3 eggs and a packet of oatmeal isn’t „so little” lol. It’s a breakfast. Btw what is „a packet”? 100 grams? 250 grams? 1kg? And yeah you miss the point. The point if IF is to burn the supplies of energy that your body already has, when you give it food your body takes energy from the food.
You’re missing the point.
IF is about allowing your body to compartmentalize digestion. Just as you don’t work around the clock, it’s punishing for your digestive system to work around the clock. So the idea is to let it do its job, and then rest for the remainder of the day. That way, your body can not only digest thoroughly and efficiently, it can spend time healing itself when it’s not distracted by the work of processing and digesting food. IF-ers will tell you they sleep better, feel mental clarity and excess energy, and even solve/ improve body maintenance problems like heartburn, allergies and diabetes.
That’s kind of a fluffy way of putting it, but I hope it makes sense. It’s not strictly about calories (though many dieters find time limitation a helpful framework for cutting calories), but a lifestyle. I don’t do IF to lose weight (I lost the initial 20 lb, but fell in love with how it made me feel), and nor do many other folks.
The point is not to spike your insulin levels for as long a period as possible. Anything but black/unsweetened coffee or tea, water (and accord to Dr. Fung, up to a teaspoon of heavy cream, since it’s almost all fat,) will cause an insulin spike. Even tasting something sweet but not swallowing will cause the body to prepare for food and release insulin. The longer your insulin is low, the better you can reset whatever hormone imbalance might be causing weight retention, and eventually the body moves into ketosis and then fat burning. After 24hrs of no insulin spike and you move into autophogy, which is the body recycling damaged or sick cells, which can have health benefits as well as prevent things like loose skin if you’ve lost tons of weight.
Source: The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung, which I highly recommend.
3 eggs with minimal cooking oil and a packet of plain oatmeal made with water is 330 calories. That’s not a huge amount of calories, but it’s not insignificant either. If you’re overeating for lunch or dinner then that 330 will quickly add up. Overeating by 330 calories per day will make you gain 35 pounds in a year.
People who IF for weight loss do it because they find it challenging to have a deficit eating 3 meals a day. If that doesn’t apply to you and you’re not interested in the other benefits of IF then you don’t do IF. It’s that simple.
You can always continue what you are eating for breakfast but just make sure it’s within your eating window. Depending on what’s in your oatmeal, it’s likely loaded with carbs, which spikes your insulin production. This is precisely what you’re trying to avoid with IF (by limiting the amount of hours you eat in a day, thus limiting your insulin production all throughout the day).