Intermittent Fasting Tips

Fasting is like building muscle. You wouldn't (I hope) jump into weightlifting by doing 45 minutes with 25 lbs weights. I started by delaying breakfast and hour or two at a time. Then I worked on not breaking my fast until lunch time. I haven't read Gin's book but I listen to her podcast. IIRC she likes bullet proof coffee. I am not a fan of it myself but if it helps you get started then use it. I have also found that I have to eat low carb in order to fast longer. If I eat too many carbs before fasting I get hungry very quickly and struggle. Eating low carb/keto helps to keep me satiated and I can fast longer. Good luck!

I like that book a lot and think it's a great choice for starting out. I do something very similar to her variable approach and change my fasting length around from day to day.

Patter does this well, I believe.

I do 18:6 (From noon to 6pm) and like others, it took a build-up period for me. I am often hungry at 10am and it is a bear to wait until noon, but by the time noon rolls by, I'm not so hungry. I like to eat around 2pm and then I *might* have a tiny snack around 5:30. Your body really gets used to it.

Because I eat strict clean KETO I moved into a natural 18:6 fast and sometimes 20:4

I have never been a morning eater and I have teenagers now who work all kinds of odd hours and same with my husband. I usually break my fast around 2 or 3pm and eat a good meal then. I only drink water and black coffee during the day. I am also able to work out in the mornings. I never go to bed hungry and usually between 7 and 8pm I have a two good yogurt with some sunflower seeds and blueberries.

When the safer at home restrictions started I started to change my eating, and in the last 16 months I have gone from a size 20W to a size 16 in bottoms and from a 2x to a 14-16 in tops.

My primary focus with keto is protein. My fats are not excessive and generally I don't do a lot of added fats. Bit of avocado oil to cook, some days (like a good steak) I go with butter. I eat mostly whole foods and my sides are dark green vegetables. No grains.. nope..

If your stomach growls loudly clench your abdominal
muscles.

Glad you ordered Gin's book. I have a 6 hour eating window each day from Noon-6 p.m. If I am hungry in the morning, I do have my cinnamon tea (no sugar or anything) just the tea but according to Gin, that would be breaking a fast because of the flavor. It does not effect me in a bad way so I am good with it. Some people may not be. Gin would not consider that a clean fast but my daughter does (4th year med student).

I have been doing this since 6/30/2021. I have lost 37 pounds SO easily. Slowly but easily which is how it should be. It is truly an easy, easy lifestyle for me. Never any guilt when I break a fast to go on a trip or eat early with a friend, etc. I would like to lose 10 more pounds but I don't need to. My doc has been very pleased. She said some are unsuccessful because they cram the same amount of calories they usually eat in their window. I do eat less because I am satisfied. Gin's key point I loved was "Eat until satisfied not full." LOVE that!

Gin has a "fast start" section in the book. That's how I started. It's a month long process. I hope you enjoy it. It has changed my life so much more for the better!

I have been essentially doing intermittent fasting for most of the last 15 months. I needed to get some weight off in order to have knee replacement surgery, and this way of eating fits with my natural patterns for eating when I am not working. I realized it’s the way I would eat on weekends or during school breaks, and when we went remote during the start of the pandemic it became easier for me to do it all week and not just on weekends. Retiring in May of 2020 made it easier since I am in control of my schedule and it’s easier to set my eating window to what works for me.

I do have to watch what I eat in order to lose weight, and I do best when I’m active and busy, cut back on carbs and eat more protein and fiber. I may feel hungry at times, but if I have water and get distracted by something, the hunger goes away, and I often find myself waiting longer to eat than I planned.

I am not one to follow anyone else's rules, so I don’t care about some author telling me what’s allowed or not, or how to do it the right way. I think each individual needs to figure out what works for him/herself.

I did read an article (can’t remember where so can’t link it) a few days ago where intermittent fasting was described as another form of disordered eating, and not a mentally healthy way to approach weight loss/eating. And there have been studies that show that it isn’t necessarily an effective way to achieve long-term weight loss. But again, I believe that people need to figure out what works for them, and nothing is the perfect answer for everyone.

One key is the clean fast. But more than that, it takes time for your body to process into autophagy. Gin speaks to it in her book in that some people don't lose weight for weeks, sometimes months. For IF to be truly effective, you have to take weight loss off the table and approach it as a lifestyle.

No one sees anything questionable about a weight loss plan that asks you to literally stop eating for days at a time … and you still don’t lose weight?

Seriously, I’ve tried this, I followed it religiously, I got a migraine every time, I never lost weight. If it works for you, great, but I really resent the implication that people for whom it does not work must have “cheated.” Or they’re looked down on as slackers because embracing starvation as a lifestyle didn’t seem tenable. Typical diet industry bullshit that causes shame and mental harm to millions every year.

Ok. Whatever you say. No one else’s lived experience could possibly be valid unless they meet the magical marker of success and perfection known as being thin.

And please don’t quote me the Bible as a health resource.

The diet industry has stolen billions from gullible people desperate to attain an arbitrary “healthy weight”/acceptable size based on zero scientific evidence whatsoever, and when someone pushes back on that, they’re just an overweight cheater with no willpower.

Thanks, but no. I internalized that message for decades. Hard pass.