I haven't been back to 3FC for sometime. Recently I adopted the IF way of eating, have been having great results and wanted to see if anyone on this forum was also IFing. Was I happy to see that it is the hottest topic in "Gen Diet Plans & ?s"!!

My path to IF was a long one, starting with "Mark's Daily Apple" (Paleo) then to "Tim Ferriss 4 hour body" to "RetiredDieter" to "theLeanSaloon" and finally was convinced after reading "Fast-5". The physiology behind the plan was what sold me....get off the rollercoaster with insulin & leptin and let your body use fat for fuel.

I know my definition is over-simplified but I can't imagine going back to 6 little meals/day. The first week was where I began to understand hunger (I only had one semi-rough day) but now it's smooth sailing.

It's easy, no more laborious planning and measuring and counting calories, etc. I just eat whole, quality food during a 4 or 5 hour window and then I quit until the next day's meals...about 19 or 20 hours later.

I'm drinking spearmint tea, Perrier, yerba mate and water.

In "Fast-5" Herring recommends setting a goal. At first mine was a goal weight (125#) but then I realized that I wanted what my daughter achieved with IF.....smaller (cupcake sized) boobs! Only if you have large breasts do you know what a pain it is to find nice fitting clothes. Besides better health, less fat, increased muscle definition and fairly quick weight loss, a smaller bra size is my next horizon.

Q1 - Yes it's normal for there to be an adjustment period just make sure you drink plenty of water

Q2 - Yes or simply eat outside of it. The bigger deal would be what are you eating at the dinner and planning around it. (Eating less before and saving up your calories or eating less the next day to compensate)

Thanks, John, I appreciate the answers.

Next one: without waaay too much TMI, I'm' assuming 'bathroom' can take a while to settle? I was absolutely fine MTW, in fact rejoicing that it was so easy, presuming it was because my body was having time to actually process the food, rather than being constantly bombarded with new stuff. Then suddenly last night I was attacked by nausea so bad as to be almost scary, followed by 'urgency' for hours.

Is it a question of the body re-adjusting, or is it a question of being more careful about what we eat in the window?

Really enjoying this so far. I've been looking at the Fast 5 site, since someone mentioned it on here. I like its reassurance that it Will take a while to get right, and that Window Overeating is normal. Somehow, since I discovered that, my food intake has dropped!

might not be IF and just a bug. Hope you are feeling better. I would just watch for the same feeling and see if you are having a trigger or if it was just a passing thing. Anybody else experience anything similar when starting out?

Sarah is right, might be a bug rather than IF. I had a little nausea in the beginning, but it was definitely too much coffee on an empty stomach Now I keep it to a cup or two if I haven't eaten. Hope you're feeling better today!

I seriously doubt these two things are related - I've never heard of it as an issue and if it didn't happen the first day than the odds of these being related are practically zero.

How is everyone doing? Rosinante, how are you feeling? Better I hope?

I lost my weight LC. (lowcarb). I have been maintaining nine years. (want to stay active on a board like this because I'm currently studying for degree in nutrition and I've been living/breathing lowcarb for 11 years, I need to get out more, lol).

But...my body picked IF. Yep. As I went along my journey, I found that my 'window' was 4pm to 9pm. I also lift weights (my lungs will not cooperate with intense HIIT or cardio of most types, I am disabled, physically, and autoimmune). I lift weights superset sometimes to gain cardio benefit, but otherwise, I just like to lift. I figured I'd stick with what I liked.

IF has helped my autoimmune profile, lowered my IgE (I have a rare autoimmune IgE condition), helped me stabilize my Hashimoto's (hypothyroid, well replaced with porcine thyroid). And it keeps me feeling and looking younger. There are several studies at the moment involving IF and autoimmune antibodies.

I am doing well. I am hitting my hungry PMS times, so I'm not really eating under calories, so I'm not really anticipating any massive drops on the scale.

Weight is still solid at 142.5, and I feel good about that actually.

I still feel like 130's is do-able pretty soon!

Wow neanderpam. Seems like you'll be a great nutritionist. Do you find yourself butting heads with professors in your classes? I've read that this can happen with more educated students.

Yes, John, I sure do butt heads with them, lol. I'm a patient advocate IRL (thyroid disease) and I knew that I would have to 'choke down' a lot of information that I 'know' isn't quite right. Actually, I've made menu plans for a few diabetics in my family and they've lost weight and been able to reduce their insulin needs, and I presented a paper based on that (and I worked closely with the patient's NP/doctor) and although I got a good grade on it, the Professor said what I was 'proposing' was 'controversial'.

I'm hoping to work closely with trainers...in developing weightloss systems and cross training for women and men who are hypothyroid/autoimmune challenged and over the age of 45.

It was really great to see so many here that are clued into IF. It's not for everyone....but it's quite the eye opener for those that have been struggling to keep their macros in check without the hunger that usually goes with that.

Hi Neanderpam, I'm excited to hear your thoughts on IF! We need people with controversial points of view! It was not so long ago that physicians were 'bleeding' people with leeches to make them feel better and someone had to stop the madness...

Katy, you will see the 130s in no time!!

I am finding myself stuffed during my window, but I'm liking things so far!

Hi Txalupa. I'm presently in a study for autoimmune antibody reaction to IF. There's a little research to be found on this already. Honestly, I'm almost more thrilled to see the 'anti aging' properties being 'proven'. (anti aging as pertains to hormone research, not wrinkling ).

Most of the people I've encountered are doing lowcarb and IF'ing, but I'm also interested in those doing other diet plans with it. I haven't really felt 'hunger' since I started lowering my carbs, eating no gluten, etc. But, then again, I also don't go a full 24 hours without eating on a fast.

I really like this board and the people here, everyone is so helpful.

Hi Neanderpam -

I used to do the low carb thing (should say I was never gluten free...I know for some gluten can be awful). Although i would initially feel better, it always wore off...usually major mood/hunger/fatigue problems. Never felt it was sustainable long term. I also have autoimmune/inflammation issues, but I have found that FOR ME what seems to work best for me these days is if I have LARGE mixed meals during a five-ish hour window. I take a break on Sundays to give my body and mind a recharge. After suffering a health crisis that was probably more of an emotional/lifestyle crisis wreaking havok on my body, I spent some time in orthorexic land. Trying to find the perfect diet...stressing wayyy too much about it. Don't get me wrong, I believe nutrition is powerful medicine...but I took it too far.

I used to have digestion issues eating certain foods (some dairy/gluten/high histamine/sugars), hypoglycemic reactions. I just got tired of food controlling my life and my thoughts. I actually spent about two months eating A LOT of food and rested as much as I possibly could. Once I felt better (moods/skin/sleep), then I started IFing, but with the intention of letting go of my macro nutrient restrictions (even "evil sugar")... I can now handle all kinds of food no problem. My hypoglycemic episodes are gone and my inflammation has lessened. I'm not looking for perfect health, but I find my body does wonderfully on IF, no matter what I choose to eat during my window.

Not looking to give anyone advice, just sharing my experience. I think developing health protocols can be terrific...sometimes good medicine for one can be poison for another. Our bodies, minds and spirits are such interesting and magnificent, albeit sometimes confusing, things, eh?

Would love to hear about your research journey

Last night I stopped eating when my window was over, but I drank beer two hours later-- oops! Good thing it's a flexible plan. My hope is to be perfectly in my window 6 days a week with one going-out night where I can drink beer until midnight/1am.

Does anyone else do this? Has it worked for you?