Only initially. After a while, hunger and craving feel less of an emergency, and blends into the background, like breathing is--you tend to notice it's happening occasionally, but then go meh.
I believe that's the secret effectiveness of intermittent fasting. It teaches people who have a panic response when they feel the faintest bit of hunger how to wait, and over a long period of time kills that panic response.
I started IF probably around 2014 at 215 lbs (6'), and dropped about a pound a week for 6 months of it, leaving me at probably 185. Over the next year, I went back up to maybe 205, then did another six months and got down to 180. This happened probably twice more, and by 2020 my weight had reset to 170-175.
By reset, I mean that since 2020, I've paid absolutely no attention to my weight, or the amount I eat (although the variety is important.) I'm always between 169-176. At this second, I am 171.4 lbs. I think intermittent fasting taught me to be that way. Learning that you're not going to die if you don't eat for the rest of the day is like learning a language. It's recalibrating your own instinct for homeostasis, which is the characteristic intrinsic urge that all living beings have. It resists tampering, and really has to be convinced over time.
