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When to start intermittent fasting?

I have a dilemma, I really want to start IF and cut back on the booze but I have got a bunch of events coming up where I wonder if I can be successful. Specifically this week my dear friend from UK is coming to stay with us for four weeks and I know there is going to be a lot of wine, food and drinks. In mid-March we are travelling to Switzerland to ski and I don't see IF happening there either. Should I wait until this is all over and just do my best on whatever day I can until March 21st or should I just hold off on IF until I am back from Switzerland, and my friend is back in the UK so I can fully focus. For the record I am 47yo 6'4" 225lbs but really need to get to 195lbs for optimal road cycling. Also need to cut down on booze a lot which I know IF can help me to do. My plan is to do 16:8, 5 days per week Monday to Friday. I plan to cut out sugar, beer and simple carbs. I just don't want to get discouraged as I am really excited about doing IF.

Answer

I would start by focusing on the timing of the IF schedule to make it fit your lifestyle, it doesnt have to ruin your social life.

I fast from 8pm till 2pm the next day but you could start with fasting from 8pm to 12pm the next day to get acustomed to it. I used to use my cellphone alarms to tell me when to start fasting and when to start eating but Im used to the schedule so I just do it by habit.

I do 7 days a week and several days become close to 20 hour fasts if work gets busy. To keep it simple I would reccomend doing the 16:8 and fitting the fasting and eating times thats convenient for you.

If you have your social meals later in the day then break your fast later in the day like at 12pm or 2pm and you could have between 6 and 8 hours of eating time. I do the 6 hour eating and 18 hour fasting because I time it with my work lunch breaks and get to enjoy foods after 6pm but kinda want to change it so I can stop eating earlier to have more time to digest before bed around 9:30 and 10:30 pm.

The longer the fasting period, the more fat burning effect the fasting will have on the body. I did my first 20+ hour fast last week Friday into Saturday and it was a breeze cause Id come close to 20 hour fasting a couple days when it got busy at work.

Also while fasting Id reccomend to stay hydrated with plenty of water because hunger and thirst often get confused. Aside from all this, do consume enough calories of food to sustain yourself during the fasting period and you’ll get there.

Stay hydrated and stay strong.

Answer

There’s always stuff going on. Just get started. You can always try and shift the schedule around to make it work with whatever is going on and in the end if you mess up a day it’s not the end of the world. You just pick up where you left off the next day. Waiting just so you can do it perfectly is guaranteed to never get you started. As for traveling. I try to maintain during trips but it doesn’t always work out. Every trip is different and I just call it by ear. Sometimes I come to the conclusion that it’s preventing me from having fun and I pause for the duration of the trip and just start again once I’m back home. Interestingly i was recently on a 6 week trip where I only did IF for 4 days and still lost a little bit if weight.

Answer

There are things you can easily start doing now, that will pay dividend when you are ready to start doing IF.