I’m 1 month into IF and started with 14:10 but found that very easy and moved to 16:8 within a week. Now, my fasting schedule is fluctuating between 16-18 hours and even up to 20 hours.
My appetite has substantially decreased, especially my sweet tooth 🙌 so I’m finding it easier to fast longer, especially on the weekends.
Are there detrimental effects to changing fasting times? For example, my last week fasting windows were as follows:
Monday - 16 hour fast
Tuesday - 17 hour fast
Wednesday - 17 hour fast
Thursday - 19 hour fast
Friday - 18 hour fast
Saturday - 20 hour fast
The question — Would it be better to ramp up to 18:6 and stick with that schedule consistently?
My overall goal is more awareness around my eating & reducing my risk of diabetes. Listening to my body and only eating when I get that serious hunger feeling. Focusing on whole foods, protein and healthy fats. So far I’ve lost 6 lbs and 3% body fat and feel great (my skin is the clearest it’s ever been, more energy, no binges) Just want to make sure I’m not ruining any progress or messing myself up by changing up my fasting windows.
26 F SW:153 | CW: 146 | GW: 130
TLDR: My fasting windows range from 16-20 hours. Is this inconsistency detrimental? Is sticking to a strict eating/fasting schedule more beneficial than focusing on prolonging fasts/listening to my hunger?
Answer
I purposefully change my eating window everyday. 3 hours, 5 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, skip a day of eating. The only time I copy from one day to the next is the 5 hour window, but no more than 2 days in a row.
Keeps my body guessing. No way for it to adjust to meet a pattern. I have read tons of posts from OMAD people that lose lots of weight, then 3-6 months later they can’t seem to lose weight anymore.
There’s nothing regular for my body to adjust to. 🤷♀️