Hello ~

I'm a newbie to IF and am currently 3 hours away from completely my first 16 hour fast. I am going to work with a window of 8 hours 1 pm to 9 pm for eating to start. That alone is a huge change for me ~ I generally open the 'fridge straight from bed (sigh).

I eventually want to work up to 24 hour fasts but am going to go this route to start. Nothing else has seemed to work for me and I've been reading about so much success with this so....

I will work to switch my window to 11 am to 7 pm so that I'm not eating so late at night. Any advice on how to do this other than just do it?

Thanks all!

I don't have any specific advice on moving your window other than maybe adjust it by 15 minutes a day until you have moved it to the time you are wanting to start at. Good luck with IF, I'm down over 30 lbs total :)

@Mickiejean The only thing I would say is that the myth of late night eating having anything to do with weight loss/gain has been debunked by several studies. So I wouldn't worry about moving your window back unless it is more convenient for you or if eating before bed bothers you physically. I'm one who sleeps like a baby on a full stomach and that is the way I do it. I do fast five with an eating window of 5 PM to 10 PM.

Andly: Congratulations! :D I totally hear you and struggle with the same issue when I tell people. Sigh.

KT: Better appetite control is exactly what has happened to me too and even after slipping off for a few weeks due to emotional eating, I have maintained my weightloss instead of gaining. I totally agree with you about counting calories though and that this is management. You have hit the nail on the head. ;)

I am having such a problem with stress eating. Since starting IF, I know definitely that my main problem is emotional eating. The one thing that is completely different since I began this woe is that even though I have left it several weeks ago for an erratic eating schedule, I have maintained the weightloss, even lost a pound, that I had when I stopped.

It feels so good to be back on it though and I need to find a way to get my mind in a better place since the stress is not going away. Yeah IF!

I do intermittent "fasts" of as many hours as I can muster but I don't do the Fast Five as there is no magic for me in a five hour window. But the more I can spread my calories out the better I manage them and I also like the relief of having larger meals but I am so past the myth of eating every few hours. My glucose control is better when I DON'T do that. I don't know why.

Just getting back to IF after a break. I got distracted with travel, family issues and emotional eating. I generally don't do well over the summer. But I'm happy to report I've maintained my weight within a few pounds.

Today I held off eating until 12:30 and then had only two meals. It worked out well for me. I still ate just over 1800 calories, but that's well under my former 2100 calories I used to struggle to stay under. What's different now is that the stress I was experiencing before has been removed and I am a much happier person! So I don't feel so compelled to eat in order to mask bad feelings and constant stress. Plus, I make much better choices.

I'm also sticking to a strictly Paleo diet, the Whole30 plan. No grains, legumes, dairy, processed foods or grain-fed meats. I've been eating like that for two weeks solid and I feel pretty awesome! Didn't lose weight on that plan because I was still eating too much with the three meals a day, so that's why I've switched back to IF.

Since today was my first day back at IF, I'm cutting myself some slack. But my goal is to get calories down to 1650 in the next month. Hoping to pick up the weight loss pace too. I want new clothes by spring!

Awesome success in paring things down calorie wise and sticking to the Paleo Diet, Georgia.

I'm a bit joyous this morning. Going completely off plan got my weight back up to 310. Eating Paleo made me feel really good, cutting carbs helped, exercising help with that too, but since being back on IF, I'm back down to 299 this morning!

:carrot::carrot::carrot:

Congratulations, geoblewis!!!

***
I am not doing IF exactly (doing Sugar Busters and calorie counting right now), but IF and the concept has really helped me lengthen the periods between meals back to the more normal (for me) way I ate in my youth when weight wasn't so much of an issue. So I am glad there is a thread on 3FC for it.

@geoblewis Good going! :)

@Amarantha You are right, there is no magic in Fast 5. The eating window you choose for IF is whatever works best for you. I do 5 hours because that gives me the easiest control on appetite. It seems that after the first bite crosses my lips my appetite kicks in. Using a short eating window works for me simply because it give me less time to eat and when I do eat I can eat more. Anyone starting IF should probably experiment with eating windows to see where their "sweet spot" is.

I like to eat in the evenings. It's when my appetite really kicks up. But I have issues with getting too hungry and limiting calories. I can eat a lot when left unchecked. Easily put away 2000 calories. But I'm shooting for 1200. I do eat a lot of vegetables, but I also add extra olive oil, avocado and almonds.

Today I had a bigger breakfast (pastured egg omelet with turkey bacon, cooked in ghee), hoping it would help me push my second meal later into the day, like around 5. It worked, and I braised kale with a little chopped hard salami. I intended to have a tomato salad too, but went to a sports thing for my son that I forgot about. I was too tired to cook so I offered Taco Bell. I wasn't going to eat anything from there but...600 calories later, I'm kicking myself! I would have been just fine if I had gone home!

So, back on track for tomorrow.

@geoblewiss, huzzah on the loss!

@KTucke7, yea, I feel that way too about establishing less time to eat. I bought into, for a long time, the idea that I should always eat six meals a day to lose weight and manage my blood sugar. I am now rethinking that strategy.

***
This really isn't exactly IF but I've been using some new software to reformulate my weight goals by date. Weight goals are part of my life goals. It is very important to the way I feel to control my weigth and fitness.

I am now on the old Sugar Busters program (again, did it years ago). I modify it to suit myself but one thing they say is the old advice against eating too late at night. That has been debunked by later science as far as weigh loss but it is a good idea in general as it does cut down on the amount of time I can eat eat eat.

Working on that. Ideal for me would be three meals a day, period. I am not there yet. I do think that is a form of IF because if I could train my body and blood sugar to completely "fast" between the three meals and at night, life would be simpler and I would feel better.

But not there yet. :)

geoblewis I find really large lunches (30% of cals) at 1 PM and snacks (20% of cals) at 3-4 PM help keep me from getting too hungry for my evening meal. If I get enough protein and fiber during those meals I have to really work to eat the rest of my cals for dinner!

Amarantha totally OT but every time I see your username I think of One Hundred Years of Solitude! Is it in any way connected to that book? I'm so curious!

@indiblue, no, didn't know that name was in there, now I have to read it. :)

The name is an old handle I have used here and there about the internet. I am rather gabby on forums. I think I read the name in a book somewhere but not that one. I really just put an "a" on the seed "amaranth" because I was trying to get to like that once as a healthy grain.

Woot to all! It is going to be a great sugar free day!

@geoblewiss, great comeback!

I've joined WW but still continue to use IF. I'm not sure if WW is for or against it but I love it.

Luvinit, I'm playing with WW lately, doing it IF and Paleo. When I mentioned IF to some WW people, it was like I was trying to introduce devil worship at church! I'm finding some resistance to the Paleo too. But I'm just ignoring the nay-sayers and doing what works for me.

I also think we should just do what works for us. Right now I am OFF the Sugar Busters' plan per se because it isn't working for me in its strict form but I am sugar free, counting calories and working on an IF style meal pattern that really isn't IF as defined by Fast Five or anything formal, just trying to train self not to need to eat every hour of the day!!!

It is all very individual. :)

Thanks for this info!

Fasting is an excellent way to detox! Good for you for doing what works for you.

I am a newbie too!

I tried IF over the summer by doing the 5-hr window, and totally got off of it. I'm back again and this time I'm doing two 24-hr fasts a week. Today I'm on my second fast of the week, and it's going great. I am only drinking water during the fast - usually ending up to be about 3 or 4 liters a day. I am eating dinner at 8 or 9pm, then fast until the next day at the same time. So far, so good!!! The biggest thing I need to keep an eye on is making sure I don't pig out once it's time for dinner!

The longest fast I have been able to do is 12 hours. I am thinking of doing that twice a week for awhile, not sure. It is interesting to read everyone's experiences with this. Have a great day, all!

Just back from a partying weekend in SF. So busy that I averaged only 1050 cals a day. Have dropped two pounds since Friday! I'm going to try to keep as close to that level of calories a day within my eating window. Have been counseled that it'll take me a couple weeks of staying on top of emotionally and then it'll get easier. I really am motivated to drop the weight now, and I'm starting to believe I can do this!

Hello all! I am a low carb vegetarian and I have successfully lost 45 pounds, starting with MediFast and then switching to low carb.

However, I am getting close to my goal and I have hit a slump. I am pretty sure I am in starvation mode. I tend to go lower and lower on my calories as I see more and more results, but then I have set my metabolism to hoard calories.

So I am thinking of trying JUDDD so that I can reset my metabolism and mix it up a little. I will still go low carb, but I am going to be switching out my diet on alternate days.

I have a question: Can I JUDDD with up days on MWF and do two down days in a row on most weekends? It will be easier for me to do if I can be on a predictable schedule.

Someone please convince me this is what I need to do. I struggle so much with adding more calories to my plan in order to lose weight. I know this is what I need to do in theory, but a big part of me is scared it will be going backwards.

I am 5'2" and 44 years old, I was thinking a 500 - 1700 spread would be perfect for me. What do you think?

Hmmm, I replied, but it didn't show up. Hope I don't duplicate. You have done very well on your weight loss. :carrot: Remember, your calorie requirements go down as you lose. That is one of the downsides of losing weight. I think 500 calories would be too low, unless you only do it once in a while to jolt your system. And 1700 should only be for special occasions. Try playing with the numbers in between to see what works. Everyone is different. For me, I have to be at 1200-1500 in order to lose, and unfortunately I haven't been sticking to that very well lately.

I am not familiar with JUDDD. I will have to look it up to see what it's all about.

I'm back to IF. I've been reading how great it is for rheumatoid arthritis and I'm hoping it will help with my joint pain and inflammation. I'm going to do a lower carb version, but not extremely low carb.

Shrink, what is the low carb vegetarian way? What is/was your menu if you don't mind sharing? Oh and congrats on the 45 pounds lost! That's excellent!

I feel so much better doing IF. I just know my body can't handle eating throughout the day. I always feel like I'm starving at night when I do that and then I overload on calories. Doing IF helps my metabolism I think. Time will tell, but I know I feel better already :carrot:

For me, it helps me cut back on calories. I do a modified IF. I used to eat breakfast as soon as I got up. Now I wait until around 11AM and I eat a combined breakfast/lunch. We eat dinner early, around 4:30-5:00, and I have a snack in the evening. For a serious IF I should not be eating after dinner, but I have to take meds in the evening and I am diabetic, so I have to have something in the evening. I try to think of something I really really like to make it worthwhile. LOL And I try to keep it small. When I started doing this I had never heard of IF. Then I read this board and realized that I was doing something that others already knew about!

slmn11, your eating schedule is a lot like mine lately. I used to do what I call "brunch" just one day a week but now it is getting more and more the norm. I have an early dinner and sometimes a snack at night if working a late meeting, which is less and less these days.

6-meal-a-day nutritionist is now on IF bandwagon
 

Thought this might be of interest to some:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8874352.htm

There's also a free e-book.

Enjoy!

@FassGal I read that when it was linked on twitter a few days ago. Interesting stuff! :)

Still going strong with IF. I'm over half way to my goal. My window is still 1-7pm. I never get hungry after 7 but occasionally I find myself wanting something earlier than 1. I drink a lot of water or iced tea to try to fill up during those times.

I thought this was interesting. I love IF. I don't love people's reactions to it, and frankly I have enough stress in my life.

I remember thinking, IF works because of the insulin resistance connection. So does the Carb Addict's diet. I thought the two didn't bounce off each other but then I read a few days ago in the book by the Hellers (the original)

"Once at work, I was surprised at how fast the morning passed. I bought a cup of black coffee when the cart came by, but I barely touched it. I was very busy and only half aware of the comings and goings of the people around me. I worked right through lunch. At about 2 o'clock the coffee cart came to the door again. To my surprise, I realized I wasn't especially hungry; in fact, I felt fewer cravings than I usually did when I had eaten a big breakfast and lunch, at that moment. . . . I bought two French cruellers. . . packed them away into my paper bag. . . .I planned to eat them in the dressing room. . . .After 5'o clock, I finally ate my fill.. . . .the next morning I got on the scale and saw that I was 2 lbs lighter."

All this time, I thought since one advocated eating NO CARBS until the reward meal, and the other advocated NOT EATING until your eating window, they couldn't be related. However, the Dr.'s who worked on the CAD did the research regarding WHY the first diet (skipping breakfast and lunch) worked and came up with the CAD.

If, IF will not work for you for one particular day, try the CAD. This is basically NO CARBS nada--until ONE MEAL and eaten only for an hour.

Do you expand your window on days you just are ravenous? This morning I woke up ravenous. Went about my normal business but by 11 I was shaky and had not had one moment not thinking about food all day. I wonder if today would have been a day to do something different

I never expand my window, even if I get home from work late and miss my window to have dinner. That just ends up being a 24 hour fast night. I think if you move your windows around too much it won't be as effective for you. Perhaps you didn't eat enough calories the previous day and that's why you were so ravenous?

Yeah, I didnt eat enough calories the day before but I wasnt hungry the day before. (Well actually I ATE my normal amount but I had a big burn that day)


I guess I'll just have to play around. For certain i will not be doing any 24 hour fasts any time soon.

Hello everyone ~

Haven't been to 3FC in a long time but my battle to lose weight has never stopped! In trying everything under the sun, JUDDD was the only thing that worked for me until I quit working it. :o Never got near to goal, but I did see the scale move more than I ever did with anything else. Between that and a prior few days attempt at Fast-5, those have been my foray into IF.

I've been doing Fast-5 for a week now. Like a lot of you expressed, once I eat, it's hard to stop. I'd rather condense my eating into a few hours. I've only lost 3 lbs. so far and that's been an up and down thing. But, I feel good and suffer no ill effects during or after exercising. I'm also *trying* to get back to lower carb eating as I always feel better when I cut the processed carbs out.

My window is generally 3-8 and it's been really pretty easy. I generally have a cup of coffee and tea - both with a little cream - during my fasting hours. Playing those facebook games keeps me busy both at home and work! :D

I'm on an IF team on another site, but it's very slow. I found the original IF thread on here yesterday doing a Google search and saw it's a bit more active, but this one has been silent for a few days now! But, I know there's not a whole lot to talk about when you're not eating a lot!

I was wondering where everyone was too! Guess Christmas shopping ;)

I love Fast-5 and hope you see good progress with it. I've been doing it since February of 2011, and can't see myself ever going back. Sooooo easy.

Good luck!

This is where the IF folks are! I've been posting on another part of the forum but there was little to no discussion.

I've been doing ESE since this past Tuesday and have finally broken through my plateau.