Originally Posted by JennyJen27:
Help I love 16:8, but having bad headaches & slightly elevated blood pressure 125/74. Has this happened to anyone else and what did they do about it. I was feeling really great but the last 2 days its a constant headache and even with Blood pressure medicine my Blood Pressure stays elevated. I really like this way of eating but this headache is awful :?::?::?:

How long have you been on that particular BP med? Did you check to see the possible side effects? I was recently switched to a different BP med and one of the side effects is headaches, which I have, but it said they will go away in time. The only time I've had headaches in connection with eating was if I didn't eat enough. If 16 hr is your fasting time, maybe you should cut it back and extend your eating window a little longer and see if that helps.

Originally Posted by agnes dayspring:
I have a question for those who fast during certain windows (such as 18:6 or 16:8 etc.) Does everyone count calories and/or plan their meals? Or do you just eat intuitively?

Right now I am eating intuitively during my 6 hour eating window. I am in the midst of breastfeeding and am still pretty hungry in general, so I don't deny myself the food my body needs. But by skipping both breakfast and nighttime snacking, I am cutting a significant amount of calories from my diet (around 300-500 at least); mainly junk (cereal, chips, chocolate.)

In my eating window, I eat a lot of the same things day after day. At 12 noon, I usually break my fast with 2 large organic eggs on whole wheat toast with real butter. Around 3pm I have a smoothie or some kind, usually milk, yogurt, frozen bananas, and whatever fruit or vegetable that is about to go bad, so it doesn't end up in the bin (haha - all my smoothies come out a very unappetizing brown color). And then around 5pm-ish I have dinner which is usually a combination of meat, cheese, grain and veg. I also don't stop myself from snacking in between those meals if I feel like it.

So I/m definitely eating well, but I am not tracking calories. I suppose I will have to wait and see if the scale goes down before I resort to that? :)

I would strongly recommend NOT breastfeeding and fasting..you need calories for your milk. You will begin to stop making good quality milk if you dont keep your nutrients up. I would suggest another plan until your done breastfeeding. IMO

porthardygurl - I am keeping my calories up, no worries there. I probably end the day anywhere between 2,000-2,400 calories on IF (before it was more like 2,800+ calories). I am eating pretty similar to how I ate before I became pregnant (same foods), just a larger quantity. Thats how I know I am getting my calories in. As long as I am eating well and enough, the quality of my breast milk should not be affected. What I end up cutting out of my diet is a sugary breakfast and crappy night time snack food - which I know is not good for baby anyway- and that is the extra 300-500 calories that was stalling my weight loss. I intend to fully take advantage of all the calories my body is burning from breastfeeding and carrying/walking with a very heavy (and chubby!) baby :)

The reason I am deciding to do IF instead of just say, "eating better" is because it is easier for me to eat healthy food and feel full during a smaller window, then feel full while having multiple meals all day long. I never feel satisfied that way, and that just leads me to overeat and eat poorly. I gained too much weight while pregnant (20 pounds too much) and don't want to fall into the same trap while breastfeeding, which I can see happening.

But I will count my calories this week just to be sure I am hitting the proper amount.

agnes, sounds like you're right on track :) If you said you were doing 5:2 while breastfeeding, I'd probably protest - but from what I've read an eating window while breastfeeding shouldn't be an issue. However, I am not a doctor nor have I ever been pregnant! I can only imagine how hard it is to lose weight after a baby!

Sounds like you have a sensible plan. I use 16:8 to stop myself eating a crap breakfast and junk food bingeing at night, too. My "baby" is over two now but I started IF over the summer and it didn't affect my milk supply in the slightest. I never lose weight until the second year of bf'ing anyway, but this time the weight melted off with very little effort. I also stooped eating sugar, but I've done that before without such a big loss. I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but my first pregnancy, 13 years ago. :)

Originally Posted by Wannabehealthy:
How long have you been on that particular BP med? Did you check to see the possible side effects? I was recently switched to a different BP med and one of the side effects is headaches, which I have, but it said they will go away in time. The only time I've had headaches in connection with eating was if I didn't eat enough. If 16 hr is your fasting time, maybe you should cut it back and extend your eating window a little longer and see if that helps.

Carol Sue, thanks so much for the response I was at my wits end! I have been on Hydro-chlorothiazide for about 1 year without problem, but after your post I realized in retrospect that it seemed to be making me feel worse instead of better so I decided to skip yesterday and it was better. My BP medicine is also a diuretic and I think I might have been getting dehydrated. I googled dehydration raising blood pressure and found out that it causes really bad headaches and increases the sodium concentration in blood and in turn also raises blood pressure. So I think I found my answer, so I am also increasing my water intake, since I wasn't eating I also realized I wasn't drinking or barely drinking during the 16:8. I am feeling better today not 100%, but better. Thanks again so much for responding I didn't even think that about my blood pressure medicine as being a factor, I'm not going to stop my blood pressure medicine but I am going to increase my water and if that doesn't help I will move my window back an hour, if the headaches continue I will probably consult with my doctor. Hopefully this is all just the pains of changing my lifestyle and my body will adjust. Thanks again!

Glad you have it figured out!

Why do i love this lifestyle? Let me count the ways...

1) in control of my eating which means no binges
2) never hungry in the morning or early afternoon..can happily go hours before eating
3) mental clarity
4) saves on groceries
5) weight loss duh!
6) not obsessive over counting carbs and fat
7) works in conjunction with any diet
8) better workouts
9) makes cheat days less guilty
10) feels fuller longer and eats less to feel satisfied!

noname - it wouldn't be so hard to lose weight after baby if I didn't gain so much while growing baby, lol.

raisin5 - congrats on being back to your pre pregnancy weight ... I cannot wait until I get there, I just don't feel like myself.

I gained around 50 lbs during my pregnancy, 20 more than I should have. So far I've lost 27. I was losing steadily the first two months of nursing but then stalled out and even gained a pound. I've been tracking my calories the last few days, and I am in the 1800-2400 range. It just depends on my hunger for the day. I record my weight everyday, but I plan on using my weight on Fridays as my indicator for losses.

Raisen and Agnes

20 pound gain is not bad at all... I gained like over 40 with my first.. Im scared actually.. My husband and I want another ( its been almost 6 years since the first) but im petrified of gaining weight..especially since im trying to lose more weight prior to pregnency in order to be at a healthy weight for pregnency.. I had complications in the last one..i had eclampsia.. my kidneys started shutting down..

No kids for me yet, but it does make me nervous, when the time comes, to get pregnant after all the effort I have put into losing weight over the last three years. BUT, knowing I have this wonderful tool - Intermittent fasting! - makes it seem less scary (the weight gain part...everything else about having kids is slightly terrifying! ha!).

Porthardygurl, I hope you kind find some comfort in knowing you have that tool, too and I hope you have a healthier pregnancy when the time comes!

We want to have another baby asap but I am scared that if I don't lose the weight first, i'm going to start putting more on top of what I put on with the first. I found it very difficult to not overeat when I was pregnant (I think it was stress) and my doctor gave me a stern talking to ... which didn't work :(

Anyway, it's been about a week since I started experimenting with IF and I just love it. I made a list the other day of all the things I like about it and it was very similar to porthardygurl's list. I see myself sticking to this way of eating after I lose the weight because there are so many benefits to it in addition to weight loss!. Here's my list:

1. No more pesky gut and stomach issues, for the most part.
2. I save money on groceries.
3. No obsessing about my next meal, being able to enjoy food without guilt. Actually, being able to feel FULL without guilt.
4. Mental clarity. My brain feels way less cluttered because "dieting" takes up so much time and space up there. Decision fatigue is REAL y'all!
5. I have a better start to my day and am more productive. Even when I would eat a healthy breakfast in the mornings, I still felt sleepy afterwards. Now I get so much done in the morning. I also start the day out super positive which I carry with me for the rest of the day.
6. The possible anti-aging and disease fighting effects don't hurt!

Ugh..got a sinus cold..this sucks..all i want is comfort food..but no such luck...

Do you think you can ever eat too little when doing IF? I calorie count with IF and i do 16:8 and do 5:3 as well..or supposed to be.. but ive noticed this past week i have struggled to get in more than 800 cals.. My average this week is around 600 cals.. Since the starvation myth is just a yth..that means i should be fine right?

Porthardygurl - It's not a true myth, and the reality is that it takes a long time at a small amount of calories for your body to start having that reaction. But when you're doing 5:2, you really need the up and down of calorie intake to have the most positive effect and I can't imagine you have much energy if you aren't eating much! I'd suggest upping your calories on non-fast days for the sake of your overall health and for your ability to stick to your plan long term.

Checking in today at 166.1! Not a big loss but it's something :) Now to have a giant, delicious lunch! Have a great weekend everyone!