Just completed a 16-hour fast and had to stop (probably could have gone a couple more hours) because I had already scheduled a lunch out with my girlfriend. Did really well at lunch, with a nice salad of organic greens and dressing of olive and sesame oil blended with rice wine vinegar, small piece of grilled wild salmon on the side. Yum! No cocktails, just an iced tea.
I noted that if I go out with someone who has similar wellness goals as I do, I make better choices. I am a social eater! If I go out with my sons, I eat burgers, fries and a shake. If I go out with my god mother, carbs! And if I go out with my posse of fun friends, all my calories come in liquid form. So, sticking with the health-conscious crowd for now, and getting more of my social fun from the scintilating conversation. We talked about Honey Boo-boo today!
geoblewis~
That is why I like IF. It is a lifestyle choice and it is combatible with any diet plan. I have a long way to go but I already know that scheduled 24 hour fasts are going to be an integral part of my maintanence plan!
Last edited by RoyalAthena; 10-04-2012 at 06:02 PM.
No, even after IFing "right" and eating less for the past few days, my scale is DEF up. Boooo. I guess that's what I get for not stepping on it for a few months at least. I'll be going back to once a week weigh-ins. and also, maybe re-thinking my goals. I am up though.
My dad is here visiting from the states for 10 days, so this is a very flexible way for me to have a good time, but maintain or lose while he is here.
One thing I want to do lately is try to take more brisk walks in the morning or before eating my first meal for hopefully more fat burning. I'll let you guys know if it feels like it helps.
My son is 20 and doing IF for muscle building. He has been on it several months and loves it, says it works great for him (he has no weight to lose). He does the 16/8 in terms of feed times. We are both trying to eat better during our feeding window. I am trying to watch what I eat more than I have lately.
Ann- it seems like the more strict I am with IF the more noise my stomach makes. It has been loud the past few days.
Oh, I am so excited b/c I asked my dad to bring me "New Rules of Weightlifting For Women" and he did!!
So I've been doing Fast 5 for a week now and it isn't as bad as I thought it would be haha. Before starting it, my concern was I'd get hungry later in the day but if I just keep myself busy, next thing I know it's already bedtime.
Hey chickies! Hope all is well with you today. Shooting for another 16-hour fast today, but will try to push it past. My goal is hit the Fast-5 fat burn and I hope to get there this next week. It's going to be tough over the weekend because I'll have a house guest for a few days. Still, I should be able to maintain the 16-hour fast pretty easily.
My friend is one of those people who is a natural IFer, with six hour eating windows. But she starts eating earlier than I do and I stop eating after her. Plus, she snacks through her six hours and I like a small meal to start and then end with a bigger meal. We have a really hard time coordinating our mealtime when traveling together! So maybe I'll just have food available for her to fix for herself and I'll take care of myself.
She really drives me nuts! Neither of us will eat breakfast, but I can make it to 2 p.m., while she starts looking at me like I'm a standing rib roast about 11 a.m. So I will concede and we'll go out for lunch. I'll order my meal and she gets a cup of soup and announces that she's full! Then we go home and she's tearing apart my pantry looking for my chocolate bars (cuz I always have good dark French chocolate) and my port. Then it's onto my almonds, then the cheese and hard salami, some gin, a bit more gin, olives...now she wants lamb chops. And by 5, she's on the sofa with a little poof in her tummy and she wants to watch a movie. And I want to cook my dinner!
It's a good thing that I love her and she's my BFF!!! And we only get to hang out once in a while.
I am looking forward to a long weekend. I have off work on Monday for Columbus Day. I have only gotten two 24 hour fasts this week so far. I was supposed to fast on Wednesday, but Tuesday I went out to lunch and was really full from lunch still by dinnertime. I ate a late dinner and since I fast from dinnertime until dinnertime the next night, I decided to wait and fast Thursday instead rather than cut the Wednesday fast short. So my third fast of the week just started.
I feel like I am managing the fasts well enough, but I need to clean up my diet when I am eating so I can get all the proper nutrition I need. I also need to be more consistent with exercise. I've been doing a morning workout on fasting days (most days really), and seem to be tolerating it pretty well, but it is a short workout (kettlebells, so intense and hits both strength and cardio) but I need to add more exercise.
I want to go hiking tomorrow, but I'm a little nervous about hiking while fasting. Then on Sunday a friend and I are going to try out a climbing gym. I can't wait!
That sounds like so much fun! I can't wait to get to a weight (where I feel comfortable) to try more daring things. I did a fast last Sunday. I need to do another from Sat to Sun. I need to get my calories down so I can get a good calorie avergae for the week. I had a binge on Thrusday and I am trying to recover.
I had to get my annual CT Scan AND some additional ones (that I never had before so emotionally I was in a weird place). I had a routine of seeing my Oncologist/getting my annual test and then binging. Well that was fine when I didn't really care about trying to lose weight but I care now. I subconsciouslly did it again. My only saving grace is that my binge wasn't so bad that I couldn't recover this week.
kellyb~ Like your son, I will start doing a stricter schedule because I want to lean out (under the fat). I do really great when I do a fast that is shorter than 6 hours. I just have to be motivated otherwise I do 8 hours.
BTW, My stomach is making sounds right now! When I had to get my CT scans they did my abdomen too and everything was fine with my stomach and etc, so growl away!!!!
Nayshal~ I want to work my way up to a 5 hour fast window. I did 4 hours for like a week and I was dropping weight like mad!!
I will check in later! Have a great great weekend!!!
Last edited by RoyalAthena; 10-06-2012 at 03:28 AM.
I never paid attention to my rumbly tummy, but on Day 2 of IF, I noticed it after breaking a 16-hour fast. Definitely made growling noises. I'll see if it happens again today.
I went to the movies last night and split a small bag of popcorn with my son, well after my eating window. And then, I caved to a small vanilla shake after the movie. This morning I was thinking about how I should shift my eating window for the weekend to accomodate my friend being here. And then thinking about how late my sons get home from school (after 7 and sometimes 9) and how soon they leave the house in the mornings. I can only share meals with them for an early dinner on Sundays.
It's hard for me to be a consistent IFer when other people are involved with my eating schedule. I do want to spend some time cooking for my kids and having meals with them. But if I want to stick it out with IF, then I need to let go of the emotional ties to meal times. They are big boys now, and things like waffle breakfasts on Saturday mornings don't mean so much to them now. If I want to give them my waffles, I may have to bake some and freeze them, then figure out other ways to spend time with my sons that don't involve food.
I know we can't post links so here is a cut and paste from what I found after a googled on the gurgling:
"Are you concerned about the loud noise from stomach after eating or on an empty stomach? If yes, then you are not alone, as it is one of the most common stomach problems that can affect anyone regardless of age and gender. This stomach gurgling noises can be a cause of embarrassment. There is no need to be panic because in most of the causes gurgling is not a serious health related problem. But, still it is better to take an expert advice of your doctor. Some common causes of gurgling stomach are listed below.
■Intake of certain food items which are hard to digest like beans, cabbage, melon, etc. (this is me)
■Long interval between two meals is the main cause behind gurgling noises on an empty stomach. (this is me)
■Gastrointestinal disorders such as indigestion, constipation, IBS or irritable bowel syndrome, stomach flu, etc. are also responsible for this stomach problem." (Also in my google research, I read that IF can help with symptoms of IBS)
I felt so much better after finding that. I am not going to give up on the fasting but I will have to deal with it for the next month or two.I think I find this gurgling more when I throw in 24 hour fasts and/or short eating windows which leads to me only eating 2 meals. Eventually, I will go to the 8 hour window which will give me more meals throughout the time.
Georgia! "You were on my mind" Hope is all well with your friend's visit. IF is such a trial and error thing. Sometimes after I get all messed up with my window, I have to do an extended fast to get back to the right eating window. So that I didn't end a late eating window on one day and then start an early eating window the next day (hope that makes sense).
Best of luck in finding your right window (time frame, duration) I was surprised to find I could cook for people without eating UNLESS I had to taste it! Which can be hard because I bake pies, cobblers and etc. Yep that is going to be a challenge this season!! Guess I will have to bake between 12-6pm lol
Last edited by RoyalAthena; 10-06-2012 at 03:41 PM.
Reason: spelling and grammar.
Hi all! I'm a newbie on this thread too! SOOOOO glad I found it because IF is my new best friend. I loooove IF. The weight seems to be melting off. This is definitely a lifestyle maintenance tool for me. I LOVE fasting. I feel so much better on the inside. I recently improved my plantar fasciitis (pain in my heal) by doing a 7 day water fast. My plan is to do about 3 prolonged fasts throughout the course of a year.
Anyways, my IF window is 20 hours in a fasted state (I also exercise in the fasted state....usually 18 hours fasted..... for maximum fat burning) and 4 hours of an eating window, which currently is from 11am - 3pm. So far so good as far as my clothes and the mirror tells me. I haven't stepped on the scale yet but that's coming soon! So glad I found this thread!
Last edited by angieand2girls; 10-06-2012 at 11:14 PM.
As long as you stick with it you will see results. I managed 17.5 hours today in the end. Am looking forward to tomorrow, so happy I found this thread.
I'm doing great on the front end with the fasting. It's the back end where I struggle. Eating window drags on a bit too long. I might need to push it back. I tend to want to eat till about 9 or 10 pm. Last night...potatoes! Not a good choice for me!
I have struggled a lot the past few days. I seem to be overeating during my eating time- have to get stricter with that!! My weight is up. I see that I need to lose about 10 lbs or at least 5-6lbs. I seem to keep losing and gaining the same 5-8 lbs over and over again. Oh well, fresh start tomorrow and it is time to watch calories and carbs during my eating window much more than I have been.
Welcome to the newbies! Great to have you around. Let's have a good Monday!
Justkay- I have a hard time doing a hard workout while fasting, but no trouble walking and even hiking would be fine as long as I don't get my heart rate up for too long (after that, I start to feel sick to my stomach). I know you probably already took your hike. How did it go? I recommend having an energy bar with you "just in case" when you are in a situation that you are not sure how you will respond.
Georgia- I think you should keep your friend's fasting schedule while she is here, or compromise between the 2 times to help each other. I have a really hard time not eating when everyone else is. I usually leave the room if possible. I also plan all meal times to be with people and fasting times to be alone if I can. Can you cook a breakfast/dinner with your sons? Just to push the time up for yourself? Maybe you could end your feeding times with some hot tea and a small handful of nuts and then get away from the food!!
angie- let us know how your weigh in goes! glad you are loving fasting.
kittymilk- how many meals do you eat while feeding? how long have you done IF?
I had to get my annual CT Scan AND some additional ones (that I never had before so emotionally I was in a weird place). I had a routine of seeing my Oncologist/getting my annual test and then binging. Well that was fine when I didn't really care about trying to lose weight but I care now. I subconsciouslly did it again. My only saving grace is that my binge wasn't so bad that I couldn't recover this week.
Hope is all well with your friend's visit. IF is such a trial and error thing. Sometimes after I get all messed up with my window, I have to do an extended fast to get back to the right eating window. So that I didn't end a late eating window on one day and then start an early eating window the next day (hope that makes sense). 
. My goals are 16-19 hours daily. So far today I'm at 15, will hold out as long as I can.
