Awesome that folks are trying it out!

Yesterday was a 'hungry day' for me (PMS) and so I actually had real hunger pains earlier in the day, which is unusual for me. I still stuck to me window, but I had a big salad ready to eat at exactly 4pm. :D

That is always dangerous territory for me, because if I don't have an eating window, I do too many BLTs (bites, licks, tastes) and my calories wind up being way over no matter what. Since that window is there, I feel more in control of all of it, and I tend not to do that as badly.

Doesn't stop me from craving Five Guys right now though. LOL

I agree we need an IF thread. Should we just use this one since it is established? Or is there somewhere else where it should go? I am fairly new to 3FC and I'm not sure of the etiquette.

Well, actually, I was thinking more like a section of the board dedicated to IF or fasting in general. That way we have a place to discuss it and those who are interested can join in and those who aren't comfortable with it yet can go else where. Just a thought though. For now, this is where we're posting :-).

Anyway, today I plan on doing a much better job then I did yesturday with the eating. My window opens at three this afternoon.

Monique

Checking in at Day 2: didn't eat anything, except a small nibble of muffin that I made just to see how it tasted, until about 4 PM. Had a big bowl of lentils and a muffin (homemade, bran), super full. Forced myself to eat dinner, ended up around 1100 calories. No urge to snack.

A bit worried about the weigh in tomorrow- I was 130.2 last night before going to bed/127.8 in the morning and today right before bed I'm 131. I don't usually lose more than 1-2 lbs overnight so I'm worried what I'll weigh in at tomorrow AM. Sorry for the needless fretting... I'm a chronic weigher :-/ bad habit.

The Dr. who wrote the fast-5 said it's very common for people to overcompensate their eating when they first start out and to not feel bad about it. Like you said, you should be proud that you were able to accomplish eating within your window.. and it will get easier to eat healthier once you are more accustomed to eating this way.

When I started, I was eating a mix of unhealthy foods and healthier foods, but now I find a lot of the processed foods just makes me feel worse later and the next day, doesn't mean I don't still have treats, but I'm aware of what their effect is... it's also nice to know that I can splurge on a restaurant dinner during my window and not feel bad about it.

My friend is like "Man, I don't see how you stay slim eating like you do!" I've told her what I'm doing but I guess she just ignores that part and is only seeing me enjoying the meal at the time.

I also didn't do any exercise besides walking a lot.. I've started some strength training last week and I'm going to be doing that 3x a week. :carrot:

I accidentally didn't eat until 2 pm today. First, i have to take a thyroid medicine, so i never eat right away. Second, my son didn't wake up until 10:30 so i didn
T think to eat while he was still sleeping. and then I was in a rush to get him to school. Got him there, had a drink, sat at the computer a bit, decided to work out and then afterwards I would eat.

So now it's 3:30 pm and i've just now eaten what would normally be my breakfast and I,m full. Dinner will be around 6 pm and I never eat after 6 pm. I still have over 1000 calories for the day. Do you find that you actually feel you need to eat less with IF? And why is that? Old wisdom saidnit was becaus the metabolism never got a quick start in the day. New wisdom refuted that? Or, more likely, no one really knows for sure? You can find studies to back up everything.

Not sure i'm going to head down this route, but maybe I will if it agrees with me like today. I simply wasn't hungry even when going to work out. (aerobically).

Thanks, Kaseyy :). Yes, good point.

Today I was "good" and for lunch I had fruit, a snack bar and some yogurt. When I got home from work, I ate three small pieces of grilled chicken :). My stomach is already getting used to the new routine. My stomach didn't growl like crazy like it did yesturday while fasting :)

Monique

Day 2 and I also had less stomach growling and hunger than on the first day. I think I stayed within my allowed calories too!

I will admit that both days I had my lunch made and ready to eat for exactly 1 pm. I had it made and sitting in the fridge and as soon as the clock hit 1 pm I was opening the door and grabbing food. I think with each passing day it will get easier since even on day 2 it was not as bad as on day 1.

I am looking forward to everyones updates!

Day three went great. I had to run errands this afternoon and it took longer then I thought so I didn't eat my first meal till 3 and I wasn't hungry at all. =)

i think it is cool more and more people are trying this out. I remember when i told my group i was doing fast 5, i got all kinds of "be carefuls"....but i don't see anything wrong with this WOE. i'm not going to dare try it pregnant though.

i honestly think the reason why your body gets over being "hungry" during your not eating window is because it takes a little while to get the insulin receptor sites sensitized to insulin again. But once they do, your body learns how to usher insulin into the cell, and begin to burn off glucose, and then it learns how to find the stored fat and burn it off.

Like I said, i saw major restructuring of my legs and abdomen during my fast 5as the fat was burned for energy during the fasting state.

another AWESOME benefit of any type of fasting is the body's ability to repair itself. Digestive energy is tremendous and when you shut down that system for a period of time, your body heals, and replaces cells. Which in turn causes you to look younger and be healthier. I also fast for spiritual reasons because Jesus said "when" you fast, not "if" you fast.

I have some recommendations if you are thinking of trying the weekly fasts. Start eating completely clean, and stop eating meat, then start replacing some meals with healthy liquids--i liked low sodium v8. Then switch to only liquids...next...is your weekly fasting time.

you CAN just jump right in, but there will be repercussions...headaches shakiness, it is MUCH harder that way, if you decide to do it that way, your fast needs to be on a day you can rest and get relief from those symptoms...i've successfully fasted for 3 days at at time with this method, with very little problems.

a longer fast really resets your internal cravings, especially helpful if carbs and sweets make you want to binge. i found after the 3 day fasts, oranges and apples and veggies were so much better tasting and satisfied me like no donut or pastry could.

Great job, everyone!

Thanks, jendiet (congrats on the baby on the way!). It's really nice to hear any informaton at all from people who are more experienced :). Yeah, I agree, I don't see anything wrong with this WOE either....in fact, I think it's genius! For the first time, I'm not even really thinking about food much at all! It's amazing. All I focus on is drinking my water, working out when I can and what I will eat when my eating window is open :). Not so sure I when I'll be able to do a FULL weekly fast but that's very good advice :). For now, I'm doing a 20 hour fast every day (that's my plan) which is close enough for now :).

Monique

Im glad I had the time to read through all 5 pages, it makes perfect sense to me. Durring the week Im at my desk all morning with my water and coffee and I don't feel the need to eat until my lunch at 1, I've always been the type to loathe eating in the morning, not for lack of hunger every day just the thought of eating is blah.

I have tried the mini meals, tried eating breakfast consistently and it feels completely forced for me to do that - i didn't realize there was a 'way' that I was naturally eating that was, what seems, widely accepted as normal for more than just myself.

It gives me renewed hope, it's very exciting.

edit: How much of a window on average do you alot for? 6-8 hours seems like a big enough window to eat lunch at 1 and still leaves me open for dinner with my little guy for 7.

Day 3. Worked out for an hour from 9:30-10:30. Was only hungry/had hunger pains from 8:30-9:15ish. Was fine after that. Ate at around 3:30ish. I had a decent-sized well-balanced lunch, but not enormous, then a dinner of pizza at 6:30. It was a splurge meal and I had a ton of calories to "spend" so I thought I would eat a lot of pizza. I only ended up eating three small pieces, totaling around 600-800 calories I'm estimating (haven't looked them up to log yet). I also had a bit more of a brownie, which totals not the best nutritionally or calorie-wise, but it's pretty good for a splurge meal. Plus I had the feeling that I got to eat whatever I want (which today meant a very appropriate amount number of slices, as opposed to the entire pizza :D) so that was nice.

Yay IF!

Your 'window' is entirely up to you, but they range from 4 hours to 10 hours. I'm with some others, that it wouldn't be hard to do a four hour window, but it's not as practical, because you want to give yourself time to eat with family and such.

I think for women, the average is 6 to 8 hours. I have never met a woman that chose a 10 hour window, that is usually a guy thing. I suppose it's just because men have a lot more calories to work with anyway.

Personally, I usually go from 4pm to 10pm at night.

You can mark me down as one of the women that simply finds it easier to manage my dietary habits when food isn't really an 'option' for 18 hours a day. It seems to take the pressure off of me making decisions. Also, I am sick and tired of forcing myself to eat something that I don't want, when I don't want it, just because some diet outline says that I need to eat at certain times.

For whatever reason, I find this very empowering. :smug:

May I ask 2 practical and TMIish questions?

1. What do you do about hunger sounds? I don't have any problem with being/feeling/sounding hungry - except when I'm in a quiet meeting or prayer group. What do you hit the growlies with? And do the hunger sounds get less the more you do this?

2. What about The Bathroom? At present, my routine is breakfast then bathroom. Without the breakfast, I don't get the bathroom, at least not early in the day. And that can lead to food lying around there too long and making bowelly noises. Does the Bathroom pattern settle down too?

(Just realized, clearly I have Noise Issues !!!!! ;D )

Rosinante, I have similar issues.

For the hunger growlies, I find that a nice big glass of water or Crystal Light takes up enough space in my tummy to quiet the noise. Ever since I got used to IF, I almost LIKE the sensation of being hungry. I can't explain why, maybe it's just a light clean feeling and I know I'm about to get a big meal. Anways...onto issue "#2" hehehe...I normally have about a 45-minute window of time right after I wake up to <ahem> relieve myself. It's either going to happen or it's not. And for it to happen at all, I need to get something in my stomach to wake up my system and get it moving. Food worked when I was forcing myself to eat breakfast, but I've found that a 16oz mug of coffee or hot tea work just as well. This may be something that you need to gradually train yourself into. And also maybe try different things to see what works. Eat less and less food over the days while drinking more liquids. Hopefully it'll have the same effect.