r/intermittentfasting

Hey folks! As I fast quite regularly, people often ask me whether fasting is a spiritual experience. Honestly, I’m not a very spiritual person. I come from a science and tech mindset, and I started fasting many years ago purely for the physical benefits. But over time, I noticed that fasting does seem to change something on the spiritual side too. After thinking about it, I realized I can break it down into several specific things

• First, you need to believe that the body will work as it’s supposed to by switching from glucose to burning body fat for fuel. You can’t really control that process, you just need to trust it. So, you start believing in nature.
• Then, fasting shows that what most people say - that food is constantly essential for life - is not entirely true. You can go days without food and still function fine. That makes you start questioning other commonly accepted beliefs.
• Third, during fasting you have a lot of spare time to think about life, what’s important and what’s not. It adds too to the spiritual element.
• Fourth, fasting lowers your energy, and it helps you understand how older people might feel - it’s a kind of preview of aging. It definitely helped me better understand how my parents feel and think about life.
• Fifth, fasting can help heal certain things. In my case, sores in my mouth, a hamstring issue from playing soccer, and some joint pain (also soccer-related) improved. It can feel almost like magic.
• Then, fasting makes you believe you can live longer - because after an extended fast, you feel healthier and know you can repeat it again. So, it pushes you to think about life again.
• Finally, after you break your fast, you feel a surge of energy physiologically. Glycogen replenishes, insulin rises, and cells take up glucose efficiently. Electrolytes and hydration improve, hormones normalize, and dopamine and serotonin increase, contributing to that euphoric feeling.

That’s what came to mind, I hope it helps. I am curious - has fasting changed your spiritual or religious side?

Hello everyone!

I have recently stepped back to my fasting schedule and wanted to track the fasts without the need of online accounts, having my data being sent to some cloud or having to pay for some (in my opinion) basic features in other popular apps I have tried over the years. One app I have been paying for a year now does not open, or when it does it takes ~30s to just open the home screen.

So I have decided to create my own, offline fasting app. Few days ago I have finally got the time to polish it a little bit more and put it in the Play Store. Programming is my day-job so this was just a side-project for some time, but I think others might be interested.

I am not sure if this is against the rules here, but I wanted at least try to post it here for anyone looking for private tracking app.

• The app is free, no accounts or online features behind a paywall.
• The app does not require any account or internet access.
• Tracks fasts, water and food intake, alarms when you are reaching fasting target
• Optional tracking of: mood, Hunger and Energy through the day
• You can add custom clicker-style trackers
• Most tracked data has charts or heat-maps (clickers)
• There are small banner ads in the app, no full-screen popups or any other intrusive ads as I myself hate those.

I am open to suggestions or constructive criticism.

Here are some screenshots and link to the PlayStore:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.vincurekf.fastr

https://preview.redd.it/j8x16n61xg2h1.jpg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6dcccac2aa601d18d2335eb9eeaaf5079007d354

https://preview.redd.it/5k0y6n61xg2h1.jpg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68a7e15fd7c886ac6b5cae2f0a919c1fa889e085

https://preview.redd.it/9az17n61xg2h1.jpg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=570f632e90416a37f9ed3cf6c9d0d239286aac70

If I am overstepping any rules, please feel free to remove this.

Wish You all happy fasting, keep it up!

I’ve done 7 36 hr fasts so far, spaced about 3 weeks apart. 52 year old female. The first four were relatively easy and I felt better after - reduced inflammation, definitely helps my joint pain. The last three have been far more difficult and I don’t know why. Severe headaches, and two of the last three fasts resulted in nausea and vomiting, in both cases in the morning after about 36 hours have passed. I’m fine for the first 24 hours. Feel pretty good. Then I go to bed, and wake up sometime in the night feeling absolutely horrific. What is going on? I’m doing long fasts for the autophagy so this isn’t about weight loss meaning swapping out for shorter fasts isn’t really an alternative I don’t think. After the last vomiting session I did my research- mostly on this platform - and was much more careful about what I ate going into this last fast. Concentrated on healthy, protein rich somewhat fatty food - this helped how I felt during the day while fasting (my energy was good), so I was extra surprised to get sick again! I’m not going to keep fasting if this keeps happening. It feels literally as bad as a bad hangover. I don’t need that in my life. What is happening?? Help me understand! Edit: I also take salt and sips of pedialite for electrolytes because I know that will be one of the first questions people have. I don’t think it’s an electrolyte issue though I am not sure.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some honest opinions on my current diet plan. I’m trying to lose weight and target some stubborn fat, but I want to know if my approach is sustainable or if I need to change things up.

Here are my personal stats:

Age/Gender: 23M
Height: 157 cm (5'1")
Current Weight: 70 kg (154 lbs)
Target Weight: 55 kg (121 lbs)
Estimated BMI: 28.4

My Lifestyle & Schedule: I am almost entirely sedentary right now. I sit at my desk studying for university and upcoming exams from about 6:00 AM straight through to 12:00 AM. I take breaks to eat and shower, but my exercise level is basically zero right now because I just don't have the time.

My Goals:

Get back down to my previous weight of 55 kg.
Reduce overall body fat.
Specifically lose belly fat and face fat.
My Current Diet Plan: My estimated maintenance calories (TDEE) are around 1900–2100 kcal/day, but my current intake is only about 630–800 kcal/day. Here is what a typical day looks like:

9:00 AM (Breakfast): Portion of rice + vegetables + 1 egg (~400 kcal)
Mid-morning: Coffee or milk tea with low sugar (~40–60 kcal)
Lunch: Ridge gourd soup + 1 egg (~80–100 kcal)
Dinner: Ridge gourd soup + 1 egg (~80–100 kcal)
Extras: Sometimes I will add a piece of chicken, fish, or extra eggs, but not every day.
My Expected Results: By sticking to this, I'm hoping to drop the weight, reduce bloating, slim down my face, and shrink my stomach over time to reach my 55 kg goal.

My Questions for the Community:

Is eating 800 calories a day too low for my height/weight, even considering I sit at a desk for 16 hours a day?

Will this diet actually help me lose belly and face fat, or will I just lose muscle?
Should I be adding more protein to this, or is this okay for an aggressive cut?
What would you change about this routine to make it better while safely getting back to 55 kg?

Any advice, harsh truths, or tips would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hi guys,

I accidentally bought a bag of coffee beans that were roasted with butter and cacao.

Will it break the fast if I drink it during the fasting hours?

Many thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, I’m really curious to see how much people are spending on their daily meal across the world. Since we pack all of our nutrition, proteins, and calories into one single sitting, budgets can look completely different compared to a standard three-meals-a-day routine.

Whether you cook everything from scratch at home or eat out, I'd love to know your numbers!

• Where are you located? (Country / City)
• What is your average daily cost? (In your local currency or USD)
• What does a typical meal look like for you? (e.g., home-cooked steak and potatoes, vegetarian lentil dishes, takeout, etc.)

Looking forward to seeing the baseline differences across different regions!

Newbie here. I struggle with PCOS and am trying to regulate a better eating schedule and not eating too late at night to give my body time to metabolize my food. When I started last week I was doing a 12:12 schedule, allowing myself to eat from 7:30am to 7:30pm. However this week my work schedule changed to working 9-2 and 6-8 so I tried to change my routine to better line up with my new work schedule, still starting eating at 7:30am before work, but stopping eating at around 5:30/6:00 before I start the last 2 hours of my work day. However I am really struggling with stopping eating so early and not being able to eat after I get done with work at 8pm.
I would appreciate any advice on a better eating schedule or ideas to make my schedule a little easier.
Thanks!

Edit to add: please be nice to me. I know I’m already starting out with a fairly easy schedule and I probably need to just gradually cut back my time for my eating window, but I am new to IF and still trying to figure out what works for me

I didn't intend to :-D

Yesterday, on Tues, I had lunch w some colleagues. As always, I had set my timer to 55 minutes (my eating windows for 2MAD).

reached home, thought I'd take a nap before dinner. But apparently, I was so tired that I didn't wake up for dinner.. glanced a couple of times to check what tie it was, and fell asleep again.

Woke up this morning (Wed). Then I said to myself, push it until lunchtime, and you'll have passed the 24-hrs!

I feel great:-)

However, the morning was brutal.. I dont know how some of you manage 24 hrs every few days

I used to try to eat from 8 AM to 2 PM and I recently switched it from 12 PM to 6 PM and I feel so much better!!!! it feels way less restrictive, fewer cravings, so much easier to just drink green tea in the morning. I feel thin, strong, focused.
Sharing in case you’ve been struggling with your window! It might be worth trying something different!