Intermittent fasting

[Ultralight]

In one of my last ditch attempts to un-fat ass myself I am giving this 5:2 intermittent fasting a try. Today will be my first day of fasting.

Here is how it works. For five days of the week you eat how you normally would, more or less. For me this would mean eating oatmeal with nuts and berries in the morning, lunch would be some type of raw veggies (salad, carrots, celery, what-have-you) along with a sandwich or bowl of rice and beans, things like that.

Dinner would be nachos or a pulled chicken sandwich or turkey burgers or pizza. And twice a week I would go to a restaurant.

On the fasting days (I am going for Tues and Thur) I eat one small meal of less than 500 calz. So this will likely be a small bowl of oatmeal with a small amount of nuts and some berries at lunchtime. My plan is to skip breakfast and by the time I get "hangry" I will eat my oatmeal around noonish. Then by the time I get hangry again I will be off work and home. This will minimize my hangriness at work, when I am around lots of people.

So wish me luck.

[Lainey]

Good luck, Ultralight! It seems this method has been successful for a lot of people, but I also agree it's trickier when you're working full-time and need to be functional and alert all day as usual.
Are you also restricting your eating hours on your regular eating days? I've seen some who say they eat within a 10 hour window, like breakfast/early lunch at 10 am and then a dinner at 5 or 6 pm. It makes sense and is probably easier on our digestive system - pretty sure humans were not meant to be eating 17 hours/day.

[SteveinMN]

Good luck! I know people who've tried this, with mixed results. But you never know which way of eating will work for you, so nothing ventured/nothing gained. I hope it works for you.

[Tenngal]

Good luck let us know how it goes. I have started a 16/8 fast which means I have lunch and dinner.
No food after 6pm until lunch the next day. Seems to have done away with being hungry in the morning.
I just have black coffee.

[JaneV2.0]

Like keto and LCHF, fasting strictly limits insulin output (thus hunger), which is a Good Thing. That whole grazing, "eat six small meals a day" thing has been a disaster for most people.

After you become fat-adapted, you shouldn't have any problems functioning on an empty stomach, as you'll be running on fat stores--a lot of people make a practice of working out fasted. And then there's the miracle that is autophagy, subject of a recent Nobel Prize.

As a further benefit, fasting can save you a lot of money on groceries!

I like my eating window in the morning; I'm at about 18/6.

[Teacher Terry]

I never eat past 6pm. If possible we try to have our biggest meal at lunch so have all day to burn it off. We eat light at night unless going out.

[Ultralight]

...eating 17 hours/day.

Yum! I wish!

[Ultralight]

Good luck let us know how it goes. I have started a 16/8 fast which means I have lunch and dinner.
No food after 6pm until lunch the next day. Seems to have done away with being hungry in the morning.
I just have black coffee.

Interesting. How long have you been doing this?

[Ultralight]

So from 10am until noon I was going a bit crazy with hunger!

For lunch I had:
1 serving oatmeal (150 calz)
Half serving of PB (90 calz)
1 serving honey (60 cals)
2 small-medium apples (200 calz)

That was my 500 calorie meal.

I felt pretty full. I am a little hungry now, but it is not too bothersome. What is bothersome is that my habit of eating dinner is thrown way off, and the pleasure of dinner is not there for me.

[Ultralight]

I will tell you this: Those apples tasted delicious. That oatmeal tasted gourmet. Hungry is the best spice.