So, I tried IF yesterday for the first time. I kept a large window for eating (12:30-6:30) and stuck to it. I had coffee for breakfast and water until I had a salad for lunch at 12:30. I will say that I was kinda weak and shaky until I ate lunch but I survived. When I got on the scales this morning, I'd lost 2 pounds!!! I'm trying it again today, we'll see what happens. Not sure if I can do this when I go back to work tomorrow but if it helps me drop a few pounds here and there, maybe it can be a weekend thing. My question is this: does the weak and shaky feeling go away after a few days? Anybody else felt this?

Does weak and shaky go away? In a word, YES!!

I've played around with IF, and I've settled on a modified version that works really well for me. I eat a good protein/fat breakfast every day (bacon and eggs), generally this is mid-morning. I really don't get hungry until late afternoon, so I have dinner as early as I can, often 4:30 to 5:00. Then I don't eat again until the next morning's breakfast, typically around 9 a.m. The result is that I often end up with a 15-16 hour "fasting" window, and this doesn't stress me out at all, it's just normal routine now. Occasionally if I eat breakfast much earlier, I might have 2 or 3 ounces of deli type meat and a slice of cheese mid day.

What I've found is that if I'm keeping to a nicely low carb diet, my hunger is so reduced that I can do this and it feels natural. Most of the time, I really don't feel like eating lunch, so why eat it? I don't aim for any particular level of calories, but there are a lot of factors that contribute to weight loss, and reasonably reduced calories is one of them. I always used to eat way too much, I now know. The larger meals used to seem normal to me, now the smaller meals seem normal. A lot of it is your habits and perspective!

I think on the weekends it would be ok to eat lunch and dinner. Not so sure about it when I'm at school....I'm normally eating breakfast at school around 7am...but I've noticed that I'm not usually hungry when my 12:15 lunch rolls around.....so not sure how that will work....hhhhmmmm.....

I do a noon lunch and dinner around 6, works great for me. I do have a cup of hot tea and a spoonful of coconut oil for breakfast; I'm no hungrier at lunch than I would be if I ate breakfast; probably less so. As your body learns to expect this schedule, it will adjust.

Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow...I'm fighting wth either strep or a sinus infection so if I can handle it while being sick, then I should be able to adjust.

I am thinking about IF, I have been experimenting the past week and I've noticed that days I SKIP breakfast (just have coffee with CO) I am less hungry (in fact I'm not hungry for lunch until maybe 12:30-1) and consume less calories and carbs throughout the day....skipping breakfast does not make me hungier, in fact it's just the opposite!

Kinda goes against what we are always told though..."always eat breakfast...people who eat breakfast tend to be healthier weights...breakfast is the most important meal..." but hey if it works for me, I won't question it

I do IF ~ weekends. I only eat a meal ~ 4pm.
I do drink coffee in morning & lots of water through the day.
If I don't drink that's when I start to feel crappy.

water is certainly the key!! I had coffee this morning....nothing til about 12...and really wasn't even hungry for dinner....of course today i've been on the couch all day fighting off this sickness....not sure it will be so easy when i'm teaching...

I've been IF-ing lately, too, somewhat randomly. What I mean is, this last week I knew I was going to miss going to the gym on wednesday, so I decided to IF that day since I didn't need full energy and endurance to lift heavy after all. I've had one scare where I didn't eat all day then went for a PR in the weight room and fell to my knees under 70 kg. I may weight train on IF at some point, but I think I need to establish a real schedule first and get used to it.

Then the next day, thursday, I decided in the morning that I might as well get another day in. I ate normally on friday, and lifted heavy (stomach muscles STILL sore today), then on saturday I honestly did not have the time to eat, due to substituting for my church's church warden, and that day was three weddings in a row, then a concert. Breakfast and late, late dinner after I was home. And again I ate normally on sunday.

What did this weird week do to me? I don't weigh myself lately, due to a slight lack of scales. Still, my new, snug trench coat is no longer snug... My energy is going up with every fast. And the last two days I've been satisfied with smaller meals, just not as hungry... I think it's all good!

A hot herbal tea with a big chunk of coconut oil will give me another couple of hours when I'm hungry but can't take the time for a real meal. This works much better than snacking for me.

The MCT goes right into energy, the hot drink tricks my brain into thinking it got a treat, and I don't get any insulin spike from this. My problem is that if I eat actual food, my pancreas responds with TANKER CAR OF INSULIN and if I don't eat enough at that time to "use up" all the insulin, it will lower my blood sugar too much and make me incredibly hungry.

Fasting for long stretches just gets easier and easier; in fact, I've become quite fond of the sharp mental state and the lean "feel" my body has going for it during such times. Then when I get to my big, fancy, tasty meal, it is appreciated all the more.

I drank coffee this morning, was home with my younger son. I had to take him to the doctor. I had planned to eat around 11:30 however, the appointment went long and we didn't get home til after 1. I had a few moments around 11:30 where I was sure everybody in the office could hear my stomach rumbling....I didn't bring my water with me. I ate 2 grilled chicken tenders with a blop of sour cream and a pinch of cheddar cheese....and that was it.....now I'm full....just tryng to catch up on water now. I also was down another pound after yesterday's IF....happy dance!!!

I'm going to call today my first official day of IF....

I had my coffee with CO and HWC around 6am, and then nothing until 2:45 where I had a little lunch and then had "dinner" around 5pm. I was pretty hungry at 2:45 when I ate, my stomach had been rumbling, but after just a can of tuna with some mayo, I was fine...wasn't really even hungry for dinner but I wanted to close my "window" of eating no later than 5:30.
So, if I can resist eating until lunch tomorrow...I will be happy!

I like IF also, although I like to rotate my IF days. I am trying to rotate higher caloried and lower calorie days. Today I am lower calorie, I don't have a max but I didn't get to eat till 2 this afternoon, and that was just a grilled chicken thigh. Supper will be some pork roast, 3 oz on top of a small salad with a little bit of dressing. Tomorrow, I'll try to get my calories up to 1300-1500 or so. I'm hoping this will help me loose this sticky weight. That and keep away from the junk food.

I just ate a taco salad....and felt like I was forcing the last few bites....I'm certainly eating less....

I'm actually thinking about not eating my whole packed lunch today. I've got five large meatballs frozen in a plastic box, and I'm going to forage in the cafeteria salad bar for some veggies to go along with them, but five just seems like a lot today... Maybe I'll have three. If I get hungry later, I can just have the rest!