I’ve been intermittent fasting now for about a year and a half . Mostly 18/6 or 19/5. Sometimes at the weekend I’ll do a much shorter fast every so often. I didn’t have much weight to lose ( 5-7lbs) as have always been into fitness and have a healthy lifestyle. I would say I’ve only lost 2lbs on the scale but have noticed body recomp which is great. I also feel more clearer and just better in myself but lately I seem to have digressed. My problem is once I start eating I can’t stop. I just crave more. That’s one of the reasons why IF has been great as it shortens my eating window. I have tried having a shorter window so I don’t get as hungry but it just means I eat for longer. I read so many people say how it’s decreased their hunger but why not for me? I really want to just have 2 meals a day but I seem to snack the whole way through form one to the next. I do eat carbs ( steel cut oats, wholemeal bread roll once a day) fruit….. do you think this could be why I am craving more ? If I cut them out I feel I have less energy. Any advice would be much appreciated !
I can’t help, but I can relate.
I’m good at not eating when I’m on the fast. I’m good at making the times. I’m good at fighting off hunger until it’s time to eat. I’m really good at the hard stop and I can sit in a room where everybody else has cookies and cake and I have water. I can smell the cookies and laugh. I have no issues with any of that.
Like you, when the window comes open, it’s hard not to just rock out, and it’s hard not to eat and snack for the full five hours. Well, the first four anyway. The fifth one, then you’re stuck, because you know you need a proper dinner.
I don’t have any answers, besides “stop it.” I’m just here for solidarity .
Check out the book Appetite Control. It’s by the guy who wrote Fast Five, but it goes into a lot of different factors not just eating window time that can affect your appetite. For example, sleep habits and stress levels can make a big difference.
You might try watching how you eat, try not to eat anything sweet until the very end of your eating period as to not spike your glucose. Break your daily fast with some nuts (not roasted and salted so less binge-able).
Please share your weight, height and approximate intake calories. It appears you’re at a healthy weight or close enough, which combined with your physical activity could hint at your body genuinely requiring greater energy and/or nutrient intake.
Assuming that’s not it, your appetite is being spiked by your food choices and/or their order of ingestion (note the dynamic nature of the concept – you may initially, around the start of your meal / eating window, be feeling minimal desire to eat, yet, for a host of different reasons physical and/or psychological, transition to “ravenous” a mere few moments or bites later), so that’s what I’d try to optimize in your position. Find and prioritize foods that fill you up effectively, are not too tasty, and that otherwise simultaneously reduce prospective consumption rather than increase it. Also try to eat mindfully, in a distraction-free environment and with regular breaks (some water before or even during probably won’t hurt) so as to increase the chances of your bodily satiety cues being triggered before it’s too late.
Personally on OMAD I tend to shift carbs, especially rapidly absorbed ones such as bread and pasta, but also fruits because of their sweetness, closer to the end, intending to already be feeling “mildly stuffed” when their turn arrives. Typically I’ll have things like vegetables (emphasis on fiber and relatively modest glycemic index), eggs, meat and sources of fats first and only then move on to more subjectively palatable choices if any. If I’m still feeling hungry a solid hour later, I may “supplement” with a handful of nuts or some full-fat dairy.
I usually do 20-4. When I feel great about it I can go on a stretch of time with OMAD. Just to give you an exemple: I usually break my fast with a light late lunch (2-4pm) A protein smoothie, fruits, nuts, lentil soup, etc. I’ll have dinner around 6pm and I’ll snack at 7:30 to stop at 8pm, give or take, to get my 4h eating window. It’s not a problem to me. Unless you do OMAD, IF allows you an eating window. Eat during that window, according to your liking (seems like you eat super healthy already)
Like yesterday for me:
3pm- lentil soup, 1 orange
5pm- some crakers and cheese and 1 glass of red wine while prepping dinner
6:30pm- Meatpie and beet salad with 1/2 muffin for dessert