I’m new too this sub so apologies in advance if this has been discussed ad nauseam. My weight is out of control. I’m a 52yr old male. Have only heard about intermittent fasting. Not sure where to start. I’ve looked at several apps, Noom, simple, and a couple others but don’t know what to use or where to start. Thx for any help or advice.
The advantage of IF over a diet is that it is a lifestyle change. You don’t need to buy anything. You can start tomorrow by simply having your first meal later and shorten your eating window accordingly. A popular choice is 16 hrs fasting, 8 hrs eating- 16:8. Set the time where it works best for you, either by personal preference, by office hours, by family meals etc. Ideally, don’t eat two or more hours before bedtime, and the first hour or more after getting up. My choice is fasting 7pm to 11am, but some days it varies a bit.
Some people do best if they first establish the fasting rhythm, before changing their diet. When you’re ready, keep your food at a deficit to achieve weight-loss. There are TDEE calculators.You don’t have to track if you can get it right without, but that’s not as easy as it sounds. By reducing carbs, and through fasting, you may find that it becomes easier, and cravings go down or away. Unless you restrict calories quite a bit, expect weight-loss to be slow. However, that’s how I think longterm success is likely for me.
Good luck! You can do it 🙂
I think it’s best to start with 72h fast to clear the digestive system. I picked the days where I could sleep most of the time ;) Then you just go for 8h eating window and 16h of fasting with one meal a day (OMAD). Any app with the timer will be alright. I had BodyFast (with green icon) and it did the job.
What you need is a timer, that’s kind of it. There are apps that are stylised for IF but they are just fancy timers, all the paid info is really available online for free (check out Autumn Bates’s YT channel, she’s got some great tips for IF)
You might also want some kind of success journal. I used Airtable, where I documented my progress every day. I’d take it out twice a day: morning and night. In the morning, I put my weight and sleep (hours/quality), then before going to sleep, I put how many hours I fasted (16/18/20/OMAD), what I ate (low/high carb, low/high calorie), how much I walked/worked out, how was my mood. It takes a minute a day but now I can look back and see my entire journey
The third app I used was just a native Samsung Health app to document food intake and workouts in more detail. I don’t think it’s necessary tbh, a simple spreadsheet without much detail was enough for me
Honestly, there isn’t much to learn about IF, you pick a fixed 8-hour-long window and just don’t eat outside of these daily windows. Start with that and learn while fasting. Good luck!