Intermittent fasting support

[teachermom2834]

I’m back on the wagon. Anyone else want to chat about IF? Tips, motivation, etc.

I usually shoot for a 16 hour fast. Sometimes it ends up shorter but more often it stretches out a little longer. I try to be relaxed about it. The whole reason I am doing it is because it makes me feel in control. So if I let the schedule control me I start to lose that feeling. 
 

I am 46 years old and have just had it with dieting and restricting certain food groups. I’m just not willing to give up certain groups or tell my dd I can’t enjoy some new recipe she tried. So IF works for me. I simply can’t consume the number of calories I normally would if I only eat eight or even six hours a day. I still try to make healthy choices but nothing is totally forbidden. 
 

My biggest hurdle was dropping breakfast. I drink my coffee black so that was easy but I had for several years enjoyed some kind of protein bar with my coffee in the morning. It was so hard to break that habit. But once I did, the rest has been easier. 
 

I find my eating window moving later and later. I am much more motivated and productive in the morning so it is easy to stay busy and resist temptation. But come 9:00 pm I really want to sit on my butt and eat some cheese its. So shifting my eating window later let’s me do that late night snack without “failing”.  I don’t do it every night but if I do, it isn’t like my whole day of good eating is ruined. 

I am not weighing myself at this time but I know from years of tracking food and counting points that I am eating a lot less and I like the feeling of being in control and being able to wait to eat. So overall, it feels like a healthy approach to me. Hoping I can stick with it. I know from past periods of IF that sticking with it is way easier than getting started.  So now that I am back on it I am trying to keep it up.

Anyone else want to chat?
 

 

[athena1277]

I have been wanting to try IF again now that Christmas (with all its yummy treats) is over.  I tried it before but I wasn’t very successful.  I was fasting from about 6pm (whenever dinner was done) to 9am.  I never was able to give up breakfast completely.  I have never craved cereal so much!  So even though I was fasting, I was still getting the same amount of calories.  I didn’t gain weight, but I didn’t lose it either.  I am thinking that I might do better if I eat cereal at or near lunchtime (usually 11am) and skip lunch.  

[BlsdMama]

1 hour ago, teachermom2834 said:

I’m back on the wagon. Anyone else want to chat about IF? Tips, motivation, etc.

I usually shoot for a 16 hour fast. Sometimes it ends up shorter but more often it stretches out a little longer. I try to be relaxed about it. The whole reason I am doing it is because it makes me feel in control. So if I let the schedule control me I start to lose that feeling. 
 

I am 46 years old and have just had it with dieting and restricting certain food groups. I’m just not willing to give up certain groups or tell my dd I can’t enjoy some new recipe she tried. So IF works for me. I simply can’t consume the number of calories I normally would if I only eat eight or even six hours a day. I still try to make healthy choices but nothing is totally forbidden. 
 

My biggest hurdle was dropping breakfast. I drink my coffee black so that was easy but I had for several years enjoyed some kind of protein bar with my coffee in the morning. It was so hard to break that habit. But once I did, the rest has been easier. 
 

I find my eating window moving later and later. I am much more motivated and productive in the morning so it is easy to stay busy and resist temptation. But come 9:00 pm I really want to sit on my butt and eat some cheese its. So shifting my eating window later let’s me do that late night snack without “failing”.  I don’t do it every night but if I do, it isn’t like my whole day of good eating is ruined. 

I am not weighing myself at this time but I know from years of tracking food and counting points that I am eating a lot less and I like the feeling of being in control and being able to wait to eat. So overall, it feels like a healthy approach to me. Hoping I can stick with it. I know from past periods of IF that sticking with it is way easier than getting started.  So now that I am back on it I am trying to keep it up.

Anyone else want to chat?
 

 

Dropping breakfast in favor of a mid-late smoothie was a breeze after a few weeks.  That 4:00 sugar crave? WHOLE different ball of wax!  I keep frozen berries near and dear.  They save me from cheating.  I also have to go to bed early before I get "second supper" cravings.  LOL!

[BlsdMama]

28 minutes ago, kand said:

That feeling of being “in control” can be very addictive and flips a switch in the brain that releases dopamine in people who are predisposed. If you don’t have a predisposition to an eating disorder, you can probably get away with it fine, but I think most people don’t know until it happens to them.

 

I just want to add an aside that this is generally done for significant health changes and/or reasons.  I'd never fasted in my life until almost two years ago when I began the Wahl Protocol for health reasons.  I think perhaps these are two different categories of women? While it is wise to recognize if you love control, and I think the warning is definitely warranted, more people should fast because of the positive health benefits and it is contrary to our ideas of eating which tend to be grossly unhealthy.

[HS Mom in NC]

I'm someone naturally inclined to skip breakfast, so 8pm-noon works for me, but I'll remind people that if you really need breakfast, you can fast a different set of 8 hours for a 16 hour IF.  Or you could just be someone who needs no more than 12 hours fasting, or whatever. Just don't forget that hunger isn't your stomach saying, "I'm empty, throw anything edible in." It's your cells saying, "We need a variety of specific nutrients."

So if you're struggling with cravings, remember that increasing the nutrient density of the foods you do eat + reducing sugar (sugar triggers hunger for most people.)  I had to reduce sugar and increase higher nutrient foods like legumes, unsalted nuts, complex carbs, quality fats, meats, full fat dairy,  high fiber, and raw veggies to keep my cravings down low.  In other words, it's not just what you take out, it's what you put in its place that makes a big difference.

I don't count calories, I focus on buying and eating quality foods in my eating window and shrugging off those occasional days I don't.

I just started the Cook Once, Eat All Week meal plan to reduce time and money spent on meals-it's very dietary flexible.  I also try to make sure I'm prepping snacks for  the week and tell myself I can have whatever I choose and when I want to eat junk I choose to eat the healthy snack first and wait a a little while; if I still want junk I have it after the healthy snack so I'm less likely to eat a large quantity of it.

[Cecropia]

I have tried intermittent fasting solely to try to help with my digestive issues (not weight loss - I will be underweight if I lose much more).  The problem is that I have a tendency to overeat at the fewer meals, which is counterproductive for those digestive issues.  Most of the time I don't even realize I've eaten too much until I'm past that threshold... I'm still SO HUNGRY looking at the emptied plate and can't help going back for "a little" more.  I know there is an underlying fear that if I don't eat enough, I will continue to lose weight.  My eating window also slides later and later, especially because I need to leave several hours between meals for digestion.  If I get caught up in morning stuff and don't get to my first meal until after 2pm (finishing at 3), I can't start my second meal until 8pm.  Meals take a while because I have to chew them well, etc. -- and then I have to wait so many hours between the last meal and bedtime, which can put off bedtime...  I've also noticed that when I throw all my eating rules away for rare special days like Thanksgiving, I will binge so badly if I am not extra careful!  So in a way I understand your point about control, because there is a lot that I feel like I control in IF, but at the same time it can easily get away from me, and suddenly the schedule/process is controlling me more than I am controlling it.  I will also say: personally I would not follow IF as a long-term lifestyle if I were free of these health issues.  But everyone is different, and you may be very successful with keeping on track and making it work for you!