Intermittent Fasting is miserable

[Slowontheup]

Why would you spend half your waking hours feeling dizzy and sick with zero energy.

opt out of breakfast, the best meal of the day.

or, opt for a life that couldn't include eating dinner in a restaurant.

I don't get it but every health thing says to do it. Does it actually work (I don't need to lose weight anyway just health driven)

how long until it's bearable?

The success of IF isn't solely determined by the length of the fasting window and the number of calories consumed.

Yes, if you fast you may consume fewer calories. But the composition of the calories matters a great deal.

Lots of vegetables/fibre, moderate amounts of protein, some healthy fats and dairy. No unhealthy additions such as UPF, sugar and alcohol.

Plus exercise, especially weights/resistance. That's it really.

Exactly my experience. When people on these weight loss injections talk about 'food noise' being gone.... this is exactly what happened to me with IF. Also, I realised a bit of hunger isn't so bad and I am not going to suddenly collapse. I used to panic as soon as I got hungry about what I am going to eat next, how much and what it would mean for my daily calorie intake. Now I realise the hunger doesn't really become very strong and often subsides again.

I find it liberating, just goes to show how everyone is different.

I like the element of control and that it literally takes food off the table for me for a longer period, don't find it an issue to stick to at all.

16/8hrs here. I have a light lunch sometime 1-3pm and then dinner in evening.

At the same time, my mum in a way, but my grand-mother surely naturally didn't eat that much and that often.

We have a culture pushing snacks on children as soon as they are out of the bottle. People worry if their toddler doesn't have 3 snacks break between breakfast and lunch. It's too much, and too often but we get used to it.

There are day when I haven't eaten anything until 4 or 5pm. I go for a jog in the morning, but then rush in the shower, rush at work, don't even think about food frankly, and then I get hungry in the afternoon. Then I .. eat? Because I eat enough on average, I am not hungry and I function just as well. Most people in my office are the same, there's always someone shouting after 3pm, "forgot to it today, shit, I am starving, I am getting some food". Male or female.
It's not healthy, but no one is feeling deprived either.

"I used to panic as soon as I got hungry about what I am going to eat next, how much and what it would mean for my daily calorie intake. Now I realise the hunger doesn't really become very strong and often subsides again."

@Twatalert yes me too! The awful hunger pangs energy dips headaches and calorie counting is gone. I wish I had discovered this years ago, it takes all the effort out of weight control and I have a very sedentary office job so by rights I should have to eat a very small amount but I don't, I have a small lunch and a very substantial dinner, plus tea and a chocolate bar around 9pm and that's me done till 1.30pm or 2pm next day - even on days when I'm not at work and more active in the morning it's not a problem. Granted I'm not doing running or other heavy cardio excercise so maybe would be a bit harder if I was

It’s not particularly healthy to go for a run in the morning, not eat before, then not refuel or eat anything after until 4/5pm.

You need to replenish energy stores and eat for muscles to repair/recover. It’s not something anybody in the health industry would recommend. Just because you feel ok doing it doesn’t mean it’s healthy.

My mother and grandmother didn't exist in a culture of eating 'naturally' and in accordance with the body's rhythms. They grew up in the oppressive diet culture that advised women to smoke a cigarette instead of eating or do the cabbage soup diet. There have been unhealthy and damaging restrictions placed on what and how women should eat and look for decades. How my grandmother ate, and was advised to eat, shouldn't be a template for anyone.

It really does have massive health benefits. I have an auto immune disease. I can literally see the difference in my inflammation levels if I do intermittent fasting, because the swelling is significantly better. When I eat too much in a day, I'll wake up the next day puffy and sore all over.

It works for me, I’ve never had an appetite in the morning, I need a couple of hours of activity before I feel hungry.
My stomach feels very uncomfortable and bloated if I eat throughout the day.
An eating window of 8 to 10 hrs gives my digestion a chance to recover and I enjoy my next meal much more.

I get my recommended daily calories but
just eat them in a shorter time frame than spread across the day.
My dinner tonight will be carb and fat loaded and I’ll have a calorie loaded dessert too.
IF does not mean less calories.

It’s just a different way of eating. I’ll have a healthy, protein packed breakfast to fuel my activity for the day. I’ll eat less for dinner and definitely won’t have a calorie loaded dessert.

It’s funny how different mindsets work, isn’t it? I feel healthier if I eat a good breakfast, I feel like I’m looking after my body if I start my day with some protein, plants and healthy fats, and maybe some slow-release carbs. I feel nourished and ready for the day.

Yes I know, I was addressing the poster who said IF was an eating disorder. It’s not.

It can be disordered.

I think the real villain in many diets is ultra-processed foods. Our bodies can cope with small amounts, but when we are grazing and/or eating on the go it’s often the snacky treats we reach for. The croissant at the train stay, the biscuit plate at work.

In my case I don’t eat breakfast. Light lunch is maybe 400 cals. Sandwich, soup and roll. I have a normal dinner. So steak & chips, lasagna, roast. This could be 800-1000 cals. Coffee and a snack. Boom 1600 calories which is what I aim for daily.

I’ve been doing it for the last few years. I’m rarely hungry before 12m and aim to eat lunch about 1/2pm then dinner and finish for the day by 8/9pm. I’m not so regimented about it that I can’t enjoy dinner with friends and I’ve never dizzy or sick because I didn’t eat breakfast

It's not something I would want or need to do, and I too would feel ill if I skipped a meal. I'm very slim though and feel I need to eat regularly to function.

Having said this, I naturally do fast to a degree, just by personal preference (I would never deliberately fast). I generally have breakfast at 8am, have eaten all my lunch by 12pm and have dinner by 5pm. If I'm hungry later on I'll eat something but often I'm not so on those days I do actually pretty much have a 15 hour fast. I go to bed very early so I think that makes a difference.

I don’t quite get the eating a massive dinner part (and then going to bed where you don’t burn the calories). Versus having a decent breakfast to fuel the day’s activities and then eating less in the evening.

Front loading the day makes more sense to me. Each to their own though.

@Delatron im the opposite in that not eating breakfast suits me. I naturally (before IF was ever a thing) ate somewhat like this. I can’t stomach food before a certain time and am rarely hungry in the morning. Whereas in the evening I could eat the leg off a scabby horse. IF for me is following my body’s natural rhythm in a more structured way.

This is my typical IF day:

• after my 60-75 minute workout, around 10.30, I have a 2 egg omelet plus some salad or leftover vegetables; or salad with tuna or feta or boiled eggs.
• at some point in the afternoon I have an apple or some melon.
• plus a boiled egg or a bit of cheese if I'm hungry.
• dinner between 6 and 7.30 is usually fish or chicken with lots of vegetables; sometimes also a cup of lentils or quinoa.

As I'm quite old, I need fewer calories than when I was younger - roughly around 1400-1600. Though I don't actually count anymore.

2 or 3 times a week I may have a dessert, some chocolate or a glass (or 2) of wine. I'm never hungry and I don't feel deprived.

I eat dinner early. 530 latest. Unless I'm going out. Then nothing until the following morning. It's so bad then having a late breakfast as opposed to skipping it altogether.

Mine is really achievable. I don't eat before lunch or after tea/supper/dinner. I have a cup of tea with a splash of milk instead of breakfast. I didn't get hungry, sick or dizzy.

If it's a special occasion - like a meal out- I just join in.

Same for me. I can't face food when I've just woken up, but I would also eat a cankerous horse limb as a midnight snack.

I don’t eat breakfast
A latte at 11
Soup and a banana about 12.30
Dinner between 5-6
Light snack just before 7
Bed about midnight

I do intermittent fasting but all I do is cut calories down to 800 twice a week and eat fairly normally the rest of the week. I don't bother with time windows and always have breakfast.
My fast day yesterday was a bagel thin, cheese spread and chopped tomato for breakfast, hm vegetable soup for lunch and hm chicken tagine with a little couscous for dinner. Bedtime was hot chocolate made with skimmed milk, dark chocolate flakes and a small blob of squirty cream.
Friday's fast day menu will be hm banana pancakes with cherries and Yoghurt for breakfast, spicy tomato and pepper soup for lunch and coconut and lentil curry with rice for dinner.
I enjoy it. I am a keen cook do relish the challenge of making foods fit into my allowance.