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.

Black tea or coffee is fine
Herbal tea is fine
Water is fine

You just don't want to be having any significant calories, so milk is out and obvs sugar and sweeteners too.

@Pepperypottery i would recommend pushing your breakfast back by 15 minutes a day till it gets to 12pm. Then just have early lunch and miss breakfast. If you are used to eating in the morning you will struggle but by slowly pushing it back you might find you can miss breakfast.

@NadjasNightclub until we are back to work and school it's hard to do anything. The routine will help.

@MokaEfti it's all habit isn't it. I hated black coffee but not it's normal to me. There's a link in the opening post for Mel Robbins and I think they talk about black coffee and how it's ok in the end. Everything becomes your new normal

@NewYearNewYu that's great news, congratulations on yesterday. I agree drinking makes me snack and also eat more the next day.

@Talkinpeace how's it going today?

@Nonplusultra I don't really know what to think about the menstrual cycle fasting advice. I heard Mel robbins talking about it here...

open.spotify.com/episode/112tgME03rpNI1ydj5zqEb?si=_EZM6yfAS2C8PA8d1YDmVw

If anything it makes it more complicated and I wouldn't like to not fast for a whole week a month as I'd be out of the swing of things. What do you do?

I did a 24 fast which ends at 1:30 today. So I feel pretty proud and very full after a bow of soup, roll and desert as my friend came over for a treat.

@cosypompoms Today is going OK.
I'd forgotten how manageable the hungry feeling is when supper is planned.

Just wish the sun would come out !

I did IF for 3 months before Xmas and felt I slept much better and lost a few pounds. I've felt really sluggish over Xmas so want to get back to it. I'm 38 and find weight loss so much harder than I used to.

I usually do a 10am-6pm eating window, depending on where I am in my cycle. If I'm premenstrual and feel light headed (which I often do) I break my fast early. There's a good diary of a ceo podcast about fasting with a female doctor who talks a lot about fasting in tune with your cycle.

So I've started on 16:8 again today, had greek yogurt and sugar free granola at 10am, small soup and roll at lunchtime and just had some leftover lentil spag bol for dinner at 5. I only drink black coffee or water before my eating window and will have a turmeric tea or similar in the evening. Overall my aims are to lose maybe half a stone/10 pounds before end of May holiday, focus omustrength training in the gym, cook more from scratch and up my protein a bit. I get lazy with cooking and as a veggie I eat too much quorn processed crap. High protein veggie recipe suggestions welcome!

Starting weight 10st 4
Goal weight 9st 7 (slightly unrealistic)
5ft 6

@cosypompoms I’ve always known when my period was due because I’d have a couple of days where I’d eat all round me and still feel hungry. I also have days where I could forget to eat altogether.

I’m not good at tracking my cycle properly so I just don’t resist those extremes. If my IF has slipped, I do a quick check to see where I might be on my cycle and I just don’t worry about it if it feels too hard.

On the other side of my cycle, I’ll have a couple of days where I won’t think to eat after lunch - and I’ve silenced my internalised dm’s voice lecturing me to eat my dinner 😂

The only other cycle based nutrition I’ve been able to adopt is taking my multivitamin and supplements in the week after my period.

Between IF and eating protein with every meal, I’ve lost my peri meno spare tyre in the last four months, despite being a bit slapdash about it.

@Saraswati this might sound awful but why about putting white beans in your porridge? I mash them ahead of time and they are just in the freezer ready to use each day. No one in my house notices they are there.

@Nonplusultra I know when my period is as I'm murderous and it's the only time I want to eat chocolate! I mark it on the calendar as a warning to my H to tread carefully.
I also have protein in every meal. I'm actually aiming for every meal to have lentils or beans.

@Nonplusultra yes it's full fat unsweetened double cream - I got into it when I started low-carbing and now it's a mainstay!
@cosypompoms however I will start reducing the amount of cream I take. I don't think I can go straight to black coffee.
It's great reading everyone's comments, thank you to all posters

I would like to join! I've been doing IF for a month after reading Fast. Feast. Repeat. by Gin Stephens as a poster above mentioned. So interesting to read everyone's posts about how they are incorporating IF in different ways. I'm mainly doing 18:6 at the moment, although had to deviate a little bit over Christmas. I'm still doing what Gin describes as the 28 day fast start (as I couldn't do 28 consecutive days properly due to Christmas), so still at the point where I continue to eat whatever I want but just try and nail the fast. I have 5 hours until I can eat so off to make myself a black coffee. Hope everyone's fasts are going well!

Still going well managing roughly 6:18 most days. Yesterday I felt like I spent the whole day weeing which is generally a good sign when it comes to weight loss. Trying not to weigh too much but had a sneaky peak this morning and I have lost 4llbs. I do have lots to lose and it is always easy to lose the first chunk but pleased with that for day 3.
I was then starving this morning but distracted myself with an easy gym class and a bit of yoga.
My dd has gone back to school but ds is still here and seems to be making it his mission to eat up the Christmas biscuits so they won’t be a problem for long🤣

@MokaEfti changing things gradually is always more successful

@NatureGlimmers welcome along. Sounds like you are doing well. I do 15/8 as I can pretty always stick to that but like you Christmas changed things slightly.

@NewYearNewYu congratulations on the weight loss! What a great start. I weigh on a Friday and I'm fully expecting to have gone up over Christmas and really it's still Christmas here in our house till the kids go back to school next week. It's me period this week so I have had chocolate today. I'm not worried though as I'm sticking to the fasting hours whilst enjoying the holidays this week.

I'd like to join please, I managed 16:8 for a while last year and felt great, then I fell off the wagon and have struggled to get back on. By the time I get home from work, our evening meal tend to be around 8pm to I'm aiming for 1pm-9pm but finding it difficult to go straight to that. I stopped eating at 9.30pm last night and lasted until 12pm today so I'm getting there and need to build up more fasting time over the next week or two.

Can I ask how others schedule eating around work and having to be answerable to other people's schedules? That was my downfall previously. I don't have a set lunchbreak and am often in boardrooms where it would be frowned upon to break out a packed lunch. If I'm in a meeting 1-3pm though, I simply wouldn't last so end up eating earlier. Even worse if I'm in meetings from 12pm - I end up having a late breakfast/early lunch around 11.30am. I'll happily then last until dinner but it goes against the ethos of the fast.

@HalloumiFries i work around the school run and the dc wanting to eat early. I don’t beat myself up for the days it goes wrong for whatever reason. When I’ve fasted in the past, I don’t find weight goes back on for short periods not fasting. I think you might not lose as quickly but that is ok. I think once you get used to it you can push it longer. I do OMAD if I’m meeting friends for dinner out, but wouldn’t be able to do it everyday. I think knowing I will have a nice meal out and not feel guilty about the excess helps me push through.

Hi all, avidly reading this thread and waiting for Fast, Feast Repeat to arrive. I am going to start on 15th January when we're back from a short break.

Iv'e tried everything but IF in the past and I have about 5stone to lose. I never eat in the morning anyway and just survive on coffee so hopefully a black coffee is allowed. I usually eat really late though so that is where I will make a big change.

The plan is to do a 8 hour eating window from 1pm to 9pm going to bed about 1am.

I am clueless as to what is recommended to eat in the window so will be doing research, reading thread, until I start.

Black coffee with no sugar is fine when fasting.

I have always been someone who can easily skip breakfast too, so IF came quite naturally to me, and probably will for you too.

Though it sounds like you may already be kind of doing it, if you already delay/skip breakfast? As long as you aren't taking in any calories in drinks.

So see how it goes, but you might need to try stretching the fasting window to longer to see results.. or to a different time window.

Good luck!

@HalloumiFries I was having the same issue when I was doing 16:8 which is why I moved to 18:6 which seems to be easier to fit around work. I do something like 4pm-10pm as I have fewer meetings after 4. But if I do have a meeting at 4, I push on until 5. When I was starting eating at 2, most days it clashed with a meeting.
As long as I stick to "clean fast" approved drinks (black coffee or black/green/oolong tea only), I find it reasonably easy to last 18 hours. If I have a dash of milk or herbal teas, I can tell it's giving me an insulin spike as I start to struggle a few hours later.
The only problem I was having with this routine was that my dh wanted to eat dinner reasonably early at 6, and I'd eaten a big meal at 4 so couldn't face eating by then. So now I have a decent sized snack at 4 and eat dinner at 6. Or if he's not in, I eat a meal at 4 and then dinner at 8. I'll probably eventually move to OMAD just because it's more convenient than trying to fit in multiple meals at times that clash with other people.

@MissFancyDay I found the book really helpful, hope you do too. She talks you all through the best way of getting started. I also have a lot to lose and have tried everything else, but this is working for me so far.

@NewYearNewYu well done on the 4lb weight loss already, that is huge!

I started on 2nd January fasting from 8pm to 12 noon. I'm having two meals and I'm allowing myself a small snack if I'm really hungry. It feels strange not to be counting calories. I've not weighed myself and I'm just trying to gauge it by how my clothes feel. I really hope this works for me.

@MissFancyDay I haven’t read the book but as far as I am aware the main advantage of fasting is it works with any diet. Obviously if you over eat on rubbish you won’t get far but I don’t it is prescriptive in the way other diets are. That is why it isn’t faddy and is easier to stick to.

Yes, you're right, however I do have quite a few milky coffees in the morning and lots of late night snacks.

I am interested in the insulin thing and resetting my metabolism, and then maybe shortening the eating window.

I thought that I might do it with the Michael Mosely low carb diet.

I have tried the Fast800 and it actually worked really well, however I always put it back on when I resume normal life.

So I have to look for a complete change in my way of eating, but one that will accommodate occasional eating out and curries (no rice)

I'd like to join!
I want to lose just over a stone. I have numerous failed attempts behind me, losing the first 8lb easily, struggling to lose the next 2, then plateauing til I give up and pile it all back on.
Having said I'll never fast I realised before Christmas that it's really up to me to sort this out, and that I need to make sustainable changes so decided to give it a go. I've been surprised at how easy I've found it not to eat til 12, and how it has stopped my junk cravings.
I listen to Zoe podcasts and am trying to improve my health from the inside. I've listened to some of Gin Stephens' podcasts which are really positive.
I've been fasting (17:7) since the week before Christmas but eaten normally for Christmas, so weight gain rather than loss! Im hoping that the fasting will help me with my insulin resistance.
Is it worth getting the book? I'd welcome any tips from it, or elsewhere.

I'd love to join you!
I'll weigh in tomorrow.

I'm sorry if this is s silly question but
does a cup of tea or coffee count as breaking a fast?

Hello all... I love IF and would like to pop in now and then for inspiration if that works for you... I love its flexibility and the fact I feel full rather than deprived which I have with other diets.. and that I feel physically strong with a clear brain . It's definitely a way of life for me, with the joy of being able to eat in a 10 or 12 hour window with friends, or just 2-5 hours on days that are easy.

I've got a final stone to lose - hopefully in the next 3 months or so.

I've lost 40lbs previously in 6 months with IF (a mix of anything from 16-39h fasts, but mainly 19:5 with a 23:1 most weeks) and then maintained my goal weight for 14 months.

But I am an emotional eater and did put a chunk back in challenging circumstances last year...

@HerbalTeaAndCake not a silly question at all and the jury's out. Most say you can drink black coffee (with a pinch of salt if you fancy) or tea - some say you can drink herbal teas or add a dash of milk (up to 50 calories), but Gin Stephens (who I love) says that it's best to avoid herbal teas as they can trigger the insulin response in some people. A dash of milk is similar - some seem not to react to it, with others it triggers insulin and hunger soon after. I've always stayed in the water/black coffee camp as I know my blood sugar is very volatile and I love not feeling hungry, it's one of the great pleasures of IF for me.

Thanks @loveyouradvice i'm just really bad at starting my day without tea/coffee.
Maybe my fast should start late afternoon.

I have fasted in the past drinking a couple of coffees with a dash of milk and it did work for me. With the encouragement of people upthread saying you get used to black coffee I am trying that today and you’re right it doesn’t taste as bad as I thought it would.