Hey first time posting here!
I’m doing a 20:4 fast currently, I started 10 days ago with the aim of doing 16:8 and see how it goes. Within a few days I was okay with doing 18:6 and in another couple of days 20:4 was a breeze.
I don’t plan on going any further for a long time tho and will likely stick with this window for now and may even go to 18:6, 16:8 if I’m not feeling it that day.
I’m doing this for weight loss mainly but the other benefits also interest me so I’m trying to not have anything other than water but if I feel hungry I do take a black coffee/tea.
I’ve already lost about 2.6 kgs since I started this but I’m going to assume most of this is water weight.
My main issue, especially with 20:4 right now is that I’m not getting enough calories in during my eating period.
4 hours is a very short amount of time to stuff my face with food and I can only have like 2 meals and a snack in this window which average out to be 1-1.2k calories most days but I need 1500 at least according to MyFitnessPal.
I’ve heard not getting enough calories can lead to not losing weight because my body might think I’m starving and not getting enough food in so it won’t burn enough fat and slow down my metabolism.
Should I be worried? Should I keep going as I am or reduce my fasting hours? I really want to do 20:4 because I enjoy it and want the other fasting benefits but if I’m not losing weight in the long term it’s useless.
My details: 22 years old, 5’9, 104 kgs and I have a pretty sedentary lifestyle with not much movement (which I’m trying to change).
Almost 24 hours into a fast (aiming for 48-72 hours) with my usual snake juice, magnesium, psyllium husks, tea, coffee, and mould binders.
I’m hoping that this helps to reset my gut after having an allergic reaction to gluten (or something like it) I may have accidentally ingested. Maybe even reset my immune system.
I would hope that I could lose some weight from this fast, but I did nine weeks of 48-72 hour fasts once a week at the end of last year and ended up exactly the same weight. To the pound.
I didn’t think it would be nearly this hard to get back into fasting (I’ve been 16:8 for the last three months). Everything aches. The contents of my gut couldn’t get out of my body fast enough.
I think it might be time to listen to my body if this keeps up, then regroup another day.
Type: Water/Coffee/Tea Fasting
Context: Rounding out my second month of 20:4, third week of OMAD transition.
Why: To control my consumption addiction and get to a normal BMI
Notes: Ah, I may have gouged on my OMAD yesterday but by god was that sushi delicious. Okay, so I had 5 oreos too. I’m on the verge of quitting my job because it is TOXIC and I’ll tell you my biggest problem with food is eating it during trying periods like these. Speaking of periods, the time approaches soon. With the stitches in my injured hand I think I am reaching the trifecta of stressors.
I have a tendency to just stuff, stuff, stuff myself when I cried like I did yesterday. I mean, I was fine, until I dropped something in the kitchen and lost it. Instead of raiding my fridge I paid more money to get fresh sushi delivered and scarfed three rolls and miso soup. I guess as far as options go, at least I didn’t scarf an entire Dominos pizza and that crack-addiction cheesy bread! Small victories?
Water, water, home again and today’s another day.
First days of 16/8 for me. I’m very surprised by how easy it actually seems to be so far. I was never big into breakfasts so it’s mostly about cutting out the late evening snacks.
I think I could maybe do even 18/6 but what I really like about 16/8 is the compatibility with “normal life” e.g. that I can go to lunch and dinners with other people. How healthy is it to switch between 18/6 and 16/8 based on what’s fitting for the day?
Day 3 on doing 16:8 fasting while breastfeeding. I know it’s not recommended but I feel good and I have enough milk supply. I didn’t change anything on my diet while feasting but man, I feel healthier already because usually when I didn’t fast, I keep munching stuff because I was so stressed. I’m eating more mindfully now.
Really really want to keep this as a habit even though Im intrigued to snack at night time.
Type: Water
Context: I started last night at 8 pm. I’m going to end tomorrow morning at 8 am.
Length: 36 hours (5:2 with no calories on fast days)
Why: To lose weight. I wanted to create a caloric deficit while still enjoying food. Also, IF has helped me keep my inflammation markers down, and I want to continue having that benefit.
Notes: I’m feeling pretty good so far! I got my sodium and potassium mixture ready to add to my water. In the past, I’ve had issues feeling dizzy and tired. Most likely because I wasn’t keeping up with my electrolytes then. Hopefully, this will solve that!
Day 5 of 16:8 fasting. I’ve also cut out alcohol and have been going on the elliptical for at least 30 minutes (going slow on the lowest level, so I’m not breaking a real sweat but I’m moving and getting my heart rate up a bit- I have back and knee pain so I’ve got to go slow). I was aiming to go lower carb too but that hasn’t panned out really yet. Maybe next week. I caught a gross cold from my kids so I’m being too drastic yet.
But I’m down about 2 lbs from the start of the week! I’m really hoping to keep that pace going and I’d like to lose 10-15 lbs by the end of April.
Type: water/coffee/herbal tea
Context: third day of 20:4, no end in sight
Length: 20:4
Why: weightloss
Notes: day three went well! I felt hungry, but not unbearably so, and managed my extra goals of increasing my protein intake a bit and walking 11,000 steps. Didn’t hit 1200 cals, only 1100 but I’m OK with that. I will be watching with interest to see if it makes tomorrow more difficult though.
Questions: I haven’t read a huge amount of the science behind IF, and one thing I’d like to know more about is if you still get fasting benefits with the introduction of minimal (and I mean minimal calories) across a day. I’m thinking for example, a crushed vitamin tablet in water, a literal drop of milk in coffee, a diet coke etc. There’s a lot of talk about how a clean diet requires literally nothing other than black coffee and water, and is the only way to achieve a fasted state. Is this true even with the introduction of say the 10 cals of a vitamin tablet (usually consumed in four pieces across a day)?
Type of fast: water, coffee (black)
Context of fast: regularly intermittent fast 3-4x/week
Length of fast: 16 hours
Why?: General health, reduce inflammation, help to promote metabolic flexibility by promoting light ketosis and switching on my body’s fat burning systems.
Feeling great! 💪