. Also, it depends on sleep. If I have gotten less than 6 hours of sleep, I usually feel crankier and need to eat something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying this. I last ate at 7 p.m. last night and I've been hungry since about 8 a.m., stomach growling. I'm envious of those of you who don't get hungry without breakfast.

My DH didn't need breakfast so he could fast more easily from day 1. I had to go so much slower and it got easier.

Start with 12 hours for several days and reduce snacking. Slowly work up to 14 and then slowly go to 16. Maybe switch dinner closer to 6 or earlier if you can. When you start it helps, if you can time it when you are very busy and do not require heavy focus. Even if you don't get to 16 hours, people can see benefits. I fluctuate how much I fast based on schedule, but it gets easier and I see improvements.

You could also try 5:2 rather than 18/6, meaning two days a week you eat 500 calories and the other days you eat a normal amount of calories at whatever time you want. I like that because it means I have two days out of 7 where I am hungry. I like that better than being hungry every day for a shorter period of time, which is what happens to me if I count calories, as I have to get down toward 1000 calories per day to lose weight. I chose workdays for my fast days because I am busy and sometimes don't eat normally anyway, and then I just drink coffee and water and know I'll be able to eat normally tomorrow. Its not bad.

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying this. I last ate at 7 p.m. last night and I've been hungry since about 8 a.m., stomach growling. I'm envious of those of you who don't get hungry without breakfast.

My DH didn't need breakfast so he could fast more easily from day 1. I had to go so much slower and it got easier.

Start with 12 hours for several days and reduce snacking. Slowly work up to 14 and then slowly go to 16. Maybe switch dinner closer to 6 or earlier if you can. When you start it helps, if you can time it when you are very busy and do not require heavy focus. Even if you don't get to 16 hours, people can see benefits. I fluctuate how much I fast based on schedule, but it gets easier and I see improvements.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been doing 16:8 IF for several months and it’s been working for me and is just the way I do things now. I’ve lost weight and maintained even over the holidays. I don’t feel like it’s extreme and it’s changed my relationship with food and retrained my hunger. I don’t obsess over calories, food types, timing, etc. I eat from 10-6 and don’t worry too much about what I eat although my choices have been healthier and the amount is less. I recommend it a lot to people!

Thanks for the info. Are you ever allowed to skip a day? Stray from this? What happens if you eat breakfast one day?

Different poster but yes you can skip a day. Obviously you will lose slower. I read the Fung book and he was positive about taking a day off if it's your birthday, special celebration whatever.

Technically I eat breakfast....just around 10am. I work out around 12:30 and then eat lunch and eat dinner at 5. So it hasn’t really made it that I’m skipping any meals but I’m just eating in a smaller time frame than before. Biggest thing was probably skipping snacks at night. I don’t eat past 6:00. I also don’t eat many snacks during the day since my Meals are closer together and I’m less hungry overall so I think all of this contributes to it working for me. I do struggle a little in the morning and drink 2 cups of black coffee which I would do no matter what but it helps. I also drink a ton of water especially at night. I do cheat some on the weekends in the form of wine in the evenings. ? I just feel like I’m more in control. Before, I was eating at 6 am and snacking in the evenings and constantly wanting to eat and always hungry. My body never got a break from food and that’s one of the things with IF...getting off of the constant fueling so you’re body can work off what’s Already there in storage. Haha I don’t weigh myself but my clothes definitely fit different.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been doing 16:8 IF for several months and it’s been working for me and is just the way I do things now. I’ve lost weight and maintained even over the holidays. I don’t feel like it’s extreme and it’s changed my relationship with food and retrained my hunger. I don’t obsess over calories, food types, timing, etc. I eat from 10-6 and don’t worry too much about what I eat although my choices have been healthier and the amount is less. I recommend it a lot to people!

Thanks for the info. Are you ever allowed to skip a day? Stray from this? What happens if you eat breakfast one day?