September 2020 IF/EFChat Thread (All Welcome)

(Susan) #21

Wow Dave sounds crazy!

#22

It was indeed. :slight_smile:

(Doug) #23

Dave, what a pain in the butt, but I love reading about it. Yeah, ‘Mother Nature’ can lay down some serious smack.

So, “IF” - anymore almost every day is the same for me. Have a cup or two of coffee, either black or with cream, in the morning. Maybe I get hungry in the early afternoon, have some meat or cheese or a combination. The ‘eating window’ would be at most 7 hours there, like 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Or, I just eat supper/dinner with my wife in the evening, meaning one meal a day.

My wife and I both think we should eat earlier, not let it go to 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., but this is curiously resistant to change.

#24

Yep, she’s definitely in charge… always. :slight_smile: :cloud_with_lightning_and_rain:

For me it’s either OMAD or TMAD that I try to keep no longer than 6 hrs. I’d prefer to do even a smaller window, such as a 4 hour, but with an hour ride-time home, I would have to eat at 2pm and finish eating Dinner by 6pm, which is within one hour of getting home. … But this wouldn’t always be possible due to my schedule. - But regardless, I always try to eat no later then 6pm. That gives me 4 hours before my normal 10pm bedtime. (Have to be up at 5am) But I’ve done this way back before Keto. I’ve just never liked going to bed with a fresh meal in me. Always felt heavy to me.

But you know, I’ve been thinking. Maybe I shouldn’t use the term ‘eating window’? When it’s generally me eating a meal, then 4-6 hours later, eating another meal? Because I don’t eat throughout that time, but simply put two meals in. … Guess I’m not sure just how folks use that? But I have wondered about trying to eat little bits throughout, just to see how it might feel. But I think it would probably make me feel like I was snacking, which is something I don’t do, so not sure if that would work for me?

But I do try to switch things up, since I’ve read many times over that doing OMAD too much, or often, can lower your metabolism? Even though I have seen my best results for weight loss with it.

(KCKO, KCFO) #25

Wow, what a day. Your job must be rewarding.

Eating window is just the time you can eat, doesn’t matter if it is 1 meal, 2, or even 3. I usually eat between 11AM and 6 PM. So that is my eating window, I avoid food outside of those times, if I dont’ have something going on, which hasn’t happened a lot lately, no eating out with friends nor having them over. If I don’t eat till noon I will finish up any eating for the day by 7PM.

#26

Yes Ma’am, it is mostly. - Though It can get overwhelming at times too. :slight_smile:

Yeah, and makes sense. And I think from reading others post, sounds to be the same for most folks?

For me, when I do the two meals, I basically don’t eat outside those ‘mini-meal’ windows themselves. So if I eat at say, 12 Noon, (30 minutes) I then won’t eat anything in between the meals and drink just water. Then I will just eat Dinner which is usually between 5 and 6. So there’s a 5 to 6 hr. gap between my meals where I don’t eat anything and have been doing this since starting this WOE. … But now I’m wondering which is actually better? Or is it something else that can be thrown in? So instead of eating say set meals, would it be better to just sort-of piece-meal foods during that set time? I may have to try that, but I’m also guessing not eating a full meal at one setting might feel totally different too. Possibly more akin to snacking, but within set limits… But it’s really got me wondering about it now…

(KCKO, KCFO) #27

If T2D is a concern, I would not go into minimeals/snacking mode. The bounces in BS are not good.

#28

No, T2D is definitely not a concern, it’s just I started this way and never tried any other. So just thinking about it has me wondering. Can’t say there was anything I read that indicated this was the proper way back when I first started researching keto, but the no snacking is something that I’ve always practiced.

(Allie) #29

Just heading into my regular 36ish hour fast to start the week after choosing to eat massively off plan this afternoon. Hopefully by 6am Tuesday I will have digested it all :joy:

#30

I had enough of my woe chaos lately… Fasting never was this tempting :smiley:
Today I just had an OMAD day. Finally. I had two problems lately. One is my reappering midnight eating that is totally not for me but my body somehow learned it’s a mealtime so it gave me the urge and who am I to resist (I was usually actually hungry a bit and hunger is serious to me). The other is an inevitably big eating window as I reached satiation too easily so I needed multiple meals to get my nutrients. Both are on and off, the latter is triggered by carnivore-ish days.
And I resume them :slight_smile: We will see. I strongly feel I need both extreme carbs and a small eating window but they are quite hard together. But I like challenges and have some ideas how to pull it off. Longer fasts may or may not help but I don’t know if I am able to do them… But I definitely want to wait until some proper hunger (again… somehow I always go back to having lunch), it should help with eating big enough meals. I don’t know why these things don’t happen more automatically, oh well.

I totally say “eating window” but I typically have separate mealtimes and nothing in-between myself. Not always but that’s the typical thing. If I need food, I mean business, I eat a substantial one. And I am satiated for some hours. It sounds very logical to me. My SO is exactly the same but he don’t and can’t do IF except when he is hungrier and finishes dinner at 2pm (dinner is his 3rd meal, time is irrelevant). He has a 9 hour long mini-fast between breakfast and lunch on weekdays, hunger is irrelevant, times are fixed. Eating a bite would trigger hunger so NO WAY. Never. I have a tiny allowance, a mini-meal (a few drops of cream in coffee or 2 berries) doesn’t make me hungry but more? Almost surely. It’s not a huge problem for me as my eating window is smaller but it would feel very odd to eat soon after my substantial meal without a need and when I do have a need, I eat a proper, full-blown meal.
My circumstances and hunger and satiation actually put me into a situation where I could try having tiny bites too (well, a few eggs or something). It wasn’t really good but I got hungry too early and that just won’t do. I still need my biggish meal, grazing, nibbling during the eating window is a very weird concept to me… But there are people who only can consume tiny meals. Or love this style? It still sounds odd. But getting satiated with a small meal, no matter for how short time is a foreign concept to me (with shocking super rare exceptions).
I personally never thought snacking is a problem, it’s just not my style. If I snack, I do that as one course of my bigger meals.

#31

*Thinking about tossing in another Fast. Ate something for lunch, but the Wife threw in a large Roast in the crockpot, but it’s taking much longer then she had anticipated, and I hate eating late, so just decided to skip. May eat tomorrow night, which will put me around 33 hrs. or might just extend some more. See how things go tomorrow and go from there. … Happy Fasting Folks. :+1: *

(Bob M) #32

I’m attempting my first 36 hour fast in…forever. Was much easier when I could stay at work and pick up the kid(s) late in the evening and then go home. Will do that again today, picking one up at 7pm, so I’ll be home around 7:15pm. Then only have to make it less than 2 hours until I go do bed!

Tried to skip dinner last night (wasn’t hungry much), but hard to sit looking at an empty plate when the family is there.

(Allie) #33

How did you get on @ctviggen? I’ve just started in my regular start of the week 36 hour fast.

#34

Well, due to scheduling, I ended up cutting the first Fast this past week at just 30 hrs., but then threw in a 50 hr. Fast a couple days later. … I’m actually just starting one for this week, but mainly since I woke with a jacked-up knee. Must have done something to it while working in the basement yesterday, but the left knee has been quite swollen all day and I’ve been icing it, but think a nice fast should or might help with the inflammation as well. Left leg was showing some fluid too, but not as bad and without the pain associated with it. … But will try to stick with just one this coming week.

(Allie) #35

I hope your knee is better soon Dave.

I’m currently 14 hours in and feeling blah… did a ten mile bike ride yesterday and knew my body would need nourishment after it so made myself eat when I really wasn’t feeling it, but cutting short my 36 hours isn’t an option for me so I had to go into it prepared. Now, because I ate so late and so much yesterday (1730 but I don’t usually eat after 1430), my sleep was awful and I’m feeling it today :expressionless:

#36

Thanks, Allie. Woke this morning and still swollen and sore, but might be a bit better? To early to say for sure. I’m just passed 13.5 hrs. myself, and wouldn’t even be going to work, but I have some stuff I need to do today. Had one of my Inspectors get hit by an idiot driver last week. (Minor damage, but someone who couldn’t wait for the light and tried to go around him, so just nipped the bumper and her fender. But I need to turn in the paperwork I did over the weekend. Plus, I need to walk some town-folks (Council Members) through the operations of one of the stations in their area and explain how it all works. (They were flooded some along with everyone else during last weeks huge storm. … But I may roll out early once these are done? Would much rather stay home and ice my knee some more and stay off it which I think would be helpful. Already told the Wife I may try to Fast a few days to help with inflammation, etc.

:slight_smile: :+1:

(Mame) #37

ah the forum is up! (for me)

I wanted to nip in here and cheer on all you fasters!

Gosh I miss fasting. But as Allie and Dave describe above, currently my body is clearly saying ‘nope’ right now to fasting. I feel great. My weight is trending down so all is well.

but I miss it so I love to hear about all of you who are in the groove.

I am working on developing patience and trust with my body and I know that fasting will be an option again for me at some point.

(Susan) #38

I wish you all the very best as well. I have been sticking with my TMAD 20:4 and I miss fasting properly as well; but with all the stress and things going on at the moment, I am just happy to stay strictly Keto with no cheating and stick to my 20:4 daily routine.

#39

It seems I finally lost my midnight eating. IF goes just fine lately, OMAD, TMAD…
My plan for this week (and for the future) to skip lunch every day (unless I need that meal, of course). It’s not like I am ever seriously hungry that early (at 3pm). I still am in the kitchen with my SO, it’s my usual first mealtime since ages so I may feel something but I can just ask my body if it needs fuel and definitely not, at least now.

Yesterday was interesting. I overate the previous day and I went for some hiking. Weekend and exercise together results in earlier eating normally, I often eat as super early as noon! I truly started to feel some very subtle hunger around 2pm but I wasn’t particularly hungry even at 5pm. I ate as I was hungry and at home and it felt good after my hiking and my body surely could do things with the nutrients but it was still a very subtle, would be easy to ignore for some more hours hunger. But I really had a very satiating day previously :slight_smile:
I am almost ready for a longer fast. I expect that if I usually just eat dinner, a day will happen when I won’t get hungry at all (or just this subtle nice little thing that I learn to ignore now), without any special determination and plan…

(Bob M) #40

Not good - only made it 22 hours, but did that twice last week. It’s been tough making it 36 hours while watching the family have dinner.

My kids start extra-curricular activities this week, though, so maybe that will help. I can pick one daughter up from dance at 8pm, for instance. That would make a short time at home until I could get to bed.

Also, I’ve gained quite a bit of strength and muscle since the pandemic started. I’m finding it harder in general to fast. And that’s been the trend for years.

Another thing that happens is I’ve been doing a ton of work on the house over the weekend. I’ve been finding that makes it difficult to fast on Monday, basically impossible, as I get hungrier when doing that much work. My body takes a while to recover.

Anyway, good luck to everyone, and I’ll see when I can try another 36 hours.