Does it matter if I fast til different times everyday? For example sometimes 16/8, sometimes 12/12, sometimes 20/4. Do I get the benefits for HGH still? What are your thoughts?
HGH is on the opposite side from insulin so if you have insulin, you won’t be making the HGH. rule of thumb is 16 hours for insulin to completely drop to baseline where the other stuff kicks in. If you eat a bunch of refined carbs it takes longer, if you eat no carbs you barely get an insulin bump so if you need to mix in a 12/12 try to avoid carbs will help. It is not an exact science, diet, activity, time of the day even matter with your circadian rhythm. Just try to be consistent.
It doesn’t necessarily matter unless you are pairing some of those longer days with other actions…..though if you are new to this, building the initial habit of fasting will be easier if you do it on a schedule. Make your routine a routine and leave out as much chaos as you can.
My understanding (which may be wrong) is that you need to leave enough time between “fed states” (the time it takes to eat and digest, which depending on food can be 3–10 hours) for your insulin to return to normal. Only when you’re in the “fasting state” do hormones really kick up and start doing good things.
But you need to balance that understanding with real life and realize you may not have the same opportunities every day. A schedule will help maximize the time you spend in a fasted state, but any time in a fasted state is good.
Just don’t give up if your schedule gets out of whack for a few days.