Any IF'ers here?
 

I love intermittent fasting and find it so much easier to go to school every day without having to worry about packing a lunch! Anyone else here doing IF? If so, what schedule are you following? I am currently mostly doing OMAD (one meal a day... but for those who aren't familiar with IF, it's usually not really just one meal like the name suggests). I'm considering ADF; kind of got out of fasting this summer but am back to it and thinking about trying a new approach.

I am not currently, but I also prefer OMAD when I do it. It did a lot to help me break food addiction issues. After stopping IF I have kept the weight off for a bit over a year now as well. Im not familiar with ADF, Im going to have to look that up now

I recently started, on the advice of my naturopath. I'm doing a 12/12 plan, which seems to work best for me. I work night shifts 7pm-7am so this lets me have a good balance between fasting and not starving when I work nights. (I just have to adjust starting/stopping times on night shift days.) I feel great, way less bloated, and have lost almost 5 pounds in the last couple of weeks.

My mom does it, and she's so skinny. Of course, she walks on the treadmill for an hour everyday and eats things like mushroom burgers, but she's 68 and looks amazing.

My doctor recommended I try it for all the health problems I've been having lately. I can handle eating from 8-4, most of the time, but I don't think I could ever do one meal a day. Doesn't it make you tired?

I definitely feel better when I do IF... I was never one to eat breakfast, and I was happiest not eating after 8pm, so I just let it roll though the night.... 8pm to Noon. I did cheat and have my morning coffee, so technically I did break the fast by doing so, but I was ok with that. I usually do One regular size meal while allowing two snacks if I feel they are necessary. I never felt hungry like some would think, but I am a big water drinker (I only drink water if you don't count my coffee), so I think that helps a lot.

I've been doing this for about... almost a year now. best thing I did plus, tbh, I added a few months of Weight Watchers and I managed to lose all my covid weight. I don't really do WW any more but I still do IF. I am 16/8 or there abouts.

I eat my first meal at 12.30ish and then a few snacks until dinner.
Once dinner is over i don't eat anything until lunch the next day. I don't feel the need to.
WW definitely helped me with portion sizes and calories too.

I am also a HUGE water drinker and a bit of tea here and there... hubs is an Englishman soooo... tea is big in our house, lol.

I find it works for me and will probably stick to it for the rest of my life. I weigh myself once a week just to check I am in the range that I am happy with and so far, so good.

I did IF for about 10 months. I stopped right as Covid hit because, well, stress.

When I first started I lost about 10 pounds right away. After that I never lost another ounce. My clothes fit a little better but no more weight came off. I felt better over all, especially because I was drinking a lot of water. I don't tend to drink a lot of water if I'm not fasting. Anyway, I've thought about going back to it, but I just don't know. I WANT to lose weight. IF didn't do it for me. I made dietary changes and was fasting for 20-40 hours between meals. I had less swelling in my knees and ankles (probably the water) and less bloating, but those were the main benefits for me. I'm debating between that, and seeing a doctor for weight loss because I'm sick of my current weight.

That's awesome - I got out of my healthy eating habits and gained back what I lost. :( I still have some work to do on food addiction, but I definitely feel like I am much more aware of my hunger when consistently following IF.

Awesome!

LOL... no thanks on the mushroom burgers, but maybe it would be worth it? ;)

A lot of people have that same reaction to OMAD... honestly I never thought I would want to do it either, but when school started last year I decided to try, and it was honestly much easier than I thought. Your body adapts pretty quickly. I don't find myself tired at all. I usually have a snack at the end of the school day (and sometimes more than one... this is part of what I need to work on lol), and then dinner. Even though it's called OMAD, it's actually most often a snack and a meal (or vice versa).

I gave up diet soda a couple of years ago, but I definitely need to drink more water. I feel so much better when I do. I have black coffee most mornings and find that that fills me up. I was never a coffee drinker until I started IF, but I feel hungrier some days if I don't have it.

That's awesome Jo! I definitely find that my portion sizes are smaller because I fill up much more quickly. Now I need to work on eating healthier foods instead of having junk in my eating window. ;)

Sherri, I LOVE your new avi!

If you haven't checked out Gin Stephens, I'd highly recommend her podcasts - Intermittent Fasting Stories. There are many different approaches to IF, so maybe something different would work better for you. When I lost 20ish pounds last year, I definitely noticed a lot of other health benefits as well.

My husband has done it & I have done it short term. Recently, I've been looking back into it. I wanted to try the 5-2 (I think that's what it is??) where you just have 2 days a week that you don't eat between dinner and dinner. I felt like that would be the easiest way to not disrupt many meals with my kids... we love weekend breakfast.

That's similar to what I'm thinking about too. Sometimes I do breakfast for dinner because I miss my breakfasts lol. I'm not sure I want to do true ADF (either 4-3 or 5-2) but I will likely try ADMF (Alternate Day Modified Fast), which includes a 500 calorie meal midway through if you need or want it. You still have an up day the next day but a lot of people find it easier to have a small meal rather than completely go without.

I did it for a while and it was wonders, but now that I need to wake up at 6 and go to the gym I need to eat something and then I am up until 11pm. I get hungry again.

I do! I started almost a year ago, and it has been amazing. Most of my digestive issues have disappeared, I have more energy, and my skin looks so much better. I also just feel better when I do it. I have lost about 10 pounds over the last year, which is slow progress, but at least it's been in the right direction. I can eat like this for the rest of my life, so I'm hoping the results will also last. I do 16/8 hour fasting/eating, and it works well so far.

Oh, that sounds like a good option!

I did my first one Monday into Tuesday, and it wasn't bad at all. I ate a small dinner and then had lunch and dinner on Tuesday. I'll try again later this week. Interested to experiment and find what works best for me. :)

That's awesome Ally! Once I get where I want to be, I will likely do 16:8 as well. It just doesn't do it for me right now because I have a significant amount to lose, but I think it will be great for maintenance. I love the health benefits in addition to the weight loss - that's one of the best things about IF! The body has a pretty amazing way of taking care of itself. :)

I have tried it but find I get severe headaches so I try to eat smaller meals and fast from 8PM to 8AM. This works for me.

I usually do 16/8 or 17/9

I lost 10 lbs but many inches and all my bloat then went on vacation which blew my IF schedule so now I am back at it, only for the past week.

It really is so easy to do after the first week or so. The trick for me is to stay busy during my morning hours and I prep lots of veggies and have apples on hand for in between meal snacks. I try to calorie count with it but if I want cake or pizza, I love that I can have that and not worry about it.

I'm glad you found a way to adapt it that works for you! :)

I agree - I love that I can leave it while on vaca and then come back to it pretty easily. Since starting again in September, I am down 9 pounds. This week I did a "meal-less Monday" with just a small 500 calorie meal Monday for dinner and nothing else for the day. It wasn't difficult at all, so I'm going to work on doing that once a week. On my other days, I usually fast between 18 and 20 hours. It's amazing how your body adapts so quickly. When I do get hungry, if I'm not ready to eat yet, I drink water and remind myself that "hunger is not an emergency" lol. I'm so much less bloated and feeling better after getting back to my schedule. :)