50 comments
How long does it take to see results?
How long before results should start. Plus, I work 8-5 and can’t do must exercise if any during my morning fast period and not able to cook my meals during work day. I haven’t seen a plan for a regular 8-5 work schedule. Please help?
I do her method but a little backwards as it works for me and my schedule. I start eating at 8am and I have my last meal at 5pm on gym rest days. On days I work out, I start eating at 9a and have my last meal at 6p as I usually the gym by 4:30pm. I sleep from 8:30 a.m.-5a.m. Plus I still count macros and stay within my goals. Hope that helps!
i am 48 years . Have been a trainer for more than 16 years..Now a co founder of ilove9months, dedicated to pregnancy wellness and support services. i have always been muscular and trying to get lean..started IF..Your article was a good read and only encourages me to continue ,,
Thank for this it really helps! But since I work on night shift I feel lost as to when I should fast vs eat vs work-out :/
I work 4 days in a row, then 4 days off. When i work my day goes like this: work from 22h to 8h, sleep from 10h to 17h and I usually work out (tabata or cardio Hiit) in my lunch time around 1 or 2h in the morning. The problem I have is that if I dont eat a good meal before going to bed I keep wake up bc I’m hungry 🙁
On days off I sleep from ~3h in the morning to 12 and I usually do more intense work out on those days.
Please help ! I’m kind of lost here.
Thank you so much ❤
You have to get up earlier than your normal time & start meal prepping on Sundays. I work a 50 hour work week from 630-430. If I can do it you can do it and I’m a mother of 5. It’s all about prioritizing what’s important
On days I work I don’t get to go workout until 3:30 pm and get home at 5pm. I would have to eat during the day but it’s better to have the workout on an empty stomach. I do that on the weekends but it’s impossible Monday through Friday. Would I eat 7am-3pm and the fast from there or would my eating window be shorter like from 5 to bed time?
I work an 8-5 job. Cook all of my mails. Prep in the weekends. I’m thinking of getting up at 6 to workout, then eating my first meal at 11 am and my last at 8.😉
The reality is 8 – 5 won’t work on a 8 hour eat schedule. That’s 9 hrs. But if your work or right before work, it’ll work out.
Hey there! Thanks for the great article!! I am 39, and my fiancé got me into intermediate fasting. We’ve been doing it together for about 7 months now. I feel great and I’ve lost so much body fat! I’ve been a personal trainer for 9 years, and I’ve always eaten pretty healthy. I work out hard and fasting enables me to have some freedom with my diet. I follow a similar “rule” for the timing of my fast!
Thank you for the well laid out article and the benefits that most people don’t know about!!!
I would just be afraid that after all that fasting, my insulin would spike like crazy when finally eating at 11am.
I work a similar shift. What time do you workout?
Great article. I never thought about the male/female situation concerning this, but it made sense to me. I believe a long fast of about 10 days would totally heal so many issues, diseases, etc. I have fasted that long and never felt better in my life! IF is a great way to stay healthy. I start the day with warm lemon juice every morning. Do you think this would interfere with IF? I am 66 and feel 20! I eat organic and never crave junk. It is worth feeling so well at my age. Never had to take medicine because I believe the body can heal itself. That is the way our Creator made us.
Hi…just wanted to ask that i m a tutor who has classes at 5 am and then again from 3:30-8:30 pm…my sleep pattern is from 12:30 am to 4:30 am and then 9:30 am -11:30 pm…can u advice some diet variatios for me to follow intermittent fasting….plz
This information is very good and easy to follow. I look forward to seeing sone great results.
What foods to eat ??
Is this diet right for me when I have high cholesterol?
Thank you! Your explanation on fasting and meal timing…I have connected so many dots that weren’t making much sense to me…I have now seen the light! Awesome!
I am really wanting to try this intermittent fasting, my question is is it better to excercise before i go to work at 5 am and continue to fast until about 11 or fast then excercise after work about 430-5 pm, does that have any effect on the fasting?
Thanks for your info! I’m 49yo, active with a 13yo son and 11yo daughter. Looking for a healthy way to stay fit at my age and keep the energy BUT mostly I want to keep my skin, hair, weight and “horror”mones balanced and healthy. I felt your advice and insight was very clear and helpful.
I’d really love to hear your thoughts on the risk of infertility/hormonal imbalances as a result of IF? I feel like all the info I’ve ready completely varies!
Is it ok to still drink lemon water and/or green tea during the “fasting hours” of 7-11 am and 7-11 pm?
Hi Melissa, this is a very helpful guide! did you ever make a post about what specifcially to eat? That’s what I’m really having problems figuring out. Do I eat my regular macro goals everyday but within the 8 hours? Or do I need to change up my carbs/fat based on if I can work out that day? I have not had much luck finding anything explaining this on the internet but see it just briefly mentioned so that’s why I’m confused. I really just want to know if I keep my calorie goal and percentages of protein, fat and carbs the same as if I was not doing IF or if this needs to be switched up. Any info you can provide would be so so appreciated. Thanks so much!! (sorry if I just double posted this, wasn’t sure where to put it!)
Hey Courtney, Please send me a message so we can talk more about your specific needs – http://m.me/FitnessMelissaMcallister
Thanks!
I have the same kind of work schedule..I wake up at 6am and do my HIIT for about half an hour and stop my fasting at around 1pm till 8pm i have been practising this for like 1 and half week and i have found great results..2kg down within this timespan…
I really enjoyed your blog and you look amazing. I have been working out for several years now, but I’ve never been able to cut the fat around my stomach. I just turned 49 in February and have only been doing the intermittent fasting for only a few days. I really hope this will give me the results I’m looking for.
What about Coffee or bullet proof coffee between that 7am to 11am fasting after you wake up? Or workout?
I am not loosing the way I should according to “The 8 hr diet” book. i don’t want to give up IF, as I feel i can really sustain this for life , please help me
my eating window is 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, the hunger pangs i experience in the nights make me cry.
Hi! Please send me a direct message so we can talk more about your specific needs – http://m.me/FitnessMelissaMcallister
Hi! Great article. I have been fasting usually 16-17 hours. I have had trouble in the past with low blood sugar. I have always liked to drink hot lemon juice, vinegar with the mother and a tsp of natural organic maple syrup. Am I messing up my fasting by drinking this in the morning?
Edye
Hi Edye,
I’m actually releasing an article tomorrow on the subject of what to drink while fasting, so stay posted for that! Many fitness experts say that lemon water with just a little bit of lemon should not break your fast, but studies show that just tasting something sweet can trigger an insulin response. The brain is weird like that! Also, the maple syrup could stimulate insulin release due to the sucrose. Personally I would stick to being sugar-free while fasting, so you don’t take that risk!
I just started intermeditant fasting yesterday. It went pretty well… my work schedule is odd so I’m fasting from midnight to 4pm. I eat during the 4pm to midnight window since I’m isually up super late (like now, it’s 2am). I barely had any hunger issues today while at work. I’m a chef and I’m around food ALL day long. There are all of the temptations you could possibly think of. But so far so good! Gotta try getting up earlier to get in a workout before work.
Hi Kimberly,
Yes, and I actually just wrote a post about what to drink while fasting! https://melissamadeonline.com/2018/04/17/what-can-i-drink-while-fasting-anything/ Enjoy! 🙂
[…] is pretty much beneficial for everyone, but not absolutely everyone. After all, in my popular Guide to Intermittent Fasting for Women, I said that depending on what medical condition you’re dealing with, IF may not be right for […]
Hey Mc! I’d be glad to give you more info on that, please send me a direct message so we can talk more about a meal plan – http://m.me/FitnessMelissaMcallister
Liked the article, then saw the awful tshirt and it ruined it for me
Is Bulletproof coffee allow within fasting period?
I fast after 9am. I’ve always been a morning eater.. lunch and dinner have always been “options” for me.. so easier for me to fast during the day and night as opposed to morning. But laely I have been incorporating 2 36 hour fasts during a week.. generally Friday and Mondays, I don’t eat. Water and occasionaly teas with full fat cream. This is working for me. Exercise is yoga s/ walking currently as winter I tend to take it easy, beacuase mind and body need to break. I listen to my body and just chill when I needs to. So winter for me is hibernation without the food and resting my body so that spring is “go time”.. in my 40’s for me exercise is about sustainability and health, not instagram worthy body pics.
Hi! Technically yes, Bulletproof coffee will break your fast for purposes of autophagy, but there are experts who say that <50 calories doesn't break your fast, and will still allow other fasting benefits to take place, just not autophagy. Please send me a direct message so we can talk more about your specific needs 🙂 – http://m.me/FitnessMelissaMcallister
I have been doing the 11-7 rule for 9 months and the most I have lost is 5 pounds using a good diet. Should I switch to 2-9pm??
Hi Susana! I don’t think you need to necessarily change your eating window. I want to see what else might be going on, and if we can figure something out! Please send me a direct message so we can talk more about this specifically – http://m.me/FitnessMelissaMcallister
You’re awesome. ALWAYS trying to find stuff on IF for women and there’s just no info out there. We need more. And meat over wheat T had me at hello. The wheat they are making now is bad bad stuff. I was just like you w chips & soda, and now am as well with fitness & recovery & health. Rock on babe! Xoxo
Does taking a probiotic pill break the fast?
Shouldn’t women fast for 14 hrs only?
Thanks!
Hi I started started the keto diet and and also did intermittent fasting also I do the 16/8 intermittent fasting and really actually like it.but I’ve really hit a snag and just wondering if anyone knows why I feel so worn out. Really feel so tired. I’m just loving the diet and am finding it so hard to exercise.as for one thing I haven’t done much exercise for a long time now. But feel as if I want to do something but even when it comes to me even walking. For long periods of time I’m now finding it really difficult as i get so out of breath and then have to find myself having to stop. To catch my breath. Especially if I am going up hills.and found that a few years ago I didn’t really notice this happening until I really started putting on all the extra weight. Until now and just feel so un fit. As before I had all the weight.and should I say yes I was kind of a big girl but I was fit.as I was running round as I was at work for a number of years but then one day. I had to stop my job and then started looking after my mum and dad.until my dad passed away.and then had to carry on looking after my mum. And then she passed away in 2015. And got all my mum and dads.things sorted out. And then I got my job back and I’m now faced with being so un fit.. and need to get fit so I can do my job. And not be feeling so exhausted.as I have got a heck of a lot of weight still to lose and need to lose.have you got any ideas or advice for me please.as what I can do as exercise please.as I’ve noticed I’ve got a dull ache in the bottom half of my spine and my back and sometimes when I’ve really pushed myself with the walking quite away. My legs feel shaky and I just find myself shaky and just feel extremely exhausted and have to sit down.and really need to exercise and I really need to get this weight off as it’s no good for my health.and want to lose it for myself. As I think I’ll be much more comfortable confident and and above all I’ll be so healthy as this was the first reason of me doing this diet.or should I say get rid of all this weight and get fit and get back to work as I’ve always worked and love my job.and don’t want to have to stay at home all day all because I’ve allowed myself to put all this weight on over a few years. Well it’s now just got to go and want some advice on what to do with this ache I’ve got in my back as some body that’s done this or is just doing this the same as me might know why I’m just aching in my back and feeling so tired and exhausted..as I’ve just started feeling like this.and wondered if this goes away from me as time goes by and what I need to do and and just wondered if some one could message me back please as the exercise is the next step for me.thank you. I look forward to hearing from you soon.bye take care
I have never tried IF before but very interested! I get up for work at 3:30am and don’t get home till 2pm some days. My job is very physical as I build cabinets for RVs. I’m horrible about working out because when I get home I’m exhausted. Then I have 2 kids and house work. I guess what I’m asking is how would you suggest I work IF into my schedule??? Please help!!!
Thank you!
Is having 1/2&1/2 with am coffee ok
Other than that I think I can do it
Half and half in the am coffee????