Good luck on your IF adventure Old Schmoopy. I do a 19/5 (20/4 during the week) and I love it.

Keep at it ShaMac you'll get there.

Great job on the loss so far berry.

I'm still Fast 5ing and love it. I'm down 29 lbs as of today. Can't wait to add another icon for another 5 lbs down. Have a great day ladies!

Welcome Schmoopy Hope this plan works well for you- like NoName says, there are many ways to tweak it so that it works for you.

NoName- I am doing ok- been pretty lazy about the eating lately.
I am having a hard time fasting on Mondays bc I exercise a lot on the weekend and it seems like I'm still hungry on Monday from that. I don't know, maybe I'm lying to myself! I usually ride my bike about 3 hrs one day and 2 hrs the other day on weekends.
Thursdays are usually fine. I have gotten down to my goal once, but that was after a bike ride so likely just water. I seem to be hanging in the same spot lately- and not sure about that. I guess I need to either be better about my 5 hr. window on non fast days or actually carefully fast for 2 days/wk. I'm feeling a bit unmotivated bc I am close to goal and swamped work wise. I will get there.

What have you been eating lately everyone? Any good meals or ideas??

Now I am interested in reading the Fast-5 book! Never thought I could fast, but it's not that difficult! You are asleep during most of it and I find that I am not hungry in the morning anyway. Now I am just extending that. I used to eat breakfast just because I thought it was "the thing to do"! This is only my third day of doing 16:8. I know I will not stick to it over the weekend because of the holiday. We are going camping and will probably have some cocktails around the campfire and I love my wine! How does alcohol fit into this plan for any of you?

Yogini - funny you asked about food...I've been in a serious rut and could use some inspiration! Wow you are so close to goal. I'm sure the last couple pounds will be the toughest. Maybe getting back on track with your eating will help.

Schmoopy - sounds like you're doing well so far I would find it impossible to stick to a window while camping too! There's really nothing better than a camping breakfast...have fun! When it comes to alcohol, I have had to cut it out of my diet Monday - Thursday...it's helped speed up my weight loss and I feel a lot better during the week because of it. But if you can keep up your usually drinking routine and still lose, then I see no need to change it.

Hello all, well I'm finally down about 3lbs but I know it won't last. My husband and I are hosting the 4th celebration at our house this year and I have already begun to make massive amounts of food. This is actually my first time ever being the host. With over 20 people crammed in my house for 3 days, I certainly hope it turns out well.

Schmoopy, have fun on your camping trip it sounds exciting! I agree with noname on the alcohol, I can't drink during the week if I want to see a loss, but that may be because of the type of alcohol beverages I drink, which are usually loaded with sugar.

Yogini, I went to a Mongolian grill last night and packed my dish with lots of veggies with about 4oz of shrimp & chicken and it was delicious. It came with rice but I just threw it out. As far as cooking, I'm not real sure I don't cook as often as I should. However, I do like to eat those personal size Stouffers lasagnas with a side of green beans when I do a 500 cal day or just for dinner in general. It is really filling.

Anyone else have any big plans for this weekend?

Hello,

I just started IF'ing and in five days am down almost five pounds. Woot! Woot!

I tried to stick to 500'ish calories on my first "fast" day and could not do it. I have low blood sugar and felt awful. Now I do about 1,000 calories on fast days and no more than 1600 on feast days. It seems to be working so far and it's the EASIEST diet I have tried.

Molly

Hi everyone--We're in TX visiting my family this week, and I've enjoyed reading all your posts! It sounds like everyone is doing great! Welcome back from your trip, noname. It's inspiring to know you took a nice long break and didn't gain anything. Congrats on losing those inches, bbb (and others)!

Schmoopy--welcome, and good luck with finding what works for you! I do Fast 5, although a lot of days it turns into Fast 6, just so I can enjoy some wine with my husband after the kids are in bed. I'm just not willing to give that up , and I'm still losing weight, albeit probably not as fast as I could without the wine!

As for what I'm eating, typically I try to focus on protein when I first eat for the day around 5 or 5:30pm, so I've been having some combination of Greek yogurt, almond butter, boiled egg, maybe some nuts or pita chips and hummus. Then about 2 hours later I eat whatever is for dinner, which lately has been anything from pizza to boiled shrimp, black bean and corn tacos, or grilled hamburgers. I pretty much enjoy all the foods I'm used to eating, but in that small window I just fill up much faster. I'm still loving it, and can't imagine stopping this way of eating any time soon.

So on this trip I've been sticking to at least a 16/8 schedule if not Fast 5, and trying to get in some workouts at the same time. I think I've done pretty well to not gain, at least better than usual on vacation! Although I will admit that my vacation "splurge" has been to go ahead and have my little bit of chocolate with my coffee in the mornings, as well as my preferred amount of sugar and cream. I feel like I'm splurging, and even though I'm not fasting technically, I'm still getting the calorie restriction by not really eating until later in the day. So far it has not interfered with any of the family social eating. The cookout we had at my sister's house was in the evening, which worked out perfect for me. Most of my family here doesn't really eat breakfast anyway, so that's easy. We'll be going to visit my stepdad tomorrow for the 4th weekend, so we'll see how that goes. I think he'll have something to say about fasting ;-)

Hi there! I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I love IFing, but it may not love me. I've tried twice to keep a 10-hour window, and the first two days are magnificent. I have more energy, I'm more focused, I'm not preoccupied with food.

On day three--twice now!--I get this weird twitchy anxiety. I start to feel kind of sick and distracted. My sleep becomes restless. I've read that IF can overproduce cortisol, and I'm wonder if that's happening, but it also seems very quick. I also tried a longer window, but then I was just eating as I would in a regular day, so no weight loss. Three days! I could understand a month, but three days.

Any ideas? Anyone else deal with it? Anyone have a way around it? I try to accommodate my body by having a tiny breakfast and then waiting 5-6 hours for lunch, but the breakfast really disrupts my appetite, and so I starve for those hours. If I were fasting, I wouldn't be hungry.

Hi ladies and gents,
I hope this is the right place, if not, I do apologise! I've looked into IF before but never really took the plunge. I think now is the right time, both to break this damned plateau and to generally get in better shape. Is there a book or site I should read to help me better understand IF? What would you all recommend? Thanks for the read!

Good Morning!! Well, I am basically starting from "square one" today! Went on a feeding frenzy over the holiday weekend! Camping with friends and lots of good food and drink!!! Then...hubby put ribs on the grill last night! ENOUGH!!!! I spent the most miserable night with an upset stomach! I think my body is rebelling! I guess the kindest thing for my body is to get back on IF and give my digestive system a rest! I'm sure it'll be tough today and tomorrow because I am used to eating whatever I want...but I will be STRONG!!!! I am always so angry with myself when this happens! I have ZERO willpower!!!! I start out strong and then give into temptation!!!! Well, I have about a month before another "event" with food...so hopefully, can stay strong and make some progress!

PallasAthena7 I've never personally experienced anything like that. Are you able to push through and make it to day four? Perhaps it is just your body adjusting.

Thousandsunny Someone else will probably have some good info here...I personally do 5:2 and mix it with another other form of IF. I can link you to info on 5:2 but I know that's not what most people are looking for when they want to do IF. I'll link if I come across anything. Good luck!

Schmoopy Oh I know the feeling. But you have the motivation to get back on it today! Weekends are just so tough especially when it is a holiday. You'll do great this month and by next month hopefully you'll have an easier time saying "no"

Thousandsunny: I just read a book I downloaded to my Kindle: "Understand The 8-Hour Diet in 15 Minutes: Intermittent Fasting Made Easy" by K.D. Joseph. Very simple and short book. It doesn't go into a lot of detail, but gives it to you in a "nutshell". If you think it's for you and want to read more details, you can get the original "The 8 Hour Diet" by David Zinczenko. Myself...I don't need to know all the science behind it. I also love picking up tips and learning experiences of others on this message board. There are some FB groups out there too! Just search for Intermittent Fasting or 8-Hour Diet.

Awesome tips, thanks for the info. I'll look I to that book! And good idea on just picking up tips, I'll start looking through the threads.

Keep on rocking!

Thousandsunny - The ebook for Fast 5 is free you can read it online or download to kindle for like $2.99. Has some good info without getting too scientific.

Well happy monday all. Hope all is going well. I fasted Friday for 24 hours (not meaning to but that's how it worked out) and Saturday for 16 hours. I was down on myself for the 16 on Saturday but then I realized that I averaged 20 hours between the two days and was good with it. I still gained somehow even though i didn't eat much on the 16 hour day. Although what I did eat I just had to guess on calories so who knows. Ready to get back to it heavy today. I was down to 215.4 on Friday morning, need to get back to it asap.

Have a great day everyone !

Hi everyone!

I hope ya'll are doing well! I thought I'd drop in on the conversation... I've been fasting for the last month. I fast for 16 hours and in the 8 hours I don't fast I eat two meals and a small dessert. I cook everything, no fast food, and I drink only water. I still count my calories, I try to stick between 1600-1800. It's working GREAT for me. I've lost 16.5 pounds so far. I'm very happy with that!

Wishing you all the best!!!