I’m not doing IF to lose weight. I do it because eating usually makes me tired at 11am if I eat breakfast. I hesitate to blame only carbs. There are few foods that don’t make me tired: Salad. Beef. Sushi. …but nothing that you’d typically serve with those.
I’m getting pressure from my wife after we saw a program showing that it’s better to eat in the day time. I accept this because while it’s OK to skip breakfast, it’s better to skip dinner. Better to sleep on an empty stomach than to exercise on an empty stomach?
This then all links into sleep. I’ve eliminated caffeine. I’ve reduced blue light. I’m fighting my wife to let me go to bed before 10pm. I get up at 6:30am to go for a run and get light into my eyes. All this helps, but skipping dinner would be skipping the social meal of the day and learning to go to bed on an empty stomach.
So, instead of Intermittent Fasting, maybe my focus should be on eating throughout the day, but only accept some carbs at 4pm in the form of long chain starch with some fiber to help it down, because then I can sleep after work anyway.
I skip dinner myself because I feel I’m a “morning” person. I wake up easily, I think/work better in the morning, and I’m hungry then too! And I don’t focus well while hungry so I prefer to just eat, be satiated, and ride out the day without thinking about food.
I find it easier to sleep earlier and skip dinner because my stomach isn’t terribly empty. I do get cravings in the evenings sometimes, but try to ride them out. It’s better when I’ve had a good afternoon snack more focused on protein and fat over carbs. I’ve never been in the habit of eating late or late night snacking.
I do find I sleep well with an empty stomach. But mostly it just fits my lifestyle and I don’t think any particular meal has any significant importance over the other. Like, most people may sleep better. But how much? Is it a material difference?
It’s long been common advice to limit food in the evening, but is that just to reduce snacking or was it based in research?