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What, in your personal experience, has been the best way to get started with IF?

I’m interested in starting IF, but I’m not totally sure how to. Is it safe to just jump straight into something like 16:8 or would it be better to gradually work your way up to that?

I don’t have any health issues that would make IF unsafe for me, mentally or physically, and it seems to be working great for most people here.

I know it’s unlikely that there’ll be one correct answer on how to get started, but I’m curious to hear from people.

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Answer

I am someone who recently started and just gaining momentum. I think it is better to choose an eating window which would suit your daily schedule and life style. Also it is good to have your last meal at least a couple of hours before your bed time. It is easy to push my breakfast by a couple of hours since I am WFH any way. Also I am consistent now with when I have my dinner. I downloaded Zero app and it helps me keep track of my hours. It also motivates me because I know that if I touch food once I set the fasting clock running, it will have to be reset again and will push back my break fast time. I tried to start with 16:8 which was a disaster. Then I started again with 14:10 which was the easiest for me considering my previous schedule but by week 3, I can see my fasting window is already 15+ hours almost everyday even without me trying. Also tracking your weight loss helps you keep the momentum. Best of luck.

Answer

What is your normal eating pattern? Determine how many hours a day you eat, and then start by reducing that. Many people already eat only once or twice a day, so it makes sense to just reduce your eating window from how you already eat. I mean I normally only eat during a 6 hour window anyway, so it would have been backwards to start with 16:8.

Answer

I started with 14 hrs for the first day and was surprised that it was a little challenging. But the next day I already did 16 hrs, and it has been fairly easy most days. While there is not much you can do wrong by just skipping breakfast, I recommend to read up a little more on IF if you feel unprepared. You can do that while you already fast 😊. There is a difference between a clean fast (no calories), and a dirty fast (e.g. a few calories, like cream in coffee). And many do keto while fasting, or at least low carb. In most fasting books and podcasts, this is a common theme, but not necessarily clear imho. Good luck!

Answer

Honestly, just start. If you really want to ease into it, go a few nights without eating anything after dinner. You’ll find that you can easily go 12+ hours and then bump it up from there.

Personally, I started out thinking I was going to do 5:2, found out on my first fast day that I felt great, and decided to just start fasting every day. You got this!

Answer

Just do 24h fast (OMAD) and be done with it. All these 16:8, 20:4 “eating windows” are frankly complete crap and are wholly over thinking the concept of fasting.

OMAD is not difficult whatsoever either. It’s all mindset.

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