Intermittent Fasting

Fayve

Does anyone have much experience with this? I'm sold on the value of it, and I think I can work it into my usual routine fairly easily. I read an article that said since women have lower plasma glucose concentrations, it's not good or comfortable to fast for more than 14 or 15 hours at a time. I strongly believe that eating breakfast to boost metabolism is a myth, and I normally consume much less calories during the day if I -don't- eat breakfast in the first place.

The problem arises in that I have a big bucket of medication and pills to take every morning, and because of their size, I have to take them with milk or juice, as I gag with plain water. So... that'd break my fast. Also, I'm starting school on monday which runs 7:30-2, with a break around 10 I think.

So my fasting schedule might be to fast from 7PM until 10AM, or on some nights, 8PM to 10AM - that way I can take my medication early enough in the morning that it doesn't cause me problems, and it should line up with school breaks for food also.

I still plan to track calories during my feeding hours.

Wanted to know if anyone else has any experiences or ideas about this that they wanted to share, thanks!

gupton11

I use intermittent fasting all the time via eat-stop-eat. The down side to what you're describing is that the peak benefits is between 18-30 hours in a fasted state. It works, and I feel great while doing it.

kirstinkrueger

I am with you, if i eat breakfast i tend to eat more, i also cant eat the first few hours i am awake or i feel like butt all day, and i have a ton of meds and vitamins i take in the AM that i cant take with water or i gag. i cant even take tylenol with water ha

From what i have experienced it's worked but I have only done it to get me over a plateau i never actually used it as a part of my diet BUT if you get the right juice, it is ok as far as fasting goes, but i would have to find the list of juices. i normally did it every other day for 5 days (so 3 days fasting, 2 days not) for a week only. and it always gave me that little boost to get over my slump and helped flush my system.

gupton11

I am with you, if i eat breakfast i tend to eat more, i also cant eat the first few hours i am awake or i feel like butt all day, and i have a ton of meds and vitamins i take in the AM that i cant take with water or i gag. i cant even take tylenol with water ha

From what i have experienced it's worked but I have only done it to get me over a plateau i never actually used it as a part of my diet BUT if you get the right juice, it is ok as far as fasting goes, but i would have to find the list of juices. i normally did it every other day for 5 days (so 3 days fasting, 2 days not) for a week only. and it always gave me that little boost to get over my slump and helped flush my system.

good point, could you take your pills with something like vitaminwater that uses artificial sweeteners so you intake 0 calories? I never fast more than 24 hours, and never two days in a row. A lot of times I do it like Tuesday and Thursday... Sometimes I'll throw in a Saturday.

gupton11

The hardest thing for me is not over eating when the fast is over, think about calories consumed over the period of a week.

kirstinkrueger

I am with you, if i eat breakfast i tend to eat more, i also cant eat the first few hours i am awake or i feel like butt all day, and i have a ton of meds and vitamins i take in the AM that i cant take with water or i gag. i cant even take tylenol with water ha

From what i have experienced it's worked but I have only done it to get me over a plateau i never actually used it as a part of my diet BUT if you get the right juice, it is ok as far as fasting goes, but i would have to find the list of juices. i normally did it every other day for 5 days (so 3 days fasting, 2 days not) for a week only. and it always gave me that little boost to get over my slump and helped flush my system.

good point, could you take your pills with something like vitaminwater that uses artificial sweeteners so you intake 0 calories? I never fast more than 24 hours, and never two days in a row. A lot of times I do it like Tuesday and Thursday... Sometimes I'll throw in a Saturday.

same here!

Fayve

Yes, that's a good idea - I might be able to find something on the healthier side that's non-calorie to stop from breaking my fast. Ideally, I'd like to branch my fast further into my waking hours. I'm not sure how it would work, being in classes until 2-2:30, but maybe I could break the fast at 2 until 9 or 10.


I know that splenda has some residual calories, but I like to make lemonade with just water, lemon juice and splenda. Do you imagine that this would be "calorie-free" enough to maintain a fast? I also read that having lemon juice is good to do while on the fast, for the cleansing purposes.

Fayve

The hardest thing for me is not over eating when the fast is over, think about calories consumed over the period of a week.

Yes, I think that's what I'd have troubles with as well. Which is why I'd still want to remain adamant about keeping an eye on calories, whether on a daily or weekly basis.

gupton11

The hardest thing for me is not over eating when the fast is over, think about calories consumed over the period of a week.

Yes, I think that's what I'd have troubles with as well. Which is why I'd still want to remain adamant about keeping an eye on calories, whether on a daily or weekly basis.

I typically fast from dinner to dinner and try not to eat more than 5-6 hundred calories following the fast. Sometimes it works better for me to fast from lunch to lunch as I never eat breakfast..

hroderick

We LDS and fast from both food and water about 24 hours monthly. This is accompanied by prayer and very light physical exertion. Money saved is donated to help poor. It's not encouraged for anyone with complications like pregnancy or diabetes or for children to young to want to participate. It is not demanded of anyone.

It is truly empowering to overcome your physical nature with your mental/spiritual will. The practice is frequently mentioned in the New Testament and as a group LDS have very good health.

We also have a saying that "fasting without prayer is just starvation". I don't think I could do it without a calling in a bit of divine help.