I’m fairly new to strict IF (16:8, but i did 12:12 for a few months and slowly worked my way to 16:8) and I’ve noticed that I do not get bloated like I used to at all. Even the first few days it was such a stark difference. I also am noticing it’s repairing my relationship with food. Something about IF has made me really understand that food is fuel, and that my obsessions over it only led to heavy binge/restrict cycles that made consistent weight loss impossible. Because I only have the 8 hours to eat, I put a lot more thought into what I eat and enjoy the food a lot more.
What about you?
I’ve almost completely lost cravings. It’s so much easier to go grocery shopping because I’m not tempted by chips, cookies, desserts. I always shop fasted now. I’m saving significant money at the grocery store compared to pre-IF.
Being successful with IF has also motivated me to make other changes in my life. I now make an effort to get my 10,000 steps, to work out, to eat more nutritious foods. I just feel better, physically and mentally.
Normalized my schedule. Used to be “I eat when I’m hungry”, with IF you have to eat on schedule. With time, my body adjusted and start to want food on schedule which was awesome. I also went to the gym 1.5 hours after the first meal, so I got fixed time of the day for food, fitness. Better sleep schedule followed, and then my daily routine just became a lot more organized
Damn, I actually miss IF…
I’m retraining myself out of emotional eating. Because I don’t want to break my fast, I slow down enough to break the automatic “stress = eat” reaction. I get a chance to actually pay attention to the emotion I’m feeling, and decide a better way to deal with it vs. trying to numb it with food.
A lot of the benefits you listed are similar to mine! I’m more mindful of what I’m eating, yet I don’t feel so restricted like I did with calorie counting. I’ve also learned to distinguish between being hungry and just wanting to eat out of boredom or stress.
Saving money on buying lunch at work is a big one. I feel like I consistently have a little more spending money from not eating out or having to buy stuff to make lunches and breakfasts from the grocery store.
I’ve been doing IF for about 6 weeks and it’s been a lot of changes! I have more enegy, but not always in useful ways. Fits and starts, for example, and I had trouble sleeping for a while. It hasn’t all been positive, but it is helping me achieve my goals and I can tell I’m getting healthier. No more bloating and just less focus on food overall. I lost the face pudge right away.
Better sleep, more energy and focus, not being preoccupied with food all day, less digestive issues, less inflammation, mentally linking nutrition to how it makes my body feel (i.e. if I choose empty carbs, I feel lower energy and less satisfied) but still feeling ok with making those choices without feeling like I am backsliding and beating myself up, my skin is glowing, easier meal prep and grocery runs (clean omad most days), more confidence overall, and better bloodwork levels.
I used to have a really bad habit of late night eating and usually snacking in the middle of the night… literally waking up at 3 AM, going downstairs and bringing something back to bed to eat. I’d always wake up in the morning with a stomach ache, feeling extremely bloated and uncomfortable, sometimes having diarrhea. Since starting 16:8, because I don’t want to break my fast, I stop eating at 8:30 PM, and it just clicked for me. I wake up in the morning not bloated at all, feeling so much better. It’s made me be a less snack-y person. Plus a bonus is my husband doesn’t get woken up in the middle of the night to the rustling of wrappers 😅 Stopping to eat at 8:30 PM is now just the norm for me, which I never thought would be!