Anyone got time to answer some questions I have about intermittent fasting?

[quarentini]

I need to loose 4 stone..
I've been reading about intermittent fasting and feel this is probably the best option but I'm so confused by it all !
16:8
Fast 800
One meal a day
5:2
If you have lost weight by intermittent fasting, could you please tell me, what you did !

Fast between 8pm and 12noon (16 hrs)
Eat low carb (50g max)
Eat high protein (60g min)
Eat 800-900 cals daily for max of 12 weeks
Drink 3 litres of water

Basically follow the Very Fast 800 Plan

Buy the book, plus the two Fast 800 recipie books

Alternatively pay about £100 to join the online Fast 800 Plan and just do what they tell you to do and follow their meal plans.

Lost 3 stone in 12 weeks and maintained weight by following all of the above (minus the calorie counting).

I would suggest starting with 6-hour eating-window, say from 12 noon until 6 pm. After a couple of weeks, cut that to 4 hours. Works wonders.

I did 5:2 with the aim of losing 2 stone over 15 months.
I lost it in about 6.

I tracked EVERYTHING I ate and drank on MyFittnessPal.
I did 2 v low calorie days, 3 TDEE days and 2 weekend days when I didn't go overboard but didn't stick to TDEE.

Finding something that works to you and you can stick to as a lifestyle change is the key I think.

I now do 6:1 to maintain and switch back to 5:2 if I feel my weight creeping up.

You see, I frankly couldn't be arsed to keep track of everything I eat, sucks all the joy out of food.
Provided you're not a binge-eater, setting a time limit within which you could eat anything you'd like, is so much more enjoyable and works just as well and also, most importantly, is eminently doable in the long term as you'd get used to the pattern and will become a way of life.
Voila!

As I said, finding what works for you is what matters.

Just because you feel like that doesn't mean everyone will.

I do this method. Find it the easiest as it requires nothing more than just 'don't eat', but I do also low carb as I am less hungry when I low carb. I don't mean no carb. I love cauliflower cheese and rice at the weekends but rarely eat wheat or sugar now. I never eat breakfast and skip lunch twice a week. Found all this easy when working in a busy office, struggling wfh and home schooling tbh so half a stone over where I'd like to be but still the easiest method ever. I haven't a clue about calories and never weigh anything.

Absolutely, fair point! I admire your willpower a very great deal, quite jealous of it actually

I fast between 6pm and 12/1pm.

I follow the principles of the Fast 800 but I no longer count the calories.

I aim for low carb/high protein (and very colourful plates basically) in two meals. No snacks.

I exercise in some form every day - either a Team Body Project workout online, a Spin bike session or a Rick Bhuler walking workout on YouTube if I feel like I need more of a rest.

For me, I found MyFitnessPal worked really well, combined with the 5:2. Once you've used it for a while it's really easy as it uses data you've already input.

Now I don't use it any more, because I've learned what my intake should be and how to manage that. I'm probably half a stone over where I'd like to be, but don't tend to vary much and that works for me.

I'd never dieted before I decided I wanted to lose those 2 stones, which had crept on gradually over quite a few years, so I guess had no real concept of how many calories things had in them.

@praepondero

You see, I frankly couldn't be arsed to keep track of everything I eat, sucks all the joy out of food. Provided you're not a binge-eater, setting a time limit within which you could eat anything you'd like, is so much more enjoyable and works just as well and also, most importantly, is eminently doable in the long term as you'd get used to the pattern and will become a way of life. Voila!

See I don't think there's necessarily any voila about it. It's great that it works for you and others, not suggesting you are wrong about it sometimes working, but we're all different. I am a small, old person with a naturally very low TDEE - 1500 p/day providing I am lightly active. That's to maintain my weight, if I wanted to lose it needs to be 1200 a day or less. I definitely could easily eat that much or more in 8 hours a day without binging, something like soup, a cheese sandwich, some fruit and yoghurt for lunch (maybe 600 calories?) plus a normal family dinner like 3 bean chilli with sour cream and rice (500 cals depending on how much rice?), a dressed salad (100 cals depending on how much dressing), a small glass of wine (150 cals) a fruit salad (100 cals) and a small chocolate bar or biscuit for afters (150 cals) and hey presto I've had more than my TDEE without remotely binging. If I do actually have a bit of a blow out at the weekend and have cake, a few glasses of wine, a takeaway etc., even sticking within an 8 hour window, I'll be well over and def not lose any weight. I know this to be true because I have tried 16:8 for a good few weeks at a time as a maintenance mechanism, eating 'sensibly' but without any restriction or discipline on what I eat and I nearly always gradually put weight on...

I am NOT saying everyone needs to constantly count calories and have a miserable joyless controlled food existence, just that what works for some doesn't always work for others. Some people can lose weight purely through 16:8, others need to do more extensive calorie counting or reduce carbs or do 5:2 (which is where you do 2 500 cal fast days per week and eat 'normally' the rest of the time, it works for me). Whatever works for you and your lifestyle is best, that's my philosophy!

I did pretty much what @Chasingsquirrels did. It worked for me. I lost 3 stone and the first two came off extremely quickly!
That was back in 2013. I haven't put it back in although I do bounce around 4lbs up and down.

I used to crave cheese salad sandwiches on a fast day! If you tell yourself 'you can have it tomorrow' you often don't bother but it just gets you through knowing you can!

If you tell yourself 'you can have it tomorrow' you often don't bother but it just gets you through knowing you can!

^^ THIS is a big part of why 5:2 worked for me.

I'm a huge fan of fasting, but have been overweight pretty much all of my adult life and this is the thing that works for me. It might not be the right thing for you, but it's definitely worth a go.
I started 5/2 years ago after seeing how well it suited a colleague. To be honest I found it hard going to start with, but I think any weight loss plan is going to be challenging.
I would recommend reading/listening to Dr Jason Fung on YouTube. He makes a lot of sense.
I also echo what a pp said - that you promise yourself you can eat anything you fancy 5 days a week. Just keep busy on those 2 fasting days. Keep hydrated and learn to make friends with hunger. Yes, your tummy will rumble, so what? It doesn't constantly rumble and when it does, just distract yourself.
Good luck!

@maxelly
I never suggested an 8-hour eating window, that is way too long and more akin to a non-fasting eating regime, for me anyway.
Start with 4 hours and mix it up with 1-hour days, 2-hour days, whilst never going over 4.
Works for me.