Moozie, good luck! IF has been the answer for many of us. I don't have any experience with two longer fasts a week. What works for me is the fast 19 hours, eat for 5 as set out in Fast 5 (free e-book). Others on here do something more like what you are trying.

Just a word of caution. I understand that you don't want to have to count calories on the days you don't fast. One of the things I've seen mentioned is that you have to be careful not to make up all the calories you didn't eat on your fast in the next eating window. So, make sure you are mindful not to over eat when you start again.

Good luck!

thanks for that,
and yes i realize i cant go mad on my eating days. i just plan to eat normal meals and continue to be able to eat out occasionally. my weight has been stable for about 6 months ( since i stopped dieting!) so i am hoping that if i stick to my normal regime with the fasts too, it will give me a slow but steady weight loss.
thaks for the advice.
moozie

Moozie, yes it should. Keep us posted!

Moozie, welcome to our little forum. I've been doing the IF for a few months now. I had been at a three-year plateau around 325 lbs and was so SO frustrated about not being able to break past that weight for any length of time. I'd dip down to 315, then pop right back up.

I changed the content of my diet, which made me feel a lot better, but even with the lower carbs and increased vegetables, even with the end to eating out and no longer eating any processed foods, all I could do was maintain that weight. I struggled to lower caloric intake. But once I learned about IF and started to use it (at first with 18-hour daily fasts and a six hour eating window), the weight started to come off. And I finally broke below 300 lbs a few months ago.

Since then there have been periods of time when I wasn't faithful to the IF. The weight didn't come back, but the weight loss ended and I hit a plateau again, right around 296 lbs. But last week, I started back up with the IF, this time with a 36-hr fast, and I dropped to 293 lbs. It is my intention to continue with this until its no longer effective, which will probably be when I get really close to my goal weight, below 200 lbs.

I seem to be able to handle the longer fast if I time it right (from 6 pm to 6 am two days hence). I struggle with eating less than my RMR on any given day, so with IF, I don't have to stress over that at all. During the fasting day, I drink coffee, water and chicken broth (no more than 2 cups every four hours).

The challenge for me is breaking the fast. I'm still tweaking this. I can easily put away my RMR within the four hours after I'm done fasting. I read how other women can break a fast with 200 calories and go on with their day till dinner. I can't! I wonder if it's how I break the fast that is the issue, what I'm eating specifically. This time, I'm going to try ending the fast with a meal replacement shake and then leave the house to go to my Pilates class. It seems to take a good hour before what I eat affects my blood sugar levels and helps me calm down. (I get really edgy and energized when I fast.) If I can distract myself enough with something else to do, then perhaps I can work on spreading those calories over the day rather than all at once.

Good luck with finding what works for you. Be patient with yourself. It takes a little time to tweak IF to your body's rhythm.

thanks to both of you.

its good to hear that you haven't lost heart with IF, as I know i want to follow it long term- if I can get my body used to it.
have been on a non fast day today- my Sisters 50TH birthday. just got back from an oriental buffet, and was able to eat without feeling guilty. but funnily, didnt go mad either.

for me, this is one of the biggest attractions of IF. as I do eat out once a week- nothing special, just a pub supper at the local Quiz night. i had always struggled with the guilt versus deprivation, which ultimately made me eat more than.
if I can plan my fasting periods around it, I hope i will be able to enjoy it without overeating.

any way, we will see.
my first fast went really well. second one starts tomorrow after breakfast. and then ill have the weekend eating normally.

oh yes- can anyone tell me how you got the little weight loss picture at the bottom of your posts?

thanks and good luck to you too.

You have to be a member and participate in the forums for awhile before you can get a ticker. I think it is 30 or 50 posts, something like that. Once you can, you can use 3FC's own ticker, lilypie or tickerfactory

TICKERS: I think it's 21 days and 21 posts. If you keep checking your CP it will show up automatically that you can add a custom signature. That is where you will put it. You can go on one of the ticker web sites now and get one going, you just can't add it to your signature quite yet.

Welcome to IF.

I just cannot eat as much with ESE! I fast for 24 hours every other day and when I do eat it's usually one meal a day of whatever I fancy ( healthy but not deprived). And then I just don't have an appetite it's crazy. I love it.

thanks everyone.
i will have my ticker to look forward to!
have just finished my second fast, only 20 hours, as i had an evening meeting that included a meal. but i ate very sensibly and was surprised how quickly i was full.
think i will stick with the 2 x 24 hour fasts for a while and see what my results are, as i haven't had any real ill effects of going without food. don't feel like im cutting down, though obviously over the week, its a reasonable calorie deficit.

not looking for a quick fix- it took me a long time to get here. i am just hoping that by this time next year I will be feeling a lot healthier- and be able to fit into normal clothes.
keep well, eat well.
moozie

Hi, everyone! Happy New Year! I've been using different versions of IF off and for awhile, just trying things out. I have become fascinated by all the different benefits and patterns that people use to fast, something years ago that I thought was not good for me but I am increasingly drawn to the benefits.

Moozie, I think you are basically doing Eat-Stop-Eat, then? Sorry, I am kind of breezing through because busy and not sure if you said that.

I tried Fast Five and I don't like that pattern and am considering Eat-Stop-Eat or Leangains but now I just "fast" by basically skipping one to two meals in a day that I've decided to do it.

It has a lot of benefits and I feel great.

What I did come on here today to ask is if anyone knows of an iPhone app for IF. I found one with bad reviews and it doesn't seem to be much more than just a countdown timer. I would like an app that works like a countdown timer but also logs the fasts and enter data.

There are a number of fasting apps that are applicable to religious fasting but that isn't really what I am doing.

Hi Amarantha,
i think its eat stop eat that i have based this on- to be fair i havent read the book, but i did some searching on google and read a bit about it that way.
i begrudged paying $39 to be told how not to eat!!!
I am eating normally all this weekend and will be fasting again after monday breakfast- but i am finding that i am tempted to miss meals, which im guessing i shouldnt do?
what i dont want to do is under eat and slow my metabolism down.
ho hum, will just have to trust my instincts on this one.and the scales when i weigh myself.

anyway there is an IF timer app by motfu on iphone apps. it is a very simple tool, it basically tells you when you started, how long you have left- that may be the one you saw?
cant see any others, sorry
it may be that one of the diet apps could be used? will have a look and report back.

EDITED TO ADD: I did get the app, Moozie! I do think it is nice. It puts your fast on your calendar so that serves my purpose that I want a record. I am doing a one hour test of it to see if it actually makes a sound when the fast is over.

Lol, I am app mad since I got my new iPod! Thanks!

I did do 15 hours, my longest stint, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m., usually I eat something at night or early in the morning, so this was a good effort. I am cutting calories today so as NOT to have a binge.

Yea, I have not actually read E-S-E either. There are copious explanations of all the plans on Livestrong and I have a lot of the Kindle versions of some of them at much less than $39.

Have a good day, all!

I have read a couple of articles about exercising in the fasted state. It seems
that this works better for burning fat and reducing insulin resistance. I haven't
been exercising lately but decided to start back doing some but only on alternet days about an hour or 2 before I break my fast. I am hopeing this
will help with my diabetes a little more. Now the 40lbs I have lost on this WOE
has helped my diabetes a lot but it still could be a little better.

Lost my mojo for awhile and while I was mostly still in IF the quality of food wasnt good.

Think I have located it.

Question for John or anyone who uses BCAA supplementation in conjunction with IF. I have BCAA capsules, but taking that many pills is tiresome so I skip more often than not.

I'm back in a heavy lifting cycle so I though I would at least use them then since it is usually at least 5-7 hours after my workout before I break fast. I've been looking into the BCAA powders, but all the ones I have seen have artificial sweeteners which cause me major tummy issues. Are there any unflavored ones?