I don't get intermittent fasting.

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  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
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    I was a 210 pound breakfast skipper.

    My eating window had nothing to do with how many calories I was consuming.

    I used to eat between noon and 8:00.

    I now eat between 2:00 and 8:00.

    There's nothing special about IF. For me, I did eat less than I had been eating, but I still ate more than my body needed.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    lisawolfinger wrote: »
    So I am confused...those of you who don't typically eat breakfast, and have not eaten it for years, are actually then doing a fast (between dinner the night before and your next meal) as outlined in many of the web sites that discuss it. How many hour then is it between your dinner and next meal? Could you be fasting but just do it naturally and never put a label on it? Curious too...are those of you who do this "naturally"...not a breakfast eater, on the thin side? Could it be that your unlabeled, I just don't like breakfast routine, have helped your digestive health over the years, helping you stay in a good weight status but you did it unknowing?

    I am not trying to imply anything in particular...just thinking a bit deeper and outside the box. Wondering if there are more similarities than differences in it.

    I eat my "Breakfast" around 2pm, tends to be greek yoghurt with nuts, seeds and fruits added.

    Around 5pm I eat "Lunch" Tends to be ham or chicken with stir fried veg

    Around 8pm I have my "Dinner" Fish and veg with noodles/ramen. Or chickpea and potato curry etc.

    Leaves me a few hundred for snacks or wine before bed at 10.30am. I'm up at 6.30am

    I've never been over weight but I have maintained a healthy BMI of 19-20 for 13 years now. My battle was under eating.
  • me0231
    me0231 Posts: 218 Member
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    OP, I don't believe it's some magical fat burning fad or anything. I doubt it has a huge effect on anything really, but I think many of us on this particular forum on mfp have some disordered eating issues of some sort. What IF taught me is to stop thinking about food all the time. I learned that I can easily skip a meal and not die of hunger. I think it's more mental than anything.

    It was especially noticeable a couple of weeks ago when we visited in laws and their whole day revolves around eating. They get up and think what to do for breakfast. The minute the last bite is down they start planning what restaurant to have lunch at. 'If we go there, then can we still eat this for dinner or should we go out for dinner and have that for lunch?' etc. You get the idea.

    In any case that's what it did for me. Plus I enjoy eating more calories in one go than have a bunch of smaller meals.
  • maggibailey
    maggibailey Posts: 289 Member
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    I agree with all of the above, particularly that I can ignore feeling hungry until I start eating and then food really is all I think about. And IF let’s me just eat a normal meal with my family at night even when my husband has done the cooking with his much thinner frame in mind. In my case it makes dieting not feel like a diet at all.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Anon2018 wrote: »
    With IF I dont even get what the dogma is supposed to be - can someone explain?

    I don't follow the IF type eating schedule but my understanding from what others say is that restricting the consumption of their calories to a much shorter time period/later in the day helps them not to overeat. I don't do that but I get how that can be helpful. I think a lot of people share meals with others later in the day so it is easier to eat bigger meals or drink socially. A lot of people are rushed in the mornings so it is easier to skip eating then and eat when they have more time.

    I think the bulletproof diet is a seperate fad diet that throws around the term intermittent fasting and a lot of other diet buzz words like low carb, high fat. I think a lot of dubious claims come from that diet. I think a lot of people get mixed up over various diets that make a lot of promises.

  • klowieislyfe1
    klowieislyfe1 Posts: 46 Member
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    I'm not sure I believe it does anything metabolically, it's just easier for me not to eat early on because I'm not much of a breakfast person anyway, and I prefer to have most of my calories for dinner so it helps me keep my intake lower.
  • Hamsibian
    Hamsibian Posts: 1,388 Member
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    It's nothing new. Fasting has been done in all sorts of cultures and religions since the beginning of time. There might be some additional benefits, I don't know, but I think the best thing about it is that it debunks the myth that eating breakfast in the morning is a must...this is coming from someone who loves breakfast. It's just not necessary.

    It doesn't mean that people are necessarily healthier. I know when Ramadan is in the summer, people tend to eat less but more filling/nutrient dense foods since the window of eating is very short. When it is in the winter, and sunset is at 4:30pm...it's like goulash and knafa paradise.
  • WhereIsPJSoles
    WhereIsPJSoles Posts: 622 Member
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    I’m down with IF having a name and some legitimacy even though I’m not currently doing it and have no plans to. For years I maintained a good weight easily by skipping breakfast and without fail every single time my body and/or diet was brought up and I said I didn’t eat breakfast I would be told how horrible that was and my metabolism would be so slow. Which is a weird thing to have people admire your weight one moment and then be told how unhealthy you are in the next breath. Now I could be like “look it up, people do it”
  • byrnet18
    byrnet18 Posts: 230 Member
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    I have done IF for years. I typically drink my cup of coffee first thing when I wake up but then I don't eat until lunch which is usually around 1-2pm. I workout in a fasted state before I eat lunch. I generally sleep from 10pm-8am so it's not hard for me to fast until lunch. I generally eat lunch, snack, dinner, snack and stop eating after 9:30pm. It works well for me but I can understand how it may not be for everyone. I have lost 85 pounds doing this along with a lower carb diet (100g/day). I used to do a 24 hour fast a couple times a year but that was SO much harder for me.
  • WMLizard
    WMLizard Posts: 22 Member
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    I first heard about IF as the 5:2 plan, when you really are seriously restricting calories for a couple of days. I didn't enjoy that much, because I obsessed about the tiny amount of calories on those 2 days. However, at some point I started skipping breakfast, just having coffee. Not pure fasting, because I do take cream in my coffee (and even coffee has a couple of calories). The caffeine keeps my from feeling hungry.

    I have gone until 4 pm before deciding to eat lunch. Then I ate at 4 pm and could have sworn I was starving when it was dinnertime at 7:30. So there is definitely something IN ME that gets very eager after the first bite of food, so waiting as late as I can to have that first bite is useful for keeping calories down. I didn't realize this was also a kind of IF, I just tell people "I don't eat breakfast."

    The only problem I have with this way of eating is fitting in exercise. I can get really hungry if I'm doing regular cardio, particularly in the morning. Luckily my current schedule tends to push cardio to the mid day, so it's less of an issue now. But that is why 4 pm can be the first time I eat at times, because I don't like to eat and then go straight for a run. Oh wait, the other problem is that I LOVE breakfast food, so it can be hard to keep eating this way when I'm with other people and they are enjoying pancakes at 9 a.m.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    I always subscribed to breakfast is the most important meal of the day and went from being slim in my teens and twenties, to the higher side of healthy but heavier than I was comfortable with in my 30s. I lost the 15 lbs I wanted to counting calories and eating breakfast. But I struggled to stick to my calorie goal. I sometimes skipped breakfast because I was running late and realized when I did, I didn't get all that hungry and had more calories left for later in the day. So I started doing it on purpose around a year ago. Have noticed no change in my health, fitness, digestion, TDEE, or anything else because of it. Just more food to eat at the end of the day when I really want to eat.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    lisawolfinger wrote: »
    Now I am curious, after statement about the calorie control concept and/or the later day breakfast" routine. Thinking about not just calories but the nutrients/macros in meals, particularly carbs. I have read the IF shuts down glucose production for several hours, lowering blood glucose levels. Do any of you ever have issues with that?

    Also, if you are practicing Keto...the concept of IF would make more sense then to those who do not. Depends on you nutritional belief system. The concept of Keto is to burn fat instead of carbs for energy...helping to drop weight. When researching, a common theme of IF is that the body burns more fat during the fast. Not going into details here (you can all read about that online), but if that is the case...then IF for those on Keto makes good sense...it promotes the concept of fat burning. For those NOT doing Keto, it would not seem to be as easy to understand or seem to be as helpful.

    That said, if the OP is not subscribing to the idea of Keto, then the concept of IF would also not make sense.

    Aside from that...as an older woman with a family history of various medical concerns, I will say this...The National Institute on Aging announced in 2012 that fasting for one or two days a week may also help stave off Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other degenerative brain conditions.

    Again...likely many others who say no...but when you age or if you become sick...and there is no pill to fix you...reaching out to alternative methods at least gives you hope. I am not sure that we always have to GET the value or even the reasons that someone may decide to do it. Sometimes...its just about hope.

    Don't confuse or complicate things.

    Weight loss is purely calories in against the amount of calories burnt off.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    Most of my adult life (I'm 64now) I unknowingly IF-ed eating within a 4 hr window later in the day, and 5:2-ed with tue and wed low days most of the time. (I would have the odd buscuit with my morning coffee some days)

    No reason, that was just how I ate. I don't snack on a regular basis either, and, though I have been fat (relatively speaking) I have never been over the normal BMI range. (Answering the thin question upthread)

    In fact, when I decided I wanted to lose weight in 2008/9 I opted not to use MFP, because it had meals listed, in favour of a site that one just listed food without timing, because I couldn't be bothered figuring out how to realign meals into the way I ate.

    It was only when I was in maintenance and figured out I needed more protein that I started eating more frequently. I found it a struggle for years, still do at times as food early in the day just doesn't interest me.

    Now I have a protein bar (mimics the biscuits of old) and fruit for breakfast, yogurt or cottage cheese and fruit or veg for lunch, and the majority of my calories later in the day to get my 80-100g of protein.
    Tue and Wed are still lower days, but not as low as 500 cal. (My week has a natural undulation)

    I too read about the degenerative brain and fasting study, but haven't changed my way of eating because of it despite my age.

    Reading through what I have just typed it reads as though I don't like food very much- I love food, and am an excellent and adventurous cook. I've realized over time I just dislike feeling full for most of the day- it slows me down.

    IF, in its many forms, may be a fad term, but the style of eating is not new, and if it can help with calorie control and satiation for some, That is good- isn't it?

    Cheers, h.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    I honestly didn't see the OP as mocking.

    I saw him more as questioning some of the more outlandish claims made regarding IF.

    It really is no more than what you've said, but if you poke around some of the darker corners of the internet, the stuff they'd have you believe about it would make your head spin.

    Agreed.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,514 Member
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    lisawolfinger wrote: »
    So I am confused...those of you who don't typically eat breakfast, and have not eaten it for years, are actually then doing a fast (between dinner the night before and your next meal) as outlined in many of the web sites that discuss it. How many hour then is it between your dinner and next meal? Could you be fasting but just do it naturally and never put a label on it? Curious too...are those of you who do this "naturally"...not a breakfast eater, on the thin side? Could it be that your unlabeled, I just don't like breakfast routine, have helped your digestive health over the years, helping you stay in a good weight status but you did it unknowing?

    I am not trying to imply anything in particular...just thinking a bit deeper and outside the box. Wondering if there are more similarities than differences in it.

    I hit 387lb skipping breakfast and am currently 233lb and still don't eat until mid afternoon

    It all comes down to calorie intake, I was clearly eating more than I needed

    I don't believe many of the so called benifits to IF I eat this way purely because once I have something to eat the hunger kicks in

  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,514 Member
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    lisawolfinger wrote: »
    Now I am curious, after statement about the calorie control concept and/or the later day breakfast" routine. Thinking about not just calories but the nutrients/macros in meals, particularly carbs. I have read the IF shuts down glucose production for several hours, lowering blood glucose levels. Do any of you ever have issues with that?
    .

    I have issues with hypoglycemia but ironically never happens before I eat mid afternoon

    My worst episode was in hospital 1 hour after eating some roast beef and a few carrots.,.... My blood sugar hit 1.1

    The hospital had me eating every hour of the day, sucked ads as i had to be given anti emetics to be able to eat meals

    When they happen now, usually late afternoon/evening I'll be able to get it under control by chasing the high carb ( glucose) item with a protien
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited December 2017
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    I put off eating everyday for as long as possible, usually around 1-2pm. I don't call it fasting though as i drink tea with an added 160ish calories of milk all morning which keeps the hunger at bay.
    I skip breakfast because i prefer to save those calories for later in the day when I'm actually properly hungry, plus i like having dessert every night.

    ETA: Once i eat that first bit of food, it's like the hunger monster has been unleashed. I go from "meh, I'm peckish" to "When is the next damn meal". It's so *kitten* annoying!! So, the longer i put off eating, the better it is for mind AND body.

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