Sometimes people who practice Daily Intermittent Fasting feel a need for more boundaries. After all, most of us have lived or tried to live within certain food boundaries for decades through various diet protocols in our adult lives. Thus, Daily IF can feel a little loosey-goosey to some people—especially in the beginning before Appetite Correction (AC) sets in and our hormones are balanced, when we naturally eat less during our eating window. The first and most natural boundary that a Daily Intermittent Faster can, and probably should, implement to get the best results is changing up of the Fasting and Feeding Windows.

This is an easy fix for someone who isn’t getting the results they desire or someone who has been doing Daily IF consistently for over a month and still feels that the feeding window is too out of control. A simple tweak, such as going from 18:6 to 19:5 or 20:4 (18, 19, or 20 fasting hours and 6, 5, or 4 feeding hour) is a boundary that can make a huge difference without any extra counting or food choice limits. This tweak is especially helpful if you find yourself eating two full meals during 18:6 but only one meal and a snack or two (small) during 20:4.

As much as I hate to recommend this because one of the beauty of Daily IF is NOT counting, I feel that I must. Some people need a period of time in which the old crutches of “dieting” are still being implemented during their eating window. Eventually, this might become a thing of the past for lifetime dieters, but during the first three or four months, many people need this boundary to feel success and get results.

In this scenario, a person is fasting for 16, 18, 19, or more hours but also doing one of their old diet protocols. This may be carb counting in order to stay keto or LCHF (low carb high fat). It might be point counting, such as in a Weight Watchers program. Or it might be calorie counting if that is what the person feels “safe” with. One benefit of any of these counting scenarios is that a person might have greater weight loss in the beginning whereas some people do not lose a lot at first until Appetite Correction sets in. Another benefit is that a person can gradually realize that they can eat this way without counting and still have success—but this happens over time, so they feel more confident in Daily IF.

An easy boundary that I have implanted that helps me utilize Appetite Correction (AC) more fully is the OMAD/3. OMAD stands for One Meal a Day. Divided by 3 means that we are dividing the feeding window (the “one meal”) into three parts: (1) Appetizer/Snack/Salad when feeding window is first opened; (2) Entrée an hour or two later; (3) Dessert or Snack just before closing feeding window (if desired).

OMAD/3 gives some structure to what new Daily IF’ers might feel is unstructured—the feeding window. It helps while you are waiting for AC to set in, during the first few weeks when you are basking in the IF liberties of eating whatever you want a little bit too much. Rather than just eating continually during three, four, or five hours of a feeding window, the food intake is more controlled as “eating episodes” while still not necessarily dictating WHAT the person eats.

This boundary has been a lifesaver for me. First of all, I was feeling a little hypoglycemic when I opened my eating window with carbs. While I haven’t been pre-diabetic for years (controlled it with 100 carbs per day and supplementation), I felt it coming back when I ate carbs only or sugar during my eating-window-opening. However, when I started opening my eating window with low carb foods (for others it might just be something really nutrient dense, not necessarily low carb), this feeling completely went away.

Thus, the first part of OMAD/3 for me consists of something 20 carbs or fewer. Another benefit to this is that a person seldom overeats or overindulges on nutrient-dense foods or low carb foods—and since AC usually happens later in the eating window, this simple boundary keeps the IFer from eating crazily as the window opens. Another thing this window-opening boundary helps with is getting in the nutrition that we need. Yes, we have the freedom to eat pizza on pizza night, but starting with something healthful helps us get more nutrition in on pizza night or birthday cake party day!

Again, not my favorite boundary, but one that definitely works and doesn’t require counting and recording. This boundary is one in which the Daily Intermittent Faster chooses certain days to not eat certain types of foods. If you are still having trouble overeating during your feeding window, this can help you stop that madness.

Another beauty of considering certain food types off limits on certain days is that it is short term deprivation. Just like Daily IF is easy to follow because it is short term deprivation for long term results, making Monday and Wednesday low carb days or Tuesday and Thursday no sugar days can help you get a handle on overeating without counting anything and without feeling deprived every day of the week.

1) Have Shorter Eating Windows/Longer Fasting Windows

2) Count Something

3) Implement OMAD/3 and Utilize Appetite Correction More Fully

4) Open Window With Nutrient-Dense Foods

5)   Consider Certain Foods Off Limits on Certain Days