I didn't. I do do IF, I just don't believe it makes a difference with regards to weight-loss. It's all still just about calories.

IF is just a hack to help me keep my meals large enough to be satisfying.

I agree. IF helped, though, by reducing the time window where I need to preocuppy myself with food/eating topics. Basically outside of my eating interval I don't think/worry about food at all, I can focus on something else. IF does require some getting used to, though.

Decreasing portion size tends to make your stomach smaller which will reduce the amount of false sensation of hunger felt when the stomach empties itself. Smaller portions more evenly distributed might be beneficial. The change should be gradual.