Intermittent Fasting:Pros? Cons?

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I follow a person on IG that swears by intermittent fasting. Can it really help you lose weight faster?? I'm a early riser, so not eating for 4-5 hours from the time I wake up seems like a lifetime to me! LOL.
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  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    Bruja924 wrote: »
    Can it really help you lose weight faster??

    No, not really. whether you spread your food out throughout the day or eat it all in one big meal, it is the calories in versus calorie out that matter and drive loss or gain.

  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    To answer your question in my experience:

    Pros:

    A bigger evening meal
    Can help me with family occasions and meals out
    Less meal prep
    Can minimise all the stuff with packed lunches (although on my fasting protocol I usually eat lunch)
    Work time meeting and the food laid on is crappy? "None for me thanks, I'm fasting today"
    Its a learning experience


    Cons:

    It's not a get out-of-logging card: You still need to track to ensure that you are neither over or under eating
    Takes a little while to get used to it
    Some people seem to hate it*
    Some people find that it negatively affects exercise performance*


    * not me.
  • Bruja924
    Bruja924 Posts: 51 Member
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    I dont I think it is for me. My last meal of the day is usually around 5:00 or 6:00pm. I am in bed usually by 9:30ish. So for me not to eat till the next day at 11 or 12 I'm starving!
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Bruja924 wrote: »
    I dont I think it is for me. My last meal of the day is usually around 5:00 or 6:00pm. I am in bed usually by 9:30ish. So for me not to eat till the next day at 11 or 12 I'm starving!

    For most people after a few days you get used to that. If you don't try it, you will never know. Everyone (at least on this website) focuses on the weight loss aspect, but there are other benefits to intermittent fasting. In my opinion, for weight loss, the 5:2 is a good plan, for a general eating plan 16:8 is nice because it makes things simpler. There are lots of variations, research more and give it a try.
  • caradack1985
    caradack1985 Posts: 254 Member
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    I like it, many don't.

    It won't help you lose weight faster, unless you, Like I, find it easier to stay within a calorie allowance in a shorter time frame. Fasting has been shown to have health benefits, but they are long term health benefits not short term weight loss ones.
  • caradack1985
    caradack1985 Posts: 254 Member
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    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095528630400261X

    I found this amid a few others, but I'm unwilling to pay lots of money for full articles. Several studies done though seem to indicate that fasting and calorie restriction have benefits for the cardiovascular system and brain function.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095528630400261X

    I found this amid a few others, but I'm unwilling to pay lots of money for full articles. Several studies done though seem to indicate that fasting and calorie restriction have benefits for the cardiovascular system and brain function.

    Unfortunately, the abstract doesn't indicate if the IF study was iso-calorific or whether CR and IF were performed together (and like you I'm not willing to pay for the full text).
  • baciodolce18
    baciodolce18 Posts: 113 Member
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    I just started doing IF 3 weeks ago. I had lost 20 pounds and then I stopped losing weight for 6 months no matter how much I exercised or weighed my food/counted calories/restricted. I don't know why, I don't think I'm a special snowflake, but it did stop and I didn't want to have to eat 1200 cals a day (I still have 80lbs to lose, so that's a really heavy deficit) to be successful.

    I'm doing a combo of 5:2 and 16:8. And so far in 3 weeks, I've lost 4 pounds. Which is a normal amount but I'm ecstatic since I wasn't seeing progress before. Since I'm combining 2 methods, I eat at maintenance or only a small 300-400 cal deficit on my 5 normal days. The bulk of my deficit comes from my 2 light days.

    So pro: I'm losing weight. I can eat bigger meals. I don't feel the need to always be eating all day. I find it much easier to keep adherence to plan.

    Con: I find it a little harder to meet my protein macro goals because I can only stand about 40-50g at a time. I usually hit my bare minimum of 80g, but I'd like to be 100g or up. But, it's only been a few weeks so I'm still tweaking how to structure my meals. Also sometimes I'm hungry. But nothing unbearable.

    I haven't had an issue with fasted workouts either.

    You can always try it. It doesn't take anything special to try it. And you can tweak it always to suit your lifestyle. And you can ease into it as well doing 12:12 or 14:10. Don't have to jump into 16:8 right away. I've found much more helpful information on the reddit forums than the MFP IF forums. The intermittentfasting, fasting, FiveTwo, Leangains forums are all helpful.

  • baciodolce18
    baciodolce18 Posts: 113 Member
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    Bruja924 wrote: »
    I dont I think it is for me. My last meal of the day is usually around 5:00 or 6:00pm. I am in bed usually by 9:30ish. So for me not to eat till the next day at 11 or 12 I'm starving!

    You can do the fasting whenever you want to suit your schedule. 12pm-8pm is most common since a lot people work 9-5 and that just suits that schedule. But if you're done eating at 6pm, then just eat next at 10am. Or only do 14 hrs. There are common protocols but doesn't mean it's the only way to do it.
  • Bxqtie116
    Bxqtie116 Posts: 552 Member
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    I've started IF about 6 weeks ago and it's definitely helping me. I was stuck for a long time not losing anything and now I'm losing an average 1 1/2 lbs a week. It's helped me to better control my appetite, it's helped me from having a small snack before bedtime and it allows me to have 2 larger meals instead of 3 smaller ones. I still log everything and there are days where I come under my calories because I'm not as hungry.
  • Bruja924
    Bruja924 Posts: 51 Member
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    How long after you get up in the morning do you have your first meal?
  • AJF230
    AJF230 Posts: 81 Member
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    Fellow I know at work does this. Whole days not eating. Says he's 275+ pounds. And it aint muscle. Fill in any height you want, still overweight. (he's prob 5'10). Something else going on, I think...
  • Zedeff
    Zedeff Posts: 651 Member
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    For me, IF is the greatest thing ever.

    Pros:
    Eat big satisfying meals
    Able to eat in pretty much any restaurant without restriction
    Able to be spontaneous
    Less work prepping breakfasts and lunches for work days
    Less cost buying or prepping breakfasts and lunches
    Almost zero daytime hunger while at work

    Cons:
    Hard to maintain on the weekends when work isn't occupying my mind and my family is not on the same plan
  • chezzabelle82
    chezzabelle82 Posts: 302 Member
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    Bruja924 wrote: »
    I follow a person on IG that swears by intermittent fasting. Can it really help you lose weight faster?? I'm a early riser, so not eating for 4-5 hours from the time I wake up seems like a lifetime to me! LOL.

    I follow someone on IG too who swears by it (I wonder if it's the same person lol)
    I was thinking about trying the 16:8 IF as at the moment self control of picking at food is a big problem :(
  • Bxqtie116
    Bxqtie116 Posts: 552 Member
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    Bruja924 wrote: »
    How long after you get up in the morning do you have your first meal?

    My meal times are usually 11-7, sometimes 12-8 depending on how busy I get at work. But even with an 11-7 time frame, I'm usually done eating for the day around 5:30-6:00. So technically my fasting period is is 17 hours
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
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    If your last meal is at 5, your first would be at 9 not 11...not so bad but another option is to have your last meal a little earlier. If you ate at 4, then you could have breakfast at 8.
  • Bxqtie116
    Bxqtie116 Posts: 552 Member
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    If your last meal is at 5, your first would be at 9 not 11...not so bad but another option is to have your last meal a little earlier. If you ate at 4, then you could have breakfast at 8.

    I just skip breakfast and try to keep the same time everyday without thinking of the last time I actually ate. And besides, after about 12 hours since your last meal, that's when your body starts burning your fat stores.
  • Zedeff
    Zedeff Posts: 651 Member
    edited August 2016
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