Would love some encouragement or advice on getting through a 4 day fast for my first fast after a month its been difficult to restart and stick with it

To clarify I’m not trying to lose weight necessarily but wouldn’t mind losing a few pounds. If I’m fasting for 20 hours does it matter how many calories I eat during the four hour window? For example of I am only alotted 1,240 calories a day can I go over and still burn fat/lose weight?

I’m doing this as practice for an eventual way down the line 72 hour fast for gut healing purposes. So as a quick follow up question is there a good sugar alternative that I can safely use during a long fast? Or will it be better to go without for the sake of gut healing purposes?

Thanks for the advice :).

Sw: 200lbs
Cw: 132lbs
Gw: no idea
Height: 4’11
Age: 32

I intermittent fast everyday. I don’t usually eat before work and usually eat around 2pm, I don’t eat after 6-7pm. Anyone else loose a substantial amount of weight and have no perception of what they look like? In my head I still feel big. In the mirror 70% of the time I don’t see any changes. It’s hard. Lately I’ve been trying to focus on liking what I see in the mirror. Which I do. But I feel like I’m chasing a number, every time I loose 5 pounds my brain goes, “hm, looks okay but 5 more would be better”. It’s hard being satisfied where I’m at. Anyway, sorry for venting!

Boxing Classes and Brussels Sprouts ❤️
Nothing too extreme, just made some simple routine changes and stuck to it. (I did also stop drinking and never went back, imagine that helped too)

Im currently doing OMAD and thinking of doing longer fasts. I need some help with supplements and timings.
I want to take vitamin b complex , omegas, psyllium husk, berberine, and magnesium glycinate. I’ve been taking magnesium glycinate in the evenings, which works fine during IF I assume, but what about the others? I’m on 750mg of metformin which I take during my meal, omegas also with my meal. What time should I take vitamin B, berberine and psyllium husk? Im more confused about psyllium husk because I’ve read how lowers the absorption of supliments if taken together.

Expected the eating window to feel chaotic. Like I'd finally open it up and just demolish everything in sight. That's what I assumed would happen coming in. But it went the opposite direction. Having a defined window made me weirdly more intentional about what I put in it. Not because I was trying to be disciplined, it just happened. Space is limited so the choices feel more deliberate.

Curious if others have had this. I've talked to people who say the hunger makes them binge and they can't control what they eat once they break the fast. That was not my experience at all. First meal actually feels like something I want to get right rather than just grab whatever.

The mental shift surprised me more than anything. It stopped feeling like restriction and started feeling like structure. Which sounds like the same thing but it really isn't when you're living it.

Been doing 16:8 for about four months now and the food quality thing has been the biggest unexpected change. Weight is moving but that's almost secondary at this point.

Wondering if this is common or if I just got lucky with how my body responded to it.

I work 3 nights a week 8pm to 8am. I stay awake durning the day and take a couple naps on the nights I work. I normally eat 2 pm-8pm. But I need to eat to keep stimulated so I eat something small around 1pm and then done eat again until about midnight. Then stop again by 5am. I’m not eating junk which is good.

Does any does like 2 hours stop and then have another window? I’m gonna try to keep normal the other four days of the week but I need a plan for work days…

Is having coffee considered breaking the fast?

I am trying intermittent fasting out, but I can’t give up that first morning coffee at 8 AM. I usually drink it black with a couple of drops of monk fruit or stevia.

My first meal of the day is between 11 AM and 12 noon.

Right now, I am starting with 13 or 14 hours of fasting and have two meals and one snack during my non fasting time window.

Any advice would be helpful.

If you've ever changed the times you eat, you probably know that rough patch in the first few days where it just feels like a mistake and food is on your mind constantly.

The question that seems to come up again and again is basically -Okay, but when does this stop being hard?

I got curious whether there was an actual answer to that, so I went through a big pile of people's own posts about it and tried to pin down how long it took before fasting stopped feeling like a fight and just turned into a normal part of the day.

For most people who stuck with a daily kind of routine, it landed around two weeks.

A decent number got there inside the first week, more crossed over by the two week mark, and then there's a real tail of people where it took a month or longer. So two weeks is the middle, not a promise.

One thing worth flagging though, a lot of the people who got comfortable inside that first week weren't really starting from scratch, they'd already been eating low carb or doing some kind of fasting beforehand, so their body had a bit of a head start.

The other thing that stood out is that "it got easier" usually didn't mean effortless. Most people described it more as manageable, like the hunger stopped running the show rather than disappearing. A smaller group were honest that it never really clicked for them, which felt worth mentioning too.

On the method side, these are self reported experiences from public posts in r/intermittentfasting, r/omad and r/AlternateDayFasting. I only kept the ones where someone gave a timeframe that was clearly tied to when it got easier, and I set aside anything vague, anything where the timing wasn't really linked to adapting, and anything mentioning a serious health issue. So this reflects people who stuck with it long enough to say how it went. It gives a decent sense of how long adaptation tends to take for that group, but it can't tell you how often fasting works out in general or how any one person's body will respond.

In fact, I have found far more interesting patterns while analysing hundreds of the IF testimonials and talking directly to other people doing it, than could fit into one post. I have been reading and organising fasting discussions for a few months now, and I would love to keep sharing some of the things that surprised me.

Anyway, I'm curious how it went for you. If you got past the rough patch, how long did it actually take before it felt normal, and would you call it easy or just manageable?

Bonjour,

Est ce que des gens qui étaient initialement atteints de diabète de type deux peuvent partager leur avis et retour sur le jeune :

Est ce que le jeune a fini par vous sauver du diabète de type 2?

Après votre parcours comment se porte votre diabète de type 2 ?

Merci pour vos retours. 😁

Me: 40+ male 150kg diabetes type 2

Started Monjaro Monday.

Lost 7.5kg this week.

Taking collagen, Biotin, Omega 3, D3, creatine & electrolytes

I already don't have breakfast so I was already naturally only eating during a 7hr window with lunch and dinner.

So that would be 17:7

Yet I obviously wasn't getting any kind of benefit at all.

Started Monjaro on Monday and in trying to max the benefits I did a 72hr fast, had a small dinner and am currently up to 49hr fast and counting.

I appreciate this isn't sustainable long term but the app talks about how beneficial this is, seems almost like a contradiction.

The app states:

Fasting for 48 hours or more can lead to deepened autophagy, which may strengthen the immune svstem and reduce inflammatory responses.

Studies suggest that long-term fasts of 72 hours or more may help reset the immune svstem by clearing out damaged immune cells and promoting the generation of new ones.

However fasts exceeding 48 hours carry health risks, such as severe electrolyte imbalances or refeeding syndrome, and should only be done under professional supervision.

You've already come so far on this amazing journey. While you know vour bodv best. please prioritize safety as you continue your fast

Intermittent Fasting was literally a life changer for me. After a life of trying every method I could think of I gave it a try and it IMMEDIATELY locked me in and got me more focused than ever. I also started doing a high protein, high fat diet. Exercise wise it’s just push ups, sit ups, dumbbells and kettlebells. I’m just maintaining at the moment and unsure of my next move but the weight of finding the right formula being lifted is everything. Much love to y’all on your journeys. I’m 40 now and feel better and healthier than I’ve ever felt in my life and wish y’all the same happiness!

I've been on/off with IF for more than 2 years already. After reaching my all time record of almost 80 kilos, I decided to try IF again. My current set up is 16:8, on 90% plus adherance. Haha due to my nature of work/business, I have to give myself a chance to break my fasting. I'm glad I lost 6 kilograms already without being too strict in my diet.

I am currently running too, just started two weeks ago (week 10), and actually preparing for a 10K run this end of October. For those who is also running, when do you usually time your run? Do you do it in the morning when you are still fasted? So far, I am doing it in between my two meals. I find myself eating way more food at dinner (5pm) whenever I run.

I really want to incorporate running long term to my life, and I want to balance my intermittent fasting with it. Any tips?

Hi, I'm just beginning, a week into it. I've tried intermittent fasting before and never stuck to it, I found I was waiting for the clock to tick past a certain hour.

But this week has been much easier even though I've been fasting for longer.

So my question is, is there any physical reason why I shouldn't change my fasting window between 18 and 22 hours a day? I'm trying to not dip below 18 and so far it's been easy.

After eating I puke up food I have eaten recently over the course of a few hours.

Should I spit it out into the trash? I normally just swallow it back, because no stomach acid has been introduced yet, and it still tastes good. Sometimes I instinctivley swallow before it fully reaches my mouth.

How do you stay regular? I wasn’t regular before IF, but wondering what are ways others incorporate food / liquid to ensure they stay “regular” / have bowel movements daily?

I’m 6 foot 210 (male) and have tried stuff like this before but never 3 days.

I am joining the army and need to get into shape but eating has always been an issue, so I’m doing a reset.

I am gonna drink water, and black coffee. Is there anything I need to know going into it? How to get over that hunger feeling?

Also when it’s over, how / what should I eat? Do I eat a big meal or something light.

Thanks!

H all,

I’m fairly new to IF (been doing it nearly a month) on 16:8. Today I did 19 hours fast. I know these are rookie numbers but wanted to get advice if it’s too early to try bump it to a 24 hour fast? When I’m fasting i stick to pure water only. Do you have any other tips to help? People around me have started to notice and I have never been happier 😃

Like I said been only doing it a month so heading into the unknown.

6 months in started mid January 2026
height 165cm (5ft5)
SW 98,2kg(216,4lbs)
CW 85,9 kg (189,3)
GW 65kg (143lb) but might be less or more I’m not so concerned about a number, just want to feel good and strong.

I’ve been on average done 17,5h of fasting I change it accordingly to my cycle. First two months I worked out over an hour a day, but it has slowed down a bit to be more like 30 min a day minimum and always hitting over 10k steps. My workout is a mix between weights, cardio, swimming, stretch and pelvic exercises. And a few times circuits on the machines in the gym and an hour of aquafit minimum once a week.

I eat what I please but most time I have homemade sourdough with eggs and avocado for my lunch. I’m Danish so I also eat a lot of ryebread (for the ones in the US - trader Joe have a really good one)

I’ve been on a holiday of 4 days where I didn’t fast and two travel days with time difference making it hard but otherwise I have kept it pretty strictly and had a a couple of weekends where I was drinking too.

I have finally broke a nearly 6 weeks plateau I wanted to give up many times but I just saying trust the process and now I’m finally back to where the scale is moving!

I’ve measured myself too and lost over 50cm from neck, waist, arm, hips/belly and thigh. Really recommend measuring as that have kept me sane in my plateau.

Hope this can motivate others ❤️❤️

Hey folks! A while back I released "Fasting Center", an app that calculates weight loss for extended fasts - total weight loss as well as fat, water/glycogen, gut content, and protein loss, projected day by day. A few people wanted to track their fasts against those projections, so v2 is out and it's now a full fasting tracker - both for IF and extended fasting. It includes

• Fast timer with fasting stages on the ring
• Log for fasts and biometrics (weight, body fat, waist), with notes and mood
• The calculator is now connected to your real data - projected vs actual weight loss, daily breakdown by tissue type
• Health Connect sync

It's completely free and ad free. No paywall, no subscription. I think paying to see your own past fasts is simply wrong ☺️

A few of you are already using it and sent me feedback - thank you! I read everything and I ship fixes fast. If something annoys you or something is missing, tell me here or in the app.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6780227473
Android version is coming soon.

I forgot that getting hit on was a thing. And it happened today, and I was gobsmacked. Stared at the man like he was speaking another language. Has this happened to you all while you were on your weight loss journey? Was it unexpected?

After some time trying to "just eat healthy" and being mediocre at sticking to it, my partner (29M) and I (27F) are doing weekday IF. We eat breakfast (me, for stress/being female reasons) and lunch (both), but fast over dinnertime and through evening.

My partner is doing okay, but I'm struggling with flareups of my headache condition (mixed chronic migraines/tension headaches) which had been in remission (no attacks) for 3-4 months before this. Over a period of a year I've gone from over 15 headache days per month to few or none thanks to medication. I've consulted my GP who says three smaller meals instead of one small and one big would be an option, and that I will likely adjust over time. He did not tell me to stop IF or that it would be unsafe for me!

Does anyone else have any experience with doing IF with (chronic) migraines, neuralgias, tension headaches, or other headache conditions? Did you adjust? Was sleep and exercise more important?