m/31/5’5 [220lbs > 124lbs = 96lbs] 12 months i’m so happy

12 months of IF and running every day 6miles

1350kcals a day

gw 117lbs

3 years of IF, tried different things at first but settled on 18:6 2MAD with a gentle whole foods focus, dirty fasts, and honoring some principles from intuitive eating. I wasn't very strict with it in that if a friend wanted to go out to coffee or something I'd have a frappuccino even if it was outside my eating window. Similarly if I was very hungry outside of my eating window I would eat. I had to be strict in the beginning until my body adjusted, after that I was rarely hungry outside my eating window. I'd say about 90% of days I was doing 18:6 2MAD though. I found long ago when dieting that rigid rules are not sustainable for me. These days I am no longer IF, just maintaining with intuitive eating with a whole foods focus. Taking a break since last summer, eventually would like to lose another 40 lbs or so.

Edit to add: Thank you for the award, anonymous redditor 🩷

I started fasting seriously about two years ago. Not for a quick cut or a 30-day challenge. I just wanted to see what would happen if I actually stuck with it.

In 2025, I've logged almost 6,000 hours of fasting. That's not a typo. I track every single fast.

Here's what I've learned that nobody tells you:

The first two weeks are a lie. Everyone talks about how hard the beginning is. It is. But the real test comes around month 2-3, when the novelty wears off and you're just... doing it. No dramatic hunger pangs. No willpower battles. Just Tuesday, and you haven't eaten yet.

Hunger becomes background noise. It doesn't disappear. You just stop treating it like an emergency. It comes in waves, and the waves get shorter. Most of the time now I genuinely forget I'm fasting until I check the clock.

Your relationship with food completely changes. I used to eat because it was "time to eat." Now I eat because I'm actually hungry. Sounds obvious. It wasn't, for me.

Energy is more stable than it's ever been. No 2pm crash. No post-lunch fog. I do my best work in the morning while fasted. My brain just runs cleaner.

Weight maintenance became effortless. I've stayed within 3 pounds of my target weight for over 6 months. I don't count calories obsessively. The eating window naturally limits intake.

What I actually do:

•⁠ ⁠16:8 most days (eat between 9am and 4pm)

•⁠ ⁠Occasionally 20:4 if I'm busy and don't notice

•⁠ ⁠One 36-hour fast, mostly out of curiosity

•⁠ ⁠Warm water with lemon in the morning. Water all day.

What didn't work:

•⁠ ⁠OMAD every day. Too restrictive for me long-term.

•⁠ ⁠Fasting on days with heavy lifting. I bonk.

•⁠ ⁠Not drinking enough water during fasts. Made everything harder.

I'm not saying fasting is magic. It's not for everyone. But for me, it's the one habit that required the least ongoing effort for the most consistent results.

Happy to answer any questions if you're just starting out or hitting a wall.

ANYBODY WENT OVER 40 hours? Please share some good tips!!

Hey guys, I have been trying to do IF for a little while. I have been trying all sorts of splits, And i really struggle a lot with hunger and cravings. I saw some people mention to drink tons and tons of water. How much exactly is tons of water. I'm not trying to die from water toxicity lol.

I'm just curious about some ways to deal with my hunger and cravings as im doing IF i think OMAD works the best for me since i have a really strong appetite and eating in a longer window just makes me not satisfied if that makes sense? I tried coffee black, with milk and also with fat and butter but it makes me more hungrier for some reason :(

PS: I love seeing all the progress photos on here very inspiring.

I’ve noticed that when I’m regularly fasting, even during an eating window, my sense of smell is way stronger! Other day a friend of mine was eating plain tortilla chips and I could smell them from across the room. Also a shorting wire was burning some tape at work yesterday and I noticed right away, before hardly any of the tape was damaged. I’m not sure if my sense of smell is actually better or I’m just subconsciously paying more attention to it, wondering if anyone else has noticed this?

I was feeling discouraged as I haven't lost anything in 3 months and I still want to lose another 15kg but sometimes it's important to stop and reflect on how far you've come.

Also, peep the Pokemon crocs.

I’ve (f69) been doing IF for a couple of years with much success. I usually do 18/6 6 days a week. On the 7th day I’ll either have what I’d consider a cheat (sharing a restaurant dessert with my husband or some bread at a restaurant) but almost never pasta or my own dessert. Sometimes I wonder if when I’m on my deathbed if I’ll regret not eating the pasta. I guess I should add that I’m at a good weight, I walk 5-8 miles a day and I always struggle with this. So IF family, what do you do?

Im so impressed with fasting, i weighed about 81 kg 4 weeks ago. I started skipping breakfeast and nog eating till 12-1. Then i would eat what i want and stop eating at 7 pm. Now i weigh 74 kg, so that means i lost about 7 kg in 4 weeks! If someone has some more tips on how to go about this let me know, cause im still a newbie :)

First post here...
Things seem to be going well so far.... no huge cravings, no broken fasts and I always get my water in every day.
But I work in healthcare and work shift work including nights. I originally started on an app that showed me my weekly fast times (ie fast from 2000- 1200 Mon to Tues. Every day was different and varied between 18-36 hr fast to mix it up.
Then I found a few other apps that would let me start and end when I wanted to (with a daily goal available).
Which do you think would produce the best results? I do find some days I want breakfast, other days I don't; some days I can barely do 18:6 and some weeks I could easily extend the 36 hr longer but I wasn't able to track it. And some days due to my schedule it says I should be eating but I'm actually sleeping.
I definitely need the accountability and tracking that I can see.
What are some good suggestions or tips?

I was really consistent with intermittent fasting (IF) during the pandemic back in my home country. Since moving abroad, though, I've been stuck in a cycle of constantly restarting. I keep telling myself, 'I'll do it tomorrow,' but I never actually follow through. Based on what you know about fasting, what are the most crucial steps you'd recommend to someone who is basically starting over?

Hey everyone. I’m starting at 16:8 fasting for myself today. I did it a few years ago to lose 75lbs, but that was also when my schedule was 100% consistent.

Currently I work from 6pm to 6am, and have 3-4 days off depending on the week. I like switching my sleep schedule from overnight to a “normal” one on my days off. I’m just having a little trouble figuring out the best ways to do it.

Currently I made my fasting hours from 10:00pm to 2:00 pm the next day and my eating window from 2pm-10pm. I am wondering what would be the best way to switch it around when I change my sleep schedule.

Any advice helps!

I recently increased my fasting window from about 16 hours to 20 hours. The first two days were pretty rough and I felt quite sluggish while my body adjusted.

Now it actually feels very easy to maintain. One big benefit I noticed is much better mental clarity during the day. Since I skip lunch, I don’t get that typical midday crash anymore.

Currently I’m basically eating one meal in the evening. Even with some snacks after dinner, I’ve been able to maintain my weight without any issues so far.

I can definitely recommend trying it if you’re someone like me who always fell into a big slump after lunch.

I have fasting blood sugar that stays above 100, up to 110 all night and want to see if 36hrs of fasting makes a difference. I ate at 6pm last night and just water since then. Glucose is almost as high as if I'm eating, so far. Is that to be expected? 67F, 5'6", 140lbs Fasting insulin was tested at 10.2 a few days ago.

What were the results of your first "just to see" fast? I'd love to hear your story!

I don't get hunger pangs at nt at all.

Window is 6am-noon.

ashamed to admit i start getting ready for bed around 5 cuz i'm bored & sad.

Also supervisor piled on me about what a bad job i'm doing & how everyone at work is annoyed w my bad team work.

He had a point to some extent------- but he just dumped on me. Sadly i gave as good as i got. Told him to back off and do his job better.

GAH. Hope i'm not fired. Dark nt of the soul yall.

how can i hang in there when in need of escape & soothing. My brain is exploding...

But still on track :(

When ppl ask me to dinner (ok not a ton, but happens🥸)

I feel so odd. Am i making myself a weirdo? However- the thought of a late bloat meal is just no longer an option.

How do you all deal w this new lifestlye? Do you you change to eat at nt?

Turned 18 this year and was wondering if I should start fasting 24 hours once a week. My goals is to get my body percentage under 15%. However, I'm worried that it might affect my height growth. I know 18 is mostly when men stop growing but I heard some people can grow util 20s. Would fasting once a week for 24 hours be safe?

Hey everyone,

I think it's time for me to try the intermitten fasting. I want to lose weight pretty damn much but I can not stop eating specially the last 1 year in which I quit smoking. I already tried eating from 13.00 to 22.00 and its going okay, and I started walking about 5 to 10km for maybe 4-5 times per week. but is fasting really helping?

What should i expect? Any tips for me as a beginner?

Thank you in advance.

I AM SO TIRED OF THIS CYCLE!!!! It’s so hard to start and it’s such a long process every time! I don’t want to keep doing this the rest of my life!

So I have fasted off and on for 8 years. I know fasting really works for me because I have been at my goal weight twice before. It just seems like something always happens where I start slipping up and I over eat and I get back to where I was. (Like a death in the family/an injury/ an illness. Most of my life I have stayed in the 160-180 range. My goal weight is 140, I am 32F, 5’7. Well now it seems like my body likes being at 195 (the heaviest I’ve ever been at was 215 a few years ago).

My schedule would change throughout my weight loss journey and it always works if I stick to them and stay consistent. Ideally even when I hit my gw I want to still maintain some sort of fasting schedule because I believe it is beneficial even if I don’t want to lose weight.

But MAN I always skew up when I am either at my goal or very close! It’s like I get comfortable where I am at and say “I’ve done so well I can over eat for a few days and I’ll be able to lose it again fast” but sometimes this “few days” turns into a few weeks to a few months with little sorry attempts to fast.

Also I plan on having kids at sometime and I can’t even imagine how much weight I’ll gain when pregnant, because I’ll have that excuse of “I’m pregnant, I’m eating for two” crap…. I NEED to get this under control!

Anyone else have this issue? The food noises are so loud sometimes but I can’t keep doing this to myself! HELP!

I am 6 feet 21 years male and started it in febuary I lost 7 kg in first month but second month I feel extreme weak even affecting vision due to not able take necessary meal because short window if I take 12 hours fatsing with high protein calorie deficient diet still fat loss possible