[pammf]

I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for 2 years. Did a bunch of different protocols and eventually settled on ~18:6. Lost around 15kgs (from 105 to 90) and as a nice “side effect” got rid of all skin problems that I’d had during the previous 10 years or so. Today I don’t preach it anymore cause I got tired of debating whether it was healthy or not but I definitely recommend to everyone that’s truly interested in giving it a try.

[piqi]

> ...got tired of debating whether it was healthy or not...

I've had a similar experience. "unhealthy" seems to often be used in place of "not normal."

I don't blame them. Advertising has been pushing "normal" food choices for 100+ years. Social gatherings are focused too much on eating. People are shamed for being "skin and bones."

I've been doing it for more than 10 years. I never get hunger pangs. I don't feel the need to eat something before leaving the house, or stopping at a drive-thru while out. I'm able to make better food choices. It doesn't mean I starve myself, or abstain from eating lunch/dinner with friends. I get all necessary calories for whatever my goals are (ie fat loss, maintenance, or weight gain).

Constant calorie intake from accessible food products designed to sit on store shelves for months should be considered not normal and unhealthy.

[red-iron-pine]

> People are shamed for being "skin and bones."

In all of western and handful of middle eastern countries I've lived in, I've never once seen people say that except in jest; e.g. imitating the Concerned Italian Mother or Babushka, etc.

With the exception of 2-3 very skinny coder-types, pretty much everyone I met could have lost 3kg and still looked fine, and most of them (myself included) could probably stand to lose 5kg or more. Pretty much everyone I met in Dubai and the US was fat as fuck; little more reasonable in Canada, Australia, and France. Asia was still pretty lean, but getting bigger.

[birdyrooster]

I mean some people look unhealthfully slim like they would starve if there was too much snow or they couldn't leave their house for a protracted time.

[piqi]

Intermittent fasting has has nothing to do with being fat or skinny. My point about "skin and bones" is more about how normal it is to comment on someone that isn't overweight. I can't imagine people tolerating fat-shaming people in a friendly social context.

[StefanWestfal]

I tried it for some time but felt cranky in the morning until I ate at lunch time. How was your experience regarding cravings, hunger and mood changes over time when starting your fasting?

[matwood]

I was a religious breakfast eater. Would often wake up because I was hungry. The first few weeks of IF was rough, but the hunger eventually passed. My energy levels also dipped, but then went way up. I try to do all my deep work and exercise before my first feeding of the day because of how sharp I feel.

3ish years in I feel great, and routinely get comments how 'in shape' I look. I also try to weight train every day and train BJJ a few times/week.

Other things I've learned personally is if I eat poorly the night before (lots of sweets or something), I am more likely to feel a bit of hunger the next morning. Normally I don't really feel hungry though, and if I'm busy I can go right through lunch without noticing.

[gavinray]

Not the poster but the hunger lessens after the first few weeks as you adapt to it, or at least that's my experience

I start to dread eating a bit now because I get tired/sleepy after I do. I want to eat because I'm hungry but mentally feel clearer if I don't.

[PcChip]

what if you broke up the meal into several smaller ones, do you think that would prevent you from feeling mentally foggy?

[arcturus17]

Not OP, but I've done ~16:8 intermetinent fasting (aka skipping breakfast) many times during my life, and have almost always experienced morning crankiness like you.

At times I've felt the crankiness has been good; the increased aggression has led to some really productive mornings. The flip side of the coin is that it sometimes also leads to negative thoughts and feelings of pessimism until I eat.

I prefer to have a more stable mood so what I'm doing as of late is drinking a protein shake with oat milk for breakfast and a high-quality multi-vitamin. The crankiness completely goes away and mental acuity is still high. It's still excellent for weight control since it's a ~200kcal breakfast that is digested very fast. Arguably better for recovery too since I practice sports every day. It's definitely not IF but it's been serving me well.

I'm also experimenting with a ~24h fast once a week, from Sunday lunch to Monday lunch, but don't have enough experience to know what it's doing for me yet.

[pammf]

I only had cravings while doing the 36 hours fasting, which I don’t do regularly anymore. It was usually during dinner time (rest of the family was having dinner normally) and what I tried to do was to distract myself with something else (work, book, movie, etc.). I never really had problems during other periods of the day.

What I’d suggest is to experiment a bit, perhaps in your case skipping dinner is easier than skipping breakfast. Or try to start by simply not having snacks and gradually increase the intervals between meals.

[mlboss]

It took me around 2 months to get adjusted to it. Also, I lost a lot of hair during the initial months. It is a big shock for body to get adjusted after a life long breakfast eating habit.

The advantage is that I no longer get hungry. Ever. If skip lunch I might feel weak by evening but never hungry. You develop this super power against food. You can choose what and when to eat and not give in to whatever is available.

[wpietri]

For what it's worth, I can happily do IF if I eat from 7a-1p, but I'm miserable if I do 12p-6p. I got super grouchy in the 10a-12p range and if anything that got worse over the month I tried it.