Dipping the toes in

Hello everyone, I'm a 33/m 290 lbs. didn't hear about intermittent fasting until last week and after reading the questions, seeing y'all transform yourselves is amazing. I'm ready to try this out and take control of my life and plan to do 16:8. I've already started flirting with not eating in the 16 hour deal over the last few days and it hasn't been terrible. That being said I have some hurdles to overcome that I would like some help with. I work on call and my hours of work vary so there will be times I work nights and two days later I could be working during the day. How much does it matter that I stick to the same time everyday for feeding windows and fasting. My idea was I would keep my fasting time at 16 hours and extend it when I have to get sleep at odd times and then just start my feeding window when I woke up and Continue that cycle, so in my mind there will be times I may go longer than 16 hours but that should be ok right? Also in your eating window is it acceptable to eat throughout your window like every couple hours during that time, or is it recommended to eat bigger meals, I also understand part of this is keeping a calorie deficit Im unsure if it's more beneficial to get most of your nutrition at once or spread out through the window? Any advice, tips and tricks welcome. Thank you all and I'm excited to start this journey!

Answer

As for the schedule, you make it work for you and your lifestyle. So you don’t have to do the same timing every day. Ideally, being consistent is good and has benefits, but you have to do it based on your timing.

And at your current weight, the number of calories you eat will be more important than when you eat them. You probably don’t need much more than 2000 calories a day, but check a tdee calculator like https://tdeecalculator.net and aim to eat under your resting/maintenance number.

Answer

Your idea on scheduling makes sense. The main thing is to get 16 consecutive hours of fasting between each eating window. If you’re okay with sometimes going more than 16, then extending it when you need to sleep at odd times should work. (Caveat: Some people find longer fasts to be a lot harder, so listen to your body.)

In your eating window, it’s generally recommended to eat defined meals (even if some are small) rather than snacking throughout. This is so that your insulin doesn’t stay sky-high throughout the entire eating window — and to help maintain a calorie deficit (it’s easy to overeat with lots of snacks). Some people eat two meals on 16:8; some eat three smaller meals, or two meals plus one defined “snack”, or one larger meal and one “snack.” It’s totally up to you. There is no universal best way.

As for what to eat: My general recommendation is to go heavy on protein and vegetables, include healthy fats, and go light on starches. You don’t have to cut out carbs, but do cut back on them. Try to avoid processed foods and sweets. If you drink alcohol, cut way back (I have 1-2 drinks a week).

Why: Eating lots of starches, sweets, and alcohol will leave you feeling hungrier during your fasting window. Protein, veggies, and healthy fats will stick with you better.

I highly recommend Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Obesity Code to understand much more about the “why” behind a lot of this stuff.

Answer

During the 8 hours I usually tried to limit myself to two big meals without any snacks in between. I don’t know if that makes a difference but it helped me to just stay away from snacksBest of luck, starting is the most important step. And it seems you are on a good way already.