Who wants to start intermittent fasting?

[cosypompoms]

I'm no expert but I have been doing Intermittent Fasting (IF) since September and I've lost 9kg/ a stone.

I eat breakfast at 7:30, lunch and the tea at 4. So my eating window is finished by 4:30pm. So it's a 9 hour eating window and 15 hours of fasting.

I haven't read any books about it but I do listen to podcasts about it.

open.spotify.com/episode/7hKdAJpfDEeRnGDEo42MWP?si=RpKRylgHTb6nJtmBPPH9dg

open.spotify.com/episode/5YEfEhHllXaFxiEO6WZxMq?si=11rhciaDSkKj_V8p2mAU6w

I don't know anyone in real life who does IF so thought there would be a community here.

Should say that weight loss is since 1 Jan

Hi all, sorry iv'e been absent for a while. Iv'e just completed the 28 day Fast Start from Fast, Feast Repeat. Basically just get into the habit of fasting and not change how you eat.

In my last week I was doing an eating window of 4 hours, 4pm to 8pm, and I have found it fairly easy, I don't feel very hungry and have stuck to it.

However I have eaten quite a lot in the four hour window. I have weighed myself and have lost 3lbs and no change on any measurements.

I don't feel too disheartened as it seems to be quite normal to not lose much for the first month, and I am actually feeling great, I'm sleeping better and my arthritic knees actually don't hurt as much. But i'm very aware that now I have to change my eating habits (less crisps) and cut down on carbs.

It's good to hear all your success stories, well done everybody, I'm still feeling very confident and have no desire to return to all day eating, which is good. I'm now off to google the 30 plant thing, it sounds interesting x

No loss for me but I know I’m still over eating in the eating window. I’ve been more relaxed at weekends but I think it’s not helping me, feel like I’m starting over every Monday. Going to try and keep to min 14 hrs this weekend. Think it’s time to bite the bullet and count calories again 😞

@toddlergroupsing thanks for the list, going to come back to it to see what I can add in

hi all, thanks for the encouragement while away. I actually do usually run first thing in the morning when if so probably should be ok!

Managed to do another 22 hours yesterday.

Not list any weight but kept off what I’ve lost, which is good.

I do feel good IF just feels more comfortable in my body, I’m guessing it’s less bloated.

My weight is pretty much what it was this day last week, but the Happy Scale app tells me my loving average is 0.4kg lower than last week. It’s the app recommended in Fast Feast Repeat, and I’d really recommend it, especially to daily weighers. I’m on the free version and it has everything I need in that. Smoothing out the fluctuations makes such a huge difference to the graph - one day I weighed over a kilo less than the day before!

@brightpompoms I’m 170cm/5’7”, but my frame is really small, so excess weight just seems to look worse on me than it does on other people my height and weight. I also have too little muscle, and getting stronger is another focus for me this year. I’m aiming for a BMI of around 20 which seems to suit me best, though if I do end up getting strong I might need to reevaluate!

I think Happy Scale is just on Apple. If anyone has any recommendations for a similar daily weigh in app for Android, I'd be interested to check it out. I just use the one that came with my scale (1byone health) and a spreadsheet currently.

How has everyone's fasting gone this week? I've done 3 days of 20 hours, and the rest between 17-19. I generally just do what feels right on the day and sometimes when 18 hours comes up I'm not hungry so I don't eat straight away. Feels good not to be constantly obsessing over food. Amazing how easy this way of life is once you settle into it.

I lost 0.8kg/1.8lb this week so that cancelled out my slight increase last week.

I’m still doing roughy 19:5 but my weight loss has slowed down massively. I lost 7llbs in January but only 2lbs so far this month. I’m eating about 1850 calories a day and trying to do some low impact exercise as I am so heavy. So I guess my weight loss has slowed as I am not on a particularly low calorie diet. I have the odd moments of hunger particularly just before bed when my dc are making themselves toast, which smells like the nectar of the gods.
Thinking about it I guess I just need to stick with it as actually if I can lose just 1lb a week with the bigger loss In January, I would end the year 3 stone lighter which would be fantastic.

I’ve heard Libra is an Android alternative to Happy Scale, though haven’t used it myself.

@NewYearNewYu Toast always smells amazing to me. Fortunately I don’t have any children, and my husband doesn’t eat many carbs so don’t get tempted!

This week I have been fasting 18-20hrs. Just eat when I feel hungry now.

read about Harvard students supporting Gaza by going on a 12hr hunger strike and had a little chuckle

Surely most people do a 12 hour fast overnight anyway, that’s a completely empty gesture.

@NatureGlimmers wow those are long fasts. I'm still doing 16hours, but sticking with it! Still get hungry in the morning and if I don't drink a lot (for me) water I get a horrible headache by the evening.

@NatureGlimmers it's been half term here and I've let my hair down with bigger eating windows later in the night. There's been picnics and snacks and wine in the evening and I've put on 1.3kg. It's not the end of the world. At least I know what caused it and I'm back on the straight and narrow now.

I've done a 24 hour fast day which I didn't plan but like you it just felt right to go for it today as I wasn't hungry.

@NewYearNewYu keep going for sure slowly slowly is better in the long run. @pippablackwell I love the smell of toast too. Heaven.

@NewYearNewYu I also lost nearly 7lbs in January but only about 1lb so far this month. I'm interested to see whether my weight loss is actually slowing down or whether it will go back up again in March. I believe the reduced weight loss this month for me has been because I've been particularly stressed. And a prolonged elevation in cortisol leads to weight gain so it makes sense that I wouldn't be losing much weight. But stress is the main reason I gained the weight in the first place so my ongoing challenge is to figure out how to relieve stress more effectively...

@pippablackwell thanks for the recommendation, I will try out Libra

@brightpompoms sounds like a fun time! It's nice that we can enjoy letting our hair down and then also enjoy going back to fasting for longer periods at the end

I've lost 400g/0.8lb so pleased with that. Having a wine now as per my weekend plans.

Hi all, a week off from IF for me, I decided that while away on holiday I was not going to follow it through. So back to it today and next week going to do a couple of 22hour fasts to get back on it.

Going back to black tea was pants. It’s not the food I miss but a proper cup of tea. It’s always what I break my fast with!!!

Yep weight loss definitely slowed down but I know this is due to me pigging out during the eating hours. So need to concentrate on making sure I eat healthier meals!

Well done @brightpompoms that's a great loss! And well done @OctopusRule on getting back to it after a holiday. How are you doing OP @cosypompoms, are you still fasting?

I've just weighed in and lost a whole 100g/0.2lb this week. Certainly not my best loss which is a shame as I averaged 20 hour fasts this week and ate well but I am reminding myself that any loss is to be celebrated! And I am gaining a lot more from IF than just weight loss, including improvements in various chronic conditions and lots more energy.

Oh also I hit the 12 weeks mark since starting fasting this week. How long has everyone been going with it?

I started properly on 1st January and have lost 11llbs. What is frustrating is that I haven’t lost anything since 10th February. I am trying to tell myself that if I went back to 1st of January and said I’d end February 11llbs lighter I’d have been pleased. Just hard to keep on the wagon after 2 weeks not losing.

I've still been doing well with fasting, and keeping up clean fasting in the morning (though still haven't lost my taste for milky tea (which I'm enjoying now). I finally reached my <62kg milestone on Friday. Though today I was up to 62.8 again, though I'd had a drink and had wet hair when I weighed myself. My weight fluctuates so much, but I'm hoping not to see a weight starting with 63 again.

Hoops everyone else is getting on well.

Just catching up on all this as it's been hectic here. Still fasting just not Mumsnetting.

@NatureGlimmers any loss is great. Have you weighed since? I've been fasting for 6 months now and I feel a lot better for it. I rarely feel hungry and I don't even think of an evening snack anymore. It just doesn't occur to me which is unbelievable really as I lived for food before. I still have three meals and wine on the weekend so life feels good.

@NewYearNewYu have you weighed again and lost anything? Funny how you e had two weeks staying the same. I'd be thinking of kicking the scales.

@pippablackwell we'll done on getting to your target. That's fabulous.

I'm weighing tomorrow so will see how I get on and let you know.

@brightpompoms i have kept on track and and am now another 2llbs down. I know previously I would’ve fallen off the wagon with two weeks of no loss. So pleased I stuck it out, 13llbs down this year. Can’t wait till it’s the full stone.

Hi all sticking with it and really starting to feel like this is just the new thing. Kitchen always closed by 8pm and opens again 1pm. With 1 day off due to a PT session at 9.30am, which I’ve found I just really struggle with without any food.

Though not losing much weight my clothes feel so much more comfortable, I think I’m just less bloated!

Had a bad day calorie wise but kept to the fasting window so happy with that. I’m mainly fasting for 18/20 hours and I don’t find it hard to do now

@brightpompoms hope weigh in goes well!

@HairScratcher impressed at your 20 hour fasts, I’ve done a couple of 22 hour ones but find anything more than 17 hard!