The posts and comments here are really encouraging.

There's a general aura of support and a lack of negative criticism, which is rare online nowadays. It's cool to see you all progress the way that you have and to see that no matter how different people's approaches are, everyone stays curious and enthusiastic

I've been frustrated about my food intake for a while and found myself in cycles of falling off certain goals. Usually I get really hungry early hours of the morning and overeat so I sleep well. One day I managed to fall asleep without eating so late. I woke up hungry, but decided to hydrate and how long I could go. Then it was 24 hours. I ate, and realized I felt satisfied with a lot less food. Had a second meal a few hours later, and the second night I wasn't as hungry. I kept going, and now after a couple weeks, it's been a lot easier to get my mind off food after 8pm. It feels better too, and I feel a bit more control over food. I'm not perfect, I still eat like crap for the most part, but I'm trying to find small changes to make so it lasts.

I hope to check in in 6 months, or a year with you all and be able to share something as encouraging as a lot of what I've seen here!

Hello, I have been trying 12:8 fasting for the past 6 weeks and my weight is not moving. I don't have a proper exercise plan in place yet.

I know it might have to do with putting 1% milk in my tea and cream in coffee in the mornings but I can't drink without it. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what I can use to replace milk and cream.

When I weighed myself on Wednesday I was 160 but today I am back up to 165. I am trying to watch what I eat but I have a carb heavy diet. I am 5'4".

Thanks so much

Hi.

I wanted to ask some questions if I am going on the right track. Here's what I practice for the past 2 months.

-intermittent fasting 16:8

-zig-zag calorie intake (taking 800 or below cal on one day and about 2000 cal on the other)

• carb cycling (taking little amount of carbs on one day and slight lower than normal on the other)

Is this the right path? Or am I ruining my metabolism?

Hi. Sorry if this is a question that’s been covered before — I looked but didn’t see it. (Although I did see questions about people who wanted to skip one day a week).

Im interested in IF to help with weight loss. I work at an elementary school so I need to be there early, be on my feet, and I have a short window (only 20 minutes!) to gulp down lunch each day. I just don’t feel like it will work on my work days because I eat a bigger breakfast and “lunch” ends up being more like a snack.

So the question is: will IF will really help me if I’m doing it only twice a week, on the weekends? Or does it need to be more frequent to see some real results?

Thanks 🙏

So i am on intermittent fasting for a week now and just discovered this thing about electrolyte imbalance. How can i make sure that i dont drop or exceed the normal electrolyte balance in my body? I am on 18:6 intermittent fasting (or i would rather call it OMAD as i only eat once during the 6 hour window) Any help would be appreciated

Hello everyone! I’m 35m and I started intermittent fasting on a 16:8 schedule earlier this week for the first time. Hard at first, but I was good up until yesterday. I didn’t change my caloric intake but felt more hungry throughout the day. Felt it today too, and so I decided to skip today but still feel that way.

My body is craving more food than it actually needs; I know because I log and weigh everything I eat as part of my weight loss journey (down about 40 lbs since August, which I think is about 2 lbs a week). Does what I’m experiencing sound like something anyone else here has gone through and can shed some light on?

Hello, I'm 22f and I'm interested in trying intermittent fasting, mainly for weightloss - my main goal is to lose 20kg. Yes I know it's all about the caloric deficit, I want to IF to help myself with that. I've been reading about it to have enough knowledge to know what I'm doing, but I found this "conflicting" information.

So, I've seen that intermittent fasting is generally good for your health and has many benefits. However, I've also read that skipping breakfast is bad for your health.

I was planning to accomodate my fast of 16 hours by stopping to eat at 9pm and having my first meal at 1pm the next day which wonderfully fit with my lunch schedule at work. But again, I don't know if skipping breakfast is a good idea.

Plus, people have told me fasting is more for people who are older, not exactly for young people, so now I'm a bit unsure. I also suffer from GERD so I don't know if it's even a good idea for me at all?

Could you please help me? Would skipping breakfast be alright or is it a bad idea? Should I skip dinner instead? Or should I just not do it overall?

Hey everyone,

I've been doing OMAD for two weeks and wanted advice from experienced fasters.

My Goals:

✅ Lower high LDL & total cholesterol
✅ Improve fatty liver (slightly elevated SGPT/SGOT)
✅ Enhance focus & sleep

My Stats:

📌 Age: 36 | Height: 176 cm | Weight: 65 kg (was 68 kg)
📌 Eating Window: 1 PM - 2 PM

Blood Test (Pre-OMAD):

🩸 Cholesterol: Total 234 (Borderline High), LDL 161 (High), HDL 55, Triglycerides 93
🩸 Liver: SGPT 92 (High), SGOT 49 (Slightly High), GGT 62

My OMAD Meal:

🥚 2-3 Eggs, 🐟 Fish/Chicken, 🥬 Greens, 🌾 Wheat/Ragi Dosa, 🍛 Mixed Lentils, 🧈 Coconut Oil/Ghee

Questions:

1️⃣ How long for cholesterol improvement?
2️⃣ Anyone reversed fatty liver? How long?
3️⃣ Stick to OMAD or try 16:8?
4️⃣ Supplements to consider?
5️⃣ Food tweaks for better liver health & sleep?

But I already cooked a nice meal with broccoli and chicken and mushrooms and stuff. But I don't feel hungry at all :D Going to have a sauna and cold plunge in the evening so there is going to be a bit of snacking and.. I feel having an intense sauna night wouldn't be great while into a 40+ hr fast. (Does anybody have any experience with this?)

So, ending the fast for now. Feeling great. Been maintaining my weight with IF for close to a year. Loving it. Cant wait to have good food, a chill weekend and to start all over again :) I feel so good and light and somehow, taller than before.

Hi ,Is there any athlete here who does IF ? Do you train fasted or how is it like? Have you seen any difference in your performance good or bad? Please post your experience.

• Type of fast (water, juice, smoking, etc.)
• Context of fast (start, end, day x of y, etc.)
• Length of fast (8 hours, 3 days, etc.)
• Why? What you hope to accomplish with your fast
• Notes How is it going so far? Any concerns? Insights to share?

Be sure to check back often as comments get posted throughout the day. Sort comments by "new" to be sure the newer comments get some love as well.

New here. Interested in intermittent fasting. I'm confused by the ratios everyone keeps posting.(X:XX). Can someone enlighten me what they mean, please?

Hello everyone - I am 24M, 5'9", and currently 258 pounds, and, most importantly, brand new to posting to this subreddit. With the new year starting, I decided to take on the 16:8 routine about two weeks ago. I begin my fast at about 9 pm after eating dinner, then fast until 1 pm the next day (when my lunch hour starts). Alongside that, I've started moving my body more to help the fat-burning process by swimming for 20-30 mins on MWF evenings, walking pretty much every day, and flag football weekly on Sundays. To be more specific, I've been dabbling with brisk walks during the early morning (6 am) to get some exercise while fasting before work, and every day I get in a 1.5-2mi walk during my lunch hour. I've also been interested in pursuing some bodyweight exercises to help build some strength at home.

Now that I've laid out the background of my process so far, I want to ask: would it be better to prioritize eating only until I'm satisfied or strictly tracking calories and making sure I'm losing weight at a reasonable and healthy pace? I've found that, when I try to stop myself from eating until I'm stuffed, I wind up eating a LOT less than what my calorie counters suggest I get for each meal. From what I've read this can have a detrimental effect on muscle mass and other aspects of my health. But also, I'm fat. I have a lot of eating habits I'm trying to break free from where I eat to feel good or completely stuffed, especially around dinner time. At the same time, I don't want to start pushing hard in the opposite direction and develop an unhealthy mindset about the food I eat or how much at a time. I think I just get overwhelmed with a lot of the conflicting information I see on different health and fitness forums and wanted to speak out about my experience and get some advice. Thanks in advance!

I just finished a 72 hour (on the dot) fast (for a colonoscopy) and it was surprisingly easy for me. If I weren't feeling so light headed and weak I would have tried to go 7 days.

Which brings me to my question.... I have read almost every single posting in this group and there seems to be a general consensus that rolling 72 hour fasts are not meant to be long term, and a lot of the people who have participated lost a pretty decent amount of weight.

I lost 4 pounds in 3 days, and I feel so.... GOOD. They aren't kidding about the body renewing itself. With that said, I want to find a way to modify rolling 72's to fit a more long term schedule as well as the fact that I am already on the lean side (5'8" - 135 lbs).

I've read the 5:2 diet, but I have a feeling that will also have me losing too much weight. I want to shed about 5 more pounds, and then try to maintain it, but also get all of the benefits of a 72 hour fast for my body. It needs it. Desperately.

Does anyone have an opinion/science thought behind possibly doing 72 hour fasts (maybe Sunday evening - Wednesday evening), and then taking a break for a few days (Thurs evening - Sunday evening)? I'm not even sure that math is correct. I'm just thinking 3 days on, 4 days off, might be more beneficial for me to get those amazing benefits for my body, but also not lose TOO much weight.

Thoughts? Thank you so much! This has been an amazing experience!

So every morning i drink chia seed water with 10g of chia seeds, so about 46 calories. Does that break my fast from intermittent fasting?

Everyone’s saying 16-8 is the best but how does that work if you aren’t counting calories during that window? Also I’m in college so does drinking out of that 8 hour window affect a lot?

Hey there! I've (26F) been 18:6 for 3 months now, and definitely have progress. However the last entire month has been filled with daily rushes of sadness, like I need to cry even though I'm not particularly sad at that moment. It's generally inconsistent as to when it happens, it's not only during my fast but once I break my fast too. It's 2-7 times a day. Is this a blood sugar thing? I saw someone say once that as you burn fat you release the hormones stored in the fat, but I can't tell how true that is. Some friends recount them having a similar feeling back in puberty! Anyone experience this, or have any tips to cope or limit the feeling?

I'm 20, and can I do intermittent fasting?
Can I do daily work while doing intermittent fasting? I'm a college student and am not very active daily. But I almost walk 5-6 kms daily due to classes.
Is it required to eat something in the morning after just waking up? My mother insists I eat something because else something might happen, I don't know it's name, but we get a sour after taste due to it?

And to be clear, I'm currently 125 kilos and am quite obese

Thanks for the answers