Is anybody fasting?

[Seriestwo]

I tried injectibles but the side effects were grim. I am exercising but I just EAT all the time - I understood what “food noise” was when the injectables took it away.

im on day 3 of fasting, am eating between 12 and 8, and its fine. It feels so-able, the food noise is there but I’m not eating until-after x time so I am able to ignore it.

had anyone done it long term? I think it has gone out of fashion since the injectables came along

I lost 5 1/2 stone by fasting/calorie counting and now maintain by continuing (albeit with some flexibility). Even when loosing I didn't stick to a set time I altered depending on plans but kept to a 16 hours minimum but pushed some days to 18-20hours. I found the fasting has helped my gastric symptoms as well so it is a positive all round.

I think do what's best for you and your lifestyle, not what's 'in fashion'. Also be mindful of what you can manage longterm because maintenance is as important to prevent the yoyo effect. For me that meant eating the family meals but smaller portions/more vegetables. Having less snacks in the house. Meal planning. Adding more vegetables to Shepherd's pie, bolognaise etc. Basically making life as easy as possible to maintain the healthy lifestyle.

Well done on that and the maintenance!

I find planning difficult in general - so a blanket ban on eating bwyeeen some hours and only buying in proper food should work.

something has to

Hi @Seriestwo - I've been wanting to fast for ages and finally on March 1, I took the bull by the horns and started. It is THE most effective thing I've ever done for losing both lbs and inches. I've tried everything to lose weight for half a century (I'm 63) - fasting works. Yes, I'm a total convert 😀
And 16 lbs down, in case anyone's interested.

I've done it for years. 11am-7pm or thereabouts and I have no problem sticking to it.

It's still possible to overeat though - I did and kept stacking the weight on. Now on WLI and properly dieting and it's coming off.

I suppose what I'm saying is that fasting alone won't help if you don't also look at what you're eating and how much.

@Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice What is WLI?

Weight loss injections. Wegovy in my case.

Yes I’ve been doing it for years now. I only eat between 12 and 8pm. I lost weight initially and now I’m maintaining.

Fasting is incredible. Its a lifestyle you can keep up forever and has so many positive effects on health.

I fast for around 18-20 hours a day, usually eat around 5/6pm, about 2000 calories of decent food. I used to have all day food noise, now I get it 9am-11am then nothing if I can get past that.

I do think nothing suits everyone so you just have to try lots of interventions until you find the one.

Im pleased for you, keep it up.

I found it great for maintenance - I don't eat until 12 noon most days and then try not to eat anything after my evening meal

In addition to limiting my eating window I try to only eat sweet stuff / processed carbs after eating protein and low starch vegetables first and if I can convince myself walk after a meal with carbs - even 10 minute is supposed to help.

Fir the first time in my life I'm finding maintenance pretty effortless - in the past I mostly found it impossible.

Do you mean you literally just eat one meal? Or do you eat in a four hour window? What time is your ‘food window’?

im considering a similar window as I just struggle to deal with decision making over food and am have a constant internal battle at the moment

Well, the weekend messed up my fasting…

I might try doing it M-F and being more relaxed at weekends

Well done that's a lot of weight.
Can I ask how long you took?

It took about 18 months but I was doing it slowly to keep it off long-term, a change in my eating habits rather than just dieting. I'm also disabled and unable to exercise to couldn't tone up so wanted it to come off slowly to prevent any loose skin.

Well done. That's a huge achievement and a huge amount of willpower.

Thanks for everyone’s input. I’m doing it, it’s been a week and it’s totally fine. I haven’t lost much weight so I was a bit despondent but I have been exercising (and that seems totally fine while fasting) and the gym’s fancy scales thing tells me I’ve put on 3.5kg muscle, which explains that!

I’m going to stick with it and see what happens. I definitely lose “good noise” if I drink hot water inthe morning. It’s fascinating

I eat 12-8 as well, kind of naturally. Sometimes I'll push it a bit, eat at 3 and finish at 6. It feels pretty good.

Nobody should be feeling bad about the 'food noise' - there are ads for food absolutely everywhere (including on this weight loss board grrrr). Plus if you are cooking for a family you're having to think ahead about food and shopping all the time.

That’s true. And I eat unconsciously so there was a lot of finishing off kids plates for years, it’s weird to think back in how chaotic my eating was. Most of the issue was using wine and crisps for relaxation and stress management…I loved it when the kids were little but I became very poor at looking after myself. I don’t want to be a stiff and sore 60
year old, so I have time to sort that all out

I don't think finishing the kids' plates is chaotic though. We're hard wired to not waste food.
(Mind you we're hard wired to be on our feet most of the day and somehow I've ended up at a desk or in an armchair quite a lot of the time!)