Hello queens!
have you tried intermittent fasting? I have completed 196 days of fasting for at least 16 hours... sometimes I reach 20/22 hours but lately I'm fasting for about 18/19 hours because I'm not feeling hungry.
What about your experience?
@Maeve Madden what do you think about it?
@Valeria Lorgio I've always been a bit of a natural intermittent faster as I've never really been hungry at breakfast time so have never eaten breakfast consistently.
Then we got chickens and I started having poached eggs on toast for breakfast and put about a stone on in weight! As soon as I cut the breakfast out the weight dropped off and I went back to my 'natural' weight.
Since Lockdown I have been eating dinner with my children which has meant I'm generally fasting 6pm-12pm (18hrs). I find it quite easy but know others are generally hungrier in the morning! X
I eat constantly throughout the day, wonder is that what's going wrong for me 😂. Would you drink a lot of water and coffee to take away hunger pangs? I think I eat more in lock down as wfh and boredom, although same I wouldn't eat breakfast until about 11, unless at the weekend Xx
I have done it for 2 years. It just keeps me grounded but I've never enjoyed breakfast.
@Alice Keane yeah! So far it's working for me so I will keep doing it even if sometimes I eat late at night because of gatherings... of course water, tea and coffee help to not get hungry!
IF works so well for me, I don't want to be on a 'diet' and I'm a late riser and don't eat breakfast. I started back on IF last week and I love how much nicer food tastes! I was going to the gym 5/6 times a week and wasn't seeing great results, went IF and boom! I stopped IF when lockdown came and then I tried Keto but doing the workouts were so hard that I tried to eat fast acting carbs before the workout so it was easier.
Pls pls tell me how it works. Ever since I gave up smoking 5yrs ago I struggle with my eating habits. I wld love something more structured. Any tips greatly appreciated.
@Audrey Browne the intermittent fasting is a kind of fasting that you can manage with your time. Fix 8 consecutive hours when you can eat and 16 hours of fasting. So for example if your last meal is at 6:30 pm you will eat again at 10:30 am.
During the 16 hours of fasting you can drink water, a lot, coffee and green tea of course without sugar and milk.
At the beginning your body will need to fix itself with the new routine but after that you will see that many times you will not feel hungry in the morning.
If you can add some care to your food this will help you loosing weight faster.
@Audrey Browne remember also that not all the diets work for anyone... keto, paleo, low carb, high fat, vegan, vegetarian... you should try and see what it works for you.
Many factors contribute to decide which diet is best for us.
Try the intermittent fasting and let us know how it goes.
I love Intermittent Fasting! I picked it up earlier this year & honestly love doing it. I feel absolutely amazing after doing workouts whilst fasted too!
I generally fast 18:6 most days with my eating hours between 1pm - 7pm & if I have a big night planned on the weekend will do 16:8 instead, it's pretty flexible which is why I love it!
@Helena Bush I perfectly agree with you!!!
@Valeria Lorgio I think I love food too much to even try. Also I would be worried about not having enough energy to get through the workouts and day. I don't feel that I get as much out of a workout when I haven't eaten before, I really start to struggle towards the end.
I think I kind of naturally do this anyway without realising .. I don't usually eat breakfast until about 11:30 and then dinner about 7pm -- however I do usually eat a lot of 'treats' after my dinner which I think is my main problem! I find it so hard working from home and also not really having much of a social life at the moment that I use my 'treats' of something to look forward to. Anyone else struggling with that?
With the fasting are you meant to do it 7 days a week? For example what if you're going out for a drink one evening? And also how many calories should you eat in the 8 hours? (Deficit for a loss and maintainance to stay the same?) ... I find this quite interesting and wouldn't mind trying!@Valeria Lorgio 👑
@Sarah Williams I love food and you can still eat lots when intermittent fasting! I just condense my daily calorie allowance into 2 meals and have a really decent lunch and dinner. Having a low calorie healthy lunch just makes me snack, whereas if I have a more filling and higher calorie lunch and dinner I don't end up eating naughty snacks at other times.
Everyone is different though and it's about finding what works for you. I workout fasted (after a couple of coffees) and find I have plenty of energy but that might not be the case for everyone. I really struggle to workout after I've eaten as I find it repeats on me and makes me feel sick!
@Helen Madden I always struggle with treats in the evening and I think it's become more of a habit than anything else! Definitely made worse with lockdown so I'm trying to wean myself off of them by hav in carrots and houmous or something like that. I haven't tried intermittent fasting as of yet but it sounds like it may be for me when I go back to work.
I dip in and out of it most days to help with my IBS symptoms. I tend to do 15:9 though. I find that if I eat too much in the morning, it makes me feel sore, bloated and tired for the rest of the day. It does take a few days to adjust if you're used to having breakfast - you can get a bit hangry (especially if you use food for procrastination while working). You do get used to it though.
I would say though that it won't be for everyone. Restricting too much isn't always the best for people and depending on your blood sugar,blood pressure and iron levels it might not be the best. Some people are better to eat small meals throughout the day. It's just about what works for your body.
I'm definitely bad for eating sweets and drinking too much alcohol over lockdown. (intermittent fasting definitely goes out the window when you're drinking)
Hi Queens, wow I am loving all the chat and shared experiences, so far, very fun. I always say every BODY is different. I did a podcast last night and we actually spoke about this, example, in the morning I am never hungry I wake at 8am, have water, a coffee, if im feeling peckish ill have some berries, but then I have a huge breakfast around 11-12 and have my dinner around 7:30, prob a snack around 8:30 and that it, but then my mum is someone who wakes up starving and must have breakfast .
From my experience, having suffered with disordered eating in the past, I think whats most important is intuitive eating. Having a healthy attitude towards food and body image and listening to your bodies natural signals.
We will all have different eating patterns, and that is natural, for some it can be fasting, for others it could be 6 small meals a day, or 3 meals a day and a snack.
I dont believe there is any right or wrong. Different times of the month we feel different hunger pangs, even day by day we expend different amounts of energy and so require different amounts of food. I have learned in the past that following restrictive diets, made me crave foods more. Accepting and respecting your body at every size will help you to feel better and make choices about food and exercise that are logical, rather than emotional.
And that I believe is truly key.
@Valeria Lorgio thank u so much will certainly give it a try. I will let u know how I get on. 🤞🤞🤞🤞
@Maeve Madden Couldn't agree more! You have explained this perfectly 👍
