Intermittent fasting?!?

arielnorth237

Morning!
Throughout my journey I have managed to lose 10lbs! MFP is AMAZING at helping me track calories and stay within range but lately I've been obsessing over food. I have a couple of small meals a day within my calorie range but an hour after I find myself ravenously hungry and all I can think about is food. I figure that if I fast for 18 hours of the day and have an eating window from 1pm-5pm, with an hour of workout right before I eat. I can get my mind off of food!. Of coarse I would eat my recommended calories during that time. Plus when school starts, I wont have time to prep all of my meals so maybe this can simplify things. Instead of having up to six little meals I can have 2 larger ones.

I've done a ton of research. On youtube, I find that mostly men do intermittent fasting with great results. Will it work for a woman as well?

Thanks

thavoice

Works fantastic and very easy for me, but I am a guy.

vivster81

I've been doing it for over a year and it is amazing! I would totally go over my calorie goal if I didn't do it. My eating window is from 1pm to 8pm only. I am a woman, and it has helped me to meet my weight goals in just under a year (with training as well)

note though, I've read in a few forums that the fasting can affect fertility. I've already had my kids so I've largely ignored all those comments, but if you are younger and still thinking of "in the future" might pay to research that a bit more

KarenJanine

The reserach is very limited but there is increasing evidence that intermitten fasting does not work so well in women. Read this article for a good review of the literature: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/women-and-intermittent-fasting/#axzz34DlDG09p

an 18 hr fast would generally be considered too long for women and it is generally advised to stick to a 14 hr fast and 10 hr eating window (which may well be considered 'normal' eating for many people!)

maizerage66

The reserach is very limited but there is increasing evidence that intermitten fasting does not work so well in women. Read this article for a good review of the literature: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/women-and-intermittent-fasting/#axzz34DlDG09p

an 18 hr fast would generally be considered too long for women and it is generally advised to stick to a 14 hr fast and 10 hr eating window (which may well be considered 'normal' eating for many people!)

This. It is stated pretty much everywhere that women doing IF should not go any longer than 15 to 16 hours in their fasted period. 14 is recommended while for guys it is 16. 18 is a very long time but if you really want to do it that way and you find success then there is no reason to quit doing it.

sadrithmora

It won't hurt to try unless there are medical concerns you might have, but I prefer 14h (what I've been doing).

Beckilovespizza

I have been doing the 5:2 for approx 7 months. I love it and have seen results. Well worth looking at the IF groups on MFP. Best of luck to ya!!

MityMax96

I do it and enjoy it.

Everyone is different, so the only way you know is if you try.
Takes about 7 - 10 days to get used to things.

GiveMeCoffee

For almost a year now I've been eating with a typical window of 1pm - 7pm it works perfectly for my lifestyle and how I like to eat. Best thing to do is try it, some people like having lots of smaller meals all day long, some of us prefer 1-2 larger meals, meal timing is all about finding what works for you.

Nascarchic48

Hello! Well I am a little interested in this Intermittent fasting! I havent really heard about it before, so I plan on looking into it and feel free to add me and see if this is something that can work for us!!

Hikr56

I've been doing IF for a few months now and it's been a tremendous help for me. I usually break my fast between 11:30am - 1:00pm. 7pm is my cut off on most days, but once in a while I'll have a light snack a little later in a social setting.

Generally, I eat two large meals with light snacks in between. (Fruit, yogurt, crackers, nuts, etc.) It's been the way I've "naturally" wanted to eat since I was a youngster, but like everyone else, had the "3 square meals a day" conditioning.

I'll never go back to that way of eating. I was always sluggish and tired eating breakfast on rising. Now I wake up refreshed and full of energy! I'm sure it's not for everyone, but if you're inclined to be drawn to eating like this I would certainly give it a try.

Best of luck to you!

rightoncommander

Intermittent fasting worked for me for a while - I did 5:2 and dropped my first few pounds that way. But I'm a man - our metabolism seems to work differently on this point. Personally, I don't see the point of "fasting" every day, and then gorging in a 6-hour window, but YMMV.

Are you thinking about food because you are hungry, or are you just obsessing? If you are actually hungry, a trick like eating in a 6-hour window isn't going to help at all, you'd be better off upping your intake to something more sustainable.

Most importantly, I wouldn't even dream of working out for an hour while fasting. What is your body going to use for fuel? You'll be burning through what's left of your glycogen stores, but after that, fat-burning isn't going to fuel your workout so your body will start converting protein for fuel. You don't want that. You can work harder and burn more during a properly-fuelled workout than a hungry workout. If you are really stuck on that particular timing, at least eat a banana or something before you start.

arielnorth237

Well I stuck to my original intermittent fasting plan stated above. I lost 2.4 lbs over night eating MORE calories than I usually do! I don't know whether to celebrate or be worried but Im pretty happy! I have a camping trip on the lake on 4th of july. At this pace I'll be bikini ready! Don't think Ill be doing this for an extended time. After research this doesn't look so good for women and I felt a little emotional yesterday.

cookiealbright

I don't think fasting will hurt you. When I was younger I wouldn't eat until dinner time and I had 2 boys after that. I eat 12 on & 12 off, but I think that is pretty "normal". If you are obsessing about food, you could try working out when that starts. Alot of times I'm so hungry after work, but go to the gym anyway & find that now I'm not so hungry & eat dinner when I get home. Try it for a while & see how you feel. Good luck to ya! :flowerforyou:

rainbow198

I've been IFing for a year and a half now and it's been great for fat loss and to help curb my former night time snacking problem.

When I first started I never even heard of it. One day I decided to try eating when I was hungry, not forcing myself to eat 30 minutes after waking up or eating 6 unsatisfying meals a day.

During the week I break my fast between 11am - 12pm and I close the kitchen between 6pm and 7pm. Over the weekend my hours are sometimes extended depending on what I have going on.

I eat 2 larger meals and a small snack in between. I eat all my calories needed everyday and I eat back my exercise calories (2000+ - I'm maintaining) so I am never hungry.

IF isn't for everyone especially those with blood sugar issues, but for me this way of eating is so natural to me. You can always try it. If it doesn't work you can always go back.

Edited to add - I do listen to my body. When its hungry I feed it. I'm quite active so sometimes I need to break my fast early or end it later. Last night I power walked for 3 miles then played tennis for 30 minutes. When I got home I was hungry so I ate at 10pm. That's the beauty of IF. It's so adaptable and free.

MityMax96

So Alan Aaragon released his monthly Review....
One of the write ups he did was on a Calorie Shifting Diet (CSD) vs. a Calorie Restriction (CR) diet

By the end of the study, the group in the CSD had greater improvement over those in the CR diet....

greater weight loss
greater fat loss
decrease in RMR was less than those in CR
greater decrease in glucose, total cholesterol and triacylglycerol
less feelings of hunger
Retention rate was better in CSD group vs. CR group.
36.8% dropped out of CR group vs. 15.6% dropped out of CSD group

This study was done over 6 weeks, with a 4 week follow up.

Longer would have been better, but still things to consider.

dewsmom78

I do a 14 hr window. I fast from 6pm till 8am. (I also go to bed early and get up early so this time frame works for me.)

I just started this 2 weeks ago, but I'm down 3 lbs in those 2 weeks.

cebreisch

I'm not a big fan of fasting....it doesn't work well for me. I do think about food often, and about planning out what to have sorts of things.

I do eat smaller meals, and when I spoke with a dietician stating I was still really hungry, she suggested I increase my fiber. When I did, it worked out very well! That next month I lost 12 pound!

For what it's worth....

bhouston33

I have only be IFing for about 3 weeks but in those three weeks I have broken my plateau and lost 4.6 pounds. I do the 16:8 and it works for me. I am no longer feeling hungry all the time, except when I exercise. Even then I only eat a small snack and try to make sure I get all may calories in.....that's been difficult the last day or so...not as big of an appetite. I attribute that to the heat because it is very humid here. I plan on continuing to do intermittent fasting until I reach my weight loss goal. I have also recently started zig zagging my cals also. Good luck to you on this journey. Need some support just send me a friend request.

Dragonwolf

Intermittent fasting worked for me for a while - I did 5:2 and dropped my first few pounds that way. But I'm a man - our metabolism seems to work differently on this point. Personally, I don't see the point of "fasting" every day, and then gorging in a 6-hour window, but YMMV.

Are you thinking about food because you are hungry, or are you just obsessing? If you are actually hungry, a trick like eating in a 6-hour window isn't going to help at all, you'd be better off upping your intake to something more sustainable.

Most importantly, I wouldn't even dream of working out for an hour while fasting. What is your body going to use for fuel? You'll be burning through what's left of your glycogen stores, but after that, fat-burning isn't going to fuel your workout so your body will start converting protein for fuel. You don't want that. You can work harder and burn more during a properly-fuelled workout than a hungry workout. If you are really stuck on that particular timing, at least eat a banana or something before you start.

In practice, 16:8 is largely just the opposite of "eat small meals every two hours." Instead of eating a bunch of small meals, you eat two, maybe three meals over a shifted eight hour window (ie - 1-9pm instead of a more "typical" eating schedule of something like 8am-5pm). This works especially well as a calorie management system for those with smaller calorie budgets. IE -- instead of 6 meals of 225 calories, one can eat two meals of 675 calories. It would be about the same amount of food, but the two large meals allow for a person to feel the difference between actually hungry and actually full, instead of this strange limbo between the two that some of us feel on the "eat a bunch of small meals" method. If you consider a large meal like that to be "gorging," then far be it from us to stop you from doing what pleases you, though.

Like the OP, I tried the "eat every couple of hours" thing, too, and it made me feel like I was constantly thinking about food and when I could eat again. I personally range between 2 and 3 meals now, and my hunger and thoughts have, in fact, changed how I think about food and when I start feeling hungry. Being able to eat a couple of good-sized meals, without any kind of snacks in between, has allowed me to not feel like I'm obsessing over food. I can actually eat less food and not be hungry than I ever could with the methods that basically keep you from ever feeling hunger by giving you more or less a "food drip."

Finally, I work out fasted. I have to when I do more intense workouts, or I get horrible stomach cramps and nausea that can pretty much kill my workout entirely. Whether the body tries to go after protein or fat depends largely on what exercise is being done, at what intensity, and what the body's anaerobic threshold is (the higher it is, the more intense one can go while still burning fat). These factors matter regardless of fasted state (one need only look at the physique differences between elite athletes of different activities to see that).

thavoice

Intermittent fasting worked for me for a while - I did 5:2 and dropped my first few pounds that way. But I'm a man - our metabolism seems to work differently on this point. Personally, I don't see the point of "fasting" every day, and then gorging in a 6-hour window, but YMMV.

Are you thinking about food because you are hungry, or are you just obsessing? If you are actually hungry, a trick like eating in a 6-hour window isn't going to help at all, you'd be better off upping your intake to something more sustainable.

Most importantly, I wouldn't even dream of working out for an hour while fasting. What is your body going to use for fuel? You'll be burning through what's left of your glycogen stores, but after that, fat-burning isn't going to fuel your workout so your body will start converting protein for fuel. You don't want that. You can work harder and burn more during a properly-fuelled workout than a hungry workout. If you are really stuck on that particular timing, at least eat a banana or something before you start.

In practice, 16:8 is largely just the opposite of "eat small meals every two hours." Instead of eating a bunch of small meals, you eat two, maybe three meals over a shifted eight hour window (ie - 1-9pm instead of a more "typical" eating schedule of something like 8am-5pm). This works especially well as a calorie management system for those with smaller calorie budgets. IE -- instead of 6 meals of 225 calories, one can eat two meals of 675 calories. It would be about the same amount of food, but the two large meals allow for a person to feel the difference between actually hungry and actually full, instead of this strange limbo between the two that some of us feel on the "eat a bunch of small meals" method. If you consider a large meal like that to be "gorging," then far be it from us to stop you from doing what pleases you, though.

Like the OP, I tried the "eat every couple of hours" thing, too, and it made me feel like I was constantly thinking about food and when I could eat again. I personally range between 2 and 3 meals now, and my hunger and thoughts have, in fact, changed how I think about food and when I start feeling hungry. Being able to eat a couple of good-sized meals, without any kind of snacks in between, has allowed me to not feel like I'm obsessing over food. I can actually eat less food and not be hungry than I ever could with the methods that basically keep you from ever feeling hunger by giving you more or less a "food drip."

Finally, I work out fasted. I have to when I do more intense workouts, or I get horrible stomach cramps and nausea that can pretty much kill my workout entirely. Whether the body tries to go after protein or fat depends largely on what exercise is being done, at what intensity, and what the body's anaerobic threshold is (the higher it is, the more intense one can go while still burning fat). These factors matter regardless of fasted state (one need only look at the physique differences between elite athletes of different activities to see that).

\
I never understood the whole 16:8 as a fasting thing. To me, calories during that 8 hours is pretty much the same as just eating at a deficit each day but with some of the benefits that fasting gives, but not to the fullest extent. eating in an 8 hour window for me is sort of like a normal eating pattern so alll I would be doing is having to eat at a deficit during those 8 hours.