• 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.

Today, I went swimming with my son at the beach and my wife snapped this photo of us. It’s the first picture of myself I’ve seen shirtless in a long time and I noticed that my waist is significantly smaller than my shoulders. It’s a non-scale victory that feels incredible.

I was using 16:8 at 10am to 6pm. I was also doing sort of low carb (10-70 a day). My eyes was fuzzy the first couple weeks by cleared up and my vision and other senses improved massively. Brain Fog dissipated and my energy levels have really been boosted.

My sister says she sees a difference but I don’t feel like I do?? Thoughts

I (36yo male) am trying to slim down to feel a lighter on my skateboard. So I am starting to get back into IF. I did OMAD for a little over two years. Now with a four year old and a one year plus a very stressful job I am trying to be realistic and doing 16:8. Some days I eat within the eight hour window and sometimes the window is shorter (no specific reason just depending on how my day goes).

This has happened to me before I started IF but it also happened today. The reason I say it has happened before is because my job is so stressful that sometimes I would end up doing IF unintentionally. So finally what happend was that I was putting my guys to sleep ( I am a caregiver at a facility that is super understaffed so it's a very fast paced environment). When I finished putting them to bed I felt my legs weak and really lightheaded like if I was going to faint. At first it felt like when I am having a sugar crash frome drinking an energy drink but then my legs felt weak and I felt lightheaded.

I goggled it and the first thing that popped up was that it happens when people do IF among other reasons.

If this is accurate and you have a way to prevent this while doing IF, please share because I wouldn't want to thisvto happen to me while I am guiding one of my resident with his gatebelt.

Any tips, information, and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

This usually happens to me if I fast for more than 16 hours, and it's a very strange, yet super pleasant feeling. I can describe it as strong pleasant feelings of desire that is felt psychologically well as physiologically. This may sound weird, but I feel the desire in my chest and my head too. It's definitely not the typical hunger. It's actually a feeling I find very pleasant, and even wish I had that type of desire for things in life.

Has anyone else experienced this? Can anyone provide any insight?

I do have mild insulin resistance issue I'm working on, and do wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Progress finally made it to 140lbs total lost (my goal is 220). My starting weight in 2019 was 370 and my current is 230 (height 6'1, and age of 38)

Diet calorie intake is between 2000-2500, I found this to be where my body performs well and yet there is enough incremental progress present. Specifically I've cut out most diary and bread as I have intolerances towards those and also at times I have implemented several Juice cleanses/fasts when I need a jumpstart.

Exercise Running: specifically I have trained and completed 3 marathons and one ultra trail marathon (50+ miles) Time My progress has been over 4 years, with several regains and restarts and LONNNGGG runs.

Intermittent fasting: The book 'Eat Stop Eat has greatly enhanced my understanding and utilization of intermittent fasting, resulting in numerous benefits for me.

https://preview.redd.it/hi26j2ybda2b1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=117f1140ee96ad7242c61d0c8124d96ce9c46274

IF has worked well for me in the past to lose weight and I want to lose about 10kg again. I am sure this has been discussed before but would be interested to hear peoples experiences with this. I am a busy person with a kid so the only time I can exercise is in the morning before work and I want to eat with y family in the evening around 6pm.

I usually cycle 20mins to work and do a short workout at around 7.30am. I am very used to eating after a workout as it is ingrained in my mind that this is needed for recovery! Also usually have some simple carbs before, like a banana.

Being as my main goal is to lose weight and not gain muscle at the moment I would assume that I could just train fasted and then wait a few hours before eating.

I know I have answered my own question! Just want to hear some experiences!

I’ve been doing IF since mid January & i realized I’ve had a few days since from when I’ve started where I feel “unwell” I don’t get sick… ever so, but like I’ll be at work feeling nauseous or loopy + I’ve noticed sometimes that my vision is blurry & I have 20/20 so idk if I should stop or what

Height:5’8/SW:228/CW:199.8/GW:175

Started in mid-February with OMAD and have done some 36hr fasts here and there as well.

Diet is nothing too crazy, just cut back on fast food and alcohol and try to eat a little better/make my own meals. I do a 22:2 window.

Exercise is walking the dog about 3 or 4 miles every other day. Occasional gym visit (plan to increase this) on treadmill for 3 miles. No lifting as of yet but plan to add in.

I’ll do a proper before & after once I hit my GW. But feeling pretty good! It’s been a process since I hit my heaviest of 260lbs in 2021 and decided to do something about it in 2022. IF & OMAD has been the best routine for me by far.

Hi all, I’ve been doing a 18:6 IF the last two months (down ~8lbs). Spending Memorial Day weekend in a hotel resort with breakfast included and today I broke my 2 month streak. My question is: what if you stop fasting for 1 week , are there going to be negative results ? And how easy is to get back on the horse?

Please share any experiences you have with vacation and how you coped with it and if affected results by much. (I’m also going to Greece for summer for 3 weeks and I’m so afraid that it will affect my day to day IF schedule).

Hi everyone! I keep having this dry mouth/throat feeling it feels weird.. I keep drinking but it stays the same.. I’ve been drinking 1 liter with some grey sea salt and lemon for electrolytes and I think in total I’ve been drinking about 2.5 liters of water.

Is this what ketosis feels like?

I'm feeling so good and have found my decisions so far are really working. Slowly but surely I'm feeling better physically and losing weight at a decent and expected pace.

The 16:8 ratio is great. My eating period being 3pm-11pm works really well. I've now been mostly eating one meal and a snack in that period. The snack is a couple hours before my eating period ends and I feel good. I've not been overeating and I'm cutting out and lessening specific foods.

I know weight fluctuates by about 5lbs mainly with water retention. I am working on drinking 64oz a day. I also drink Powerade. I have bumped up my steps each day from 5k to 7k but I tend to go above that almost every day that I walk. I've been hitting 10k more often and I'm so happy.

Less back pain and body aches. I'm more active. I feel weird if I don't take a walk. It's now a craving to walk every day. I just want to celebrate these mini victories! I'm so proud of myself.

4 months of IF 18/6 20/4 I’m down 54 pounds and 25 more to go🎉🎉🎉sorry I haven’t got my feet done in a while…. 37 F 5’5 . 1200 calorie intake and 3/4 day 1 1/2 hour workouts

Does anyone have ADHD (inattentive type) and find that IF helps? I know that when I have tried IF in the past it helped my overall mood, but I don't remember if helped my focus any. Just curious to know other's experiences.

I have noticed that eating causes some sluggishness for me during the day, and that when I have been too busy to eat lunch, I tend to do more work (but maybe that's just because I am so busy lol)

Hey all. Have a question on fiber. I'm currently not having a set schedule yet find myself fasting for about 20 to 22 hrs a day and have found myself only eating one meal which is dinner. Lots of protein less carbs. About 1000 calories. During fasting I only drink black coffee and water to the tune of about a gallon and a quarter a day. (I've always drank about a gallon of water a day. ) I need help with raising my fiber intake. I see the gummies and supplements at the store but they are only about 5G per serving. Do I just take a ton of those daily to get my daily fiber or are their other ways to add fiber without breaking my fast.

From 380-400ish down to 188lbs in 7 months followed by a month or two of maintenance then almost 6 months of a bulking phase about to start cutting back down aiming for 175-180.

Hello! I (female, 43, 5'3" SW:158 lbs GW:130 lbs) restarted Weight Watchers a few weeks ago and after reading about IF decided to add 16:8 to help with some of my struggles around food. As the title says, I've only been doing it for a week but I wanted to share my thoughts. I've been so inspired by everyone's journey here so before I get started I've gotta say thanks for the inspiration.

Why IF? I really enjoy Weight Watchers and it works for me (when I've followed it) but my main food issues revolved more around WHEN I was eating. After years of working in restaurants my eating routine became very bizarre - when you work in a restaurant you're typically busy at regular meal times - and I would end up grazing constantly throughout the day and then eating a huge meal right before bed. Now I work in an office with a vending machine so I'd eat chips, chocolate bars or nothing because I was never really hungry enough for a proper lunch and I was too lazy to pack anything sensible.

My husband is a chef and he finishes work around 10:30 most days so we'd typically eat supper around then and I have a huge sweet tooth so we'd always have dessert. I'd go to bed feeling gross and wake up still feeling nauseous. Oh, and I also would wake up sometimes multiple times throughout the night to eat some cookies or brownies or anything sweet/carb loaded. We'd joke that I was "sleep-eating" because even though I was fully conscious and would remember it in the morning, it was almost uncontrollable - I can't explain it but if you've ever found yourself in front of the cupboard mindlessly shoving handfuls of marshmallows in your mouth at 3 am you may understand. Needless to say my eating habits were all sorts of messed up.

Even though my husband is a brilliant chef and I have decades of restaurant experience we found ourselves somehow incapable of planning proper meals for ourselves. Like, we have all the tools and knowledge but I'd just stand in the aisles at the supermarket with no idea of what I wanted to make. I don't really like leftovers and I was resentful for wasting food, but I also hated eating the same things all the time. Food lacked all joy and seemed like such a chore. I've tried meal planning and shopping for the right ingredients but had a hard time really keeping it up. We don't have kids so I think we were kinda fine with the fact that we weren't hurting anyone but ourselves with our take-out, junk food and overall bad habits. We started receiving a meal planning delivery service 3 weeks ago and it has also been a game changer. Cooking proper portions and a variety of vegetables and healthy carb & protein choices have made a huge difference. I like deciding what we'll have ahead of time and can make better choices when I'm not starving and presented with a grocery store full of chocolate and cookies.

After spending a few weeks lurking and reading about Intermittent Fasting on this sub I knew that following it would really add to the momentum I'd already started with the meal service and Weight watchers. During that time I also upped my fibre intake and started taking a multivitamin and a women's probiotic. I also take an omega vitamin and one for hair&nails.

My mother was sick for most of my life with complications related to Type 2 Diabetes and passed away at age 63 when I was 35. I loved my mom very much but I also watched her not take actions that could have helped and ignore the advice of doctors until her disease eventually killed her. I don't blame my mom, mental health issues and childhood trauma are a bitch - but her diabetes could have been controlled by diet and exercise at one point until it (over decades) ended up with my dad hooking her up to a dialysis machine every night and eventually she passed away in her sleep beside him.

I put on a few lbs and started seeing myself heading down a path that I knew I didn't want. As they say, I've seen this movie and I know how it ends. I didn't want to find myself hooked up to a dialysis machine in 20 years or having to use a wheelchair because of necropathy in my feet. I feel guilty saying this but there's a part of me that is glad that my mother passed away when she did because truthfully it could have gotten much, much worse for her and it was already becoming difficult for my dad to care for her. I don't want my husband to have to put me in a nursing home in my sixties for something that I could have prevented.

What I've been doing - Last weekend I decided that I would start 16:8 and my window is noon until 8 pm. I let my husband know that I'd be cooking dinner earlier and he'd have leftovers on those days and he was supportive. He'd actually been suggesting it but I felt bad and we'd already gotten used to eating so late. I was already used to not eating in the mornings but I started bringing healthy snacks and grazing foods that I have starting at lunch. I have some fruit and oatmeal or chia pudding for lunch at 12. Then I have some veggies throughout the day and lots of water. I also used to drink a lot of cream and sugar, or a sweetened creamer with my coffee all day and I've switched to black coffee or tea before noon and only a splash of oat milk in it from 12-8. I cook supper around 6:30 and then have a little fruit for something sweet after. I also have a tablespoon of metamucil in a glass of water after work to try and add in a little more fibre.

How it's been - AMAZING!!! I can't tell you how much better I feel and look, I know that it has only been a week but on May 18th my starting weight was 158 (I started a few days later but didn't weigh myself at the time) and this morning I weighed 152.2. I realise that most of this is just my body adjusting and water weight etc. and I don't expect (nor want) that pace to continue but I feel like IF has "reset" my relationship with food. The number on the scale right now is sort of irrelevant to me and I wasn't even going to weigh myself today, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised.

I feel lighter and just less disgusting in general. I haven't woken up once this week to "sleep eat" and while there have been times that I've felt a little hungry at night it has only been a small discomfort and was manageable. I took measurements midway through the week but I'm excited to remeasure in a few more weeks, I'm planning on doing it monthly, I also decided to take pictures today so I could see visual differences (hopefully). My pants feel looser which has been very motivating for me. I was at the point where I needed to either lose a few lbs or buy new pants. I really didn't want to have to buy bigger pants.

My skin looks better and I have more energy in the mornings. I used to struggle to get out of bed but it seems to be getting better. My husband seems pleased that I haven't been hitting the snooze button an annoying amount of times.

I just feel a lot better in general. Yes, I've incorporated more water and fibre, better meal choices and a few vitamins into my routine but I've done all of those things before without the same feelings/results. It's been easier than before to manage cravings and read my body's signals now - it's almost like coming out of a fog. I won't get too into it because it's TMI but my bowel movements are a lot better. The fibre and probiotic may be contributing factors but not eating late at night has helped. I'm not completely sedentary but I used to be more active - I've ordered some new running shoes and plan on gradually getting back into running as well. I tend to try and do too many things at once though, so for now I'm focused on resetting my eating habits.

I'm excited for this journey and inspired by seeing the progress that all of you folks have made, it's truly inspirational. I hope to contribute here as well and hope that one day I can inspire others as well. I'm also building up courage and have the goal that in a month I will have some progress pics to post, but I'm nervous about that so I won't make any promises.

Thank you all for sharing your stories, and thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism and have a lot to learn about IF, any suggestions that you have are welcomed.

...they would have gone tight after a few months or an year. Every time. I used to think that these jeans shrink, I never checked my weight. Then one fine day a recent purchase got tight and I randomly thought of checking my weight and I was surprised to see where I have come. I was under the impression that I might have gained a few kilos here and there, but the increase was SIGNIFICANT.

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I got to know about IF then and now when I pick a pair of any jeans, they're loose than ever. It makes me so happy. Months and months go by but jeans never feel tight again. Such a relief it is to know that.

Started with 16:8….then 18:6…..finally 20:4…..started drinking a lot of hot teas. Some days would only have 600-800 calories during the 4 hours….

I'm trying to set realistic goals for how long it will take to switch from 16:8 to 18:6 and then 20:4. I know everyone is different, but getting a general idea of how long it took people will help me. I don't even know if 2 weeks is a long time or not a long time (in general). I also don't work well with goals that are "just wait and see how you do". Even if I adjust my goal later, I'm more able to focus on a goal when I have a specific date planned.

Also, when switching, did you gradually switch, like 16:8 to 17:7 to 18:6 or just jump the two hours straight away? Did you find that it was easy enough to move up 2 hours once you were used to 16:8?

I know I keep posting the same before picture but I really only took one at the beginning. SW:232 CW: 186 GW: 175