Thank u so much Pattygirl..I think im looking for something else to go with IF for some reason, I guess I wanna play around with different ways to eat and see how my body reacts.

Yes this program (though I am def not strict) has helped me get away from eating 5-7 times a day and the feeling that I needed that much/often. I'm usually at 3-4 times a day in a much shorter window which is nice. A great bonus is that this is much better for my teeth. I'm really happy about that.

I agree with you Italiannie- this could be why America is overweight. This and the whole low fat diet hype of the 90s.

I am def not going to stress out about eating on vacation, but I think it will be easy to enjoy evening meals.

Keep up the good work everyone. I have about 5-6 lbs to go for my first goal.

Because I lost about 95 pounds (before putting back on almost 70 of that, which I'm working on taking off again) my weight loss has become EVERYONE'S business. Friends, coworkers, family, you name it. So I'm just honest, and if they feel the need to 'correct' whatever I'm doing, I just politely refuse to engage them. I'm pretty strong-willed, so most people won't try to push it if I make it clear their opinions aren't welcome.

It is really nice to come here and talk about this stuff with people who know exactly what it's like, though. That's the part I love most about 3FC.

I'm about ready to head home and break my fast with some paleo meatloaf and broccoli, then a second workout. My rings keep falling off, so clearly I'm not retaining any water today! I hope that's a good sign for the scale tomorrow, but time will tell. Either way I have felt really good all day for the first time this week, so I will stick with IF for awhile and see how it goes.

Kellyb-> you are so close to your first goal--good luck and keep it up :) And enjoy your vacation and your food.

Thistoo-> That is a big weight loss and kinda hard for others not to notice :) Good luck on losing the rest of the weight, you've done it before so you can do it again. I also enjoy this forum, everyone is so encouraging and nice and they make you feel comfortable.

I love the Intuitive Eating thread. I lurk there quite a bit. Makes perfect sense to me - weaves perfectly with IF thinking.

thistoo - I also have more success when I limit my carbs. Paleo is a good way to go. Sometimes my head is in IF plus something else, and then sometimes IF alone is enough for me.

It's all about living life.

I am so carb sensitive it's ridiculous. It took me 3 years to lose those 90 pounds because I couldn't get it through my thick skull that I can't eat bread and still lose weight. I feel much better on paleo than I ever have before, so I know I can stick with it long-term.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone. :) It's nice to have a space where people aren't telling me I have an "eating disorder" for doing IF. No kidding, that was the reaction from someone close to me. I should say that this woman, in addition to bowing to the altar of 6 meals a day makes every meal *count*. By that, I mean that she takes a very liberal view of what counts as "clean eating."

Maybe I'm just feeling snarky, though. Sorry for the negativity.

But besides that bit of ickiness, my first full week of IF (which will wrap up tomorrow) has gone really really well. I'm down four pounds, which is HUGE for me. Today was a "normal" day for me, where I just ate when I was hungry. I think, though, that I ate out of habit. Now, it's 10 p.m. and I feel unsatisfied. Tomorrow's a fast day for me, and it's freaking me out that I'm looking forward to not worrying about food until I get home to make my lean steak and famous sweet potato fries for dinner.

I should also say that, while I'm around 165 now, I have been as heavy as 315 and as light as 135. My relationship with food has been broken for a long time.

Congrats to all of you on your journeys. :)

I suggest either not telling people what you're doing or reading up on the liturature that refutes the things your friends are going to tell you so you are equiped to defend yourself.

The myth that eating every 2-3 hours is critical to keeping your metabolism going is alive and well out there. Dogmatic even.

PallasAthena - You've made such amaaazing progress! Keep it up, you're almost at your goal weight! :)

Thanks so much for the warm welcome everyone! I'm so glad there's a place like this where I can openly talk about my choice to do ESE.

I know if I ever mention something about it to my friends, they would immediately claim that I am "starving" myself and that it's very unhealthy. Luckily my boyfriend is actually very supportive about it - I educated him about the health benefits that IF can have on the body, and he agrees that scientifically, the ONLY proven way to extend life expectancy is on a restricted calorie diet... which is what will happen on my two fasting days of the week :).

Tomorrow will be my 2nd fasting day, and I hope it will go smoothly!

I would like to join your thread, please. I started ESE on Monday and since then have already lost 3.2lbs!!!! I can´t even believe it. I have always been a calories counter, but having PCOS, it is really hard to lose and from time to time we need to shake things up, so I researched this and decided to give it a whirl. I´m happy with the results so far and today I hit my first mini-gioal. 20lbs lost in 7 weeks! I´m 160.6...

So I will keep going with this. I am suprised that I really don´t feel hungry during the fast, and I just overall feel good!

Well I am down over a pound from yesterday's weigh-in, after my 24 hour fast. I don't know if I'll get to keep all of that loss, but it would certainly be nice! I'm really close to being under 200 again (my weight was 201.8 this morning) and I'd like to get there before I leave for Florida next week.

I feel a lot better as well, so I think IF is the way to go for dealing with my digestive stuff. I don't know if I'll be able to fast while I'm out of town (traveling with family) but my sister is supportive of the practice so it might not be an issue. She can explain the science to my parents since she has a degree in health and wellness. I'm just a librarian, so what do I know, right? (The fact that I do research for a living doesn't seem to count for much.)

It's the start of my weekend and I'm relieved to have a couple days off. I work again Sunday, and that will likely be my next fast day as well. I hope everyone has a great Friday!

I am doing a 24 fast today. I finished eating last night around 6 pm. I am ready :D

A question, when you do 24 fast, do you exercise? I have not decided if I should or should not.... I usually walk (Nordic walk with poles) for 5.5 miles, and I am a very fast walker. I have been including lunges into my walk as well. My walking sessions are usually pretty intense.

thistoo; congrats on your pound!
lovemydoggiesx2: 3.2 pounds in five days; NICE!
aquatears; I will keep thinking about you today when I fast with you.
PallasAthena7; I hear you...everyone seems to always be right how people should eat...but why is America so overweight if everyone is right :dizzy:
kelleyb; 5-6 pounds! That will happen soon!
:wave: Italiannie, JohnP, esmi134, pattygirl63. Sorry if I missed anyone.

Sending everyone :dust: today

Wow, this thread has become so active, I am going to have to check in more often just to keep up! :dizzy:

Italiannie & Pattygirl: I am going to have to check out the IE thread. I've heard of it, don't really know what it is though.

Kelleyb: Good Luck on getting to your first major goal. I'm 11.6 lbs to my first major which is Onederland! I can identify with you. I lost 65 lbs once before but gained it back and more. I am determined this time to not let that happen!

PallasAthena: Way to go on the 4 lbs. Your loss is a great inspiration. 135ish is my ultimate goal weight too. I'm glad to see you are so close and how far you've come from, make me think it IS possible!!

John: I usually tell people the benefits and research backing IF. I have really gotten any negative comments about it so I am lucky. When I lost weight before some of my family of course thought I must be on some pills or starving myself or something. I told my Aunt one time that I was taking laxatives. She called my dad and he called me all upset. I just had to laugh. I can't believe she thought I would do that!

aquatears: Good luck on your second fast! I finished my tenth yesterday, it gets easier all the time. I actually forget I'm not eating sometimes.
My husband is really supportive too, mostly because I am saving money not buying as many meals a week! LOL

Lovemydoggies: :welcome2: I can tell by your name we already have something in common. :D Good job on the loss so far. I think you will love IF.

sum38: I think I would try it. I have exercised while fasting and actually felt better. I don't think it will hurt to try.

If I missed anyone sorry! :hug:

Have a great Friday everyone!! :woohoo:

:welcome3: To all the newbies. We are really growing. Glad to see you here.

A quick check as this is a busy day laundry, DH has docs appt, hit Wally world to get the rest of his Lovanox shots he has to take while off his coumadin to do endoscopy Monday. So don't have time to do individuals right now. Just scanning though it looks like everyone is doing quite well.

I didn't do the whole 8 hour eating window cut it short by an hour. Wanted to eat after but told myself that what I wanted would be there tomorrow during eating window. Because of DH docs appt and the fact he wants to eat out, my fast will be a little longer about a 20 hour fast by the time we get to a restaurant. So that is good.

As for telling people what I'm doing, I don't plan to say anything except that I just eat when I'm hungry and I eat healthy. Let them figure out what that means. If someone comes a long who wants info to help them, then I'll be more specific. I've let myself get sabatoged enough.

Have a great day!!!