What gap for intermittent fasting?

[HesGotHisTrombolyse]

I started intermitted fasting on Monday in order to lose some weight. I have given myself a 12 - 8 eating window, although I've been doing 1:00/1:30 - 8:00 because of work commitments.

I wanted to ask what other people doing IF are picking as their eating windows, and whether they are doing 16:8. I was also interested in hearing success/fail IF stories. Thank you.

I did 10-6 ( just because it suited me) for about 7-8 months. Didn’t lose an ounce. Made no difference to how I felt.

I've been fasting on and off for about 15 years as it helped my gastritis.
I've always found 18/16 to the best on a daily basis, but have gone through phases of doing every other day 36 hour fasts (Mon/Weds/Fri).
When you build up to them it gets very easy and just becomes normal.

I work out a lot so don't do as many 36 hour fasts as before but will start throwing in one on my rest days. I still do 18/6 most days though as I've never eaten breakfast really.

I do 12:8, starting eating at noon. I’ve lost 6kg in 3 months, mostly around my middle and feel much slimmer and healthier for it.

I do first meal at 11,30, last by 6. I understand it’s the 17th hour where yiyr food is then fully digested,

If you're just beginning then you need to start slowly and make the fasting window open gradually. This helps the hunger not be as intense.
I do 22/2. I have a two hour window and eat whatever I want. I have one day a week that I do not fast and eat whatever the hell I feel like. Let's just say me and a big bag of cheesy giant wotsits have a private moment once a week. :)
I've lost over three and a half stones in a year. I take Easter and Christmas off, no one wants to be miserable on chocolate days.
I will say this, my menopause symptoms massively improved. I rarely get ill now. And the rare time I do, I get better much quicker. I put this down to Autophagy.
Good luck on your journey.

I have a flexible routine to fasting doing between 16 and 19 hours (average 18 hours) depending on what I'm doing/how I feel. I do it this way because I wanted to eat like this for the longterm and didn't want to feel that it was too difficult and give up. I've been doing it since May 2023 (along with calorie counting) and have gone from a size 16/14 to buying size six jeans this week. The health benefits are what motivates me (rather than the weight loss). I think with any plan it needs to be flexible for your lifestyle because you'll maintain the plan long-term if you haven't got lots of hurdles in your way (hence I allow skimmed milk in my tea during fasting hours).

I managed to lose 6 stone over 2 years by doing 18/6 intermittent fasting. It was a long slow process but I wasn't in any hurry and so far,I've kept the weight off. I'd eat my first meal at 6pm,a snack round about 10pm -10.30 pm,then nothing else after midnight. Not suitable for everyone I admit as a lot of people cannot go all day without eating,but I'm an 'evening eater',and I found that the only way I could lose weight was by saving all my calories for the evening. It certainly put paid to all the 'helpful' people telling me that the only way to lose weight was not to eat anything after 6pm!

I’ve been doing 6pm until 7am for a month and have not lost any weight at all. I’m in menopause and nothing seems to be shifting my excess weight . It’s so depressing.

You need to do 18 hours fast, you can build up to it. i do 20:4 and can eat what I want. Probably eat about 3000 calories or more at day in that time , sweets etc and about 8.3 and 5 7
I drink wine at the weekends outside it and it doesn't seem to affect it.

That’s not intermittent fasting though, you’re eating for 11 hours a day, that’s why you’re not loosing, you’ve just cut out evening snacks, and possibly are eating more before 6 to make up for it.

I had great results doing 16:8. I would break my fast at 10am, and finish my last meal by 6pm.

I keep meaning to do it again.

I do roughly between 11am till 7pm. But it is often 1pm till 7pm.

Hi! I'm doing the same as you, 12 til 8, but often it's more like 1pm when I eat. I've been doing it about 2.5 months. I'm loving it. I have more energy, and I'm not finding it difficult (after the first couple of weeks when I got headaches). I like feeling in control of my eating. I've lost weight slowly and gradually, but have managed to drop 8 lbs so far. I look so much better than I expected from an 8 lb loss though. Probably because I've lost weight from my tummy (my problem area) as well as being so much less bloated. I can wear a belt on my waist again!

I'd like to lose two stone.

That’s not really a fast though. It’s 13 hours without eating, which I would have thought is a pretty normal pattern. Even when I’m not fasting, I do not eat between 8-8 most days. Try 16:8, skipping breakfast and eating your first meal at noon. You can still stop at six if you like, with an 18:6 patter. I suspect you’ll have much better results.

I must confess I'm finding the 16-hour fast relatively easy to do - I'm basically skipping breakfast and I don't eat after 8pm. It's still very early days but I'm already feeling less bloated. No idea whether this is a side effect of IFing but I am pleased nonetheless. And, I forgot to say, I am also calorie counting (1,000 - 1,200 a day).

I think you need to start lower and try and increase. I only ever managed 14 hour gap, but it did help me maintain weight and I felt more energy. Stopped since being pregnant.

I do 18:6 I stop eating at 6 pm and break my fast with tea (using soya milk) at 12 then eat my first meal at 1 pm, usually overnight oats and fruit with dinner at 5 pm. I drink a litre of water in the mornings and occasionally peppermint tea. I am never hungry. This has suited me on and off for quite a few years. It just fits my lifestyle.

I also find that a hard boiled egg as a snack mid afternoon helps. We'll see how long I can keep it up for. It seems to easy so far but it's been less than a week.

I've been doing it for years. I do 10am to 6pm eating window. I couldn't wait until lunchtime. My stomach would be growling loudly!
It works really well for me. I lost weight when I needed to and am now just maintaining. It keeps me slim even though I'm about to turn 50.
I combine it with 10,000+ steps a day.

I can't start eating too early or I'll still have three meals a day. I'm finding that by opening my eating window at 12:00 I skip breakfast, and this helps me easily stay within 1,00 - 1,200 calories a day. @SallyWD how many calories a day do you eat?

Surely you are still meant to have three meals a day, just in a shorter time period? I do.

I don't count calories but probaby eat almost 2000 a day! But I'm now maintaining and not trying to lose weight anymore. I think I burn about 500 calories a day so am getting around 1500 calories a day which seems to maintain my weight.

I fast between 6pm - 10am - I lost 4kgs very quickly in 2 months but since then I haven't lost anything. It's been 4 months since I started and I'm same as what I was 2 months ago. Maybe I'm not counting calories and not in deficit.

Can anyone suggest something?

Most days I eat between 1pm and 6pm. Some days I do One Meal A Day.

I've don't a couple of 24 hr fasts recently and felt feint with a headache the last couple of hours. Did you never have this with such a long fast?