I second what mkendricks said. I drink hot tea not only to take care of the hungry feeling, but I also have a cup first thing in the morning and it gets my bladder area moving. =) And the hungry feelings and sounds are going away. I'm on day 4 and I just had my first grumble of the day (it's a little past 1) and I have my first meal at 2. It's definitely going away.

Coondocks ~ My window is 6 hours. 2pm to 8pm. It's working well for me.

That's exactly how I feel and why this seems like a logical choice for me. I don't like the feeling 'forced' to eat when I'm not hungry and that's how it feels a lot of the time.

Yep, choking down breakfast (and morning snacks) stinks when you don't want it. Other than coffee or tea, I simply have no desire to consume anything in the morning. I also forced myself to do it because it seems like that's what practically all how-to-diet advice says to do.

I'm so much happier now that I'm not shoving unwanted food down my throat, and I can enjoy those calories in bigger meals and snacks later in the day when I actually want them.

I've been reading all your posts and I think it's great that there's somewhere for IFers to chat. What are your guys thoughts on the up day down day diet?

Hey guys! I decided to give this a shot ... I like the idea because my friends like to get together to cook dinner a lot, but often the calorie count is over what I can normally allow for dinner (not crazy, but like 500 calories or so). But if I do IF, then I can have normal portions and not feel like the party pooper :-)

Its almost 2 and I've just had tea and water, I was a bit hungry before I had the tea, but then I was fine. I even just worked out (20 minutes eliptical, 20 minutes bike) and I didn't feel lightheaded or anything.

I love breakfast food though, so I still think I'm going to do eggs and some kashi cereal, even if its lunch time!

Another chime in on the bathroom thing- I also always was one of those people who went #2 after the first few bites of breakfast, so I was really curious to see how things would go without eating in the morning. I still go in the morning about the regular time, and I think it's because I'm eating such a bigger dinner. By the time I wake up I have two meals I've recently digested so that has kept me on a very regular schedule over the past couple of days.

Thankyou, that helps.

This is so interesting! It's exactly what I think my body would do if I didn't make myself eat all these darn small meals, which seem to only make me hungrier for more and obsessive all day about what/when I'll eat next. It also seems to me that I'm always being told since I like to eat at night, that needs to change. This could be a revelation :) I'll try it out tomorrow. I do have a question about exercise. I take classes at the gym in the evening. Anyone have experience with working out during your window instead of mid-day?

Quick question - I am giving blood today around noon, is it advisable to go on an empty stomach? I ate late last night, my last calories were probably at 12:30 am :/

I wouldn't advise it, you're more likely to pass out if you donate on an empty stomach.

krampus also they will test various levels of your blood before you donate- iron, etc. If these are too low they won't let you give. That happened to me once and they told me to go eat a hamburger and come back. (I'm vegetarian but the point was well taken :D)

Today was a pretty typical day for me, so I thought I would post my food for the heck of it.

Throughout the day: hot tea (50 cals)

4pm ~ grilled chicken sand from Chic-fil-a and kiddie icedream cone (500 cals)
6pm ~ chicken alfredo LC (280)
8pm~ cucumber salad (150)
8:30 pm ~ 4 pita chips and 1 tblsp dip (80)

Total: 1060


That is a lot to eat in 4 hours and I ended the day quite content. :smug:

I made it through day three just fine. On to day four :)

Monique

So... I'm using 1 tsp of sugar in each of my 3-4 cups of tea during my fast time. I just realized- I know, I'm a quick one- that keeping blood sugar low during fasting is part of the whole purpose of IF. Am I undermining my fast? Should I switch to sugar substitute? Or is the amount of sugar I'm intaking so low that it's not worth worrying over?

I ate before donating, figured the last thing I needed was to hold up my coworkers by being too woozy to get out of the bed. This was my 7th or 8th time giving blood. AB is apparently rare in Japan and there was a sign asking for AB donors. Happy I could help. Also cool was seeing my blood pressure and resting heart rate so much lower than the last time I had it taken (before I quit smoking).