Intermittent fasting, please talk to me about it

[Whydoesnothingwork]

Right ok next thing to try.
Seasoned faster please talk to me about fasting, the rules, how it works, what I can eat, thank you.

Fasters

Don't eat in the fasting window
Eat normally otherwise

16:8 is 16 hour fasting window e.g. 8pm until noon the next day

5:2 you eat normally 5 days a week and don't eat on the 2 days. (Or veeeeeeery little)

Indeed. I've been doing 16/8 for years and think I always will because I feel so much better.
I basically eat what I want during the 8 hours. That's not to say I go mad eating several donuts and packets of biscuits. I just eat good nutritious food I enjoy plus a biscuit or two and a little chocolate each day.
I know some people fast and also calorie count or do low carb. Maybe you get quicker results this way. For me just eating sensibly with a couple of treats seems to work.

I'm doing 20/4 (eat during a four hour window) fasting at the moment out of desperation. I've lost the main chunk of my weight but need to lose that last bit and it's now very slow and very hard progress.

It's going pretty well, but I think you wouldn't want to jump into it, better to try a larger window first.

It makes you realise how often you do eat, especially if your job allows it. It stops you from absent-mindedly picking up food, even healthy food like fruit.

Thank you I think i will try 16 8 this week and see how I get on

I had to build up to an 8 hour window, was ravenous at first. So I moved my first meal of the day back an hour at a time. Now I break my fast at about 11am with fruit and yoghurt usually, but can go to 12 or 1 depending on how busy I am at work. I've found it's much easier to do when I am focussed on other things, and also make sure that I eat a ton of veg and protein during the window. Otherwise I just eat sugary crap which isn't filling.

You still need to have a calorie deficit so dont try and cram your normal diet into the eating window. It is not a miracle solution but helps with calorie restriction plus hte benefits of fasting.

I thought I would start with 11am to 7pm and see how I get on.
What can i have in the fasting window?
Can I have tea/coffee?

I did it for 3 months and lost a bunch of weight. Haven't put it back on. Simple rules:

1. Stop eating once you are done with dinner (no snacking after whilst watching Netflix)
2. Skip breakfast. You are allowed black coffee or tea during a fast, no milk or sugar.
3. Once every couple of weeks do a 24h fast to speed things up, so go from dinner to dinner. It's not often so you'll be able to do it.

To keep the weight off after you've lost what you wanted stop snacking and don't have pudding everyday. Maybe skip breakfast once per week if you think you are gaining again. Job done!

You can have black tea and coffee, green tea, herbal teas, water. I find black coffee is good at suppressing my appetite before I break my fast in the morning.

I started 16/8 about 10 days ago. One side effect I've found is heartburn - anyone else had this?

So I can't have milk in tea or coffee? Mind you breaking my fast now as its 11am.

Not on your fasting hours, when you break fast you can have anything you want. You won't lose weight if you go crazy or make up for the missed meal mind you.

I have one, max two coffees with milk or cups of tea during the day. But I only eat one meal a day - dinner. Then a small snack afterward if I’m still hungry. Having a small amount of calories outside your window is called dirty fasting. It works for me, means I don’t need an actual meal if I have a coffee.

Ok thank you. I was going to have scrambled eggs now and a coffee and a stir fry for dinner and some Greek yoghurt afterwards. Then fast again from 7pm until 11am tomorrow.

I actually find my heartburn improves when I fast.

I often do 16:8 so I can eat between 12pm and 8pm but nothing containing calories outside of those times. I just drink black coffee, herbal tea, water and if I'm really hungry....a diet fizzy drink e.g diet coke (I don't think that's strictly allowed due to sweeteners but it keeps me on track.)

What that means in reality is that I don't eat breakfast, just have black coffee or herbal tea. Then I eat lunch but try to keep this low calorie (usually soup, or fruit and protein yoghurt, or porridge) then I have a normal dinner with my family that I don't calorie count. Then the fasting window starts so I don't snack in the evening and just have herbal tea.

It works because if I'm missing breakfast and not snacking then I end up with a calorie deficit most days without having to really think about it.

I've not had heartburn myself but then I don't get it normally anyway.

I don't know if anyone's mentioned it already but I don't think it's recommended for people with a history of eating disorders or pregnant women (don't know about TTC). There may be other people it's not suitable for, too.

16:8 works so well for me. I usually eat between 8am and 4pm, and it cuts out all the evening snacking which is my downfall.

I started off just eating what I liked between those hours, got used to it and then started to make better food choices. I can lose 2lbs a week easily without stress.

Thank you. Cut out sugar in tea and coffee too. Will see how it goes!
Does my plan for today sound OK?

For those who do intermittent fasting - do you find it easier to do morning/lunch or lunch/dinner? At the moment, I tend to do morning/lunch but thats not always practical so was thinking about switching to a later schedule.

You can’t have milk in your tea / coffee because it has a lot of carbs, so it breaks your fast.

That’s why baby mammals are fed on milk 🐂

I fast in the evening and overnight.

So I start eating at about 12 lunchtime and stop eating after my evening meal at 6 pm.

Then I fast for 18 hours until the next lunchtime.

That sounds fine.

Personally, I would eat a lot more than this. Not rubbish, and no alcohol.

Add in some fruit, houmous, carrot sticks. Things like that. Boiled eggs.

I make a conscious plan to miss out bread and taties. I do sometimes eat rice and as I don't like pasta, that also gets missed out.

Not eating in the evenings makes all the difference to me. I am a terrible snacker and grazer when left to my own devices.

You absolutely CAN have milk in your drinks and still lose weight by fasting if it helps you stay sane (like me!)

Fasting works because you are in a calorie deficit - it isn’t really rocket science. As others have said if you stuff yourself during tour eating window you won’t lose weight - it doesn’t matter what you’re eating. I only have one meal a day now and eat dinner at 6pm then have yoghurt and fruit for dessert. I have skimmed milk in about 5-6 cups of tea/coffee a day and drink water throughout the day. I also have a “day off” at the weekend where I often eat lunch as we eat out and will have a “naughty” dessert or some chocolate or a few G&T’s.

Ive lost 2 stone since January. Do what suits you, some people can happily lose a few calories by cutting milk from tea/coffee - that’s not something I’m willing, or need to do.