I started the 16:8 IF as a part of a no carb diet for gastrointestinal reasons, so not for weight loss. I guess I’m puzzled by the 16-hour no-food window. With dinner at 6pm, I can make it to 8am comfortably but that last 2 hours to 10am I’m finding hard. Is there any actual science behind the 16 hours? Does it really make a difference to the GI system if I have a banana or an egg at the 14-hour mark?
Again, I’m not doing this for weight loss and it seems like I’m unnecessarily stressing myself trying to meet the 16-hour window.
If you have just started and are struggling, stay with 14:10. When you get used to fasting, you can gradually wider your fasting window. You can also help yourself by sipping one cup of homemade bone broth in the morning. You don’t have pressure of losing weight, and this should help.
Try adding electrolytes to your routine, which you can do as part of your daily meals by choosing the right foods, or with intentional supplements. I’m not a dietician, but at least for me it really helps, especially as many of the symptoms we often associate with hunger can come from electrolyte imbalances and deficiencies. My longest fast was 42 hours.
We don’t know the exact science of these things. But my thinking is that you will get more benefits from a 16:8 fast - each hour of a fast is not created equal, hour 16 of a fast obviously does a lot more than hour 1.
That said fasting for 14 hours is good. It’s something that the body gets used to, so if you do 14 hours for a while 16, 20, etc. should become easier.
Another thing you can do on a low-carb diet is break your fast with something that is pure fat - like some whipping cream (just the cream in a carton, not sugary whipping cream from a spray can) or butter in your coffee.
The body reacts differently to each of the three macronutrients (fat, protein, carbs), so eating pure fat you can stay in ketosis - the idea of the keto diet is getting most of your calories from fat. Again I don’t think the exact science isn’t know here, so this is a little speculative..
I found getting enough fat & protein (not sure if that works with the way you need to eat though?) with dinner was the trick for me. Without those (or too many carbs…I don’t do low carb though) and I’m ravenous in the morning. I watch those and a breeze going from 6pm to 12pm