Intermittent Fasting

JBYRD3286

Anyone here ever try IF (Intermittent Fasting)? This is my first time trying it and so far I love it! A little hungry until lunch but I go to bed full every night. My current plan is feed from 12pm to 6pm with an 18 hr fast. It sounds rough but I've really come to love it and it's done wonders for my body composition. What's you current plan or have you ever thought about IF? (If you haven't, you should)

jemhh

Doesn't fit my life but there are many others here who like it. Good that you have found what works for you.

Unknown

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Curlychip

Theres some groups for it too :-)

itspronouncedbouquet

I was doing intermittent fasting before I even learned it's a "thing" that people are doing, lol! I started doing it because I love having big dinners and snacking in the evenings, but I'm only eating 1200-1300 calories/day and stretching that out over an entire day makes for a lot of tiny unsatisfying meals. I'm usually not hungry until about 1pm anyways so I will have my first meal of the day around then and then have whatever I want for dinner! And usually I have enough calories left over to have a snack after dinner, too. Love it!

trigden1991

I have and still occasionally use IF. The most extreme of which I was fasting for 23 hours a day with 1 meal in the evening. Once you get used to it, it really isn't that hard.

pacific904

For me IF it is a mind thing - I tell myself that eating breakfast is a habit I need to break. It works for me as once I start eating I want to eat all day long. My latest is to not to eat after 7 pm - yesterday my feeding time was 2 pm to 6 pm. That way of eating also makes me think more about what I am putting in my body.

It is all trial and error. What I love with IF is that you can adapt it every day to suit you regardless what you are doing that day. My aim is to lose weight and get healthier. I am also less of a bore - as I eat when I am with friends - they have not even noticed that I am doing IF and I am losing 2 lbs a week. I have not told anyone as there are too many detractors. Early days yet but it is working.

TigerLily100

I generally don't do breakfast, meaning I naturally fall into the 16:8 intermittent fasting as I eat first at 11am and don't eat after 7pm.
The moment I decided to do it officially, I started being hungry on a morning. Just shows eating is so much in the mind. So now I am not doing it......but am doing it without my knowledge

rybo

Naturally fits my lifestyle, makes things much simpler for me.

murp4069

I naturally fall into a 16:8 IF. I've never been a big breakfast person, so it's pretty easy for me. I prefer to have a large meal at night. I typically only have coffee with fat free half & half and splenda until 12:30 or so, when I have a small lunch. In the afternoon a small snack, and around 8pm a large dinner. If I'm hungry in the morning I'll eat something small like a yogurt, but other than that never force myself to eat when I'm not hungry.

leanjogreen18

I eat between 11-5pm but most days I stop eating around 3:30-4 pm. On only 1200 calories this allows for bigger brunch and dinner.

It seems to help control my appetite and stopped the late night snacking.

rnelson88

I have been IF for about a year and a half now. I feed from 12pm-8pm every day. Some days I may adjust that schedule do to what's going on at that time but mostly stick to the 12-8. Works great for me and I'm never hungry in the morning anymore. I just drink my black coffee in the a.m. and that's it. I feel great and have such mental clarity and focus while in the fasting phase. I mixed IF with the Keto diet last year and lost a decent amount of bodyfat quickly and increased amount of energy and strength. Have you ever tried your lifting sessions while in the fasting phase? At first, it seems a bit overwhelming. But after a day or two, your energy and strength skyrocket. I love it and would recommend it to anyone looking to blast away bodyfat quickly.

JBYRD3286

Yeah I train fasted 5 days a week. The hardest part was getting out of the broscience mentally worrying about the "optimum" feeding times post workout. Just hit the macros everyday and forget about the rest.

TeaBea

Curlychip wrote: »

Theres some groups for it too :-)

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/49-intermittent-fasting

rnelson88

JBYRD3286 wrote: »

Yeah I train fasted 5 days a week. The hardest part was getting out of the broscience mentally worrying about the "optimum" feeding times post workout. Just hit the macros everyday and forget about the rest.

Awesome bro!

serapel

hey, I did a slow bulk over 8 months and gained 6 lbs. I am now cutting the extra fat that I gained and want to get down to 18% bf. I'm at about 19-20 now.

Intermittent fasting works for me, but I do it differently. I can eat 2100 cals a day and still lose weight slowly, so I eat 800-900 calories before 6 p.m. and then eat the rest of my calories from 6 pm to 10 pm. It allows me to indulge in fun snacks like potato chips.

I get 80% of my protein in before 6 pm, so I can have the indulgences. I'm eating 103 grams of protein per day

trigden1991

serapel wrote: »

hey, I did a slow bulk over 8 months and gained 6 lbs. I am now cutting the extra fat that I gained and want to get down to 18% bf. I'm at about 19-20 now.

Intermittent fasting works for me, but I do it differently. I can eat 2100 cals a day and still lose weight slowly, so I eat 800-900 calories before 6 p.m. and then eat the rest of my calories from 6 pm to 10 pm. It allows me to indulge in fun snacks like potato chips.

I get 80% of my protein in before 6 pm, so I can have the indulgences. I'm eating 103 grams of protein per day

Just FYI ,that is not IF as you are not fasting.

lmmilbert

I've been doing IF for about 2 months now and have lost 10 lbs. I do either 4:3 or 5:2 depending on how I feel. It was hard at first but second nature now. Very happy with it and I know it is something I can maintain for life.

_Justinian_

Can someone explain to me just what IF is? I feel like it is simply an overly-complicated way of choosing not to eat something now so you can eat more later.

lmmilbert

_Justinian_ wrote: »

Can someone explain to me just what IF is? I feel like it is simply an overly-complicated way of choosing not to eat something now so you can eat more later.

https://authoritynutrition.com/what-is-intermittent-fasting/

blambo61

_Justinian_ wrote: »

Can someone explain to me just what IF is? I feel like it is simply an overly-complicated way of choosing not to eat something now so you can eat more later.

Some people do a 5:2 where twice a week they eat very few calories in one meal and eat regular for the other 5-days.

Some people do a 16:8 which is fasting for 16 hours (sleep counts) and then eating in an 8-hour window. For example quite eating at 8 pm and start eating at noon the next day. Some people do even longer fasts (multiple days intermittently) or do a longer fast almost daily like 20:4 (four hour eating window). 16:8 to 21:3 is what I've been doing.

Some advantages are:
1. Fasting is an appetite suppressant so you don't get that hungry while fasting (drink a lot of water)
2. Fasting helps reverse insulin resistance and makes your insulin more effective so you don't need as much. High insulin causes fat gain and inhibits fat loss.
3. It's cheap and easy with no meal planning required while fasting.
4. It allows you to eat bigger meals when you do eat so you are not constantly hungry. A major thing for sustainability of keeping the diet going.
5. You can avoid the blood glucose roller-coaster and have even energy when burning fat (no afternoon sugar crashes from lunch if your skipping lunch).
6. Your stomach shrinks doing IF so that it is harder to overeat in one meal and you feel satisfied sooner.

Those are some things that I could think of and I have experience them all including much better fasted blood glucose levels (could have been due to losing 42 lbs also).

See:
Omad Forum
Intermittent Fasting Forum
5:2 Forum

CooCooPuff

I do 5:2 and really love the maintenance days man.