How strict is intermittent fasting?

[MadraDunn]

I started intermittent fasting on Monday so very new to it. started my fast at 6.30pm today but have just absentmindedly eaten a grape whilst making the kids school lunches. Im curious as to whether or not even a tiny morsel of food resets the clock?

@AbiBe exact same here. I started last year and my periods became late and then I missed one (never happened before). It kind of settled, then I stopped IF and periods were normal. Well, have since started IF again and I’m now over a week late and not even a sign of it. I keep being told peri menopause (I’m 39) but this seems odd. I haven’t googled and found anything conclusive - if anything the other way, women seem to become more regular as a result of IF..

I think different diets work for different people (they are all calorie deficit at the end of the day) so if IF works for you, fire away. I did SW, it worked while I was doing it. Brilliant.

Thank you for replying. I too have heard they become more regular. Have you read Dr Mindy Pelz - Fast Like a Girl? Are you syncing your fasts to the different phases in your monthly cycle? I have read it can take a couple of months to regulate but I’m not sure when to start fasting again since I’m missing day one lol!!

@Menora how do you log calories and also how do you work out what your deficit should be in the first place?

@CoQ10 I worked out my TDEE using a calculation (can be found online) and experimented with my activity levels and calorie intake to find a comfortable level of weight loss. I lose about 0.5kg a week most weeks but some I don’t, but I don’t generally gain weight so I know I am doing it right. It’s been a long journey but that’s why I have now formed good habits in a lifestyle change. You can either count calories in an app or you can eat the same regular foods in a pattern so you don’t have to think about it, once you have calorie counted a few months you pretty much know your limits and I don’t even need to enter everything into an app to count them anymore and I still lose weight. I am now able to trust my eyeballs but at the start it’s hard to do that. I can still eat out I just don’t choose certain menu options. I am not restricted by what time I eat, I eat when I am hungry and until I am satiated (but not over full). But my body is in a rhythm and I am hungry at similar times every day. I don’t eat dinner late so I don’t have big gaps in the day, apart from when I am asleep.

I eat so many creative interesting and nice food combinations that I never used to, it’s not boring but also, I care less about food and eating than I used to it’s mostly fuel not just for emotional comfort.

I don’t have an issue with IF if it suits you that’s great. It’s just not the only or best way to do it. For me, not eating for long periods gives me migraines, affects my mood and irritability levels. I’ve also had a binge eating issue in the past so for me, IF was a way to binge because I had got so hungry and then got addicted to the feeling of being over full

@Menora thanks so much for this. Really helpful.

@Menora, I was absolutely floored to open another thread this morning about losing weight with Ozempic, of all things, and eventually realise that you are that same poster who pops up everywhere vehemently criticising intermittent fasting!

I lost all my weight naturally via diet (eliminating ultra-processed food and intermittent fasting) and exercise. I think I'm in a stronger position to give advice.

It isn't. It will not cause a problem.

I'm trying to lose weight. I have found that if I don't have it in my mind that I shouldn't have anything in the evenings, I'd snack all night long while watching the telly.

If I do IF my brain understands that I should not eat all evening. That doesn't mean that I don't sometimes have a piece of fruit, because I do.

What I avoid in the fasting window is cakes, toast, biscuits etc.

I count calories on the NHS app, so I know when I've consumed fewer than my goal of about 1700 a day.

I sometimes eat pudding at lunchtime, but I count the calories

CICO is the right thing to do. But IF helps me not to go over.

I'm also taking Orlistat and I lost 11lb this week.

@waistchallenge I took ozempic for 6 months and haven't taken it for 6 months.

What is your point I’m not sure I am understanding being in a stronger position to have opinions/discussion is relevant on a forum? If someone wants real nutritional advice tailored to their own body and health go to see a qualified professional. I’ve said over and over it should be individual decision making, IF works really well for some people but it’s just one tool, not the best most magical one.

It’s exactly my point in your post that you have completely shown that a lot of people who do IF feel majorly superior to anyone who isn’t doing it, as if it’s a boasting strength of your character/willpower/determination. The same is usually relevant of keto warriors from what I have seen.

weight loss is weight loss. You don’t need to compete with me or anyone else over who does it better or most naturally - unless it makes you feel more superior to do so?

I'm currently managing to lose weight on IF where I try not to eat between 10pm and noon following day.

Combined with calorie counting and lots of exercise.

I don't find missing breakfast difficult and have got used to taking my coffee black in the morning. Means I can still have large portions for the two remaining meals but stay within 1500-1700 calories.

I don't know if IF itself is helping, or just missing breakfast calories, but the whole combo is giving me results.

I don't worry about the odd day where I'm eating late or having breakfast. Weight stabilises or rises briefly and then comes back down as I get back on track.

Re the grape I don't think it's worth worrying about as to its impact on that days diet, but worth being more mindful to check if you're still having the odd snack/extra item here, there and everywhere as they add up or risk leading to "well that little extra didn't harm, so I'll just…" mentality.

Bumply, black coffee instead of breakfast was the game changer for me, combined with morning exercise. I don’t know if it’s the effect of exercising on an empty stomach but for the first time in my life I’m actually finding it easy to lose weight.

I think so too.

I’ve just read through this with interest. I don’t have a huge amount of weight to lose but all through my adult life I’ve sort of yo-yoed with the same two stone. I’ve had a shit year and it’s sort of crept back on so I was hoping to kick start a bit of weight loss (while being quite relaxed and still living life, having the odd lager in the sun here and there!).
In the past I have really struggled with feeling absolutely ravenous (and thus feeling deprived and failing!) when I’ve tried to do CICO. Eating a low carb vegetarian diet works well for me but isn’t actually feasible at the moment (takes a fair amount of prep and I am just too busy to commit to that at the moment). I started eating in a 16:8 pattern at the start of this week, and i have found hunger much more manageable all week. For example today I have been so busy with work so didn’t actually break my fast until 5:30pm today (complete accident, the day just ran away with me). Normally I am STARVING by 5:30pm anyway but today I could recognise that I felt hungry but it wasn’t all consuming and was just there in the background. I found that very interesting - is this likely to be down to the IF?

If so, this way of eating really suits me and I can definitely see the benefits of mental clarity and higher levels of energy. The 16:8 is the only thing I’ve changed this week,so I assume it’s that??