Although I have reduced my eating window a bit, I have still been having coffee with cream/whole milk in the mornings, and occasionally supper at approximately 9pm.
So I thought I'd try an experiment of doing this properly (black tea/coffee/water only until I need to eat).
I'll log my symptoms and emotional reactions. Perhaps this will be useful to others just dipping a toe in the water.
Note 1) stopped eating last night at 6.30, with a slice of cheddar and a teaspoon of peanut butter.
My husband usually brings me a coffee at 6.30 am to bring me into the land of the living. I asked him for this to be black. Bit nervous. Mostly because I hate failing at anything!
Note 2) its 7.30 am. I don't love my black coffee as much as my creamy one, but that's ok. No hunger yet. No adverse mood.
Will catch up later.
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Note 3) 10 am - Have had 3 black coffees. Keep feeling the need to reach for 'something' but it's not really hunger. It's more a need to reward myself when I usually do. Pressing on No hunger, no headache, not irritable.
Note 4) Stressed by the mail arriving, broke fast at 10.45, so I managed 16 and 3/4 hrs fasting for day 1. So I'll stop eating at 6.45 and begin again tomorrow.
I would have preferred to have managed a longer chunk, and thought I would be able to as I've been effectively 18:6 if you don't count drinks with milk. But I will persevere as perhaps this can be increased over a few days.
I broke my fast with cauliflower rice, peppered mackerel and 30g cheddar.
Will continue to update, but less frequently so as not to spam the forum!
Hi Stoozie, firstly well done you and my advice is to pace yourself, so it works for you and then it is achievable and sustainable. Personally I'd be tempted with herb teas so you don't have too much caffeine in your system.
Green tea contains some caffeine but has excellent antioxidant properties including ridding the body of LDL cholesterol.
Rooibos tea also red bush tea is an excellent naturally decaf tea, I bought some and was really pleased with how it tasted and often buy it now.
As for spamming I'd say that your post with updates is great as it shows your enthusiasm and commitment, so I wish you well with your fasting and as this group is about fasting please keep your posts coming.
I will add some rooibos now to my Asda order. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.
Green tea leaves me a little wired, but then, so does black coffee! So I will also have a rethink there. Thanks for the encouragement, I will continue to update as I am able.
I have started my IF on 1st of March 😊It was hard but now gradually my body is getting used to it.I take my morning tea with dash of semi skimmed milk without sugar at 7.30 am.
Around 11.30-12 noon I eat my first meal & cup of coffee with milk without sugar.I finish my evening meal by 5 pm & nothing after 6pm.
So far I am doing ok & no cravings for sweet stuff.😊
I seem to go against the traditional advice on this as I only eat 6pm - 11.30pm (go to bed around midnight to 12.30am and get up around 10am). Don't feel hungry in the morning and don't even think about food when I go out (do drink quite a lot of water).
This comes naturally as I've never been a breakfast person and have always eaten main meal around 9pm.
It's another example of one size doesn't fit all - but it does seem to provide some evidence that it isn't "harmful" to eat late!
I fast every Tuesday, all in around 40 hrs & find the first day the hardest, by wed morning the hunger pains have gone & I can quite easily go the day without food (only if I told my self I’m not eating today) if I even think of eating, then that’s it, get that BLT going lol
It’s also good to keep busy but the more you do it the easier it gets.
Now the sugar, I’ve been wanting to quit sugar in tea & actually did over 2 weeks last month but I drink decaf because of atrial fibrillation & that stuff isn’t great to start with lol, anyways I started to use sugar again as I found I wasn’t even drinking tea any more cod it tasted crap without sugar.
I started to use red bush but Jesus what a taste, kept telling my mum how good it was until she tried a cup, the look on her face was priceless!
I’ve done 3 days fasting, just drinking water & that really slows you down, worn out by just walking across the yard, done a week drinking tea with sugar & the odd swig of orange juice but did lose 10 pounds if not more which was my objective, it’s all good fun, I turn 63 next month & all my blood work just came back ok, so must be doing something right & no meds at all!
I like my tea sweet too. I use a speck of erythritol. If you like it really sweet, use a blend of erythritol, allulose and stevia (each sweetener has its taste-downside, but altogether they kind of cancel each other out, IMHO)
Maybe artificial sweeteners are bad...there is no proof...but who knows? But they've helped me get through the keto diet and fasts and a lot of weight loss. They are the one thing I won't give up.
Yes, but...Amazon? Look up Swerve, the trade name. Allulose is the newest "fake", but it is actually a natural sugar that isn't absorbed. It's unfortunately pricy.
Personally, I'm not averse to splenda or saccharin either. My blend has a bit of all of these things.
The healthiest (and tastiest) thing is to get used to (and actually prefer!) things less sweet. IMHO you don't have to force it! If you do low carb it will happen naturally.
No, it just so happens that when I first started, I was doing it every now & then & my wife decided to give it ago & so I did it with her, she lasted till Tuesday 11am & I’ve been doing it ever since on a Tuesday for over a year now.
She has done 3 day fasts since but doesn’t do any at the moment but I soldier on!
Broke my fast at 10 today (milk in tea again!!!) so will ideally stop food for the day at 6.
5.45 pm feels a *leetle* bit early to have a Friday night glass of wine though..... We shall see!
Symptoms update: no more headaches, no hunger, no irritability apart from yesterday at my sons, but I suspect that 4 noisy nerf guns and 4 boundlessly energetic small boys could probably test the patience of even the most Zen faster.
Someone wrote, and I agree, that half the problem with fasting is not the hunger, it's the boredom. How much of our lives revolve around food! I know I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking, planning, preparing... "What should I have next?" ... "Goodness this will be so tasty and I'll just add a dash of..." It's crazy. But when you fast, it's like there's a big hole (or a lot of little holes) in your day. Right?
So today I managed 19 hrs before a milky drink and some food (ate at 12pm).
Husband has noticed and is a bit concerned, so I will show him some research. He should be ok though, he tried the 5:2 for a while so he can't think it's awful.
Stopped eating today at 7 (7 hr eating window).
Will only fast for 16.5 hrs tonight, as have to consume something at 11.30 tomorrow morning even though it's only small.
Symptoms wise, i needed to distract myself quite a lot this morning from the idea of food, and did gardening to absorb myself. But its still not hunger, it's habit and a sense of 'I deserve a treat now'.
This experiment is teaching me a lot about other treats. I must make a list of alternatives.
Depending on your age, according to the chart I have, even if you are young, 21.5% body-fat is getting close to underfat.
I am also quite lean, and do not need to lose much more. 18 to 20% body fat for a 69-year-old male is "fit" rather than "healthy". I have no desire to become "athletic".
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No hunger, no headache, not irritable.
G'day Folks
intermittent fasting for women, ♀︎