Intermittent Fasting - Tips?

[SunnyOne]

The last thread strictly devoted appears to be over 198 days, so I could not add to it

I would like to start fasting. I cannot do an abrupt cold turkey in terms of going beyond my current routine (one meal, one snack, morning coffee)

... but I believe I can ease into it by gradually increasing the number of hours between meals.

Any tips for beginning fasting? anything that worked well for you that you feel free to share?

THANKS

 

[googily]

Welcome to the fasting club!

One question--are you saying that your current routine is to only eat one meal and one snack a day, plus morning coffee? That would seem to be intermittent fasting already?

If I'm reading that wrong, then probably the first thing to do is to stop eating after dinner, if that is an issue for you. Try to go from dinner to morning coffee without anything else, and that could be 12 hours right there. If your coffee isn't black, putting cream and sugar in it probably breaks the fast, but maybe just a splash of cream can get you through. Then just start pushing breakfast a bit later each day, until you feel comfortable not eating until lunchtime. Then you've got 16 hours of fasting or more. Get comfortable there, and then you can start thinking about days when you go 18 hours, or 20 hours, or even 24 hours. But it takes practice.

It also helps if you eat fewer processed carbs, especially sugar, which can really muck with your hunger. You don't have to go full keto, but be sure you are getting enough protein and healthy fats. Remember, if you're only eating twice a day, you could eat 700 calories at both breakfast and dinner and still only take in 1,400 calories a day. So once you get to eating twice a day, be sure to eat until satisfied.

Google Jason Fung or watch fasting-related videos by Thomas Delauer.

And if you need more backup as to why fasting is a good thing, this lecture by Dr. Pradip Jamnadas is long but absolutely fabulous.

 

[SunnyOne]

Yes, sorry if that was misleading...in the first few months of retirement, I've drifted to a daily pattern of coffee in the AM, main meal between 1-5....then a small meal about 8-9 and maybe another tea or coffee before bed.

I am trying to eliminate the second meal or do a pattern where every other day I consume far fewer calories.

Thank you for the welcome!

 

[googily]

Ah, alternate daily fasting. I do that some times, or at least a couple days a week I try to go 24 hours and then just eat a smallish meal. And I also try to drop in one 36-hour+ fast (usually around 40 hours) when I'm feeling it. I try to listen to my body, because some days longer fasts just aren't going to happen. Helps to do them on days when I'm really busy.

You might want to pull that late snack back earlier, eating by 8 or even earlier. And, like I said, no calories after that. Try to not take in any calories less than three hours before you go to sleep.

Editing to add that I just realized that I haven't eaten since 5 pm yesterday, so I'm nearly at 20 hours and still not really hungry. So this might end up being a 24-hour fast, which I did not end yesterday expecting at all.

 

[street]

I have been doing IF for 4 plus years now. I have no real tips to speak of but in my case I only eat from 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM. In those hours I eat what ever I want to and all I want to eat. I lost 21 to 24 pounds the first year and have been able to keep that same status.
I eat to much candy and chocolate and need to cut back on that. Lol If I did I'm sure I could drop more. I really don't want to drop any more weight then where I'm at now thou.
One thing of advise is stick to your hours of eating and not eating. Not eating after 5:00 or 6:00 was a big deal for me in being successful.

 

[audreyh1]

The last thread strictly devoted appears to be over 198 days, so I could not add to it

I would like to start fasting. I cannot do an abrupt cold turkey in terms of going beyond my current routine (one meal, one snack, morning coffee)

... but I believe I can ease into it by gradually increasing the number of hours between meals.

Any tips for beginning fasting? anything that worked well for you that you feel free to share?

THANKS

Yes, you could add to it, you just have to check the “old thread” box.

Maybe a moderator will tack this thread on.

On fasting: probably the most important interval is the overnight long one between your last meal of the day and your first the following day.

I usually stop eating by 5 or 6pm and have a late breakfast 10am or so. I also try to get longer exercise in before breakfast several days a week so that I’m exercising in a fasted state.

I’m down to two meals a day - later breakfast and very early dinner.

 

[googily]

Seconding both the previous posters that moving your final meal of the day earlier (no later than 6 pm) seems to give greater benefits.

 

[audreyh1]

I thought this time restricted eating dietdoctor.com podcast with circadian rhythms researcher Dr. Satchin Panda was one over the best scientific presentations I ever heard. Fabulous background info as well as practical tips. https://www.dietdoctor.com/video/podcast/episode-80-satchin-panda

 

[chassis]

The last thread strictly devoted appears to be over 198 days, so I could not add to it

I would like to start fasting. I cannot do an abrupt cold turkey in terms of going beyond my current routine (one meal, one snack, morning coffee)

... but I believe I can ease into it by gradually increasing the number of hours between meals.

Any tips for beginning fasting? anything that worked well for you that you feel free to share?

THANKS

@SunnyOne you will likely receive lots of input. What motivates the interest in keto/intermittent fasting/time restricted eating?

 

[SunnyOne]

The usual: lower A1C, weight loss, autophagy...assortment of health benefits

 

[wdberry62]

A few thoughts - as I've been doing IF for about 2 years. An 8 hour feeding period with 16 hours of fasting works for me (I stop eating at 8:00 pm and commence at noon the following day). I've lost about 15 pounds and been able to maintain my current weight with regular, moderate exercise - I walk about 4 miles/day and stretch every day. It helps me in the morning to add a fat to my morning coffee - I use a tablespoon of MCT oil. During my feeding period, I eat whatever I want (within reason) and as much as I want. I'm rarely hungry during the 16 hour fasting period. My BP is down, blood sugar levels are good and cholesterol is good.

Check out Dr. Eric Berg's videos on Youtube - he has some very informative stuff that I referenced when I started down this path. Very easy to understand and very helpful.

 

[audreyh1]

So you take coffee with MCT oil before noon?

 

[Rickt]

Good suggestions about Intermittent Fasting .

 

[Luvtoride]

The usual: lower A1C, weight loss, autophagy...assortment of health benefits

Thanks for the explanation as to the "WHY". These are all good reasons to lose weight and improve health (especially improve health!). How far do you have to go to achieve the results you are looking for?

Have other diet methods failed or are they not achievable for you? Doesn't any type of diet that reduces calorie intake, along with regular exercise, help? I don't really understand the concept of Intermittent Fasting.

Is this something that is more prevalent in retirement (less structure, more eating/ grazing throughout the day)? This could be an important consideration for me when I choose to retire.

 

[googily]

Thanks for the explanation as to the "WHY". These are all good reasons to lose weight and improve health (especially improve health!). How far do you have to go to achieve the results you are looking for?

Have other diet methods failed or are they not achievable for you? Doesn't any type of diet that reduces calorie intake, along with regular exercise, help? I don't really understand the concept of Intermittent Fasting.

Is this something that is more prevalent in retirement (less structure, more eating/ grazing throughout the day)? This could be an important consideration for me when I choose to retire.

For me it's that I feel better and more satisfied when I can eat, say, two larger meals rather than three smaller meals or just grazing throughout the day. I also find it's easier to maintain a lower weight with IF. Plus, I haven't eaten breakfast in years, so this is natural for me. The most important thing is eating for the final time earlier in the evening--when DH was still alive, he worked the evening shift, so on weekdays sometimes I might be snacking at 11 pm when he came home and made his dinner. And we were much more likely to eat late when going out (not to mention the alcohol). I'm not eating out anywhere near as much anymore, and I only drink rarely, and being alone makes it easier to listen to my body as to when I am truly hungry. If all I want for "dinner" is some yogurt at 5 pm (especially if I had a really big lunch), then that's what I do.

There's also lots of research about how eating less frequently and within a compressed window helps keep your insulin levels down, which is so very important. (see the videos linked above)

I was on a road trip a few weeks ago where I ate a lot of junk food, or big dinners out with family (including alcohol). I started the trip in the middle of a 40-hour fast, and on days where I could, I ate a huge breakfast and lots of junk until about 1 pm and then fasted 24 hours. I ended up losing 3 1/2 pounds, which is positively absurd, given what I ate.

A 72-hour fast helped me break a months-long plateau. It wasn't exactly enjoyable, but it did what I wanted it to.

I still have probably 25 lbs to lose, but all of my bloodwork and other health markers are fabulous. And I'm someone who weighed in the 240s for about a decade and above 200 for about 20 years. I'm maintaining in the 170s now.

Long reply, but IF is such an amazing tool.

 

[Luvtoride]

Googily, that’s great for you! Keep up the good work.
Fasting for 40 or 72 hours? That sounds nuts though!
I know there is plenty of science to support the safety and effectiveness of IF but to me it takes a much stricter level of self motivation / discipline (? If thats the right word) than standard diets.

 

[googily]

Googily, that’s great for you! Keep up the good work.
Fasting for 40 or 72 hours? That sounds nuts though!
I know there is plenty of science to support the safety and effectiveness of IF but to me it takes a much stricter level of self motivation / discipline (? If thats the right word) than standard diets.

I spent a long time doing 16:8 and practically watching the clock to get to 11 am so I could eat. It takes a long while to work up to being able to do even 24-hour fasts without feeling like you are going to collapse--and it also helps to eat "clean," as they say, because processed food can cause cravings that make it so much harder to avoid eating.

40 hours is basically one full day without eating and then pushing the first meal of the day forward. So if last bite is at 6:30 pm on Sunday, you wouldn't eat at all on Monday and then would break the fast at 10:30 am on Tuesday. It's not something you can easily leap into, but there are days when if you are busy/distracted enough, it can be done. There are people who do it every other day (alternate day fasting) but I have a hard time getting in enough calories on the non-fasting day to be able to go right back into another fast.

Everyone thinks they would overeat like crazy after not eating 24 or 36 or 40 or 72 hours, but it's really not true, at least not all of the time. And if your daily calorie need is, say, 2000 calories, and you don't eat at all on Monday and then eat 2500 calories on Tuesday, that's still a 1,500-calorie deficit over two days. It can be very powerful if you have a lot of weight to lose.

But, as has been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, just eating your final meal of the day a smidge earlier and then NO SNACKING before bed (and that includes cream in coffee or whatever), and then pushing your first meal of the day a little later, that can bring a whole lot of benefits. It's more when you've been doing it a long time--and your body is used to it--that throwing in some longer fasts can really help shake things up.

I'm also not so hardcore that I don't allow artificial sweeteners. I drink Diet Coke pretty religiously (I don't drink coffee). Perhaps I'd see better results, but I'd be miserable.

 

[Luvtoride]

.

I'm also not so hardcore that I don't allow artificial sweeteners. I drink Diet Coke pretty religiously (I don't drink coffee). Perhaps I'd see better results, but I'd be miserable.

So I guess you're not participating in the "how much do you spend on coffee in a year" thread here! LOL.
Maybe start a "how much do you spend on diet coke thread"?

 

[googily]

So I guess you're not participating in the "how much do you spend on coffee in a year" thread here! LOL.
Maybe start a "how much do you spend on diet coke thread"?

That probably has to be in the Blow That Dough! thread.

 

[NgineER]

I've done IF 16:8 for two and a half years. Didn't need to lose weight I thought, but I dropped 10 lbs and got my six pack back without much effort.

I read the book life in the fasting lane and have added in 2 24 hour fasts, which are not really that hard. Eat dinner, sleep, skip breakfast, skip lunch and then eat dinner. I find that when I do a fast that is longer than 24 hours I get cranky after about 24 hours, but the next morning I am fine and could probably do 42 hours without much of a problem.

I find that I sleep poorly if i eat too much or too late at night. I find that skipping breakfast is not a big deal, it feels good to be hungry once in a while.

I think what a lot of the studies are suggesting that your insulin response gets better and that you reduce the likelihood of type 2 diabetes a lot.

 

[caninelover]

I just started IF 2 weeks ago with a 16/8 schedule. I start eating at 11 am and finish by 7 pm. I also switched to black coffee in the mornings (vs. with half-and-half and sugar before).

So far I've lost 2 pounds and while I'm feeling better I am still watching the clock to get to 11 am for my first 'meal', so I'm still adjusting.

My goal is weight loss so I'm hoping those 2 changes are enough to at least get the pandemic weight off of me

I do feel like IF is more sustainable than other diets that require careful monitoring of what you eat. During my eating hours, I still eat some sweets (though I have cut back) and some bread/pasta.

 

[ER2B]

I just started IF 2 weeks ago with a 16/8 schedule. I start eating at 11 am and finish by 7 pm. I also switched to black coffee in the mornings (vs. with half-and-half and sugar before).



So far I've lost 2 pounds and while I'm feeling better I am still watching the clock to get to 11 am for my first 'meal', so I'm still adjusting.



My goal is weight loss so I'm hoping those 2 changes are enough to at least get the pandemic weight off of me



I do feel like IF is more sustainable than other diets that require careful monitoring of what you eat. During my eating hours, I still eat some sweets (though I have cut back) and some bread/pasta.

I used to be an 11AM - 7PM but found it very difficult to wait for breakfast in the morning. So I moved to 8AM - 4PM. I've learned to ignore hunger pangs at night. Hard but I got used to it. Noticed improved BP and A1C and weight down from 150 to 143 lbs. I have a lipid test next month. We'll see. I'm not giving up my homemade espresso half almond half whole milk latte.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks for the explanation as to the "WHY". These are all good reasons to lose weight and improve health (especially improve health!). How far do you have to go to achieve the results you are looking for?

Have other diet methods failed or are they not achievable for you? Doesn't any type of diet that reduces calorie intake, along with regular exercise, help? I don't really understand the concept of Intermittent Fasting.

Is this something that is more prevalent in retirement (less structure, more eating/ grazing throughout the day)? This could be an important consideration for me when I choose to retire.

Do you understand about insulin and blood sugars and the effect on metabolic health? And what is metabolic health? Once you understand that you can see why intermittent fasting would help and that what you eat matters because it directly affects your metabolic disease state - toward or away from health.

 

[audreyh1]

I used to be an 11AM - 7PM but found it very difficult to wait for breakfast in the morning. So I moved to 8AM - 4PM. I've learned to ignore hunger pangs at night. Hard but I got used to it. Noticed improved BP and A1C and weight down from 150 to 143 lbs. I have a lipid test next month. We'll see. I'm not giving up my homemade espresso half almond half whole milk latte.

Try increasing your afternoon protein intake and see whether that reduces/eliminates evening/night time hunger pangs. It made a big difference for me.

 

[caninelover]

I used to be an 11AM - 7PM but found it very difficult to wait for breakfast in the morning. So I moved to 8AM - 4PM. I've learned to ignore hunger pangs at night. Hard but I got used to it. Noticed improved BP and A1C and weight down from 150 to 143 lbs. I have a lipid test next month. We'll see. I'm not giving up my homemade espresso half almond half whole milk latte.

For now, by the time we both finish up w*rk the earliest dinnertime possible is 6 pm, so 6:30-7pm by the time we finish eating. It isn't convenient to do a large mid-day meal during the workday as we have limited time to prepare it and we like to have our main meal (currently dinner) together. After we both FIRE we may be able to change that though.