I tried Googling this but Google didn’t get me. I always fast between 18-21 hours, and almost never break my fast early, but sometimes, due to schedule conflict/feeding my family, I start my fast an hour or two (or three) late. So my eating window is extended. I don’t really eat more in terms of snacking, just have late meals. So basically I always fast, but the times change every day. Will this affect my results?
If you think about it in terms of our history… when we were hunters/gatherers, we didn’t use clocks to time our meals by the hour, we just ate when there was fresh food available - which was once or maybe twice in a short period. I think as long as your fasting window is longer than your eating window, and you aren’t overeating during your meals, you should be good :) 18-21 hours sounds like a great IF length!
I honestly just do whatever I want with starts. I focus only on the hours off. So usually I aim to start fasting at 6:30 but sometimes it’s not until 7:30 or 8 or sometimes if I screw up and have a snack at 9 then I will just begin my fasting clock. As long as I’m taking at least 16 hours off I feel like I’m doing what I need to do. So that means sometimes my eating window is a little larger but I’m not too stressed about it.
For me it’s the only way to be sustainable and flexible.
I don’t have a set schedule either. I’m almost 9 weeks in and I make sure to get at least 16 hours but once I hit 16 I eat whenever I’m ready. I’ve read alot about not keeping a set schedule to keep your body adjusting throughout so I look at it as a good thing. I seem to fast longer this way as well which makes me feel more successful without even trying. Someone wrote awhile back that a fast doesn’t need to start at exactly 8pm every night. That it’s about how long you fast and longer is always better. So once you hit your minimum hours each day then stop whenever it fits for your body. I also feel by not waiting until an exact hour I eat less. When I first started I had a time and noticed I grabbed an extra snack just because I was still within my eating window. Now I just hit fast on my app when I’m ready and I seem to be fasting most days 20+ hours without even trying.