My concern are:
Some recognizable benefits:
I go out for a walk around 7 am. Since a week, I’ve started running too. And as a result, I feel like I have no energy after that & until I eat at 1 pm. I drink one black coffee (no sugar) before the walk and one a few minutes after the walk.
Btw the doctor told me to eat light in the fasting time but to not skip a meal. I’ve been going against the doctor’s recommendation on this.
I’m 27/M. I tried IF once in 2020 & once in 2021. Gave up within a week both times.
Switch your eating time. There’s nothing wrong with eating a breakfast and making lunch your last meal. But even moreso, there is absolutely nothing wrong with skipping meals, or even skipping days of eating for that matter. What matters is what your body is accustomed to. You’ve done 16hr fasts, that’s great, but push it now. Do 18hr, 20hr, 24hr, omad. I’m to the point where I eat every other day and my health is improving each and every fast. Do your research and don’t listen to people who never skipped a meal in their life, they’re caught in our culture of consumption. You’ve begun to break away, just keep going!
Can you move your exercise time to noon? I personally don’t like to exercise in the morning because it makes me very hungry. Exercising right before you break your fast is also supposed to have some benefits.
Sounds like the benefits are outweighing your cons—maybe adjust your eating window? I do ~9am-3pm, eating my regular meals within that time, and find it much easier than when I would do 12pm-6pm. If I get hungry tea or water usually satisfies it and then I spend the brunt of the fast sleeping and can break the fast as soon as I wake up
I’ve been doing 16:8 for almost three years and I love it. I jog now too (got up to 5k this summer!). And bike, hike, etc. I don’t do any electrolytes or anything but make sure I’m drinking plenty of water. It was a struggle for the first few months before my body got used to it. I feel hungry before my fast is over too, but that’s normal. You should feel hungry before you eat.
If it’s difficult for you to skip dinner then you might have a different circadian rhythm and your master clock (a master clock in the brain coordinates all the biological clocks in a living thing, keeping the clocks in sync.) is simply operates directly. I am the same way, so I eat from 7pm to 2am. Been doing it for years and loving it. The beauty of IF that you get to make your own hours, Ive found that it doesn’t matter where in the 24 hours you put it, respectfully to other people in this tread, I eat substantial meal around 2am right before I go to bed, with no acid reflux/heaviness.
If this is starting to feel unsustainable, I recommend drinking some bone broth at 12, when you’re starting to feel hungry. Yes, it’s considered dirty fasting, but I find that it makes everything much more easy for me yo stick to when i need it and bone broth has a ton of nutrients and is low calorie. It is the difference for me that makes this diet feel more like a lifestyle and not just another restrictive crash diet. The goal should not be something where you feel like you are struggling daily.
Continue with 16:8 and start you fast at 8pm and end end at noon. If the the person giving the advice has not done IF, invite them to have a seat. People have fasted 1000s of years, the meal times are more ritual than matter of fact. If you are hungry, you’re not busy. Drink your water, black coffee or tea and don’t make eating the reward. IF gives more than it takes. In a year, if followed consistently, you will look and feel much different.