To ask if anyone has done / is doing intermittent fasting? (16:8 etc)

[smallsausagedog]

Evening all. I need to sort myself out diet-wise but have absolutely no willpower Blatantly posting here for traffic, sorry!

I've recently started on a medication that just happens to be an appetite suppressant. This means I'm not too bothered about eating in the daytime. This makes he think that IF could work for me. If my window for eating is between 2-10 or 4-midnight, it wouldn't impact too much on participation in family meals etc.

Can anyone give me some insight on the positives / negatives? Thanks all!

I’ve just started eating between 12 and 6. Healthy lunch, normal dinner. No snacking. I’m hoping I’ll lose weight easily.

Positives lost two stone
Negatives my clothes now don’t fit

I do it, think it’s great. I try and eat dinner around 6, so I can eat by 10 ish the next day if in the office and that’s a clear 16 hours fasting. If not in the office I can easily go 17 or 18 hours but I never go beyond that. Doing regular exercise as well i’ve been consistently losing weight and feeling good, also very aware of how you really don’t need to graze all the time as I used to. Go for it, sounds like it will be easy for you to manage. Just make sure you eat lots of fruit and veg etc when you eat, and drink lots of water.

Meant to say, I find it much easier not to eat at all because I’m in the fasting time of day, than to try and eat sparingly. I have no will power either, this has been a revelation for me!

Yep. But I can apparently eat a lot in 8 hours and not lose weight.

So I aim now for 19-20 hours. Which seems to be working.

Life is much easier now that I'm not trying to fit in breakfast before leaving for work at 6:15, and I skip lunch then eat in the evening. No hunger, no faint ness. I have a busy but not overly exceptional job

Exertional not exceptional job

I do 5:2 for weight loss and health. Pros: Incredibly supportive thread on here , no need to deny yourself unhealthy food indefinitely (you can have it the next day if you still want it) , easy gradual weight loss (I’m over two stone down from when I started, and maintaining it).

Cons: headaches at first if you don’t drink enough water, needing to pre-plan meals/choose fasting days carefully if you have a busy social schedule.

I love it. I’ve never felt better.

I fast but it came off the back of doing keto

When you cut your carbs you sort out any blood sugar cravings every few hours, and it fat adapts you so you fuel yourself on fat which is much slower burning and ‘even’ feeling.

I’d recommend lowering carbs to be successful in fasting

And you will lose weight if you do this. And feel fantastic

I find it much easier not to eat at all because I’m in the fasting time of day, than to try and eat sparingly

This. I’ve found that I’m getting much better at fasting as I’ve been doing it for a few months. I can now do about 20 hours without feeling hungry. However I only do it when I can keep myself very busy AND I don’t have to be around others who are eating lunch eg in the office.

Skipping breakfast , when the kids ( teens ) are cooking bacon / eating cereal is fine.

Yes - lost 3 stone on it last year! Unexpected side effect was that the weight loss boosted my fertility and I discovered I was pregnant this autumn😜. Can’t do it now of course but will definitely pick it up again after I stop breastfeeding. As a 47 year old woman with the metabolism of a snail it’s the only thing that works efficiently in helping me lose weight. I have to do alternate fasting days and lose a 1lb a week consistently ( more to begin with). I’m 5 ft 10 and went from 15.5 to 12 stone in about 6 months.

Yes. Lost 3 stone so far, It has taught me exactly what my body needs and I’m really mindful of what I eat. I follow fast 800 way of eating.

I've been doing 16:8 since 2013. Took off 5 stone, but being very strict on a calorie deficit was what did the trick there. The 16:8 simply made it easier. I have stuck to the regime as it suits me. I need to monitor calories carefully or the weight tries to creep back on. I skip breakfast, eat about 400 cals at 2pm, another 400 at 5pm and then big evening meal. It works for me because I never fancy breakfast, and if I do eat it I then rev up my appetite for the rest of the day.

I've been doing omad for a few months and lost 3 stone. It works well for me. Physical hunger I now take as my body saying "when it is time to eat you will really enjoy the food" rather than "you are being deprived". I have days when I say fuck it and eat anyway. I ate a lot on xmas. But overall sticking to just one meal a day is working very well for me.

Thanks all! How did you change your diet for the non-fasting times? I obviously know I can't be scoffing cake and chocolate every evening, but I want to be able to eat our usual family meals. And what about alcohol? I usually have one night out a week where I'll drink (too much ) wine!

My friend did this and lost two stone.
The other big positive is the increase water consumption can alleviate some of your health concerns.

The negative is drinking all that water makes you go to the toilet more often.

Good luck

I’m starting tomorrow! Watching with interest.

Lost 2 stone and BMI now 23. Do 16:8 from 9:30-5:30...means I can eat a hot choc and pastry, then a jacket for lunch and family tea (stir fry, cottage pie, chilli and rice, roast etc)

Yeah, I do this too and I also add capsicum to my tea, which helps as well. I find it so much easier.

Have been intermittent fasting (In various iterations) since 2009. Used to do alternate day fasting (used to be called up day down day), which is essentially 4:3, and these days generally do 18:6 with an occasional OMAD or 42 hour fast.

I started doing it to control my asthma as if read some interesting studies. Side effect was weight loss.

It's just the way I eat now, I rarely eat breakfast but will do if I'm hungry after a heavy workout. I lean toward general keto so helps with sugar cravings as I don't have processed carbs. I get awful bloating and discomfort if I eat bread or pasta so content having cut that out.

I think the health benefits are numerous for fasting, especially if you're mindful of what you eat in your eating window. No point doing 18:6 if you're going to stuff your face with shit food when your window is open.

Good luck

intermittent fasting and blood sugar diet are the only weight loss plans that work for me, it is not easy the first few times you do it, but after a while it becomes easier.

Drinking lots of water, or chicken oxo cubes really help through the difficult hunger moments

good luck if you follow this plan, Im going back on it in a few weeks

Yes I fast. I feel like shit when I eat now, sugar (well sweets and choc give me the shits), though I no longer crave sugar, nor indeed food. Still enjoy a glass or two of wine mind. Not giving that up for health nor waistline.

I have done it but not to any great success. I didn't lose weight or feel better and my sleep and anxiety got worse (seems to be recognised side effects for some people)

It did make me reign in my appetite a bit though and cut out mindless snacking so not all bad.

I've been on keto/low carb for 3mths and lost 10kg. I also do fasting. Not a set time, but generally only have 2 meals in the day- either breakfast then dinner on weekends, but often just light lunch then dinner during the week- so generally fast from 7-8pm until 12 noon or even 2pm some days. Other than black coffee, I now having nothing in the mornings. Except on days I do have breakfast, but then I wont eat again till 6-7pm.
I doubt I'd be able to do it on my previous, normal diet, but on low carb, I've found I'm not hungry and mange it rather well. In 3mths, I likely could have lost far more, but with Christmas and NYE, I did have some not so low carb days. I also enjoy a glass of wine on weekends, so more low carb than keto some days.

I used to find that your stomach shrinks so although on non fast says you could pig out in reality you feel really ghastly and over stuffed if you do so it doesn’t happen very often. I allowed myself a pretty free rein on non fast days in terms of having fats / sugars and really enjoyed every morsel - nothing tastes as good as a boiled egg with lots of buttery toast after a fast!

I am two weeks into 16:8 - I also have zero will power so it helps me to know that I could eat anything I want within the eatimg window! And for the first week I did just this - I ate a full days worth of meals and snacks (and Christmas chocs) but just in a shorter timeframe!! However I knew this would be the case for me and now into my second week I am noticing that my appetite is reducing and I'm naturally cutting out the snacks! I tend to eat 10am - 6pm so still have a family evening meal and it isn't too long to go for my first coffee of the day!!
Also noticed that I'm drinking more water and feeling better for that! I don't think I've lost weight yet but I do feel better for having a feeling of an empty stomach as I'm normally a real grazer so just 'top up' all day.

Good luck