Hi, I’ve recently gotten into IF and got really invested in it, so much so that i reccomended it to my parents, who are on their early 50s. They are a bit skeptical about diets (even tho IF isn’t one, i know), but I’ve managed to convice them to try it out, now at first they promised they were going to do a 16/8 to try and lose fat, but now they were more interested in a 14/10. I thought IF worked either way, so i let them do it, but now i read a couple of articles saying it isn’t enough to lose weight. Is it true? does anyone here did a 14/10 and seen any improvement?
It worked for me at first. Lost 8 lbs, plateaued, then transitioned to 16:8, into which I would not have been able to directly jump before. Every bit helps, marathon not a sprint, etc. Go for it mom and dad!
There are a lot of variables, like what is their current eating habits, do they eat late at night, their activity levels etc.
That being said, a 14/10 does help in bringing about some benefits. My parents have started off with 14/10 for a month, saw marginal weight loss but considerable improvements in gut health and their sleep. It’s been a month and now they are keen on trying 16/8. Mom has diabetes and has seen stability in her blood sugars that have been very evasive since she got COVID last year. For reference Dad is 64 and Mom 57.
My suggestion would be to let them start where they are comfortable and then take it a step at a time.
From personal experience, 14/10 is good if you tend to eat snacks after dinner at night or early morning. For me, IF works because it forces me to be conscious of any snacking when I don’t need to be eating. Even when I’m not fasting, my normal eating schedule is very close to 14:10 besides random snacking so I dont see it as practical for myself. However, for someone getting started, it’s great to build discipline towards what you’re supposed to NOT do in the 14 hours.
Completely depends on your lifestyle like anything else here. 14/10 does nothing for me because I typically eat within a 10 hour window anyway (no breakfast on a normal day).
If you typically eat breakfast or snack throughout the morning/late at night it might be great for you.
Depends on whether going to 14/10 would eliminate snacking that’s pushing them over their energy requirements. If they’re not snacking, but eating big meals and not being active, then it probably won’t be effective.