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@DesertDreams88: @bhbee: makes sense. I think i'll be fine with the 16 hr after I adjust. The 15 hrs didn't seem too bad and I'm just starting. I do think tomorrow and the next day are going to be the hardest for me though..but I'm going to try to stick to it!!
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@Ajsmommy: chug water for sure! That makes a big difference for me.
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@Ajsmommy: yeah it's def an adjustment period. I usually fast 16-18 hours and can do a 20 if I want, but over break I didn't fast (didn't care) and so this week has been a bit tougher
but manageable, and a good exercise in self-discipline.
Ultimately, it's so nice to not feel hungry all the time and be constantly eating every 3 hours or so. -
@Ajsmommy: this kind of chart is often shared; though it isn't exactly the same for all people - in general, amount of weight and length of history fasting would affect it. So, for example, since I'm at "maintenance weight" and regularly fast, my body doesn't have as much to burn, so it kicks into autophagy quicker. autophagy is basically burning up the extra fat stores / glycogen in the body and "decluttering" at the cellular level.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/1c/23/981c2398540bfb58207a5de3ea5a4a67.jpg
FWIW, I think 16 hours is a mangable "sweet spot" for a lot of people - enough to create lasting effects, but not so restrictive that people give up.
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@bhbee: That's great! I've felt awesome the days I could do a longer fast.
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I’m thinking about this, but I feel nauseous when I don’t eat in the morning, it happened today, and it churns my stomach/ makes me want to throw up to drink anything when it’s totally empty. I didn’t eat after 6 pm last night and had to eat a little at 8 am so I didn’t throw up...or I felt like I was going to.
Thoughts? I’m also breastfeeding, but this is my third kid and the weight isn’t shifting at all and I’m frustrated so I’d like to give my body a kick.
I have been following this thread with interest! Thanks.
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I was able to make it 15.5 hr fast today....
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@Petitduck: you could trying an earlier/longer window, like 8am-6pm, and then see if you could push either of those times by an hour or more. It takes a bit of time (a week, in my experience) for the body to adjust. Maybe you would even lose that nauseous-morning feeling!
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@DesertDreams88: so is it still worthwhile do you think even if it’s only 14-10? That’s how I was going to start anyway. I’m up for the day at 5 usually. And I stay at home and am a snacker instead of a meal eater until dinner usually.
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@Petitduck: I have a really hard time not eating in the morning, so I do an early window (usually 7-3 or 6:30-2:30) during the week and then more like 8-6 on weekends. I don’t mind skipping dinner during the week because I feed the kids before dh gets home anyway - on the weekends we eat as a family. Don’t know if something like that is an option for you.
I was able to do it nursing, but she was over a year so it wasn’t a ton. I know they say to be careful about pushing the window too much if you’re nursing more. -
@bhbee: unfortunately dinner is the only meal we eat as a family so I definitely want to eat then. I’m also usually quite hungry in the mornings so I don’t know if this will work for me at all.
Yes, I’m sort of thinking about it just to clean up my eating habits a little, but don’t want to be super strict yet because I’m only 5 months pp. this just seemed easier than some kind of diet. The food I’m eating isn’t horrible, but I’m just snacking a lot and doing it before bed as well.
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@Petitduck: I think you could definitely see results from doing 8-6! what I've read is that anything over 12 hours is beneficial. At first my goal was just to cut out the mindless snacking I did after the kids went to bed and I think that alone was helpful.
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@bhbee: great! That should be doable for now I think. I’d like to see if it makes any difference anyway.
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@Petitduck: yes, I think it's 10-14 is a good starting point.
I forgot to type though, IF is not recommended for breastfeeding, as it could endanger your supply. Some women here do it but I think their babies are older. You do you, though.
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This thread has inspired me! DH and I are going to start IF today doing 16:8 with an 11 am - 7 pm window. I don't typically eat breakfast anyway and have been trying to wean myself off of cream and sugar in my coffee so this is good motivation to do just that.
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@DesertDreams88: yes, I have seen that. I’m not going to do very long fasting at this point anyway, so it’s just tacking on an extra hour or two to what I would have after dinner if I didn’t snack (I’m not snacking due to hunger after dinner) and with sleep time anyway. So mainly just cutting that before bed snacking until I’m done breastfeeding will be my goal really.
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@bhbee: @crazydoglady: Thanks for the encouragement. I'm on day three here. Night #2 was a little difficult! I caved and have 5 saltine crackers when I came back down stairs to clean up the kitchen. I think I can stay away from the fridge at night, that will help me! Why do I love night time snacking so much!?! I'm going to try to participate more on this thread as I go a little more into this.
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@Petitduck: Have you typically been an after dinner snacker?
ETA; Just saw a different reply to see you are a nighttime snacker. So, I think the biggest change for me isn't the skipping breakfast, but the not eating after dinner. I was eating so much, it was like my "reward" for surviving the day and my first time being alone in 24 hours. I would just do a 12 hour fast. You might not get a big kick from the fasting aspect, but just cutting out those nighttime calories. As your baby gets older, maybe experiment with making it a longer fast?
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@Ajsmommy: That's so great! How are you feeling?
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@Bluemasonjar: Oh, yay! I think you will like this. As far as coffee goes, I bring a huge thing of black coffee with me to work and drink it until I open my window 16 hours later and add some half and half. It works great...and this is from someone who could NEVER EVER drink coffee black.
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@crazydoglady: I’m an all day snacker. Haha. I love food and I think about it a lot, but I’m pretty tired lately that I mainly live on hummus and crackers these days and don’t eat a lot of much else. I’m working on being better with my/ our veggie intake as a family. Being vegan for breastfeeding is helping cut out some bad foods and I may make it a permanent change.
That is one of the reasons I often eat at the end of the day, for those same reasons. I survived a stressful day and don’t need to share anything with a little person.
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@agold: @Petitduck: I was also totally guilty of “rewarding” myself with food in the evening, especially post #3, but I have to say once I got over the hump I don’t miss it. I also used to really like a diet soda then, but of course that’s a no for a clean fast. I think you can learn to transition to say reading or mindless screen time or something else as a reward.
I do still use food for that reason some ... but only in the window. Following the “delay don’t deny” idea if I really want something, I will eat it the next day. Sometimes I forget by then or don’t care, and sometimes I hide from the kids to eat it by myself in the window
- all my bad habits are definitely not gone but IF makes my body more forgiving of them I think, and on average improves my habits.
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@bhbee: Me 100%! I still eat emotionally sometimes, but it is so much more reigned in.
Aside, but I feel like the whole appetite correction has worn off? Haha. I don't really get hungry outside of my window, but I do during. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's just different than when I first started where I could eat very little and be full. -
I just want to chime in that many people fast while drinking diet soda. Diet soda has no calories, and studies have shown that it doesn’t cause your insulin to spike, so while it isn’t as healthy as water, it shouldn’t break your fast.
One caveat: The only time artificial sweeteners will spike insulin is if they are mixed with declumping agents, which have carbs. Powdered artificial sweeteners (Sweet n Low, Splenda, etc.) add malodextrin to their powders, so they do contain calories and carbs and will spike insulin. Note that at Chick-Fil-A, for example, they make their diet lemonade in-house using Splenda powder, so you should never drink their diet lemonade if you are diabetic or on keto. Alternatively, the liquid Splenda Zero you can buy at grocery stores is fine. Liquid artificial sweeteners do not have this effect on insulin.
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@Hypatia: you can definitely approach it different ways, but I’ve personally had the most success following the gin Stephens approach to clean fasting which I think is pretty strict. I think I probably also have an association between diet soda and snacking so that’s a separate issue for me.
http://www.ginstephens.com/all-blog-posts/category/clean-fast
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@crazydoglady: agree I definitely find the appetite waxes and wanes or something ... I don’t know if it’s hormones or a reflection of what I’m eating during the window or what. I’ve been hungrier lately and I blame it on eating more sugar etc as a result of the holidays (and it’s still going on here since we have two kid bdays in January!)
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@bhbee: I am glad to hear I am not alone! I've also become much more relaxed about my window, in that I am not exactly clock watching as much. I try to end my window at the end of an hour or half hour just for simplicity sake but sometimes it's 6:30, sometimes 7. Then, I let myself have half and half a little earlier like 10 or so. I don't even really know if it's exactly 16 hours, but I figure it is better for this to feel natural and be sustainable than be precise. I do feel like my clothes are getting loose!
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@Petitduck: welcome and good luck. I just started IF this week and so far so good. I, like you, have dinner with my kids and DH (if he's home) so I def wanted to keep my window open at that time. I do occasionally get sick feeling in the morning if I don't eat but I can usually drink some water and that helps... so I have decided to have my eating window be 10a-6p
The first 2 days i didn't quite make it. I ate after 6 the first night bc dinner ran late and then the next morning i couldn't hold out until 10.. then the next day i couldn't make it to 10 am but got to 950 am....
today i was able to make it!
I'm still adjusting and getting used to this but I do think it's something i can sustain.
And good news also, i am already down 1 lb and I feel less bloated.
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@crazydoglady: Thanks.. I am feeling good. I was down 1lb this am and was able to go the full 16 hrs of fasting. I also feel less bloated.
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@Ajsmommy: That's great! It's funny how much of our hunger is "programmed."
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@Bluemasonjar: welcome. How is it going? That's great and you and DH are doing it together.. my dh is doing it but his window is way different than mine so it doesn't feel like we're in this together so much...
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Alright, posting to get myself some accountability. I got off my holiday couple of pounds without issue but now it’s mid January and they are back ... with friends. I canNOT let this happen after putting in the work in the fall. I think there are two things going on:
1) sugar has always been my kryptonite and I’ve been making a lot of bad choices (even if in the window) with the multitude of leftover holiday treats and kid birthday treats and such, which only begets more sugar cravings. I had been leaving treats alone in the fall, but no more. So I think from here on, I’m going to try to skip sugary things except for the actual bday celebrations left. I need to break the cycle and then I know I won’t even miss it.
2) I think weaning has had a definite effect. I wasn’t even nursing much, but it must have been propping up my metabolism, so I need to adjust to eating a bit less. I knew this was coming ... so, my plan is to try to eat intuitively in the window and do some 18 hour fasts on weekdays. I did that yesterday and it was no problem. When nursing I had to plan to eat more to not be starving during the fast, guessing those days are over. I’ve also been a sloth this week since DS has flu so we can’t do anything (and I’m sick with something too).
My goal at this point is to finish January back at my lowest and then work from there before vacation.
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@bhbee: I hear ya! I finally god rid of the holiday pounds and am at my lowest weight since starting IF, but my sugar cravings have been nuts. My suggestion is to get rid of the stuff lingering around the house. Still eat sweets (going out for ice cream etc,) but get rid of the stuff that you eat because it's there.
Also, I know it can be easy to panic, but try to not let a restrictive mindset kick in. There is going to be fluctuations as you wean, but it will all settle down. You are doing such a fantastic job making this work for you and just a tweak or two will be all you need to keep losing at a healthy (physically and mentally) rate.
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@Ajsmommy: It is going well so far! The hardest days were over the weekend because we usually make a big breakfast as a family at least 1 of the days. My DS kept asking why we weren't eating anything besides coffee. I talked to DH and we are going to try and shift our window at least 1 day over the weekend so we can keep up our family tradition.
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@crazydoglady: yes, you are right - I think that’s part of why the sugar thing gets to me, not just physical cravings or pounds, but it also gets me into the negative mental cycle where I just feel bad about myself. When I’m making pretty good choices, not necessarily restrictive but that make me feel good physically, then I’m much less worried about numbers and there’s less negativity in my mind. I’ve wasted way too much of my life hating my body.
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@bhbee I saw this quote and thought it was really inspirational!
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@Bluemasonjar: I agree the weekend was weird for me as well. it was my first weekend doing IF and it was just odd to not eat w my kids. They didn't really notice though. I was thinking maybe (like you said) i'd move my window on one of the weekend days.. but I'm not sure
As for me my week went all haywire on my way home from work Monday at 430 pm I got into a car accident. Needless to say by the time the tow truck came and my husband picked up the kids from daycare/after school and my mom (who'd flown in earlier that day) and they got to me my window was closed but I ate dinner anyway... Then I stayed home the tues to deal with insurance and rental car stuff and was back to work all day yesterday and feeling sore. Soooo I did try to stick to IF but honestly it has just been a bad week. I'm not stepping on the scale for a while!!!
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@Ajsmommy: I'm so sorry about your car accident! I hope you are feeling okay. can you please tell me... when you shift your window one day, do you change all of the surrounding days to accommodate it. I can't really figure out how to stick to the intermittent fasting window and also change the window of one day so I can, say, have orange juice and eggs on Saturday morning like i used to love to do.
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@agold: As long as you keep your window the same duration, it doesn't really matter. So, let's say you do the following:
Friday-- eating window 12:00pm- 8pm (fast for 16 hours)
Saturday-- eating window 9:00am-5pm (fast for 13 hours)
Sunday --eating window 12:00pm-8pm (fast for 19 hours)You are still fasting an average of 16 hours, you've just moved them. The only disadvantage of moving your eating window (as far as I can tell) is that it can mess up your "hunger clock" and make you hungrier during times your normally fast, but I think it's totally worth it to be able to be flexible and live your life.
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@Bluemasonjar: We do breakfast but just move it a couple of hours. So, the kids have breakfast for lunch and we break our fast with pancakes, bacon, etc.
but manageable, and a good exercise in self-discipline.
- all my bad habits are definitely not gone but IF makes my body more forgiving of them I think, and on average improves my habits.
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