Fasting

AndreaDee23

Does intermittent fasting work and how many hours should I start with?

Retroguy2000

Calorie deficit works. If IF works for you to reach a calorie deficit, then yes it works.

tomcustombuilder

AndreaDee23 wrote: »

Does intermittent fasting work and how many hours should I start with?

IF has no advantage calorie wise. If it causes you to consume fewer weekly overall calories then it’s beneficial.

neanderthin

Based on studies 12:12 looks to be the starting point. Depends on what you mean by works, but as it relates to weight loss, no, IF is not about calories, but if a shorter window for feeding allows for less consumption then that would be a possible benefit.

AnnPT77

If you prefer fewer but larger meals as more satisfying to you (so appetite is more manageable), and/or do better with very black and white rules (such that it's easier to have times when you're not allowing yourself to eat at all, vs. a more squishy "can eat whenever as long as calories are managed"), then IF/TRE may help you lose weight. If IF/TRE makes it harder, there's no theoretical advantage for weight loss that will loom larger than the questions about ease or difficulty of compliance.

Some people feel that they get non-weight-loss benefits from IF/TRE (feel better, more energetic, etc.), and some feel that there are health benefits from longer periods with no intake. Some of that is subjective experience, and I rarely argue with subjective experience.

Personally, I think there's limited research support for objective health improvements, even though the books and web sites that promote IF/TRE have lots of impressive footnotes. To me, it seems like actual research results are pretty mixed, at best. But I'm no expert, and that's only an impression from casual reading.

I don't do IF/TRE because it would be unpleasant to me, so I haven't gone down all the rabbit holes. To me "caveat emptor" means seeking out critics of the strategies one prefers, to look honestly for downsides. That's more the context of any reading I've done on the subject, reading IF/TRE things that people here suggest (that are critical of what I do, directly or by implication) to see whether I'm missing something major by not doing it.

tomcustombuilder

IF just sounds sexier than the Skipping Breakfast Diet.

neanderthin

AndreaDee23 wrote: »

Does intermittent fasting work and how many hours should I start with?

Here's a decent article if your actually interested that articulates the potential benefits gleaned from the research to date that will emerge more so over the next decade or 2. Unfortunately it gets lost in the weight loss interwebs where everyone is an expert. Cheers.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/JP273094

ebonyroche

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

IF just sounds sexier than the Skipping Breakfast Diet.

I do Skipping Dinner Diet and love it

tomcustombuilder

neanderthin wrote: »

AndreaDee23 wrote: »

Does intermittent fasting work and how many hours should I start with?

Here's a decent article if your actually interested that articulates the potential benefits gleaned from the research to date that will emerge more so over the next decade or 2. Unfortunately it gets lost in the weight loss interwebs where everyone is an expert. Cheers.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/JP273094

that article is one of many and there are about the same amount that are contradictory.

Meal timing and things like fasted cardio will always be a subject however IF there actually ARE any benefits past convenience and causing less calories to actually be consumed, they’re minor at best and concentrating more on accurate calorie counting and tracking will always be the priority and more important factor.

Anecdotally, a year of IF yielded no difference over a more spread out type of eating approach as far as body composition went.

You have the IFers and the “If you don’t eat breakfast you won’t lose fat” advocates. When all the smoke clears they’ll both have about the same results.

Personal preference > everything else.

neanderthin

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

neanderthin wrote: »

AndreaDee23 wrote: »

Does intermittent fasting work and how many hours should I start with?

Here's a decent article if your actually interested that articulates the potential benefits gleaned from the research to date that will emerge more so over the next decade or 2. Unfortunately it gets lost in the weight loss interwebs where everyone is an expert. Cheers.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/JP273094

that article is one of many and there are about the same amount that are contradictory.

Meal timing and things like fasted cardio will always be a subject however IF there actually ARE any benefits past convenience and causing less calories to actually be consumed, they’re minor at best and concentrating more on accurate calorie counting and tracking will always be the priority and more important factor.

Anecdotally, a year of IF yielded no difference over a more spread out type of eating approach as far as body composition went.

You have the IFers and the “If you don’t eat breakfast you won’t lose fat” advocates. When all the smoke clears they’ll both have about the same results.

Personal preference > everything else.

I've also continued to agree that IF/TRF has absolutely nothing to do with weight loss and virtually never will and why I linked this article, anyway. Cheers.

Retroguy2000

neanderthin wrote: »

Here's a decent article if your actually interested that articulates the potential benefits gleaned from the research to date that will emerge more so over the next decade or 2. Unfortunately it gets lost in the weight loss interwebs where everyone is an expert. Cheers.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/JP273094

Benefits like this, from the paper:

"This population-based study also revealed that skipping breakfast increases CVD risk by 27%."

kshama2001

AndreaDee23 wrote: »

Does intermittent fasting work and how many hours should I start with?

People who lose weight through IF achieve this the same way anything else "works":

iowalinda

It absolutely worked for me. January 2018 I started using MyFitnessPal and intermittent fasting and lost over 50 lbs by that Fall. That brought me to my goal weight of 115 lbs, which I have maintained, within 10 lbs since then. I have never been hungry in the morning, so I don't start eating til later in the day. Then I do not eat after supper, so my window is only about 6 hours, but it works very well for me. It is, as everyone has already mentioned, just a way to reduce calories. And, for some of us, it works very well. Wishing you all the best.

neanderthin

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

neanderthin wrote: »

Here's a decent article if your actually interested that articulates the potential benefits gleaned from the research to date that will emerge more so over the next decade or 2. Unfortunately it gets lost in the weight loss interwebs where everyone is an expert. Cheers.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/JP273094

Benefits like this, from the paper:

"This population-based study also revealed that skipping breakfast increases CVD risk by 27%."

Therefore eating breakfast was associated with a significantly lower CVD risk. That was a study by Cahill et al and this population ate very late at night and where there was no association with how many times a person ate or what they ate and looked at the time interval and why the study was referenced. They also found a 55% increase in CVD in this population that ate late at night over the 16 year follow up. The caveat I have with this study is, it's an epidemiology study, which is observational.

I just thought I'd add some context for you. Cheers.

cwolfman13

AndreaDee23 wrote: »

Does intermittent fasting work and how many hours should I start with?

It's just a way of potentially controlling calories...that's it. There's no magic potion. When you're in a calorie deficit you lose weight. IF can help you get there or conversely cause you to eat more later in the day and wipe out any kind of deficit. The deficit is the only key.

cwolfman13

ebonyroche wrote: »

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

IF just sounds sexier than the Skipping Breakfast Diet.

I do Skipping Dinner Diet and love it

It sounds sexier than skipping dinner too.

neanderthin

kshama2001 wrote: »

AndreaDee23 wrote: »

Does intermittent fasting work and how many hours should I start with?

People who lose weight through IF achieve this the same way anything else "works":

Maybe also add the Mediterranean and vegetarian diet on that list so it's not so "in your face" biased and maybe also remind people of the success rate for "creating a calorie deficit" well, maybe not, small steps first. Cheers

VegjoyP

ebonyroche wrote: »

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

IF just sounds sexier than the Skipping Breakfast Diet.

I do Skipping Dinner Diet and love it

That is excellent, skipping breakfast can backfire, plus there are adaptations from our innate circadian rhythm.