You might want to throw a protein shake and a piece of fruit in after your workout on Fridays. Weights + cardio is a lot if you're not going to be eating for a couple hours. Still - not necessary. Your muscles are not going to fall off your body.

haha! thanks! that's great to know

I didn't make good food choices last night in my window and I know better, but I will say that this morning I still feel like I'm losing inches (I'm not weighing yet). I think I'm losing because normally I would have eaten during the day AND made the bad food choices in the evening. I still stayed within 1,500 calories, they just weren't "good" calories. Lesson learned though, I need to stay with healthier foods cause I do have a headache this morning.

I'm absolutely loving this WOE though. I feel like I'm in control and it feels great

Heading home today after a 10-day holiday romp in L.A. Had a really good time. Really, REALLY good time. I'm happy and relaxed, but also a bit sluggish. Will have to do some work to get back to my pre-holiday eating schedule. Been eating too many carbs late at night in the last couple days and it's left me quite hungry in the mornings. I am planning on a 24-hour fast, starting this afternoon once I get home. I think I'll get a massage and body scrub tomorrow. And drink lots of water!

In the past, once I've fallen off the wagon of a diet plan, it's been really tough to get back on track. I'm hoping I don't have too much of a problem since when I'm in my normal groove, I get enough sleep, I don't usually get hungry for breakfast, I don't eat so many carbs, and I eat a lot more vegetables.

Anybody got any tips for getting back on track with IF?

I've heard and read some great things about IF.

I have been losing steadily with a whole food, almost vegan diet but I want to really mix things up a bit and get rid of this damn fat that seems to never leave. I'm afraid of getting skinny fat if you know what I mean. So my first day on IF was today, I also want to up my protein and good fats and add some sort of strenght training (pilates or something like that) besides my daily cardio.

My menu:
1.meal at 1.30pm: barley soup, mixed salad (cabbage, olives, lettuce, chickpeas..)
2.meal at 6.30pm: around 20 almonds and an apple
exercise: jogging for 5K
3.meal at 9.30pm: tofu, zucchini, artichokes, beans, green pepper stir fry

What do you guys think? My feeding windows is around 8 hours. Do I add some more complex carbs to my dinner?
I usually work in the afternoon so I eat before I go and when I come home and do my exercise I have my biggest meal.

I hope this works, I really don't like changing how I eat but I guess I can always go back

@khat In my opinion, your protein still looks a little low... As to training, you really need the resistance training. I like to do Pilates, but I lift weights to keep the muscle up. Best of luck to you!

@geoblewis IF is one of the easiest plans to "get back on" for me at least. I use an eating window of 5 hrs./day though, might be more difficult if I was doing the 24 hour fast.

I can't give any advice to a vegan other than consider becoming at least a vegetarian.

JohnP I am vegetarian, it's just that I sometimes eat more like a vegan because I don't really like eggs and dairy. But I do sometimes eat feta, cottage cheese, little bit of milk.. So I am not a vegan but I don't see what the problem is if I were? Tofu, beans and soy are suddenly not good protein?

@Khat
I was vegetarian, then a couple months ago I started trying a more paleo approach - meat every day and vegetables (and I do a 6-hour feeding window these days). It was great for me, but I don't like eating meat daily, so I'm trying to mix in some meat-free meals twice a week. What I find, is that, where I could have potatoes here and there, when doing the meat/paleo diet, on my veg days, I have to be all about the protein and the veg - no starches. I'd do some dal (lentil soup) with spinach, a snack of fruit with a few nuts, a big salad with feta and seeds and then a stir-fry (no rice) with a hunk of tofu plus other veg. All the starches you need will be in your beans and your veg (and that fruit). I'm really sensitive to having lots of sugars in my blood stream, so this was great for me in terms of eating less meat (for ethical reasons) and still getting some of the paleo benefits I had been experiencing.

Thanks AnnaGal for your reply, I don't know anything about Paleo diet unfortunately but I'm glad it works for you!
I really understand that for some people meat is super awesome, has many benefits and can be tasty. For me it just isn't. The texture, the taste, the smell, the fact that it was once a small fluffy animal.. I just can't do it. I won't! I am willing to mix up my vegetarian or vegan options for more protein but I am not going to eat meat because somebody on a forum said I have to.. How can eating something you really hate be a sustainable lifestyle? I'm not aiming to be Miss Fitness here, I just want to lose some extra fat. I think vegans and vegetarians are just as capable of doing that..

Ok, I need some timing help.

I'm trying to do this without garnering a lecture from my father who thinks he's a nutrution guru. That's a whole different topic . I can get away with fasting all day without him noticing but now that I've added daily exercise to the mix (was just walking before)... I'm running into trouble.

I can't skip dinner and the only time I can work out is at night once my kids are in bed. I'd rather delay my eating window to late at night but I can't sit and not eat during dinner... so I'm not sure what to do.

Is eating dinner and then working out better than not doing anything at all? What do you think? Keep the 5-10 eating window and work out at 7... is that ok? How can I make this work?

Hey everyone. I'm settled into my new apartment and ready to jump back into IFing!

Welcome to all the new people who have joined the thread.

Monique

I'm no expert on IF but I would think that any exercise you get in at any time would be good. Also, could you take a walk with your kiddos before dinner and then do your more strenuous exercise later? I understand about those lectures and wanting to avoid them
Welcome back!

@ValRock I don't think there is any problem with exercising during your eating window. If you are eating at 5 and exercising at 7 you should be far enough along in the digestive process for it not to be a problem. Good luck!

I started off with 4 Hour Body's slow carb approach, it works very well for me. However, with further reading I have moved more towards the Paleo style and I think fasting can be positive. With my exercise schedule I am not able to do a long fasting time and have decided to stick with a 12 hour window. This is my first week, I am writing down what I eat and start and stop times. Fasting window may not work for me but, I did want to give it a try

I wish everyone well.

I would like to start IFing, can anyone recommend favorite IF books for getting started?