Do most people continue IF once they reach their goals, less frequent, or completely stop? I personally do it for the health benefit and only occasionally.
I hit my weight goal a while ago and continued OMAD for other health benefits. This is going to be a lifelong practice for me. It’s also very convenient to eat once a day, way less time consuming.
Edit because it’s worth to mention that I did stop fasting for about a month, it sucked. Never stopping that long again. My mental health went down the drain. Fasting really helps with depression.
That being said, I can definitely be flexible, like I was on a 4 day vacation recently and didn’t fast at all during that time, but now back at it.
I’m still doing it (more or less). I went way beyond my goal weight….started at 200 and wanted to hit 165. I currently weigh 135. I do splurge sometimes and snack more than I did before, but I cut back when necessary. Stopping IF completely would cause me to revert back to my old ways.
I plan to keep it up if I continue to have a schedule similar to mine.
I’ve done a bunch of different schedules, from the ‘OMAD’ plan to the ‘lots of little meals on a schedule’ plan and the ‘intermittent fasting’ plan and the only one that provides me with weight loss, satiety, and predictability, is IF.
The one thing I cannot do is lunch at work. I work hourly currently, not salaried. Being hungry at work is distracting, and eating at work is expensive, unsatisfying, caloric, and a huge time sink. If I get my work done early I can go home early, usually. Being hungry and then eating at work is a miserable, miserable experience.
I think I am happiest when I have a light breakfast or light lunch in addition to a normal-sized dinner. My definition of light is like one of those 120 calorie TJ icelandic yogurts along with my black coffee. Feels good, doesn’t make me hungry throughout the day, but I can also just skip it entirely and not notice the difference.
There’s certainly some compelling arguments for continuing the practice. I don’t know if there’s research on what choice most people who reach their goal weight make.
Most likely I will go 16:8 rather than 20:4, also stop the 48 fast per week I do, maybe once a month, and run 3 times a week rather than 5. But if I feel it making me put weight again I’ll adjust each of the above one by one until I realise which combo works best. Like realise need to run 4 times than 3 etc
57M, 6’1”, 270lb SW (Apr-2022), 210lb GW, 205lb CW. I continued my IF (16:8, 2MAD) and exercise schedules after reaching my goal wt in August. During my more rapid wt loss stage I was also doing 88hr fasts about 2x/mo, did 9 total to lose 60 lbs. I am managing my health and fitness now just as actively and intentionally as when I was losing wt. Focused more on strength and cardio training gains, and keeping the wt around my target just by being aware to influence food choices. No calorie counting but predominantly nutritious food lots of protein, veg, fruit, nuts, some pasta, rice, very little baked goods or sweets. Alcohol infrequently in moderation. Large meals but strict on the 2MAD no snacking. Working well for me.