Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is just fasting for a certain number of hours and then consuming all of your daily calories in a shorter time window. Most of the people I know who do it fast for 16-18 hours and then eat in a 6-8 hour window, but some people fast for 20 and eat for 4. It works for a lot of people. I haven’t ever tried it but I have thought about it a lot.

I think that it is just not eating for 12hrs, I do this but not sure what it is called. All you do is pick a 12hr period where you don't eat. Typically at night. I do mine from 8pm to 8am. You just don't eat anything in that time frame.

There's actually a lot of different methods to it. Basically you designate times to eat and are otherwise fasting.
Some people do 12 hours every day, some people do 24 hours every other day. You'd set a goal and think about your lifestyle on when fasting would work best for you.
I haven't tried it but I've heard of it before. A lot depends on what you want to accomplish and what you're doing.

View Quoted Comment Wow okay! I feel like 24 hours would be a bit drastic to do every other day. Do you have experience with this?

I’ve done intermittent fasting along with a keto diet after giving birth and it helped a lot. The toughest part for me was the no carbs and sugar. 😫 To fight any hunger cravings during the fast I would drink water or black coffee. Basically your body goes into a state of ketosis and burns stored fat instead of sugar for energy.

View Quoted Comment What time intervals did you use for the fasting?
Cutting carbs is my kryptonite !

Basically I eat lunch at noon and dinner at 6 and don’t eat other times. It works great and it’s not hard if I’m consistent. My body will plan for when it expects to eat. If I start eating breakfast early again I start getting hungry early again.

My FH used to do this. He's read that it rejuvenates your body. He tries to do 24 hours once a month or once a week. If you're trying to lose weight, I would suggest only eating lunch a few days a week. You want your body to be burning fat, not the calories you are eating.

As some others have said, intermittent fasting is really just picking a time windown and only eating during that window. For some examples, my husband eats only between 7a-7pm. A close friend eats 10a-6pm.

I’ve tried 16, 18, and 20 hr fasts but I found what worked best for me because I was working at the time and my schedule sucked was the 20. (I was working 10-7) I would skip breakfast since I usually don’t eat in the morning anyway and just have black coffee and water until lunch and then maybe snack on healthy option until I got off work. By the time I would get home (I live in NY so commute is terrible) I wouldn’t want to eat so late and then head to bed so I made my cutoff time 7. It’s a little tough at first but then your body gets used to it. Everyone’s body and schedule is different so I’d say find what works for you. Start off with a lower fasting interval first and then increase from there if you can. As for the carbs, I LOVE BREAD, and rice and potatoes, etc... lol I’m Puerto Rican so rice is like essential in our meals but you have to be dedicated and have that strict mindset as with any diet/workout otherwise you’ll just fail.

I currently do intermittent fasting and “lazy keto”. I’ve done this multiple times. It helps you to loose weight, decrease sugar cravings and heal your body on a cellular level.

Some people loose weight with intermittent fasting alone and others like myself restrict their carbohydrate intake to some extent.

If you want to follow strict keto you can download an app called “Carb Manager” that is great for keeping track of what you eat and your daily macro nutrients (Fats, proteins and carbs).

I use an app called “Zero” to keep track of my fasts and to keep me motivated. What I do is start the timer for my fast at 7pm (although I probably stop eating around 6pm) and then I fast from 7pm until 1pm the next day (18 hour fast) but by time I cook and have food in front of me, I’m usually at the 19 hour mark. I stop the time when I start eating and then I can eat until 7pm when I start my fast again. I drink tons of water and tea during my fast. When I’m able to eat I have an occasional diet soda, seltzer water, or something sweetened with Stevia.

Jumping right into 18 hour fasts will be difficult if you eat a lot of carbs and sugars. Sugar is a fast burning fuel for your body. Humans are constantly hungry because we are constantly looking for more sugar as an energy source. If you decrease your bodies access to carbs, you will burn the fat on your body and within your diet. Fat is a more sustainable fuel for your body so you have less hunger overall. Then fasting for 18+ hours is a breeze. I think the longest time I fasted was 26 hours because I was simply not hungry until then.

I lost 10lbs in 2 weeks when I got consistent with fasting again. A lot of days I just want to eat once and have a snack.

The Zero app for fastingMy current fast timerSome of the fasts programmed into the appMore fasts offered by the appTons of articles and literature on fasting integrated into the app

My FH did intermittent fasting and lots 30 pounds, maybe more, in a rather short amount of time. He would eat when he got home from work, around 2:30 PM and wouldn't have anything after I think 7:00 PM or 8:00 PM. It was easy for him but I couldn't do it working in an office, too many temptations!

From what I know, there are different ways to do it. I’m trying the 16/8 way. You fast for 16 hours, and then eat during 8.

My first meal meal is at 12 when I eat lunch, and then I just make sure I eat dinner before 8pm. I’m honestly probably not following the rules, but it has helped me not eat right before I go to sleep.

I used the 16/8 interval and had success with it for a few weeks. Wouldn't eat from 8pm until noon the next day. Basically just skipping breakfast.
You still have to maintain your caloric deficit in order to be successful. I think that's why a lot of people fail (myself included)
I started making bad eating choices and regained the weight.

I did this and it lead to an increase in disordered eating stuff. I became fixated on food, spending so much time and mental energy on the meals which would break my fast and then my meals would be way too big. For anyone with any type of body image issues or history of eating issues, this could be pretty rough. This was me, of course, but reading the F*** it diet and intuitive eating helped me a lot if you find yourself going down this road with dieting!

This is actually healthy for you. Not as a recommended weight loss plan in general but doing it once a week is good for the body.

View Quoted Comment Wow I might have to look into that app, thanks for sharing!

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You’re welcome. I hope you find it helpful.

There's tons of youtube videos on it that you would probably find very helpful!

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I downloaded that day and its been amazing. The countdown is super motivating!