I don’t count calories and get pretty good results. For me a big part of IF is redefining your relationship with food and when I count calories I get OCD with it. Most people know what’s healthy and I try to choose that over what might taste better. Also after a few weeks you learn what hunger really feels like. If you are close to your eating window and not hungry you’re eating too many calories (IMO)
The point of IF is to redefine your relationship with food. It eliminates mindless snacking that you don’t need and is not good for your body.
As somebody who has walked down this path and has seen results, my suggestion would be, don’t try to do too many things too soon. First, restrict your eating window. That’ll eliminate your unnecessary snacking and you might see results already. Plus, limiting eating window makes you eat more mindfully and I found out it’s hard to eat too much calorie within a set time. So some calorie restriction happens naturally.
If you still don’t see the desired results, you might start a food journal and start counting calories.
Good luck. You got this.
Hi there, I absolutely do not count calories. The thought of counting calories makes me sad all day and is the main reason I chose IF. I grew so tired of being obsessed with food and losing/gaining weight. I’ve lost around 33lbs over 3 - 4 months without exercising. In my eating window I eat whatever the hell I want, including desserts. I do OMAD daily with a 4 hour eating window. I’m sure I could lose faster if I restrict what I eat and count calories. I’m also sure I could speed up my weight loss if I exercised, which I have started doing this week. Here’s the thing. IF is not a diet for me, it’s a lifestyle so I’m not in a race with anyone to lose the weight. Now here’s what’s weird, even though I’m allowed to eat whatever I want in my eating window, I’ve somehow gravitated to healthier foods. I break my fast with my vitamins, an apple, and a 10oz green smoothie. Then I have my meal which is usually a salad, yummy soup and bread slathered with butter. But sometimes I may want a burger and fries and I’ll have it. I’m finding that my body is doing some kind of weird self correction with the types of food I crave and here recently with the desire to exercise. My advice is to be easy on yourself and don’t make it too rigid. I have learned that if it ain’t easy, it’s not sustainable. IF is the easiest way of eating I’ve ever experienced. I am no longer obsessed with food and really enjoy eating without guilt and shame. Good luck my friend.
Might as well throw in calorie counting if you’re gonna start IF imo. It’s disappointing to start IF not counting calories and not lose weight after a couple weeks. I have low self control though so to each their own.
I don’t calorie count but I make an effort to reduce the amount I eat and change what I eat to be healthier.
So I cut down on snacks (if I “needed” a snack, it would be much smaller than before), added way more vegetables to my meals and reduced the amount of rice/potato/carbs.
I also don’t drink my calories. Black coffee, diet pop etc
If you go nuts during your eating window, it pretty much defeats the purpose.
If you’re choosing to do IF to lose weight, you have to incorporate calorie counting as well.
Eating in a designated time window does not make the weight go away. Time restriction makes eating restricted, which restricts calories. But not necessarily on its own. Some people go overboard and eat more calories than they can burn in a day, while doing IF, and then gain weight.
If you don’t want to count calories, then you’ll have to do volume eating, meaning eating tons of food that contains very little calories (and hopefully tons of nutrients, like vegetables).
I have an issue with binge eating, emotional eating and eating when I’m bored. IF helps me a lot to kick off the midnight snacking habits and the eating because I’m bored. I think “I don’t want to break my streak” and it works a lot better (for me) than counting on self-discipline to eventually kick in (“OK, so I maybe binged on croissants for breakfast, but I probably won’t binge later.”….spoiler alert, I might binge later anyway).
EDIT : Typos. I also wanted to add : doing IF makes me re-evaluate what “I am hungry” means. I used to say that I was hungry all the time, but most of the time it’s not hunger. It’s more like if I wasn’t full to bursting, I was considering myself hungry. So I learned to not equate satiety with physical discomfort and not equate “I think I have a bit of space in my stomach” with “I can/should eat now”. Also, because of restricted time to eat, I try to make my meals count. It’s so disappointing to have a meal that is not worth the calories and then know you can’t eat for x hours. I used to compensate bad meals with overcompensating later with snacks or desserts. Now that I can’t compensate bad meals later (because the eating window is closed), I try to be more mindful about what I eat.
You don’t have to count calories, but if you’re not eating in a calorie deficit you are not going to lose weight, it’s pretty simple.
IF is a tool and many people find they can naturally eat at a calorie deficit without thinking about it. Other people need to count calories. It’s not magic, and if you eat the exact same things you normally eat just in a shorter timeframe, IF will do nothing for you.
What worked for me is too count calories until I maintained my ideal weight for 3 months…now I don’t count…If I start not looking exactly how I want to, I just eat less for a bit or throw in a 3 day fast
When I eat whole food. I don’t count all of it. Like cauliflower and other veggies. I may track olive oil, cheese or meat if I have a big burger. As long as I’m eating whole food. I don’t weigh everything etc.
Maybe count it a couple times a week just to make sure you’re good?
Personally 16:8 means two lightish meals and a snack because I lose the ability to eat too much at once. I don’t count because as long as I eat generally healthy and not wilding on junk food it’s pretty tough to blow my cal count too high.
You are not required to count calories to be “intermittent fasting”. But couple of things, first you do need to “eat normally”, so if you normally count calories you probably should for a few days until you get the hang of fasting and what your normal amount feels like. Also, keep in mind that 16/8 is not fasting that long, it’s a good place to start and also can be a good maintenance, but if you have a lot of weight to loose you’ll probably need a longer fasting window to get you there. But you gotta start somewhere! Best of luck on your fasting journey.
I lost 35 lbs in 2021 with intermittent fasting and moderate exercise. I did eat low carb for the first few month but now I’ve been maintaining with 18/6 and watching my wine intake. I love intermittent fasting. No more feeling guilty for treats and I’m back in tune with my appetite and satiety feelings.