Picking up intermittent fasting after the holidays again

Hi, I tried IF for quite awhile this year. I'm thinking about starting it up again, but read an article about the importance of breakfast. I was skipping breakfast and eating on my break from work at about 11am. Your method sounds even better, but I don't know if i can bypass my dinnertime. I would be terribly hungry trying to sleep and that never bodes well for me. It's tough restarting after the holidays. Good luck!

@alive, I have pretty much used intermittent fasting and eating less carbs to maintain my weight and the holidays do sometimes keep me challenged. I keep a similar eating schedule and use the free version of the Zero fasting app (https://zerolongevity.com/) to track my fasting time. I normally have a 16 to 18 hour fasting window and if I notice I've picked up a pound or two, I up my fasting window to 20 hours. There is another discussion you might find helpful:

-- Low-carb healthy fat living. Intermittent fasting. What’s your why?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/low-carb-healthy-fat-living-intermittent-fasting-whats-your-why/

I tried IF four years ago and breakfast time was during my fasting window. I was coming to work feeling sluggish and couldn’t wait to eat my lunch.

Eating breakfast and lunch works well for me now. I have a terrible habit of snacking mindlessly in the evenings when I am tired. Now I come home from work with a plan about how I will keep myself busy until bedtime. It took a week or two to get used to now eating in the afternoons and evenings, but this suits me much better than skipping breakfast.

Hope you find what works best for you!

I’m glad to hear that IF is going well for you! Are you still losing weight or is it more of maintenance now?

It's more a maintenance for me now. I was 330 lbs in my 50s and joined Weight Watchers and struggled for years to get to 250. Then bounced back and forth between 250 and 280 until I read a health blog by Lee Aase (https://www.social-media-university-global.org/my-health-journey/) that helped me make a lifestyle decision and take control of my weight. Lee posted my story on his health blog - https://www.social-media-university-global.org/2020/08/john-bishops-journey/.

I originally set a goal of 220 lbs but reached it and changed to 200 lbs which is what I weighed when I got out of the Navy. I got down to about 204 a couple of times but changed my mind about what is the best and easiest weight to maintain for me. So now I just try to maintain between 215 and 220. I also bought a bluetooth scale to weigh myself daily and keep better track of my water weight, BMI, muscle mass - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L19TY8X.

That’s a big weight loss! Congratulations! I am glad you found the weight you are comfortable with.

I lost a lot of weight eight years ago when I had leukemia. I was thinner than I was when I was a teenager, but was very sickly looking. Then my weight slowly went up and returned to what it was before my diagnosis. Now I am doing the hard work to slowly lose it and keep it off. So far, intermittent fasting is doing just that. It’s a slower loss than I would have liked, but I think it’s healthier this way.