KTucke7-Thanks for the advice. I often delay breakfast already pretty naturally. I am not in a big rush to eat breakfast usually but once I start eating, it pretty much whets my appetite for more food and it seems a long time until lunch time rolls around. By delaying breakfast, I don't have to wait as long until the next meal. Fortunately, lunch usually leaves me satisfied for about 7 or 8 hours. It will be interesting trying to delay breakfast until later in the day. I guess I would eventually skip it all together and only eat two meals a day. I can't quite fathom that but it will be interesting to try.
@Terapet I find that after I eat something my appetite really kicks in. That's why I keep my window at 5 hours and why I think it is working so well for me. Now that I have "adjusted" I don't even have any hunger until about 4 PM, then I only have an hour to go and can do it.
Hello, I am relatively new to the site and to fasting. I initially fasted for a couple of days becuase I wanted to get rid of some of my TERRIBLE cravings! Ever since, I have been fasting every other day?
What do you guys think about this?
It's pretty tough and initially, it was okay and I felt pretty good but ....it's hard....let's just put it that way! :-D Any advice would help and YES, I am trying to read all through 16 pages....
This gets much easier over time. For me the adjustment was fully complete in about 30 days. I don't get hungry at all until about an hour before my window opens and when it is time to eat I'm just hungry - not ravenous.
Wether this is simply being in tune with what hunger actually feels like or my body having adjusted to the style of eating or some combo I don't know.
How do you get to that point??? I have lost weight but I am hungry ALL the time now...it's quite irritating!
Hello, I am relatively new to the site and to fasting. I initially fasted for a couple of days becuase I wanted to get rid of some of my TERRIBLE cravings! Ever since, I have been fasting every other day?
What do you guys think about this?
It's pretty tough and initially, it was okay and I felt pretty good but ....it's hard....let's just put it that way! :-D Any advice would help and YES, I am trying to read all through 16 pages....
Thanks in advance!
Every Other Day (EOD) fasting would be tough for me. It is an individual thing, but I much prefer Fast 5 (five hour eating window daily). Some prefer fasting for 24 hour periods for 2 or 3 days a week (per Eat Stop Eat). You'll have to decide what is right for you, and it does take longer than a few days to adapt. Good luck!
EOD fasting would be tough for me, as well. I also agree with John, though.
The reason why I started this way of 'dieting' is because I eat this way all the time. Coming onto this forum has just made me learn that there is actually a name for the way I generally eat. So, I agree that it definitely makes you more aware of whether you're actually hungry, or you are just thinking about what you'd like to shove in your mouth because it's delicious and you have nothing better to do. By the time my window opens up to eat, I'll pop a few veggies or fruit in my mouth, and that alone tends to satisfy me. It also keeps me from throwing something big in the microwave or oven just because my eyes are bigger than my stomach. So, after the fruits and veggies, I'm no longer tempted to make a big portion of something...kind of like "drink a full glass of water before a meal" concept.
How do you get to that point??? I have lost weight but I am hungry ALL the time now...it's quite irritating!
What kind of window are you following? I couldn't do "fast five" every day. No way! I fast for 16 hours and eat for 8.
How many calories are you eating? If I lower my calories too much I am hungry all the time too.
How long have you been doing this? Like I mentioned for the adjustment to be complete for me took about 30 days. You need to train your body to live off of fat. Believe it or not if you ignor hunger long enough your body will turn down the hunger signals. They'll still be there but they won't be shouting EAT EAT EAT at you. Just keep yourself busy and productive.
Intermittent fasting in my opinion is not for the novice dieter. [EDIT] - sorry hit reply to early. The reason I say intermittent fasting is not for the novice dieter is because when you first start you can become quite hungry and make some really poor food decisions. Be wary and don't listen to your body when it says EAT THE PIZZA EAT THE PIZZA EAT THE PIZZA
Just checking in...I tried to do the IF challenge but my husband stayed home and has been obsessed with eating fish for breakfast. Luckily it was a fairly late breakfast so I just closed my window sooner. I gained 3 pounds over the weekend with a 5 hour window and low calorie intake though. I was pretty bummed out to see the scale at 205 when I stepped on it yesterday.
We ate pork steaks on Sunday though and my husband seasoned them so I'm thinking there could be a salt overload going on or something. I'm very sensitive to salt.
Anywho, I'm sitting here browsing through the forums sipping on my water. I'm hungry but not so hungry I'm obsessively thinking about food. I am however debating on what to break-fast with today though. I've been thinking about Backcountry bars quite a bit but there are none in the house.
Hmm, maybe a trip in to town is in order... That would give me an extra 30 minute distraction from eating
I'm here for an IF sanity check-in. I'm being attacked on another thread for not eating enough, even when I clearly stated that I am taking in plenty of calories (around 1500). I think it's because someone made a wrong assumption and everyone else is using it as their baseline reasoning.
If I'm clearly not losing weight at 1800+ calories, then why are they screaming at me for not eating enough?
I'm almost done with this whole site, I think. Maybe. Some people are accepting. And I do find good support at times. And this is where I found IF. But I'm not going to post any more general questions. Too much misinformation!
IF is awesome... for me at least. I'm aiming for around 1500 calories or less... because for me... 1600-1800 just doesn't allow me to lose weight. Why? Not sure.
Anyways... my own IF isn't exactly the same as everyone else's... and it changes every day. I just can't do the actual window... due to work schedule and such (always changing). SO... I just skip a meal. If my family wants to eat breakfast together, I eat breakfast, and then skip lunch. Or if we eat lunch together, I skip breakfast. And just don't eat anything until lunch. As for dinner... I usually eat something in the evenings... but yeah.
Today has been good so far... (already have dinner planned out... even though I haven't eaten it yet):
So yeah... overall... not exactly the healthiest day... but I'm full and satisfied, and under my calories for the day.
Oh... and I also ran in place (I was at work... so couldn't do a whole lot) for around 10-15 minutes, and did a mixture of pushups, squats, and lunges for around 8-10 minutes. Might put on a kickboxing video or something and do a bit more. Haven't yet decided...
Hi all!
I am new to the IF way of eating - I have been having a window from 5pm to 9pm and started doing HIIT this week for 20 minutes a day. I love the fact that I don't have to worry about food preperation until after work, and the hunger pangs for me are no problem...I just keep chugging a whole lot of water! Eating 1600-1700 calories within a 4 hour window is where it gets a little tricky for me, but I'm sure I will mangage. I will stick to working out 5-6 days a week and doing IF, and see how my body reacts to it! Hopefully this weight will start to melt off!!!
Sipping my 5th cup of chamomile tea for the day, thinking about all the stuff I can do now that I don't have to worry about food and the cleanup after prep and eating. Ahh, only one meal to worry about. It seems too easy.
Would anyone like to share their successes with IF. Even the mini victories. Is this way of eating condusive to the universal goal of losing 2 pounds per week? I have yet to see a change on the scale so I'm just looking for hope.
Hey all! Still maintaining but things are shifting around in awesome ways! My midsection is way leaner and I can wear shorts without my thighs rubbing together and making them ride up! I couldn't really do that a couple months ago, even at the same weight.
@AmberJae, I have just broken past the 300-lb. barrier for the first time in 20 years. At my highest, I was 353 lbs. I lost around 30 of that through carb counting, then stalled around 320 lbs for about three years. No amount of carb cutting was helping. Then in April I started hearing about IF, did a lot of reading, looked at how I was eating and then thought I'd give it a try. I had already changed what I was eating about as much as I possibly could (Paleolithic diet, very low carb, very clean eating) and still wasn't losing weight.
Within a week of starting IF, I broke the plateau. Within four weeks, I had lost 20 lbs. I backslid on what I was eating and the weight loss stalled between 305 and 300 for about three weeks. When I recommitted to the Paleo diet, lower carbs and cutting calories with the aid of IF, I broke past 300 lbs. That was a couple days ago.
I have struggled with how many calories I eat in a day, but that's the only issue I have. I'm tall (5'11"), 50 years old, and just don't need to eat as much as I used to, the 3500+ calories that got me in this predicament in the first place. I can maintain weight at 1700 calories, so cutting down to 1200 in order to lose that two pounds a week has been tough. But I can easily skip eating until 3 pm now and have 1200 calories at a meal, then have a filling 200-500 calorie snack closer to 9 pm if I need it. I throw in a 24-hour fast once a week with an 800-calorie meal at the end of that cycle, and on the weekend, I might have up to 2100 calories. I keep the carbs low most of the week, but pull out the little bottles of Coronita to have with my pizza on the weekend. (I have no problem at all with putting away half a large pizza! Who are these clowns who eat only a slice! LIARS!)
I believe if I keep my current eating parameters up (Paleo, low-carb, and calorie-cutting with IF), I'll successfully get down to my goal weight of 170 in the next two years. Once I get below 200 lbs, I know it's going to be tougher. Part of the weight I'm losing on the high end isn't all fat. There's a lot of water due to inflammation. As I shred downward, there will be less of that to go. Probably by then, I'll be increasing my exercise a lot more. I want to get lean! And be very active for as long as possible. I don't think that's unrealistic. I won't be gaining it all back because I really like eating like this. I hope my life becomes full enough with other pursuits by the time I lose most of this weight so that I'm not slowing down enough to think I might need something to eat in order to fill the time.
I admit, I'm an eternal optimist. But the alternative...I can't go there!
I just can't do the actual window... due to work schedule and such (always changing). SO... I just skip a meal. If my family wants to eat breakfast together, I eat breakfast, and then skip lunch. Or if we eat lunch together, I skip breakfast. And just don't eat anything until lunch. As for dinner... I usually eat something in the evenings... but yeah.
