To give up on intermittent fasting?

[Askingfortroible]

I've been sticking religiously to it for a month, doing 16:8 and eating low/no UPF foods during my eating window. All I've achieved is constant hunger headaches, decreased sleep quality and hanger with no weight loss. Does anyone else think it's all a con or am I doing it wrong?

I couldn't do this it wouldn't work for me at all. I'm in my 50s and would just be hangry all the time.

What I have been doing, that has worked, is just eating normally but watching portion sizes, if I do have a snack it's a banana or some nuts. 3 meals, protein wholemeal carbs (in the main) and lots of veg.

I've cut down on alcohol too.

So I'm eating very little sugar, very little UPF, and to be honest rarely feeling hungry except in a normal way before meals.

It's slow - but I've lost 1.5 stone without too much fuss to be honest over a year. Sill got a stone to go, but I feel loads better.

Even men won’t lose any weight if they overeat during the non fast period. As somebody else has said, the difference is probably down to men being less affected by long gaps between meals. My husband sometimes only eats once a day.

IF is just another away of reducing the total daily calorie intake. It isn’t magic.

My husband is the hangriest person I know....I'm bad...but he's awful.

I have been doing 16:8 pretty consistently since January. I’ve lost nearly a stone and it’s staying off. I started around 10st 5 so the stone I’ve lost is the stubborn one that’s always been hard to shift. I’d like to lose another 7lbs or so.

IME 16:8 is a long term lifestyle change and definitely not a quick fix or fad diet. I have done plenty of those and have lost a similar amount within weeks, but of course it piles back on.

I would give it a bit longer OP.

Snap, same here. I skip breakfast a few times a week now, to save calories for a nicer dinner. I got terrible headaches fasting. I cannot do it anymore. Now I log my calories, and I'm doing great. I'm also peri menopausal.

There is not magic in IF. People often confuse the principle of weight loss (calorie deficit) with a method (IF, Keto etc). The principle has to apply at all times, the method to get you there can vary depending on your needs and preferences. If you eat a 250g packet of cashews ("good fats", no UPF) after your meal, that's well over a thousand calories. Doesn't really matter if you eat it at 6am or 6pm.

This is me too. No happy medium Im all or nothing. I eat normally but in a 6-8 hour window. So instead of 3 lower cal meals, I tend to eat a light lunch thats lower in cals and then a normal dinner (this works as I just eat the same as the family). Ive never hungry btw as in Im hungry at normal intervals but not constantly

I do 12:12. Eat by 8pm no snacking after then breakfast at 8pm. I get migraine if I don't eat breakfast.

Don't worry about it if it doesn't work for you. I fare much better on 3 meals a day and 2 snacks at regular intervals.

Maybe once a week I skip lunch which gives my Digestive system an extra break.

I do intermittent fasting, but to hopefully cut inflammation as I age (I'm 57). I also don't get the afternoon slumps that I was. However I have coffee with milk and (no calorie) coffee syrup. Intermittent fasting wasn't for weight loss, it can just be a nice bonus.

Just drop your fasted time and do it slowly. For many the sweet spot is a 14 hour fast - especially women

It didn’t work for me and I did my research and experimented a bit. I felt like death and didn’t function well at all. High protein breakfast now really sets me up for the day.

I do OMAD. It’s the only thing which works for me after 20 years of being overweight, I am now a size 8/10. I do OMAD during the week and then eat more normally during the weekends. I know many say OMAD is disordered eating, but for me it’s less disordered than when I don’t do OMAD so 🤷🏻‍♀️

It always used to work brilliantly for me and I felt great doing it, used to go for runs while fasting and had so much energy. Now I'm trying to lose weight while breastfeeding a toddler and it's just not working - I'm absolutely starving, overeating at the start of my window, headachey, just like you. It's quite depressing!

Didn't work for me. My body hung onto every lb. That said I'm female, menopausal with Hashimotos and IBS so not an ideal candidate.

Sounds like it doesn’t suit you, I would stop and just focus on proper meals, smaller portions and no junk. In my group of friends some can go hours without eating and feel fine and others have to eat every 3 or 4 hours or they feel faint or unwell.

@Zizanna I do OMAD too, love it, feel great on it. I have a coffee with milk for breakfast and then dinner at 6 pm. I am 57 and retired though, I couldn’t have done this with small children or working.

Intermittent fasting doesn't suit everyone's body. I could never do it. I eat 4 small meals a day and I'm slim. I keep portions very small and I eat before I'm ravenous so I don't over eat. Whenever I try to leave a long period of time between meals I end up eating way more than I normally would at the next meal because I'm so hungry.

You need to learn what works for your own body and not just follow things that work for other people. I've also heard intermittent fasting isn't as good for women because it messes with your hormones, but I haven't looked into this and the accuracy at all because I'm not interested in IM so it doesn't affect me.

I've been doing IF for a few weeks now to see if it would improve my fatigue (and bonus if it shifts a bit of weight I've put on while in chemical menopause). I started off with 14:10 then after a few days moved on to 16:8. My energy has increased quite a lot and I don't feel hungry or faint in the fasting period. No headaches either.

I was never much of a breakfast person and probably did 16:8 or thereabouts for most of my life without thinking about it. It's only been in the past few years I started eating breakfast and got into the habit of snacking in the evenings.

Annoyingly I haven't been able to shift the post-meal sugar cravings yet.

I don't lose anything doing IF unless I calorie count too. I do feel better - my digestive system is calmer, I have more energy, I like being hungry for lunch. But I don't lose weight. I assume I just eat the calories I need in a shorter space of time.

It works well when I'm counting calories though, because it means I only need to split 1500 calories between two meals rather than three :D And I'm naturally not usually hungry till 10.30ish, so I can stretch it out. I do get grumpy and antsy though.

It did nothing for me at all except put me in a foul mood.

But IF fasting works for many because it makes you understand your hunger cues and stops you eating for other reasons other than sustenance.
It's not about what time you eat, but understanding what fuel your body wants when it's time to eat.

Does having milk in your morning tea really affect IF?

I didn't lose anything the first month I started either (and also had the headaches etc). It took about six weeks to get used to it and for the headaches to stop. I started to lose weight about the same time. I did look it up, and apparently it can take a few weeks to start to lose weight. Your body has to adjust.