Fasting

dh7474

What do you think about fasting for a few days ?

StealthHealth

In a carefully controlled manner, I think fasting can be a useful tool. I fast until noon on most days and I have used longer fasts in the past.

For a couple of days? I'm less keen unless someone has quite a bit of experience with fasting for shorter periods - I think the chances of a massive binge at the end of the fast is quite high.

Approach with caution and some research.

amusedmonkey

I have fasted 1-3 days for various reasons in the past, some of them were dumb. Sometimes it's warranted if it's a part of your strategy and not just a punishment protocol, other times it's useless or even harmful. Any longer than that without supervision is also ill advised (ended up in the hospital as a teen after a 2 week fast).

lynjoywal

I do a 500 calorie fast 2days per week. This was what really started my weight loss. Before that I was on 1200 calories per day and was losing nothing despite exercising - GP suggested (after checking my food diary) trying 800 calories but I thought if I can do 800, I can do 500 a couple of times per week. It's working a treat.

Ironandwine69

I fast for 24 hours twice a week. I feel fine. But if I fast for longer I feel weak and light headed. My workouts suffer too.
I would not fast for a few days at a time.

TimothyFish

As an act of worship, I think it is great. As a weight loss strategy, I don't think it gains you much.

amtyrell

I think success requires doing something for the rest of your life. Fasting for a few days is the same as saying "what do you think of starvation for a few days" Bad idea

LessCookiess

Are you going to eat at some point in the day? Because fasting is not a strange concept muslims have been doing this for centuries! And other religions as well for religious reasons.

Ironandwine69

amtyrell wrote: »

I think success requires doing something for the rest of your life. Fasting for a few days is the same as saying "what do you think of starvation for a few days" Bad idea

Nobody starved from not eating for a few days. Have you ever been sick and not eaten for a few days? You still survived.
I wouldn't do it on purpose for weight loss though.

amusedmonkey

amtyrell wrote: »

I think success requires doing something for the rest of your life. Fasting for a few days is the same as saying "what do you think of starvation for a few days" Bad idea

It can be part of a sustainable overall weight loss strategy for some, nothing scary about that as long as it's short duration and accompanied by the right mindset. Not eating for a couple of days because you feel guilty, followed by binging, or want to crash diet without any supplemental sustainable changes is not effective, but taking a couple of days off food a week and redistributing those calories among the rest of the days can make dieting easier for some. Using fasting as a quick damage control strategy every now and then without approaching it from a disordered place is another useful tool. The idea of fasting is only as bad or as good as the person's overall plan is.

JohnnyLowCarb

Anyone who says that fasting is a bad idea and you must eat throughout the day with snacks simply does not understand how the body works, we all fast everyday. Well night. During a fast is the only time for some people to tap into the fat reserves. So for weight loss intermittent fasting is a great tool. But man is it controversial

trigden1991

TimothyFish wrote: »

As an act of worship, I think it is great. As a weight loss strategy, I don't think it gains you much.

I'd counter that and argue that 2 days of fasting, nets you a deficit that is twice that of your maintenance.

toxikon

There's some interesting science out there on short-term water fasts. They can help your body temporarily become better at getting rid of old cells (called autophagy). And that's a good thing.

I'm curious to see how the science develops further over the coming decades. But for now it's promising - and a 3 day water fast every month or two wouldn't hurt. I've done one 3-day water fast and it was an interesting challenge.

Bob314159

I've fasted for 3 days - water only. I did it for "toxic removal" - which I now think is nonsense.

Did appreciate the amazing new taste of food at the end.

I did not do it for weight loss - and a week later my weight was the same.

I was warned of headaches and the inability to work full time, but had no problems

endlessfall16

TimothyFish wrote: »

As a weight loss strategy, I don't think it gains you much.

B.S.

My whole wt control approach is based on fasting and light eating which affords me not to miss out a single eating out with friends and family, and I don't eat superficially. I get the most out of my eating and my money. I also love buffets.

I'm stronger and higher stamina than most of my peers in the workout circle and I only sleep 5-7 hours a day. When I can get 8, 9 hours of sleep, I become even more hyperactive and alert.

Theo166

I'm planning on starting IF when I'm closer to goal weight. I'm hoping it's a strategy that can keep me at goal weight while on maintenance. In addition to weight control, I'm interested in the benefits for health/longevity.

SCoil123

I did IF on the 16:8 schedule and liked it a lot. I recently only switched my eating to support my new workout regimine.

JohnnyLowCarb

I too do a 6 feeding 18 non-feeding schedule. I like breakfast so I eat at 7am and eat until 1pm. Many seem to prefer to skip breakfast. Whatever works for you. However, the benefit of IF is you give your body a chance to fully digest food, then get into using fat stores for fuel once your insulin levels drop. We all fast, so anyone who is against it must never sleep or get up every 2 hours to eat. lol. So fasting is a way to kick start the fat burning and couple it with well timed exercise and you can really start to see some success.

JohnnyLowCarb

amtyrell wrote: »

I think success requires doing something for the rest of your life. Fasting for a few days is the same as saying "what do you think of starvation for a few days" Bad idea

Yes, starving is the only way to lose weight...hold on...I am not saying go a month without food and water starving. Calorie deficit no matter how and when you do it is starving. If your definition of starving is to deprive the body of calories that are required to maintain your current wait, then yes starving a little for days, weeks, months, years is how you are going to reach your weight goals. I said this was a very controversial subject.

Geocitiesuser

I like to fast one day a week (500 calories for the day) but it doesn't always work if I have prior engagements because I get to hAngry.

jaroby

Go search YouTube for videos featuring Dr. Fung. He's and MD who re educated himself on what food does in the body. He's got 2 books out contains the science behind IF. Obesity Code and The Conplete Guide to Fasting. He now treats obese and type 2 diabetic patients through IF. Many patients come off their meds entirely. There's actually quite a lot of research out there about the benefits of giving your body a *longer than "normal"* break from digestion. Two benefits include lower insulin levels and an increase in sensitivity to insulin. Also, most people who IF eat the same amount of calories as before, just in a more condensed time frame. (Unless they decide to do a block fast which would be fasting for 24-36 hrs) So IF is truly NOT starvation. Again, this is to give the body a true rest from digestion. However, this will not be for everyone! But if it seems to fit your lifestyle, great!

alicefigs

I've been reading a lot about fasting and the many different ways to fast. I believe it (IF) works and is something that can be sustained for a long time especially the 16 hour fasts which is very reasonable. It's often been said to listen to your body, and most of the time it's not hunger that urges us to eat. It's either bec it's breakfast time, break time, dining with friends, etc.
I've told 2 friends (guys) about it and they did it and it worked for them. I'm just having more trouble losing the weight, being a woman and at 39 yrs old which I think plays a factor. -__-

StealthHealth

To chime in again I thought it might be useful to say...

• On and off I've used fasting protocols for about 5 years now, so it is easily sustainable.
• I started using the 5:2 diet and later progressed to IF (8:16). I've kind of settled into a 6:18 type thing.
• When cutting or maintaining I fast about 29 days or the month, only eating a "breakfast" type meal as a special event or family type thing (when bulking I need to eat more frequently to get the calories in)
• I've played around with longer fasts and they were OK but not for me on a regular basis.
• I've read a lot about fasting and although I have my own personal opinion on the benefits, my reading of the studies (I restricted my searches to Human iso-calorific studies) tells me that there is no benefit of fasting over that of eating the same number of calories over a longer period*
• I often work out fasted and do not see a dip in my lifting performance or running times when fasted (unless I embark on a long steady state run of greater than about an hour)
• I was very surprised when I started fasting about how easy it was to forgo food for long periods and for this reason I recommend that anyone attempting fasting tracks their weekly calories to ensure that the are neither under eating or overeating.
• I enjoy the simplicity of fasting and it does allow me to hit my calories even when I have a family event or special meal planned.

* My last data search on all this was about a year ago - there may be new stuff I've not seem and there is also the fact that my searching skills are not up to the job. As such, I would be happy to be proven wrong on this point. There are several opinion pieces which talk about the autophagy argument and the increase in autophagy when fasted, but there doesn't seem to be any studies (that I'm aware of) that show that the increased autophagy levels seen in fasted humans results in a health benefit (although it may well turn out to be the case).

amusedmonkey

@StealthHealth that's exactly my issue with being overly optimistic about any potential health benefit strictly from intermittent fasting. From what I've seen, I haven't found any studies that were able to reliably demonstrate benefits beyond the resulting caloric restriction and weight loss, and very few of these are on humans or of strong statistical relevance. Some interesting blips here and there about meal timing for circadian rhythm and breast cancer (specifically the length of night time fasting and dinner timing), but it's still a new topic and needs further research before related conclusions can be drawn.

@TimothyFish It has been shown that in many cases various forms of fasting are just as effective for weight loss as chronic caloric restriction, so it boils down to personal choice and writing them off as useless is not demonstrably accurate.