Not hungry after breakfast?

I’m new here- I’ve tried IF before but never stuck with it too long. For me it worked best to eat from 7-3 or 8-4. If I skip breakfast or eat a late breakfast I’ll get a bad headache and brain fog, but skipping dinner is usually manageable. I’m early 30’s, 5’5 and ~170 lbs, GW 125. I’m doing keto now (very lazy keto, but this worked for me before) and I want to add in IF because I’ve gained a lot of weight after an injury and can’t exercise as much as I used to. When I eat a keto breakfast at ~7:30am (1.5 scrambled eggs with veggies, cheese and some crumbled veggie sausage) I’m just not hungry until 4 or later. So, do I force myself to eat a decent lunch even if I’m not hungry and then fast after or eat a smaller breakfast or what? Not being hungry isn’t typical for me, and when I’m trying to lose weight I don’t want to force myself to eat more 😅 But I’d like to give IF a really go- just not sure what the best strategy is.

Answer

You can always play around with it a bit. You can try OMAD with just breakfast for a few days and see if that has any chance of being sustainable for you… If you’re not getting hungry at all until the evening anyway, your body might adjust pretty quickly to just not eating after breakfast, especially if you go to bed early. Something to consider.

Otherwise I’d suggest forcing yourself to eat a small-medium but nutritious and filling snack before your window closes, and likely that will either be enough for your body, or after a few days you’ll get into the routine of eating at those times and feel more hungry.

Answer

Whatever you decide, just expect it to take a month or two for you to hit your stride. I had issues with low blood sugar prior to starting IF (I’d get these “shakes” as I was driving home accompanied by the feeling of intense hunger..), but now am completely fine. But it takes some time to get over the low blood sugar issues, which contribute to the headaches that you’re talking about