I've been doing 18:6 for just over a month now and its very manageable for me, I also do fasted cardio 3 times a week. My one shortcoming is that i don't track calories, but i have definitely reduced portion sizes.
I'm not overweight, just trying to lose few extra post covid and pregnancy kgs. For that reason the change has not been dramatic, but I can confidently say I've lost 1-1.5kg in that time period.
But the fact that i can suddenly swell up and 'gain' that kg back in a day (I know it's carby water weight) is just so discouraging. And I can feel it straight away as well. It's so frustrating.
I think it's time to start tracking calories closer and saying bye to carby snacks. Sigh.
Keep going everyone!
Answer
Stay hydrated and stay strong. Day 13 for me tomorrow and have lost around 6 pounds since I started IF. I also do 18:6 but did 16:8 my first day and changed it the day after to match my work lunch schedule. Couple days a week it ends up being close to 20 hours and one day a week I like to do a 20 hour fast. Just started adding exercise to my days too, calisthenics.