I just started IF last week as part of my weight loss journey (I’m on a high protein diet which worked very well for me before, but haven’t done IF before) and decided to try IF since I heard good things about it. I’m fasting 14 hours for 4 days a week (I also have health problems, so I’m not going for the full 7 days).
I’m going for IF from Monday night until Thursday night (so basically it ends on Friday morning). I’m on my second day since I started Thursday night. On Thursday I felt pretty good, but last night was a bit of a struggle because, despite eating enough calories (and proteins) I suddenly felt rather hungry at night even though normally I don’t. Maybe it’s because I can’t eat that I’m suddenly hungry? You know, when you can’t have something you suddenly want or need it? Haha.
What can I expect? Is there anything I should watch out for? Any tips?
I’m far from an expert on IF, just someone who has done it for a long time.
The “health problems” part makes me concerned. Please make sure that you are safe to do IF with your health conditions. Is your condition one in which 4 days IF is safe but 7 days is not?
If it is medically safe to do so, I would reconsider this half-way approach. Don’t take this for gospel because this is just my feeling on it:
You’re trying to get used to not eating in the morning after you get up. You’re trying to make some mental and (perhaps) physiological changes occur and get over the hurdle where you aren’t feeling hunger pangs or the desire to eat first thing in the morning. By breaking the routine for three days every week, I worry that you’ll continually be in the “trying to get used to this” phase and not reach the point of “normal routine”.
It’s been too long for me to really remember the start. Additionally, I’ve never been one to need a morning meal [edit: to add context, I did shorten my eating window and had to adapt to that. I only eat in the evening, about 4hr]. I know irritability and feeling a bit shaky are listed as common issues when starting IF. With health conditions, I’d really recommend talking to your dr (if you can) and try to find a way to identify where “normal” discomfort ends and problematic symptoms begin.
There is A LOT of woo around IF and just about any diet you find out there. I like reading scientific studies and find that media/writers really really like to misinterpret study results… and those misinterpretations become cannon over time. Use a skeptical eye when reading that info and focus on finding a routine that works for you personally.
Thanks for your response! I have asthma, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and Raynaud’s. I was on a high protein diet a few years ago and worked very well for me. However, during flares I found it to be difficult to handle the restrictions (I put on myself) because when you have an autoimmune disease you can’t diet like healthy people but also need to listen to your body’s needs. As in, sometimes I need the extra energy / calories to just function. So I always listen to my own body in this.
I read that 3 to 4 times a week should work well, so that’s why I’m trying this routine but I’ll adjust this if I feel my body needs it.
Is the 14 (or however many hours) hours mainly to restrict the time window in which you can eat, to help with limiting your calories? Because I do track/log my calorie intake and am pretty good with staying within those limits.
Yes, calorie limiting is one of the main benefits and the reason I use IF. I can’t speak authoritatively to any other benefits as I haven’t done any reading on IF in close to a decade. I remember that back then there were a lot of dubious claims about it “boosting metabolism” and such. But I haven’t looked at the state of research on IF in a long time.