From an overall health standpoint, which is better, time restricted eating or eating only when hungry?


(Heidi Wyman) #1

I have been doing intermittent fasting for most of the last 15 years without realizing it was a thing. I have been skipping dinner, not because I didn’t want to eat (I always wanted to eat) but because if I did I would gain weight. Now that I have been keto for the last six months I am finally not thinking about eating 24/7. I was doing the time restricted eating so that I ate breakfast around 7 am and lunch around 11 am. But just recently I find that I am not even slightly hungry at lunchtime. In fact, I have no desire to eat until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Does anyone have any opinions as to whether or not I should continue to eat my breakfast and lunch as my tmad or switch to breakfast and dinner? Is one better than the other?


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

It seems to me that in your case it’s a non-distinction. I look at it as being similar to calorie restriction; i.e., is it something you are inflicting on yourself, or something your body is doing naturally when you listen to it?


#3

Try it and see what happens. Some people such as Meg Ramos believe you should switch it up, eat dinner one night, lunch the next and fast the day after that, keep your body guessing. Standard advice with IF is to eat as few times as possible, in as short an eating window as possible, as early in the day as possible. Your body may react differently so try dinner and breakfast and see if that works for you and if it does not then go back to breakfast and lunch or maybe lunch only


(Heidi Wyman) #4

Thanks, I like the idea of switching it up a bit. I think I will try that


(Joey) #5

Another possibility I didn’t see mentioned yet is to consider making your first meal around lunchtime instead of breakfast.

On keto, you may discover that you’re no longer nearly as hungry in the morning as you used to be (and/or you’ve told yourself something like “breakfast is the most important meal of the day…” or some such mantra).

That way, you may come closer to the 8/16 IF approach that many suggest - with a lunch and dinner - instead of early morning eating.

But taking a stab at your original question: As long as you’re properly in touch with your true hunger levels driven by your keto eating - i.e., not old leftover habits or presumed “wisdom” you’d absorbed over time – I would always encourage you to eat when hungry, and not worry much about where the sun happens to sit in the sky.


(Susan) #6

I eat a lunch at 1pm around and then supper before 5 so I have no eating daily from 5pm -until 1pm the next day, this is called IF (intermitent fasting) and I do a window of 20:4 -20 hours of not eating every 24 hours, and a 4 hour eating window. I don’t snack between the two meals. I mix this up wih doing some fasting at times, sometimes 24 hours, sometimes 48, the longest I have done is 74 hours. You can do whatever you are comfortable with, and whatever works for you personally. There are no set rules, everyone has a different way that works best for their bodies =). Good luck finding what will be best for you.


(Full Metal KETO AF) #7

Heidi I went through a similar dilemma when I moved from eating when hungry to a time restricted window. We’re given both messages as you have noticed. It takes some tweaking to get it right. As much as people like to knock “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” I find it holds true for me, not at all influenced by the grain farming industry. I firmly believe in the superiority of an early eating window, especially if low insulin is your goal. Eating like you and I do means you’re sleeping with the lowest insulin levels of the day. This equals fat burning while you sleep. I have many times weighed before sleeping and waking to a lower weight. That’s when the scale drops for me, overnight. I also sleep much better with a fully empty stomach. Dr. Fung talks about the much lower insulin levels and response eating early window IF. He describes the difference as “dramatic”.

https://idmprogram.com/the-critical-importance-of-meal-timing-for-weight-loss/

For me I had to eat a slightly smaller breakfast so I would get hungry earlier to close my eating window. Maybe switching from 20/4 to 18/6 would help. Do make your second meal smaller than breakfast. I have adjusted to a schedule of eating between 9am-3pm most days. I don’t live by absolute timing and occasionally eat three times, especially while my son is visiting. I feel eating this way provides more fuel during waking hours and less as the day winds down when I need less fuel.

Also with the dawn effect I have insulin in my blood, why not use it on some food and fast with lower insulin overnight? This doesn’t work with all situations in people’s work and family schedules but I find it easy and superior for me when eating with others is not a concern. :cowboy_hat_face:


(Bob M) #8

I’d love to follow what Dave does, but alas I cannot. I’m often at home, after picking up one of my kids, well after 6, 7, even 8 pm. Then I want to see them at the dinner table.

So, I usually eat before 11 am, and then again at dinner. I’m still eating when hungry, though, so I haven’t attempted to compress this at all. I do throw in some days of only eating OMAD, and some 36 hour fasts when I can, and even 4.5 day fasts once every three months or so. The latter are even harder to schedule, as you need to steel yourself to sit down to multiple dinners and not eat. (And my wife has it much, much worse, as she makes all the meals for the kids.)


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

I quite naturally don’t want breakfast until after noon, most days. Some days I get hungry around 11:30 a.m., many days not till 2:30 p.m. The way the family schedule works, we don’t usually eat before 7:30 p.m., which is later than recommended, but that’s life. I need to be in bed before midnight, because getting up around 7:30-8:00 a.m. gives me a chance to get work done on the computer without distraction.

At least when I cook, I have the chance to make enough to be able to have the leftovers for breakfast the next day.


(Full Metal KETO AF) #10

Of course it’s natural, when you eat in the evening! :cowboy_hat_face:


(Bob M) #11

Not always. When I started low carb/keto 5+ years ago, I ate later and still ate breakfast. In fact, I ate 5+ meals a day, often. And would have something before going to the gym and immediately thereafter. I thought that was healthy. (And this was LCHF.)

I then found fasting and completely changed the timing of when I eat and how many meals I eat.

I do think if I eat a lot later at night, I’m not hungry in the morning. But I also find that while fasting >24 hours, I’m also not hungry in the morning, the second morning (32+ hours). Even after 4.5 days of fasting, I’m not hungry in the morning (don’t break my fast until Blunch time).


(Robert C) #12

If you are eating a solid Keto diet - then breakfast and lunch is about the same as breakfast and dinner. Your insulin will be low most of the time anyway.

Using IF or TRF and trying to keep down to one or two meals in a short window is more for people not eating Keto and is trying to maximize a period of low insulin. Two carb laden meals at each end of the day would maximize periods of high insulin (if you’re just doing two meals).


(Heidi Wyman) #13

This makes a lot of sense to me. I do like to eat a big breakfast but I can easily cut back a bit and add more to my lunch. Also, I like to work out late afternoon to early evening and not eating then really frees up more time for that. Thank you.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #14

My point was not the time of day, but the length of time between meals. Also, that time-restricted eating often results from eating only when hungry on a ketogenic diet.


(KCKO, KCFO) #15

Never a good idea to eat when not hungry. As long as you have 12+ hrs. between the first and last meal, it really shouldn’t matter all that much. My sweet spot is around 16/8, I also often do 18/6. Depends on how my body is feeling that day.