A few more newbie questions about IF, eating times, etc. page

[Goldensparrow]

I'm still here pushing on....into week 3 now! My energy seems to be fluctuating. Some days I have a lot and feel good...other days I get sluggish and tired again. I'm sure I'm still detoxing.

I tried IF yesterday for about 14.5 hrs and then had lunch. I felt like I had a little more energy but today I feel horrible. Did I start tampering with things too soon? Should I hold off on IF until after two months?

Also, is it detrimental to weightloss to eat until 9 at night? I don't eat much during the day (i.e.- an egg and slice of bacon for breakfast, salad for lunch), so at night I have a hearty meal like beef stew with cauliflower mash then about thirty minutes after I have an ounce or two of dark chocolate then about an hour after that I have a piece of fruit to finish off the night. Is this too late for fruit? I generally finish with the fruit about 9...go to bed at 9:30 and eat breakfast the next morning around 6:30.

Thanks again for the help!

[iniQuity]

Eating hours doesn't matter, I probably wouldn't finish off the day with fruit but I don't eat much fruit to begin with.

I wonder if you're feeling bad because of your tiny feedings before your dinner? Personally, sometimes I feel hungrier/more drained/tired/etc when I have a small meal than when I eat nothing at all.

Since you're new I'm not going to suggest fasting through dinner, but rather to concentrate on having "full" meals more often that provide you with energy for the day.

I think its detrimental to start removing things too soon and attempting to eat less too fast, which is essentially what you'd be doing through IF. Take the time to get a feel for how your meals should go since it varies for everyone. I function best on two decent sized meals a day (at 1pm and again anytime between 6pm and 9pm, sometimes a snack in between but that's rare) and others here eat differently or at different times. It could be that you're not giving your body enough to run on.

I once tried to Warrior Diet, eating once a day at dinner time, but it was too hard for me to keep it up, I had no energy because I couldn't bring myself to eat one HUGE meal a day. Some people can, but to me it was too challenging so I reverted back to my 2 meals a day.

[Goldensparrow]

Yeah I may try moving the fruit up to mid-afternoon. I've tried doing dinner earlier, but I can't seem to make it happen with my work schedule.

I generally go by how full I feel when eating. I'm guessing I have a small stomach as it is already due to my "mini-meal" conditioning that I did before starting this. I used to eat 6-7 times a day, which wouldn't stretch my stomach out. So now that I'm only eating about three to four times a day, it doesn't seem like I can hold very much unless it's salad or something...I can pack away a salad for some reason. I generally eat a huge cobb salad at lunchtime (eggs, bacon, grilled chicken, avocado). Still in the grand scheme of things it's probably not that much when compared with the one egg and bacon slice that I eat for breakfast.

I'm definitely thinking I implemented IF too quickly tho like you said. My body is barely used to this new way of eating, and I go and throw in the monkey wrench due to my impatience. I've plateaued again, and it's so aggravating. I want to see the fat melt off lol. I'll give it another week of maintaining my current eating habits with maybe moving the fruit up and throwing in some nuts here and there....see what happens then. Thanks!

[Dr. Bork Bork]

I'm in week 3 too & IF most days 16 hours (start right after dinner, lasts until late breakfast/lunch). It's easy to do 16 when you do it that way, cuz you're sleeping through the majority of them. JMHO.

[JPA]

That's what I do as well and I near around 15 hours of IF. I have lunch at 1-2pm and dinner at 9pm, ending at 9.30 or so.

[Patrick]

Yup. Fasting from 6 or 7pm through til noon or 1pm the next day has been one of the single best things I've started doing.

[Goldensparrow]

Now Dr. Bork said she's in her third week...when did you guys start doing this? And do you do it every single day? Thanks!

[CaveGirlEats]

I've actually found that I sleep much better when I quit eating about 2 hours before bed. My Husband says I turn over less and have generally more restful sleep when I don't eat too close to sleep time. Plus, that pushes the IF window out a bit so I can enjoy breakfast right after my morning WOD.

[Stevoreo]

I am absolutely obsessed with IF. I normally eat from 2pm-8pm everyday and fast for the rest. My energy is way up, my workouts are more intense. The only issue is I am really not hungry at all. I have to force myself to eat a post workout meal, sometimes only BCAA's, and then an actual meal and hour later. I get so much more accomplished and I also noticed my memory (in college at the current time) is much better and i am more focused when studying, not sure if it is IF related but definitely better than before.

[Patrick]

Now Dr. Bork said she's in her third week...when did you guys start doing this? And do you do it every single day? Thanks!

I didn't start doing any IF until a few weeks in, and I let mine happen very organically (that is to say completely unplanned). Once I was comfortable with gauging my hunger and food intake and blah blah blah, I started to purposefully use IF windows. It wasn't until I checked out Leangains that I started the 16/8 fasting/feeding cycle and it's been awesome -- perhaps the biggest positive move I've made since starting my little Primal sojourn.

I do it every day, unless I'm honestly hungry, in which case I eat. I never deprive myself! I'd feel like a moron if I did. Let CW tools stare forlornly at miniscule portions. Primal is about ease of use, in my opinion. If you have to hold back or whatnot, something's wrong. That said, I've only had breakfast once in the last few weeks and that was before an important meeting with no definitive end time. I wanted to get some food in and not be uncomfortable at any point. ... then afterwards I fasted til supper without realizing it. LOL

My advice: take it as it comes, and don't try it before you're comfortable with the idea. Check out Mark's article today. You'll see he has no fasting in there; just varied eating times, I think.