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What other lessons have you learnt about intermittent fasting?
A mistake I see on this sub a lot is beginners obsessing over the exact windows - chewing their fingernails over doing 17 hours instead of 18, or asking if the benefits of a 20 hour fast are superior to 18 hours, etc.
Whereas in reality, meal times differ from day to day and you need to get comfortable being a little bit flexible. The other day I got home late from training, so I ate dinner at 8pm. This mean that I broke my fast after 26 hours, and then the next day I had leftovers for dinner at 5pm - which meant I broke by fast after 21 hours. Then the next day I ate dinner at 6pm which was a 25 hour fast. Then the next day I had a lunch at work and ate at 1pm - which was a 19 hour fast, etc etc.
If you live alone and are happy being monk like and eating with a stopwatch - go for it. But the reality is most folks need to get comfortable having different fasting windows from day to day and learn not to sweat it.
If you fall off the IF bike one day, get your ass right back on and keep pedaling. It’s a marathon, not a sprint so don’t get down and beat yourself up if a mistake is made here or there…learn from them and move on.
Agree on all points. As someone who’s been IF for about a year now, I would add to point one:
Make sure your goals are realistic and attainable. And break them into chunks for those little psychological wins.
Example: My ultimate goal when I started was to lose 100-110 lbs. But, I broke that into roughly 20 lb chunks and would focus on that. My latest goal that I set in October at 265-267 lbs was to be 250 lbs by the 1st of the year. I came in at 249 lbs.
Bite-sized goals in service of the over-arching goal really help keep you motivated.
I’ve been doing IF for more than two years now, and I’ve lost roughly 10 kgs a year, I was 92kg in the beginning of 2021, I was at 69kg last week when I checked
Tips I gathered: take your time, take it gradually.
I spent the first six months doing 16h windows, probably still eating too much calories during these windows but it doesn’t matter, the beginning is about discipline.
Giving up my morning Chai tea (black tea boiled with sweetened milk), and tackling my night snacking. Night snacking was the hardest for me, I used to have like a whole night meal that I justified through bizarre dissociation, like imagining it’s not me eating but someone who actually had reasons to eat eggs and bacon at 3am. Not being able to control these impulses, just body going on autopilot and eating food: that’s called hyperphagya and it’s on the same board as anorexia/bulimia, except you don’t compensate (= puke it out), and you can’t control it either. It used to be an every night problem, now it maybe happens once or twice a month, if even that, and it’s absolutely IF discipline that took me out of it.
Get a window that works for you. I’m a night owl, but I can skip breakfast easily, so I used to have a 14h to 22h window (2pm to 10pm for the ampm people), so my last meal would not let me hungry at 4am when I’m still up and the snacking is calling
Take it slow, you’re building your body for the rest of your life, and building habits that have to last, so if you give up too much too soon too fast, it won’t hold
Nowadays I don’t feel hungry before 15-16h (3-4pm), and I try to have my last meal before 21h (9pm). I break my fast with a light whatever around 15-16h, and have a normal meal around 20h (8pm). I still use my IF tracking app because that’s part of the discipline, and do 18-20h long fasts easily, everyday. I would absolutely not have believed it 2 years ago
Only expand your windows when you are confortable in your current one, and you’re starting to slow down on the weight loss. Don’t do too much too fast, it’s not a race.
Be kind to yourself, even when you fail, even when you binge. The self-hatred doesn’t give strength, it only feeds into your bad habits and poor self-image, and it holds you back. You’ve eaten outside your window for no reason and now you feel like crap? Only keep in mind that next time you won’t do that, because next time you’ll be a new you that hasn’t failed their fast window yet, and you can work on that.
You have time. You have the whole rest of the week, month, to get back on track. It’s all about building habits.
One of mine is, don’t eat anything sweet first and last. I have a big, big sweet tooth, I can eat 3 desserts for 1 savory piece of food, and it’s absolutely part of the problem. So I won’t eat anything sweet to break my fast, always something with a bit of meat, then something sweet. And for the last, what, 3 months, I also don’t finish my window with something sweet, because the lingering taste always pushed me to think about food, and brushing my teeth to get rid of it didn’t help much (it can tho, so try it)
It’s all in your head. The bad habits, the discipline, the solution. All of it comes from your brain, and that’s where the work has to be the strictest and the hardest. Defining the problem, deciding on the solution.
I’ve lost more than 20kg that way, with huge thanks for this sub that I lurk for quite some times now, and I’m on my way to get to 60kg, I’m thinking I’ll get there next Christmas. If it’s before, we’ll good for me, but I don’t expect it. I’m not putting goals on myself, because goals are pressure and I don’t deal with that well. I also don’t exercise, I’d probably see results faster but sports is really not my thing and I don’t even entertain the idea outside of some “if I was a totally different person I’d absolutely go to the gym every week”, I do 20x2 minutes of walk a week with my physical therapist because he has opinions about my lack of back strength and general condition, but that’s it.
Be more stubborn than your brain, it only wants to reproduce (bad) habits because it’s easier. You’re the one in charge, not it.
Thanks to the ones who will have read that massive wall of words!
Although you did mention it, the biggest one for me is don’t over-eat during your eating window. I have also been fasting consistently for quite a long time. Despite this, I’ve had periods of weight gain due to excessive eating, poor food choices and alcohol consumption. What you eat when you break your fast still matters. In my experience, it’s everything.
It took me about a year to really get into a groove. The whole first year obsessing about my window. Now that I’ve got another year under my belt, it feels effortless. More awareness about whether I’m bored hungry vs. true hunger. Slow and steady wins the race!
It’s okay to take time to get into the grove of your personal eating window, but once you’ve had time to adjust, it should feel right. It should feel like something you can do long-term. (For example, I love my 20:4!!! But I really struggle with OMAD. Makes me feel desperate.) Longer is not necessarily better—it’s just longer.
My two additions:
Trying more than one thing at once is tough. Some people want to try IF and go all out with a new exercise program and also do keto all at the same time. These are all big changes and the more stress you put on yourself to make all of these big changes in my opinion, the less chances of any of them succeeding.
I don’t deny myself any one food. For me, IF itself was a big change and I was already eating less. Add in the exercise and having a bit of sugar here and there didn’t hamper from my weight loss at all. I definitely cut down on sugars and there are whole food groups or items I’ve removed completely from my diet, such as muffins or croissants, and many other bread items. But a little sugar here and there isn’t going to kill you if you’re doing everything else.
If you have anxiety issues, impulse control issues or ED, then please, please be careful. You might get overly conscious about CICO, worry if you are even eating enough - all this leading to binge eating and gradually worsening ED.
It’s okay to fail, the only important thing being that you get back up. And take care of your mental health.
Psychologically,I found it so much easier at the beginning to get through the fast by having whatever I was craving (in relative moderation) during the eating window . It was like a reward every day for the fast . After a few weeks I was satiated by smaller portions. About a month in I was in the swing of it and tried to eat “healthy “ on weekdays and “junk food” (cheeseburgers , fries , pizza) in moderation on the weekends. It worked for me .
Edit ; I’m sure the people who religiously keep track of calories and serving sizes have faster results. But, I (m52 sw-235 cw- 190) reached my goal weight in 6 months , maintained it for 7 months now and don’t really don’t have to think about it anymore. I.F. has become second nature to me . And that is the important thing - effortlessness
I was 66kg on Dec 31, 2022 and started my OMAD, 3 weeks into it now and I am 63kg. I am aiming for 55kg, I understand it is not weight loss, more of fat loss etc. but I want to understand if 63 to 55 would be a long journey or something that I will be close to with consistency?
“Start small with an intermittent fasting protocol you can keep and increase your fasting window gradually.” <- This is what I’m trying now after some limited success otherwise. Also tracking whether I did it each day.
Fluid control is also imperative. Do not sate hunger with excessive water intake. Try to limit to 2-3 litera of fluid and you meals are usually an addition liter. Over hydration can become a severe problem if you drink excessive water to cope with fasting.
Then Electrolytes, remember to stay on top of those every couple of days at least to keep your Ph and fluids right.
You can still get your 2k calories in and try to on 16:8-23:1 fasts and will notice radical weight-loss and health benefits. Simply skipping a 3rd meal gives the body time to process all the food and fluids.
Dedication is everything but it’s not a contest. If you breakfast just start again as it becomes a lifestyle like 16:8. I usually just skip early breakfast and enjoy lunch and dinner, I burn off excess water still eating about 2k a day or more sometimes. It’s not a strict diet but 16:8 or so became essential to my wellbeing, I always feel amazing.
*You may experience food sensitivity if you start prolonged fasts or monthly water fasts. Fast food is generally a no go do to bacteria. So learn to love cooking your own food instead of mystery meals and dicked up fast food.
Welcome to the 1,000 day club!
I learned that after doing it for that long myself, I didn’t really need it anymore as I felt like some of the ideas behind why I started had fully integrated into my routine. So, despite not having an “eating window” anymore, I am still getting lots of benefits.