I've been reading a little about IF and I'm considering trying it. Can anyone with experience of this diet share their thoughts/offer some advice/general info? Like when should you start/stop eating and how long should you go without eating?

P.S. I have PCOS but I'm not, according to my last blood test, insulin resistant.

Thanks!

Amy, if you start at the beginning of this thread you'll get lots of questions answered. There are a many ways to do IF, but the most popular formal plans are probably Fast 5 and Eat-Stop-Eat (ESE). There's also Lean Gains, but I am less familiar with that one.

I believe the Fast 5 book is available free online. Brad charges $40 for the ESE ebook, which is way too much, but you don't really need the book anyway. You can glean all the info you need from his website or other IF sites without shelling out $40 to read the science. The science is really interesting, but I think you're a student? I never had 40 bucks when I was a student.

Anyway, I am fairly new to IF, but I think I've dropped about 10 pounds since I started. I still count calories and end up with an average daily intake of about 1200, with two 24-hour (dinner to dinner) fasts per week. Yesterday I only made it 22 hours, because I got uncomfortably hungry and decided to listen to my body.

Some people have a daily 'eating window' (Fast 5) and take in all their calories within a 5-8 hour time frame. That would be a disaster for me (I can eat a LOT in five hours) so I do 24-hour fasts instead, which is the ESE method. So for instance, on Monday I eat dinner at about 6:00, then I don't eat again until Tuesday at dinner. I do my second fast a few days later, usually on Friday.

I've found that doing this has helped me recognize real hunger, and it's also kind of a relief not to worry about food all the time.

Thanks so much for your answer! I'm really interested in trying this out and seeing if it works for me, so thanks for all of your info! I don't think the 5-8 hour time frame for eating all of my calories would be very helpful for me, either. Did you build up to the 24-hour fasts or did you just plunge right in?

Yes, I'm a poor student so I definitely don't have $40 to spare! I'll check out the website, though. I'd never heard of IF or calorie cycling until I came here but I'm glad I decided to join up. I've learned so much just by reading the threads!

I started IFing in January, and it (combined with a primal diet) has been the only thing that has helped me drop weight.

I don't really follow a formal plan, because my schedule just doesn't work that way (often I have planned lunches, etc.).

Typically, I have one 24-hour fast during the week. The rest of the days, I fast 14-18 hours, depending on my schedule. I always skip breakfast.

IFing is basically a way to control caloric intake without actually having to count calories. I'd caution that it's important not to go hog-wild during your eating window, which is why it helps to have your diet under control before you start IFing. I have my cheats and indulgences, but mostly I try to make healthy choices during my eating window.

I jumped headfirst into my 24-hr fasts, and the first one was rather challenging. They do become easier, however. I tend to think the first is the hardest.

It has really helped me recognize true physical hunger versus emotional hunger. In addition, with the varied scheduled that I have, it just makes it easy to create the caloric deficit I need. Even more, somehow IFing has made it easier for me to make smarter choices in social eating situations. I no longer feel the need to "stuff" myself with good food, which was a common problem for me before. I suspect this may be a personality thing and has to do with my control freak issues, but who knows?

I admit that I use calorie-free beverages - coffee, tea, etc. - to get through the hunger of my fasts sometimes.

One thing I've noticed: during my 24-hr fasts, the hunger tends to come in waves. I am never hungry through breakfast, but around lunchtime I tend to feel pretty hungry. I just power through it, and the sensation passes in 30 minutes or so. But you will need some willpower initially to get through those times. (Eventually, the results you see on the scale will be motivation enough.)

Good luck! I can't say enough good things about IFing.

I do IF the other way, with the eating window, sort of... lol.

When I wake up, I have my tea and take my vitamins and BC and all that. I have water and green tea/coffee/black tea throughout the work day. I work from 7 am till 3:30, and I'm home around 4. When I get home, I make dinner for me and my DH. I'll eat a giant salad around 5, then I'll go use my elliptical till he gets home at 5:30/6/6:30 depending on the day.

After he gets home, we eat dinner... I'm usually done eating dinner by 6:30/7, because I like to have things "out" (if you know what I mean, LOL) by the morning, because I'm a daily weigher. I only allow myself to eat from 4pm until 9pm. If after dinner I want something else, I have frozen pudding cups, or skinny cow stuff, or frozen yogurt.. whatever I want, as long as its within my calories and within my window, I can eat it. I found before spreading my calories out all over the day was making my dinner portions be SUPER SMALL and I can't have that, I enjoy eating my main meal in the evenings.

IF has really helped me, especially in the last 30lbs or so. I also found that if I stick to my schedule, I'm a lot better with losses.

Good luck!

I just went for it and it worked out okay, I think because my blood sugar was already pretty regulated by my strict paleo diet. I used to be one of those people that would get, like, "Hulk SMASH" levels of angry if I went more than a few hours without eating, because my blood sugar would drop and it was just ugly.

So the fact that I was *able* to just jump right into 24-hour fasts I put down to giving up grains completely for about a month before I tried fasting. But I didn't find it that difficult, really. It's easier for me to ignore occasional stomach rumbles when I'm working, which is why I usually fast on a work day, but even if I end up fasting on a weekend it's not that bad.