I have tried 16:8, lasted less than a week. Tried 12:12 multiple times but crash and burn after 1 day. I keep thinking I should ease into it but that was the 12:12 and that has never stuck more than 2 days and I’ve done it now multiple times. A couple problems I have ran into:
Ok the meds, maybe see if you can take them a different time? If not take them as late as you can, and eat dinner at 4 when you get home. The late night snacking is a hard HABIT to break, but it can be done.
I basically am able to go all day at work without eating. I drink black coffee in morning, and a cup of green tea in early afternoon. I had to eat right when I get home. Rinse repeat.
It’s all habit, you have to break it.
Also, try keto, helps with the hunger because you satiate on fat.
Just heard someone in a podcast say- If having a hard time getting started, start with spacing meals out more and more over time. Then take a meal away etc- to ease into it. Also maybe tea over coffee or sparkling water? And if you can figure out over time how to fit meds into window… that one’s tricky. But depending what they are, maybe it’s something you won’t need long term? If meds are for a health condition that could be reversed with new healthier lifestyle and doc eventually would discontinue Either way, could you take at beginning and / or end of your eating window?
I would see where you feel okay eating in a non-fasting state. What are those hours? Example: if you eat 20 hours a day, decrease down to 19.5 hours a day. Let that sit for however long you need to. 2 weeks, a month, a day, an hour, however long it feels where it is right for you. Then, drop down to 19 hours eating window, and fast for 5 hours. (Enter in your own standard feeding window, and how that feels for you to not feel faint, and be able to take your meds.) If half an hour decreased eating time is too much, decrease it down to 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes. Whatever you can do to feel okay stretching time wise. Since you likely need to take food with 7am medication, that would be part of your eating window. Hunger pings are normal when you are changing how often you eat, so expecting to not feel hunger at 4pm, or 9pm is to be expected. However, this too may be remedied with opening your feeding window longer, and slowly decreasing feeding window. What you eat, will matter a lot, too. For example, I had tons of protein for breakfast yesterday & a sweet potato. I didn’t even realize until 11:30pm that I didn’t have another meal for the day. It’s now 9:27am, and I still haven’t broken my fast. All because I had so much protein yesterday, paired with a nice, heavily fibered plant. I also made sure to drink 3 liters of water so my body didn’t think me being dehydrated, is actually hungry. Personally, having coffee makes me more hungry, so I skip it. You can have some pink Himalayan salt if you’re feeling dehydrated, or have a headache. (Of course, be mindful if you have any health conditions that should not have salt.) some IF groups I’m in suggest pink Himalayan salt when folks are struggling. I’m the end, it is a will of the mind. It isn’t easy, that’s for sure, but the rewards are wonderful!!!!! Just take it very slowly at first, and then you will do better. You can read a fasting book like Fast, Feast, Repeat by Gin, & that goes into the different personality types. One of which goes very slowly into fasting, while other personalities can go instantly into fasting 23:1. We are all different, so do what you feel is best for you, you know better than any of us. I can say eating junk or “empty” carbs is going to increase your hunger by quite a bit during your fasting window. The cleaner you eat, the easier time you will have when fasting. Good luck!
The hardest thing you are going to ever learn is to control your own mind. You have a food addiction and breaking that and controlling that addiction is difficult.
The easiest trick I found is this:
Big meal at 7 am
low-carb meal about 11 ish. It can be big just as few carbs as you can
After 2pm you are in the fasting window. Eat almonds because they have low/no carbs. Or, Atkins makes some low carb chocolate covered almonds that are also good. You want to have the absolute lowest impact on your blood sugar. Drink club soda, AHA sparkling water, no coffee after 3. You are going to feel WITHDRAWL every day. You might even feel ‘weak’ from the energy drop. No monster. No caffeine. No RedBull. Club Soda, AHA sparkling water. And if you absolutely must, have a single Atkins peanut candy bar that is like 3 carbs.
You are trying to have zero sugars/carbs in the fasting window. I found that the Atkins shakes are great in a blender with ice, especially in the evening. It does have caffeine so drink it early. But the blender ads in air and the ice too so it makes you full faster. I am at the point now where I eat a big omlette for breakfast (no potatoes/starches) and then a shake for lunch and for dinner I try and have a single boiled egg with salt, or an atkins candy bar, or 4 plain small unbreaded wings with 0-carb blue cheese. It’s LOW-Calorie intake, LOW-Carb intake and you are minimizing the glycemic impact on your blood. It will force your body to begin using stored energy. You will absolutely feel like total shit most nights, and feel great after eating breakfast. If you are going to the gym, do it in the am.
First assess what you’re eating. Going full keto won’t necessarily help, but try to cut back on added sugar and processed foods, and add in more fiber, protein, and whole foods. Those changes help a lot with satiety during fasting and feeding windows.
For your meds, many people have their eating windows in the morning and I’m p sure a recent research article found IF in the morning gave better fat loss than evening eating windows. Could you try making your eating window in the morning?
It’s a mindset thing. I had the same problems for weeks. Then suddenly it works and I can stick to the program and lose weight without much hunger or any hunger at all.Remember that a day when you fail will offer you a tomorrow to try the next day every time you fail. Don’t give up.