thoughts on intermittent fasting

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  • jayjay12345654321
    jayjay12345654321 Posts: 653 Member
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    I naturally never eat breakfast (unless I am seriously hungry) but I seem to automatically do a 15:9 ratio. is this considered IF or does the fasting range have to be longer and eating be shorter? I realized that if I don't eat breakfast and eat a late lunch I naturally eat less food that normal. Also being in college I sometimes don't get time to eat or forget too so the ratio is approximate.

    I think the magic minimum number is 16 or as close as you can get it. I can't recall specifics on the 16:8, but I'm sure someone here knows the answer. I believe 16 is when the body gives up on a glycogen source and turns to stored fat? And it continues to peak at fat burning for another ... 36? hours? You'll have to look in to that.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    it is a good way to create a calorie deficit, if you are having a problem creating said deficit..

    I would just put a warning note out there that it is not some magic fat burning process, it is just a different way of eating and the weight that you will drop will be because of the deficit that it creates.

    I did IF lean gains 18/6 for about 6 months..I liked it but I could not fit it into my lifestyle and have since gone back to a more "regular" eating schedule..

    If you want to give it a shot then by all means do ….
  • RawMomma10
    RawMomma10 Posts: 89 Member
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    I don't know what sort of label what I do would be lol.... I have nothing but water as needed after 10pm every nite (unless we r out drinking... Lol ).... Then about lunchtime I do a protein shake, then a snack and or very lite late lunch, and then dinner. Dinner is always the biggest meal in my day ;)
  • waytobeduck
    waytobeduck Posts: 82
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    I think it is a good idea but I lack the will-power to try it for myself. :smile:
  • Alairissa
    Alairissa Posts: 160 Member
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    I naturally never eat breakfast (unless I am seriously hungry) but I seem to automatically do a 15:9 ratio. is this considered IF or does the fasting range have to be longer and eating be shorter? I realized that if I don't eat breakfast and eat a late lunch I naturally eat less food that normal. Also being in college I sometimes don't get time to eat or forget too so the ratio is approximate.

    I think the magic minimum number is 16 or as close as you can get it. I can't recall specifics on the 16:8, but I'm sure someone here knows the answer. I believe 16 is when the body gives up on a glycogen source and turns to stored fat? And it continues to peak at fat burning for another ... 36? hours? You'll have to look in to that.

    Thanks for the answer. I didn't even realize I was doing IF until I came upon here. If anybody could answer me that would be great.
  • LRoslin
    LRoslin Posts: 128
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    My version of Intermittent Fasting: Don't eat between dinner and breakfast. So far it's worked for me.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
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    I would just put a warning note out there that it is not some magic fat burning process, it is just a different way of eating and the weight that you will drop will be because of the deficit that it creates.

    This is a very important fact to keep in mind. What IF does very well, is make it easy to eat at a deficit. Make no mistake, if you IF and eat at a surplus... you will gain weight.

    There are other proposed benefits but I would imagine more studies need to be done to determine there worth.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    Been doing IF for about 2 years now. On a 16:8 window. Did alternate day fasting before that but it really didn't fit my schedule well.

    16:8 is kinda close to what I naturally always did before, excepg that part of my life I was forcing myself to eat first thing in the morning and every 2-3 hrs. Ha what a pain that way lol

    Pretty much exactly this...eating in the morning made me nauseous and I used to carry around protein in a container. IF means freedom from that kind of thinking.

    Seriously, I'm on a 16:8 schedule normally, but a nutritionist had me eating breakfast, "to jump start my metabolism." (I know, I sent her two studies that debunked the idea for her, but offered to experiment with it anyway.)

    Now that I'm off that bandwagon, my workouts are better and surprise, I'm on my way to my weight goals again.
  • baptistforlife
    baptistforlife Posts: 81
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    My version of Intermittent Fasting: Don't eat between dinner and breakfast. So far it's worked for me.

    bwahaha that was funny :)
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    There are other proposed benefits but I would imagine more studies need to be done to determine there worth.

    I'm not up on the current stuff, and I don't know how to find this study anymore, but there was a study out of UCSF that I read that basically corroborated the claims that IF helps regulate our hormones a lot more efficiently than a regular eating schedule, and it smoothed out our blood sugar, so there weren't the significant spikes a lot of folks get.

    I'd love to see more studies from large groups focusing on this to prove or disprove.
  • baptistforlife
    baptistforlife Posts: 81
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    I have found that because I do not eat except in those eight hours I drink a ton more water to help curb my appetite and the benifits I am seeing are amazing. I truly recommend this for someone who struggles with snacking and after a while you will find you can't eat as much when you do (atleast for me) I give myself bigger portions at dinner and find I am just not able to finish them yaaaa!!! :)
  • FitCowgirl8
    FitCowgirl8 Posts: 175 Member
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    I started IF this year and so far I love it! It makes it so much easier for me to hit my calorie goal and I don't have to constantly worry about eating something every couple of hours throughout the day. I think since starting IF I have been better in tune with my body signals. Now I can tell when I am actually hungry or just wanting to eat something because I usually eat at that time. I am able to have a large meal for supper which I love since that is the sit down family meal in my house and usually I can't even finish my measured portions because it is too much at once which also helps me to keep my calories under control. All of the weight I have lost so far has been since starting IF.
  • baptistforlife
    baptistforlife Posts: 81
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    I started IF this year and so far I love it! It makes it so much easier for me to hit my calorie goal and I don't have to constantly worry about eating something every couple of hours throughout the day. I think since starting IF I have been better in tune with my body signals. Now I can tell when I am actually hungry or just wanting to eat something because I usually eat at that time. I am able to have a large meal for supper which I love since that is the sit down family meal in my house and usually I can't even finish my measured portions because it is too much at once which also helps me to keep my calories under control. All of the weight I have lost so far has been since starting IF.

    yep me too :)
  • glenndarrenjames
    glenndarrenjames Posts: 4
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    I have been reading some interesting things about IF diet and I think I am going to give it a go..... To be honest I don't think I will have a problem with it as I skip Breakfast all the time and train in the mornings on an empty belly =)

    But I use to have a few drinks most nights so I am going to totally cut out booze for Feb and start the IF Diet and let's see how I get on, as I have only read good stuff!!

    Anyone who is researching iF Diets might find this a good read best I found easy reading... Enjoy..

    http://www.precisionnutrition.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/IntermittentFasting_PDF_r7.pdf

    Good luck everyone :tongue:
  • JustineMarie21
    JustineMarie21 Posts: 438 Member
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    I really wanna try this but is it possible to have 2 Eating windows instead of a long one because it would fit into my day better
    Example: Meal 1= 11-12 am Meal 2= 6-8 pm ? I would workout at 3 pm as well.
  • jayjay12345654321
    jayjay12345654321 Posts: 653 Member
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    I really wanna try this but is it possible to have 2 Eating windows instead of a long one because it would fit into my day better
    Example: Meal 1= 11-12 am Meal 2= 6-8 pm ? I would workout at 3 pm as well.

    That's essentially a 9 hour window, or a 15:9. The time between noon and 6pm isn't long enough to be considered part of your fast.
  • _errata_
    _errata_ Posts: 1,653 Member
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    Eating 5 or 6 meals a day blows. I eat twice a day. It's convenient. I save money. It's cheaper. And it's a hell of a lot easier to manage my diet when I don't feel like I have to eat frequently.

    I do it for convenience only.
  • JustineMarie21
    JustineMarie21 Posts: 438 Member
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    I really wanna try this but is it possible to have 2 Eating windows instead of a long one because it would fit into my day better
    Example: Meal 1= 11-12 am Meal 2= 6-8 pm ? I would workout at 3 pm as well.

    That's essentially a 9 hour window, or a 15:9. The time between noon and 6pm isn't long enough to be considered part of your fast.
    Thank you for letting me know.
  • phillynavy
    phillynavy Posts: 8
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    I just started yesterday I was scared but I loved it. Im going to keep trying I feel great so far. Just hope I dont lose any muscle mass while doing it.

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