A good place to start is right here with the progress pics, familiarize yourself with the various strategies people employ.
Between 16:8, 18:6, 20:4 and omad, or a mix, theres gotta be something thats a fit for you.
Its no magic bullet and its not a quick fix either, but some people seem to make it work for them.
Keep to your schedule, find the one that works for you. 16:8 is probably the easiest.
When in 16 hour fast drink water. Remember to drink water.
Don’t worry too much about calorie intake at first, focus on the schedule itself. I believe your eating habits will improve simply by following the schedule.
During waking hours, move.
I chose to do 16:8 because it made me feel good. It feels right. Hopefully it works for you too.
1st) When I first started IF i eased in by 12-14 hours fasting and I did lose quite well but I was also working out and doing a low carb diet along so I dont know how well it contributed. I’d say there’s no problem in easing in cause as a newbie if you overpush yourself you might end up binging or it might not be sustainable. I now just listen to my body. I dont stick to 16/8 or a specific time period I just fast for as long as I can aiming for 18+ fasted hours and I stop eating when I reach my limit. Usually maximum 4 hours eating period. There are some people who stick to strict times for fasting everyday but this is what worked for me. I can go as long as 24-30 hours when I dont restrict myself. I’d say try around and see what works best for you and what you know you can do long term. Since we dont wanna fall off.
2nd) I can’t stress this enough but dont compare yourself to any IF influencers or people on this subreddit. This is YOUR journey and maybe you’ll lose weight very quickly or maybe you’ll lose very slowly or maybe you might hit a plateau but either ways nobody’s journey is the same. Do go easy on yourself.
3rd) Do take a before picture in different angles as you start and if possible, measure your body parts. When I started losing weight I didn’t even notice until halfway throughout my journey when I started taking progress pictures and measuring my waist etc.. Sometimes changes will not be so obvious as you ease into your weightloss but this really helps even more than weighing yourself.
4th) When I started I was getting full so fast at first I didn’t realize how little I was eating until I started tracking my calories and macros. I use Carb Manager app, you can customize it to your liking. For me the goal is not to get obsessive about calories but rather to see if i’m eating healthy enough for my body. Also to check if I meet my proteins since i’m almost really close to losing weight i’d like to build muscle now. The most important part of any diet is to make sure your body is getting the proper amount of nutrients it needs.
5th) Do read a lot about IF. The pros and cons. The dangers and advantages. To do’s and dont’s. Educate yourself about everything so that you can turn this into a lifestyle. So that if someone comes and tells you that IF might lead to this, you won’t get scared and stop. Knowing what you’re doing will increase your confidence in what you’re doing as well.
Hope this helps. Good luck. :)
If your work schedule is a bit hectic and you’re new to fasting, start slow. I’d go with a shorter fasting period, like 13hr and most of that will be done while you’re asleep. Work your way up to 16hrs, it’s okay if you go over or under that by a little, depending on when you get your breaks. You can work up to longer fasts as your body gets used to not eating until a certain time.
Congrats on considering it!
I agree with others here, ease into it, no need to start with even one meal a day (OMAD) - work your way toward it.
I started at roughly 300 pounds and lost about a cool hundo, so I’d say if you stick to it, you’re going to go through even more of a transformation!
Start by skipping any calories in the morning. Get through your mornings with just water/tea/coffee until lunch time and go for that for a while. You’ll get used to it, I promise. Then when you do eat, make sure to have a cut off time in the evening when you’re going to be done. It’s easier with this one simple tricks dentists love! - Floss/Brush/Mouthwash once you hit your cut off time in the evening. It’s really a good end-of-day ritual.
Then as you get used to skipping breakfast and it’s no big deal, go ahead and try to continue on/push through lunch time as well and work your way toward OMAD. It’ll be a bit of a trip, but it’s truly not as hard as it sounds if you work your way up to it.
THEN, one day, you might decide to push it and skip dinner - consuming no calories between waking up and going to bed. Once you get there, you can pretty much do anything. No joke, it’s a huge boost to realize that you can push your limits, and every step of the way is going to be a confidence boost.
You might have some hiccups along the way, but don’t get discouraged, and don’t hesitate to jump back into it as soon as possible. Fasting costs you nothing (IT SAVES MONEY!), and you can get back into it just as quickly as dropping out of it.
I am very new to fasting, and slightly less new to paying close attention to what I’m eating at all. However, it’s definitely important to consider what you’re eating when you’re eating. Highly processed foods are going to be wreaking havoc on your body, particularly (from what I’ve been learning lately) vegetable seed oils and sugar. Putting in good stuff will help you feel better whatever weight you decide you’re happy at. The resources I’d point to are:Deep Nutrition by Dr Catharine ShanahanDr Pradip Jamnadas talks on YouTube Obesity Code by Dr Jason Fung
Congratulations on deciding you want some changes in your life! :) Following this sub and other peoples’ journeys is great as well.