How does intermittent fasting work?

mrsmknitta

A lot of people on MFP are doing intermittent fasting. Why? What are hours do you eat? Do you still try to eat your calorie goal? I am currently doing 1200 cal. ( I'm 5ft 160lbs). Is the science behind this that you will eat less calories?

livingleanlivingclean

Some people find it easier to control their intake and stick to their calorie goal with a limited eating window. There are various versions of IF - if you do a daily restricted eating window, you eat to your calorie goal every day. If you do something like 5:2 (2 days low cal, 5 days maintenance, your calorie goals will change depending on the day)

snickerscharlie

IF is simply a means that some people find helps them control their daily caloric intake. There's no magic or special benefits in eating within a specific time window, though.

I've been doing 16:8 for years - long before IF even had a name or was trendy. Basically, I 've never been a breakfast person - I'm simply not hungry first thing in the morning. A cup of coffee and my vitamins and I'm good until at least noon.

Skipping breakfast allows me to have a good lunch and dinner, as well as a few treats/snacks in the evening.

It's all a matter of personal preference, though, and finding out what works best for *you.*

amusedmonkey

Makes it easier to diet for some (not all) people to stick to their calories. Calories and weight loss are the same as eating at typical times.

Example: if you have 1200 calories and exercise for 300 for a total of 1500 calories a day, instead of having to spread your calories thin throughout the day into small meals, you concentrate them within a certain time window. This allows you to have larger meals and more freedom to choose higher calorie foods, or your typical meals but with not much time in between to feel hungry.

That 1500 calories can be had in 500 calorie meals every 3-4 hours (not enough time to get hungry and reach for unplanned snacks) or two meals 500 calories for lunch and 1000 calories for dinner, which allows for a very nice dinner or a nice dessert after dinner.

Francl27

Nothing magic about it, it just works well for people who are not hungry in the morning. When I can get away with it, it's much easier to stick to my calories and fit in treats.

kommodevaran

Just to add to PPs, IF can easily be a typical/normal meal pattern, for instance breakfast at 10, lunch at 13 and dinner at 17, that's 17 hours of no eating ("fasting").

But hey, who wants typical and normal

rippityrippity

snickerscharlie wrote: »

I've been doing 16:8 for years - long before IF even had a name or was trendy. Basically, I 've never been a breakfast person - I'm simply not hungry first thing in the morning. A cup of coffee and my vitamins and I'm good until at least noon.

This is my exact experience! When I first started losing weight (I'm 5'0" too), I made myself eat small meals throughout the day, including breakfast. It was hugely unsatisfying for me, though. I love to "gorge" myself on larger meals, versus fiddling around with 300 calorie dishes.

Now, I do what feels most natural for my body. I have coffee in the morning, about 400-500 calories for lunch, and the rest is all an early dinner—all within a 7 hour window. It makes it a lot easier to diet this way.

cwolfman13

mrsmknitta wrote: »

A lot of people on MFP are doing intermittent fasting. Why? What are hours do you eat? Do you still try to eat your calorie goal? I am currently doing 1200 cal. ( I'm 5ft 160lbs). Is the science behind this that you will eat less calories?

IF is just a meal timing thing...you eat in a certain window and fast the rest of the time. 16:8 is common...ie 16 hours fasted and an 8 hour eating window.

People don't just use IF to lose weight. You can lose weight, maintain weight, or gain weight depending on your calories. I inadvertently did IF for years...but I just called it skipping breakfast...I gained 40+ lbs over an 8 year period basically doing 16:8.