Intermittent fasting.

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driefishin
driefishin Posts: 238 Member
edited December 2017 in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone having luck using intermittent fasting? If so, how long between meals are you fasting? Thought about doing 16-18 hours, which basically means skipping breakfast. I'm hungriest at night, so makes sense for me to get the bulk of my calories in from 12 pm until 7 pm.
Any Thoughts ? Success ? Failures ? (only been on here a month, so friend me if you would like)

Replies

  • Archaeologicals
    Archaeologicals Posts: 21 Member
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    I tried to combine IF with Keto for a time and I was completely miserable. But it works for some people. As long as you still have a calorie deficit, timing of meals is irrelevant.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    It works really well for me. I used to NEED breakfast, but after a few months of skipping it, I feel fine without it. I don't start getting hungry till around 11am.

    A usual day for me:

    - Wake up 7:30am, drink some water
    - Get to work at 8:30am, drink some tea
    - Eat a small lunch around 1:00pm (400 cals)
    - Eat a small afternooon snack around 3:00pm (200 cals)
    - Eat a large dinner around 6:00pm (600 cals)
    - Sometimes eat a little evening snack around 8:00pm (100 cals)
    - Go to bed at 11:00pm
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    There's nothing special about IF. If it lines up with your normal eating tendencies, then go for it. If you want just that little bit of structure, then go for it.

    But ultimately you still have to manage your cals/intake.

    I don't typically eat until late morning or early afternoon. Last meal is anywhere from 7-10pm... so I fast for 12-18hrs depending.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,971 Member
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    What kind of results are you looking for? I mean, IF is just a meal schedule. It helps some people to place time boundaries around food. It isn't a weight-loss hack, really. You still need to eat fewer calories than you use in order to lose weight.

    I have been doing IF for most of my life, it's how I naturally eat. I still log my food and stay within my calories.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    LadyBingley wrote: »
    I tried to combine IF with Keto for a time and I was completely miserable. But it works for some people. As long as you still have a calorie deficit, timing of meals is irrelevant.

    *pet peeve*

    To say that meal timing is irrelevant is incorrect, or at the very least, misleading.

    Meal timing is irrelevant regarding your body's ability to lose weight/fat. Meal timing is very relevant to individual success, as it can help or hurt one's ability to stay on track and manage their intake. If something like skipping breakfast (or a post-workout shake, or any of a number of things) helps you stay on track, then meal timing is very relevant.
  • maybe1pe
    maybe1pe Posts: 529 Member
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    I do 18 - 20 hours between dinner and my first snack of the day. I eat a snack mid afternoon and then dinner and sometimes dessert.

    I eat when I'm naturally hungry some days that's 4 pm and some days its 12pm but rarely am I hungry before noon so it works for me and helps me control calories by not eating breakfast when I'm not hungry
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    What kind of results are you looking for? I mean, IF is just a meal schedule. It helps some people to place time boundaries around food. It isn't a weight-loss hack, really. You still need to eat fewer calories than you use in order to lose weight.

    I have been doing IF for most of my life, it's how I naturally eat. I still log my food and stay within my calories.

    This^ How do you define success in regard to IF?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I usually go 3 hours between breakfast and lunch and 4 hours between lunch and dinner, so I'm per definition doing "intermittent fasting". I think it's a great way to eat if you like it, that overfed modern Western people are terrified of hunger, and that fancy names for ordinary things is a thing we just have to accept.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
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    I went to 16:8 in September- to me it was the total opposite if “irrelevant”.

    I struggled with constant hunger (short older woman with 1200 calories allotment to lose a lousy 1/2 lb a week) until I did this. 1200 calories divided into three meals was miserable and caused unending hunger for me because no meal ever reached satiation point. Eliminating the morning meal and moving to a lunch / dinner 16:8 plan made a huge difference.
  • Archaeologicals
    Archaeologicals Posts: 21 Member
    edited December 2017
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    LadyBingley wrote: »
    I tried to combine IF with Keto for a time and I was completely miserable. But it works for some people. As long as you still have a calorie deficit, timing of meals is irrelevant.

    *pet peeve*

    To say that meal timing is irrelevant is incorrect, or at the very least, misleading.

    Meal timing is irrelevant regarding your body's ability to lose weight/fat. Meal timing is very relevant to individual success, as it can help or hurt one's ability to stay on track and manage their intake. If something like skipping breakfast (or a post-workout shake, or any of a number of things) helps you stay on track, then meal timing is very relevant.

    What I said was: *AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN A CALORIE DEFICIT, timing of meals is irrelevant.* There is nothing incorrect or misleading about that statement. How you (general) choose to meet that calorie deficit (e.g. IF) is on you.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,971 Member
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    :lol: @ the woos.
  • DananaNanas
    DananaNanas Posts: 665 Member
    edited December 2017
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    I have been doing IF since 8/2ish. I stick to an 18:6 schedule (ETA 18 hours fasting from about 9 p.m. until 3 p.m.) about 6 days a week. I break my fast at 3:00 p.m. everyday with about 200-400 calories. I don't find that I am any hungrier in the morning or early afternoon than I was when I was eating breakfast. IF helps me stick to my relatively low calorie goal while allowing me to eat a snack or two and then what I consider to be a large meal for dinner. Before IF I found that 75% of my calories were used up during the day with breakfast, lunch, and a snack at work and when I got home and actually was able to share a meal with someone there wasn't much left calorie-wise! I found eating all of my meals away from home depressing. I also get home late (5:30 one night a week is my early night... the rest of the week is after 8)... so shifting the hours that I eat during allows me to not feel guilty eating dinner between 8 and 10:00 p.m.!

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/49-intermittent-fasting
    ^ Join a group of us here!
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    :lol: @ the woos.

    The 'Woo' button has become a 'I Disagree With You' button... I'm honestly not a fan of it.
  • driefishin
    driefishin Posts: 238 Member
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    Not looking for a hack, and i've been keeping my calories in line. I do find myself hungry at night when at home and so much snack stuff around for the kids that I can eat. So i feel if take the calories from the morning and put those into a bigger meal in the evening, then I will be less hungry at night and less of struggle to not grab the snack food around the house. Plus I work first shift, so easier for me to work and not worry about eating throughout the morning.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    driefishin wrote: »
    Not looking for a hack, and i've been keeping my calories in line. I do find myself hungry at night when at home and so much snack stuff around for the kids that I can eat. So i feel if take the calories from the morning and put those into a bigger meal in the evening, then I will be less hungry at night and less of struggle to not grab the snack food around the house. Plus I work first shift, so easier for me to work and not worry about eating throughout the morning.

    If that's your goal, it should work fine.
  • thetrishwarp
    thetrishwarp Posts: 838 Member
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    I typically fast about 12-14 hours 8-10pm-10am. Seems to work fine.

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