Intermittent Fasting Support Thread
 

So it looks like the "Lean Gains, Fast 5, and other IF" thread was over it's limit... and I guess was going to be closed... so I went ahead and started this one... I just went with the "Intermittent Fasting.... " title to just be as general as possible, since it seems like a lot of people here are doing their own thing when it comes to IF... which is personally what I like about IF anyway... that it's pretty flexible... and can fit in with whatever "plan" you happen to be using or way of eating that works for you...

As far as me personally, I'm a relative recent convert to IF... but so far, so good... there has been a few bumps along the way... but I've pretty much settled into a very comfortable (for me) 16/8 routine that I'm quite happy with for now...

So I look forward to seeing familiar faces and hearing from new ones as well here...

Hi I'm new! Not new to IF (well, a month in) but my husband & I have been doing it for a few weeks. I find it makes life with the kids much easier, I'm nursing a 3 month old and find it easier to scarf down my big meal rather than try and prep so many little unsatisfying meals. I'm down 12lbs (147lbs to 135lbs) and losing rapidly. I'm on 2000 calories a day, we have the same window.

I love it!!! :)

Hi sacha... :welcome2:

Congrats on being down 12lbs... that's awesome! and ITA about not having to prep so many little meals... and not to sound like a fanatic or anything... lol... but I really LOVE IT too! Sometimes I still can't believe how relatively easy it's been for me...

Now when people say to me "Wow... You look great... You've lost a lot of weight..." "What are you doing?"... and I say... "Well... actually, one of the easiest things that I'm doing is simply eating less often... I just love the look on their faces when they try to get their head around that one... :)

Don't know how I missed this thread, but glad to find other IFers (that doesn't sound right -- sorry -- but no coffee yet! ;) ) out here. I started this right before New Year's and have adapted so easily to this schedule of eating for an 8 hour window each day. Mine is noon to 8 PM. Plus I count calories and carbs, but have gotten 32 pounds off and am still going strong. Usually about this time, I'm so totally bored with the diet that I go off of it, promptly gain back everything and a little more.

I think I'm finally beginning to conquer some of my emotional eating, but this weekend has been a challenge as my grand nephew has been here and there have been lots of meals cooked and lots of food in the house that normally isn't here. I did well 3 out of the 4 days, and will get back on track today.

Wish I'd heard about IF years (decades!) ago.

Thanks!! It sure kicks that 6 meal a day myth in the bum eh??!? The shock on their face

I'm still cooking all day long (I have little kids) so it helps me prevent snacking :dizzy:

IF is awesome because it is how I operate naturally, and is therefore the most intuitive way of eating.

Today I'm off work and having dinner at 4:30, so I had a big meal at 12. I'm planning on getting to the gym at 2:30 or so - I am looking forward to a well-timed workout, often I have peak energy when I am at the office or the gym is closed.

I am still IFing. I have changed my diet but IF still works. My hunger has been off the charts this week but that is really a PMS issue. Glad to see others are still doing it.

This is great to see everyone popping in... I'm really looking forward to checking in here to see how IF is working for people...

I've been pretty good sticking with my 16/8 even though I came down with a nasty cold last week and I'm still not 100% yet... Unfortunately, I think getting sick was of my own making since I fell into an old trap of mine... the dreaded trying to do "too much... too soon..." and actually maybe someone here could offer some advice...

Here's what happened... I've been wanting to start doing more of my training (in my case running) in the morning while I'm still fasting from the night before. But instead of just going out for a short run... I wound up staying out and putting in 8 miles, well needless to say I really paid for that serious lack of judgement on my part.

So my question is.... For those that workout while IF'ing what do you do? Do you just keep it short? Do you avoid cardio? Or do you just avoid working out all together while still fasting from the night before? I'm definitely curious to hear how people here fit their workouts in with IF... What works... What doesn't...

It sucks. In an ideal world I'd prefer to lift in the AM and do cardio after work, but my lifts are pathetic in a fasted morning state. However I only have a 1 hour window before work (cause f--k getting up at 5 AM) and I can't make myself eat in the mornings.

I end up doing everything at 5:30 PM and sometimes I have lackluster AM workouts before work - these I consider a bonus simply because I managed to get out of bed

I like this... This is so me too... I think this is how I'm gonna have to look at it too... because the only time I'm ever pushing myself in the morning is when I have to... for a race or something like that... and who knows... if by some miracle I'm ever magically transformed into one of those early morning runners... than I guess I'll have to a look at maybe changing up my IF... but I don't think I'm in any real danger of that happened any time soon... ;)

Also: WINTER IN NEW YORK SUCKS! I am just proud of myself for maintaining my weight and not gaining 5 pounds every day at this point.

Once spring and summer hit, earlier daylight and warmer temperatures and later sunsets make it much easier to exercise when we feel like it vs. when we can force ourselves to make time to.

This is so true... I should be proud of myself too for for not gaining over the winter... I always tend to forget what a battle that really is... since basically all my body wants to do is hibernate... which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't that I want to eat all the *** ****!!! time too... :)

And so looking forward to spring too... It will just be nice to head out for a run and not have to worry about slipping and breaking my *** every five minutes on some ice that I didn't see... ;)

I'm in Canada but only 20 minutes from the NY border (Champlain), I agree, it's awful here! I'm from the west coast, I've never been so cold in my life!!

I have been eating low carb for awhile. I have fasted in the past. Very interested in intermittent fasting. So it is eating one day and fasting the next?

I would really like some information on this.

New here to this forum.
Thanks,
Honey

There are A LOT of IF plans out there... leangains, Fast-5, Eat Stop Eat, etc...
So doing a google search on IF and some of those might be a place to start...

I don't follow a specific IF "plan"... I just try and stick to a 16/8 routine... so basically I "fast" for about 16 hours a day and eat during an 8 hour "window" which for me is usually between 12pm and 8pm on most days... so basically skipping "breakfast"... some days I'll go a little longer without eating depending on how I feel and what I'm doing... I try to keep it pretty flexible...