INTERMITTENT FASTING - A LIFESTYLE MAKEOVER
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I did some "light" fasting several months ago ... several days in a row I ate a snack (protein bar or apple and cheese stick) at 11:00am, lunch at 1:00pm, dinner at 7:00pm ... it really wasn't planned, but I got in the habit of eating lunch at 1:00 or 1:30 and dinner at 6:00 or 6:30 ... The trouble is - I get hungry at night around 8 ... O_O Yikes! ... But, yes, I feel more ENERGY eating less throughout the day and avoiding heavy carbs that I love like BREAD. Anyway ... saw this board and wanted to post my 2 cents. I am going to try this starting tonight - give it a week and see where I am at. I'm rejoining MFP for a 3rd or or 83rd time lol - not lol
... but really trying to CHANGE my life this time ... no diets ... ready for a new LIFESTYLE! If you're interested in being friends, I'm looking for a few good ones ... Have a great day fasting or not fasting! #fastingisgood4yoursoul :O) 2 -
frankiesgirlie wrote: »I've been an intermittent faster for about 35 years. I came to practice it organically because I noticed in high school if I ate breakfast I had trouble staying awake during my first two classes, so I first stopped eating breakfast, then later stopped eating lunch. My family thought of me as a skinny big eater because I was thin but ate a big dinner, and then snacked while watching tv.
I didn't have a name for it back then but later in life (around 2000,I think) someone told me they read a book that was about how I ate.
It was "the warrior diet" by Ori Hofmekler.
I read it, and I'm not sure if his science or premise is correct, but it's how I've always eaten.
I've never been overweight as far as BMI, but have yo yoed up and down 15 or so lbs. at 5'9".
I'm currently at about 150 with a goal of 140ish.
I do believe that I lose weight with it for 2 reasons. It gives me more energy during my daily fast, I do a daily 16:8, and therefore I move more in general and workout more. Plus, the compacted time frame makes a deficit easier.
The times I have gained back the weight has still been about not watching my calories though, not some "magical" IF science. At least that's what I believe.
It does make it easier for me to eat at a deficit, but I don't know if it effects my weight loss in any other way other than calorie goal compliance.
I had a problem with sleep earlier this year and was sleeping no more than 2-3 hours per night and I found it impossible to fast at that time.
But now that my sleep is back to normal Im back on IF and am working on losing the last 10 lbs with it.
It's not for everybody, that's for sure.
But if it seems to be working for you I encourage you to continue OP.
I never had any kind of problems with it, but I've read that some woman do.
Good luck to you!
I just started IF a few days ago.....I'm gonna try it for the rest of October, then reassess it's viability for me at this stage in my life.
I will say that as a 5'10 female, I was always skinny (to the point they called me bones) all my life until I had my child at 38. Size 0, 2 and a size 5 right when I found out I was pregnant. In my early years, I was never hungry for breakfast, I would eat lunch and dinner. That's it.
I only started eating breakfast due to pregnancy, and then eating sometimes with my family including my child. It became a habit, though on weekends we usually had a late breakfast, almost a brunch then an early supper, maybe a snack before 9. So, I feel like this is suppose to be the way I eat. Black coffee in the morning, water, tea then my first meal at 12:30 or 1, a snack, then dinner when I get home, all done before 9 or 10 p.m.
I use to marvel at the thin women I would meet throughout life who never seemed to eat much. Maybe this is their method too.
So, let's be friends and support each other and see where this leads us.4 -
I am trying IF now and in my first week. I am doing it a little different in that 2 days a week I only eat 500 calories and the rest of the week I try to follow a moderate diet with exercise. After the first week I am down pounds probably mostly bloat. Also gave up drinking during the week as that leads to snacking. Not sure how this will go long term but with my busy work schedule I figured controlling weight by diet is a better avenue than just trying to burn off the calories after a binge session. Interesting to see how this works out long term.1
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I am trying IF now and in my first week. I am doing it a little different in that 2 days a week I only eat 500 calories and the rest of the week I try to follow a moderate diet with exercise. After the first week I am down pounds probably mostly bloat. Also gave up drinking during the week as that leads to snacking. Not sure how this will go long term but with my busy work schedule I figured controlling weight by diet is a better avenue than just trying to burn off the calories after a binge session. Interesting to see how this works out long term.
How many calories per day are you ingesting on your 'regular' days?0 -
I am trying IF now and in my first week. I am doing it a little different in that 2 days a week I only eat 500 calories and the rest of the week I try to follow a moderate diet with exercise. After the first week I am down pounds probably mostly bloat. Also gave up drinking during the week as that leads to snacking. Not sure how this will go long term but with my busy work schedule I figured controlling weight by diet is a better avenue than just trying to burn off the calories after a binge session. Interesting to see how this works out long term.
This is known as Alternate Day Fasting (ADF), not IF. Although arguably you are fasting intermittently.0 -
trigden1991 wrote: »I am trying IF now and in my first week. I am doing it a little different in that 2 days a week I only eat 500 calories and the rest of the week I try to follow a moderate diet with exercise. After the first week I am down pounds probably mostly bloat. Also gave up drinking during the week as that leads to snacking. Not sure how this will go long term but with my busy work schedule I figured controlling weight by diet is a better avenue than just trying to burn off the calories after a binge session. Interesting to see how this works out long term.
This is known as Alternate Day Fasting (ADF), not IF. Although arguably you are fasting intermittently.
I believe 5:2 and ADF are forms of IF. (They are the first examples of IF I ran into, although I am now aware of the meal timing versions.)3 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I am trying IF now and in my first week. I am doing it a little different in that 2 days a week I only eat 500 calories and the rest of the week I try to follow a moderate diet with exercise. After the first week I am down pounds probably mostly bloat. Also gave up drinking during the week as that leads to snacking. Not sure how this will go long term but with my busy work schedule I figured controlling weight by diet is a better avenue than just trying to burn off the calories after a binge session. Interesting to see how this works out long term.
This is known as Alternate Day Fasting (ADF), not IF. Although arguably you are fasting intermittently.
I believe 5:2 and ADF are forms of IF. (They are the first examples of IF I ran into, although I am now aware of the meal timing versions.)
As per the second sentence of my response, I did acknowledge that one would be fasting intermittently however I was providing the most commonly used name in case the OP wanted to find more information.
I think we are agreeing on the same point although reading back my answer was a bit unclear.0 -
trigden1991 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I am trying IF now and in my first week. I am doing it a little different in that 2 days a week I only eat 500 calories and the rest of the week I try to follow a moderate diet with exercise. After the first week I am down pounds probably mostly bloat. Also gave up drinking during the week as that leads to snacking. Not sure how this will go long term but with my busy work schedule I figured controlling weight by diet is a better avenue than just trying to burn off the calories after a binge session. Interesting to see how this works out long term.
This is known as Alternate Day Fasting (ADF), not IF. Although arguably you are fasting intermittently.
I believe 5:2 and ADF are forms of IF. (They are the first examples of IF I ran into, although I am now aware of the meal timing versions.)
As per the second sentence of my response, I did acknowledge that one would be fasting intermittently however I was providing the most commonly used name in case the OP wanted to find more information.
I think we are agreeing on the same point although reading back my answer was a bit unclear.
Yeah, I don't think we are really disagreeing.1 -
I've been trying to do as much research as I can. ...and I found dr. Jason fung and IF. He explains really well why and how it works and how it cures type 2 diabetes as well. Here's a link to YouTube. I tried fasting for more than a day and couldn't do it. It's so hard.
anyway, here's the link, and if anyone has tips on willpower I'm all ears! 
https://youtu.be/ETkwZIi3R7w 1 -
@82jeh I would take what Jason Fung says with a very big grain of salt.8
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stevencloser wrote: »I've been trying to do as much research as I can. ...and I found dr. Jason fung and IF. He explains really well why and how it works and how it cures type 2 diabetes as well. Here's a link to YouTube. I tried fasting for more than a day and couldn't do it. It's so hard. anyway, here's the link, and if anyone has tips on willpower I'm all ears! https://youtu.be/ETkwZIi3R7w
I'm doing IF and Fung is a quack who spouts *kitten* to promote the things he sells.
Fung has pretty much killed my desire to do IF, and that's a shame, since I still think I might like it. Luckily I always get over that kind of self-defeating reaction!1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »I've been trying to do as much research as I can. ...and I found dr. Jason fung and IF. He explains really well why and how it works and how it cures type 2 diabetes as well. Here's a link to YouTube. I tried fasting for more than a day and couldn't do it. It's so hard. anyway, here's the link, and if anyone has tips on willpower I'm all ears! https://youtu.be/ETkwZIi3R7w
I'm doing IF and Fung is a quack who spouts *kitten* to promote the things he sells.
Fung has pretty much killed my desire to do IF, and that's a shame, since I still think I might like it. Luckily I always get over that kind of self-defeating reaction!
Do it, it uh.. it makes your fur more shiny.3 -
I've been trying to do as much research as I can. ...and I found dr. Jason fung and IF. He explains really well why and how it works and how it cures type 2 diabetes as well. Here's a link to YouTube. I tried fasting for more than a day and couldn't do it. It's so hard. anyway, here's the link, and if anyone has tips on willpower I'm all ears! https://youtu.be/ETkwZIi3R7w
There's no cure for diabetes. When you have it, you have it. It may go into a remission where symptoms are under control, but it is not curable.3 -
I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?0 -
I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?
That's exactly it. Last year I did it by having no dinner because I'm not really hungry in the evening anyway and it was really easy. That would still count as IF. Most people wouldn't find that convenient though. It didn't work well for me long term because it was socially crippling, so I just stuck with my alternate day fasting every now and then and random meal timing.1 -
I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?
It is easier to drop breakfast because you have already been fasting while sleeping. Some people skip dinner and do eat breakfast, however our culture primarily eats dinners with families so it is easier to keep dinner, IMO.2 -
Its easier for some people to withhold breakfast. Personally, I won't eat it if lunch is higher in calories and on fast days.I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?
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I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?
I don't "believe" it means that you don't eat breakfast. I understand the definition of intermittent. However skipping "breakfast" is the easiest way to implement IF if you have a normal 9-5 work schedule. To be even more pedantic; if you skipped break-fast you would remain fasted for eternity
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lemurcat12 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »I've been trying to do as much research as I can. ...and I found dr. Jason fung and IF. He explains really well why and how it works and how it cures type 2 diabetes as well. Here's a link to YouTube. I tried fasting for more than a day and couldn't do it. It's so hard. anyway, here's the link, and if anyone has tips on willpower I'm all ears! https://youtu.be/ETkwZIi3R7w
I'm doing IF and Fung is a quack who spouts *kitten* to promote the things he sells.
Fung has pretty much killed my desire to do IF, and that's a shame, since I still think I might like it. Luckily I always get over that kind of self-defeating reaction!
Fung makes me embarrassed to be doing IF.
I find that it helps regulate my appetite, so I continue to do it, but... oh, I can't stand the association.5 -
I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?
I have never understood that! Never! Your first meal is still breakfast, it doesn't matter when you eat it.
I guess some people consider breakfast to be the time of day you eat rather than the fact that you're eating your first meal of the day.1 -
trigden1991 wrote: »I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?
I don't "believe" it means that you don't eat breakfast. I understand the definition of intermittent. However skipping "breakfast" is the easiest way to implement IF if you have a normal 9-5 work schedule. To be even more pedantic; if you skipped break-fast you would remain fasted for eternity
Which is why I put quotes around "breakfast" as most people think "breakfast" = morning meal whereas some people take it literally "break fast".0 -
I also have lead the IF way, like MommyL2015 almost all my life, and this about 30 years or so. That was time when people did not know how to count calories, and time of internet were far ahead in the future. My weight did not budge even 3 lb up or down, Two pregnancies went easily, I remember that I was losing the pregnancy weight for about 30 days. Some nedical reseach indicated that constancy of the body mass thru life is best for your health. My weight now 124 lb at heigh 5" 5" (my high school level). I just used logic to consume food. Moderation in everyting. But if I overeat sometimes, I had 2-5 "unload" days: eat little less than normally, I guess, they call it Very low cal days. It come to me intuitivly.0
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I also have lead the IF way, like MommyL2015 almost all my life, and this about 30 years or so. That was time when people did not know how to count calories, and time of internet were far ahead in the future. My weight did not budge even 3 lb up or down Two pregnancies went easily, I remember that I was losing the pregnancy weight for about 30 days. Some medical reseach indicated that constancy of the body mass thru life is best for your health. My weight now 124 lb at heigh 5" 5" (my high school level). I just used logic to consume food. Moderation in everyting. But if I overeat sometimes, I had 2-5 "unload" days: eat little less than normally, I guess, they call it Very low cal days. It come to me intuitively.
This is how I remained slim when I was younger also. My body automatically did it for me, and my hunger correctly guided me.
If I had a holiday meal, special event, or buffet where I ate a bit over, then my body would naturally compensate the next few days when I would eat lighter. I never in my life counted calories until I hit my late 40s and 50s. I had never been overweight either until I got older.
The intermittent fasting seems to be restoring my intuitive eating. I ignore food during the part of the day I'm not having a meal. This is freeing to me.2 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »@82jeh I would take what Jason Fung says with a very big grain of salt.
That's a very diplomatic way of putting it. Fung is about on equal footing with with Dr. Oz in terms of being a reliable source.
There's nothing wrong with IF if that's how one chooses to eat - but there's nothing magical about it either. For some people it helps with adherence/satiety or workout performance or whatever, but as far as weight/fat loss goes, it doesn't do anything more than any other eating pattern at equal caloric intake.
And no, it doesn't cure diabetes. Of that you can be 100% sure.1 -
As much as I love IF and practice it effortlessly daily, it's true there's nothing magical about it in terms of curing diseases or spurring weight loss on its own.
I have Celiac Disease that went undiagnosed for 20 years. When I was in my 20's I never ate breakfast because it made me feel sick. I'd have a small lunch and then I'd have a good dinner when I was safely at home (read: near my own bathroom). I was at a good weight then. If I gained a bit, I'd just cut back on portions. So, I'm actually just going back to that way of eating, except this time it's for different reasons-- but the result with regard to my weight is the same. All these years later. It's quite amazing to me, honestly-- and exciting.
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I also have lead the IF way, like MommyL2015 almost all my life, and this about 30 years or so. That was time when people did not know how to count calories, and time of internet were far ahead in the future. My weight did not budge even 3 lb up or down Two pregnancies went easily, I remember that I was losing the pregnancy weight for about 30 days. Some medical reseach indicated that constancy of the body mass thru life is best for your health. My weight now 124 lb at heigh 5" 5" (my high school level). I just used logic to consume food. Moderation in everyting. But if I overeat sometimes, I had 2-5 "unload" days: eat little less than normally, I guess, they call it Very low cal days. It come to me intuitively.
This is how I remained slim when I was younger also. My body automatically did it for me, and my hunger correctly guided me.
If I had a holiday meal, special event, or buffet where I ate a bit over, then my body would naturally compensate the next few days when I would eat lighter. I never in my life counted calories until I hit my late 40s and 50s. I had never been overweight either until I got older.
The intermittent fasting seems to be restoring my intuitive eating. I ignore food during the part of the day I'm not having a meal. This is freeing to me.
This is what I find happens when I simply eat according to a schedule (meals only, no grazing). It's not IF for me -- back in my 20s I never ate breakfast, so it could be an "IF" schedule (though we never called it that then), but the same happens if I just eat 3 regular meals as I've been doing. I don't think about food if it's not mealtime.
It's also, if I look back on it, how I ate most of my life before ever getting fat and what I did after losing weight and maintaining it for 5 years. I don't see it as about hunger or intuitive eating, but that if you eat to any schedule it's common to adapt to it and want food when you expect to have it (and if you graze all day and what's available is fruit and veg, probably no biggie -- if you graze all day, as many are in the habit of these days, and what's available are higher cal stuff, well, lots of obesity).
Clearly what works for me isn't going to work for everyone, and I'm not saying that, but this is part of my overarching theory of why so many are overweight.0 -
The point--if we knew and understood everything in our natural world, science (the scientific process) would no longer be necessary. But we don't, and hypotheses, and even theories are proven and disproven all the time, and new hypotheses and theories are formed.
And that is science.
Thank you tigerblue.
This was my point earlier in this thread, but you expressed much better than I did my friend.
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I'm doing 16:8 add me!!0
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ChristinaOne21 wrote: »In the 90's now, but I realise I can't rely on the calories entered in this site as some of them are so random or completely different from each other, so when it looks like I'm in a calorie deficit I realise I need to add on a few things, as I know I'm really not. The wine has been featuring far too much this week. Also haven't been to the gym forever and the weight is definitely not moving due to those two things. Tomorrow it will be different!
Hey was wondering how the IF went for u x0 -
lauraryanx1 wrote: »Hey was wondering how the IF went for u x
Hi Laura -Thanks for asking and it's lovely to know you are interested
I just had to reset my password as it has been so long since I was last on here and it had logged out.
How's IF going for me? Well life kind of got in the way with work getting so busy, being away all the time and a few crazy events happening - one example being our golden retriever dog got stolen (thankfully back now) and that wasn't the only traumatic thing to happen in the last few months.
I have probably maintained my weight by keeping some of my habits going, but I stopped losing as soon as I stopped fasting and tracking my food. Instead I started eating cooked breakfasts when my partner made them, consuming bigger portions, grazing over longer periods of time and drinking more alcohol. I often seem to crave peanut butter sandwiches and cheese at midnight (woops just had one of those now) and then still waking hungry (something about eating later makes me hungrier earlier the next day). I'm also more thirsty at bedtime as I'm not drinking as much water and coffee in the mornings as I was. And I have started to crave sugary treats I had totally cut out. I'm also finding it hard to get to sleep at night, with less energy in the day, feeling bloated and getting more headaches again....
In other words I have reverted right back to how I was feeling before doing IF.
I'm dissappointed in myself as I was seeing results and feeling great and if I had stuck to it I should have been a heck of a lot lighter by now (possibly even 10kgs lighter in fact).
So it is high time for me to get back on track now - it's just hard when I am working such long days right now to want to spend any more time on the computer filling in my food diary and I never seem to find the time for any exercise. New Zealand has got well and truly into the silly season here where everyone wants to get everything wrapped up before the Christmas summer holidays and the world around me seems to be running on stress and putting so much pressure on each other...
However focusing back on IF and calorie tracking is definitely a preferable choice to reading mindless conspiracy theories and the continuous negative news about wars and political disasters online - which has been the latest pass-time when I can't sleep
Time to start tracking again tomorrow.........0
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