Intermittent Fasting Support Group?

YvetteBabich

Hey All -

Seems like most MFP members don't support intermittent fasting of any style (24 hour fasts, skipping breakfast, etc.). Just wondering if there are any lurkers out there who do!

I've been taking on a lot of discouragement from my peers and family during my fasts, (I fast for a day about once a week) and it would just be nice to have some support from people who understand what I'm talking about. (Like how I'm NOT putting myself into "starvation mode") You know, Eat Stop Eaters, lean gains followers, any of those non-mainstream ideas that all too often are frowned upon...

Show me where you're at! What do you say to people while you're fasting when they tell you that you are stupid and risking "starvation mode"?

SOOZIE429

Hi Yvette,

Do you follow Paleo or Primal?? There's a bunch of us on here. Not sure how many do IF. But I'm sure there's quite a few! I haven't done it yet. Still in my first 30 days of Paleo. I also understand that IF is best for people that are building muscle. I'm not doing that yet, but plan on starting to work out any day now

So I'm sure you'll get some folks that'll love to be in your support group. I hope to be soon

andipandi

fasting is awesome...!!!!!!!!! makes me feel light and fluffy.... i'll join

xaintes

I don't really know much about intermittent fasting - do you notice it makes a difference in achieving your goals? Do you exercise on those days? I'd be interested in hearing more about it.

SassyStef

Hi Yvette,

Do you follow Paleo or Primal?? There's a bunch of us on here. Not sure how many do IF. But I'm sure there's quite a few! I haven't done it yet. Still in my first 30 days of Paleo. I also understand that IF is best for people that are building muscle. I'm not doing that yet, but plan on starting to work out any day now

So I'm sure you'll get some folks that'll love to be in your support group. I hope to be soon

The last two weeks I have been attempting to transition into primal/paleo so were out here
Feel free to add me!

LowCarbAmanda

I don't do anything formally, but I eat two meals a day - lunch and dinner only. Sometimes only dinner. I've read up on IF, and think it's totally fine!

YvetteBabich

I won't say that I follow either paleo or primal, but my diet does consist of almost entirely fruits, vegetables and eggs. I eat boca burgers too, so I guess you could say I follow a pseudo paleo diet on the days that I eat really well. I do have days where I just eat whatever I feel like though, and IF allows that kind of freedom without consequence.

I have been building quite a bit of muscle, but IF is good for anyone who is just looking to get leaner than they are (not necessarily getting more muscular), as long as they are willing to put in a bit of strength training.

Good luck with everything and I hope you get a chance to see if IF is right for you! (As a heads up, it is not for everyone, but the benefits are awesome)

totalimageguy

I read "Eat Stop Eat" by Brad Pilon and I have have personally benefited from Intermittent Fasting, the rest of the time I follow a Primal / Paleo lifestyle.

godblessourhome

i fast once a week as well. sometimes liquid only (around 600 calories), sometimes only water (0 calories), and sometimes from a certain food that has been messing with my head (normal calories). feel free to friend me.
dawn

YvetteBabich

I don't really know much about intermittent fasting - do you notice it makes a difference in achieving your goals? Do you exercise on those days? I'd be interested in hearing more about it.

It has made a big difference in achieving my goals. I find it grants me much more freedom with my food choices during weight loss, thus making me less stressed and less food focused, and it really keeps me feeling "clean."

An added bonus - on fasting days I am insanely productive. It was surprising how much more I am able to accomplish in a day when I am not thinking about what I am going to eat and the actual eating time I get back.

And yes, I do exercise in a fasted state, and it has seemed to be pretty effective.

If you are looking for more detailed information, check out bradpilon.com or leangains.com. Brad and Martin are amazing!

xaintes

I don't really know much about intermittent fasting - do you notice it makes a difference in achieving your goals? Do you exercise on those days? I'd be interested in hearing more about it.

It has made a big difference in achieving my goals. I find it grants me much more freedom with my food choices during weight loss, thus making me less stressed and less food focused, and it really keeps me feeling "clean."

An added bonus - on fasting days I am insanely productive. It was surprising how much more I am able to accomplish in a day when I am not thinking about what I am going to eat and the actual eating time I get back.

And yes, I do exercise in a fasted state, and it has seemed to be pretty effective.

If you are looking for more detailed information, check out bradpilon.com or leangains.com. Brad and Martin are amazing!

Thanks - I'll check that out

MissKim

I am a Paleo/Primal chick...I've done the skipping bfast thing every now and then, but hadn't got too deep into IF'ing yet, but will when I get the hang of the Paleo eating!

Tzavush

I am really curious about this... I have not intentionally labelled a "diet" plan, but I have (for many years) had "intermittent fasts" - and often do not eat breakfast, (obviously thus far it has not helped me - however hwat I did eat outside of that was very unhealthy and far too much)
I would love any information about how this benefits weight loss and management.

lodro

I do intermittently fast, using the LeanGains approach (18 hour fast daily, so an eating window of 6 hours)

cutmd

Hey, we are out here!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/157274-eat-stop-eat-how-it-s-worked-for-me?hl=Eat+stop+eat&page=6#posts-2815973
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/217996-intermittent-fasting

However, there is not official support group. I'd like to join and I'd like us to keep it going! I feel like I've told my story ad nauseum, but basically I started off with eat stop eat, fasting two 24 hour sessions in a week. I lost weight and it was pretty simple. It's no problem when I'm working (busy job) and drinking water/green tea, I would even exercise. I read the book and was convinced by the studies that showed that fasting greater than 12 hours actually increases your fat burning enzymes. It also makes sense that your body would burn more fat while fasting; that's why we have fat!

I switched over to leangains because I find it easier, especially since it helps me to stop snacking every night. Hubby doesn't eat in the am most times anyway, though I will break it early on the weekends if need be. I do still do ESE sessions when hubby is out of town or its convenient for my schedule. If it wasn't for my food intolerances and muscle gain I'd probably be at goal weight even doing this stuff sporadically as I am, but I am pretty much at goal size, just continuing to get that number on the scale and hopefully lean out a bit more.

To answer your question i am a closet faster. Most of the time hubby doesn't know I'm fasting. If I'm working the next day I will start fasting after dinner and then break it at work around lunchtime and he is none the wiser. Occasionally I will tell him I'm fasting which doesn't bother him for cleansing purposes but he hates any and all dietary restrictions for weight loss (he is one of those with 6% body fat who thinks exercise alone is enough). In fact, it is worse with I'm when I'm closely watching calories than when I'm fasting!

I am the leanest one in my side of the family, so I don't get support there anyway, except when it comes to my gluten intolerance. I am also the health nut at work (mind you I work with docs and nurses, lol) so I'm always bringing my uber healthy food, drinking something strange, or unable to eat something brought in, so no one bats an eye when I'm fasting or really doing anything bizarre anymore :laugh:

estelle74uk

I have done the eat stop eat thing, but then just recently, due to having acid reflux, i thought that I would try not eating after 5. Then I remembered that i read something a few years back called Fast 5, meaning just having a 5 hour eating window, and got the free ebook off the website.

So this week I have started to eat at 12 and finishing at 5. i am actually off work this week so it is a lot easier and really enjoy it. My stomach hasnt feel really heavy and bad like what i normally does in the evening and its quite freeing, i can train and not have to rush my evening. i do have IBS too, so it is nice to be able to give my stomach a rest.

cutmd

Oh and if someone actually does confront me about fasting being unhealthy, I hit them with the barrage of data I have collected from scientific studies (well referenced in ESE and lean gains by the way) until they don't wanna talk about it anymore :laugh:

I love doing fat burning cardio while fasting, I try to avoid fasted weight training since Berkhan discourages it and Pilon is neutral, havent gotten the bcaas yet but probably will

In terms of Paleo (intimately linked with IF), some posters have probably noticed me sniffing around Paleo threads. I am gluten intolerant, have bad reactions to sugar and am really really into organic clean food. I buy nearly everything from whole foods and farmer's markets, am a huge Michael Pollan fan, and think the Paleo lifestyle is healthy. However, I cannot quite give up beans, potatoes, rice and rice products, and occasionally fall victim to sugar. So I cannot call myself Paleo, though I'm maybe 80-90% when eating well.

Ok I'll stop posting now. Just got so excited about the support group idea :laugh:

BR1986FB

I'm 11 hours into my daily fast. Am trying to use the LeanGains 16/8 approach but it really isn't conducive to my work schedule. Today's fast will probably be only 14-15 hours. Works wonders !

chrisyoung0422

I also am interested in IF. I was wondering if anyone had any data showing the benefit of it vs the norm?

EDesq

Hey All -

Seems like most MFP members don't support intermittent fasting of any style (24 hour fasts, skipping breakfast, etc.). Just wondering if there are any lurkers out there who do!

I've been taking on a lot of discouragement from my peers and family during my fasts, (I fast for a day about once a week) and it would just be nice to have some support from people who understand what I'm talking about. (Like how I'm NOT putting myself into "starvation mode") You know, Eat Stop Eaters, lean gains followers, any of those non-mainstream ideas that all too often are frowned upon...

Show me where you're at! What do you say to people while you're fasting when they tell you that you are stupid and risking "starvation mode"?

Fasting is FINE! People have done it for THOUSANDS of Years. I believe that people who do NOT believe in Fasting don't have an Abrahamic Belief, nor cleansing the Body from time to time. ALL Abrahamic Religions (Judaism, Christianity, Al-Islam) calls for Fasting...even NON Abrahamic Religions. All is done for many different reasons, but it is all GOOD and we all NEED to Fast the Body but MORE Importantly for spiritual, emotional and mental reasons.

Now, when you Fast, it should be done so Humbly; NO ONE SHOULD KNOW THAT YOU ARE FASTING. Your spirits should be High and you should endeavor to be a better YOU. Withholding food from the Body is just a small part of Fasting. ENJOY your Fasting...Be Well.

brockman8742

I love IF and have been doing it once a week for about a month now. I normally will start my fast after lunch. On days that I fast I dont eat differently or try to gorge, I eat a small breakfast and a normally lunch (chicken/veggies) then let the fasting begin around 1pm. I normally hit the gym at 5:30 and dont get home until after 7. I just drink lots of water and head to bed early and let the fat burning begin while I sleep. Its awesome and when I wake up the next day I have already fasted for 15 hours and most of it without knowing it. I again have a light breakfast (2 hardboiled eggs/coffee) and let the day begin. There are a lot of na sayers that will tell you it's so unhealthy and you will go into starvation mode, but I have yet to do that and I find I wake up with tons of energy and ready to start the day.

Stick with it!!!

cutelashawn

Im interested in joining. I just started the leangains fast today. Fasted for 14hrs (recommended for women). I hope this will really benefit me

YvetteBabich

Wow! I did not know there were so many people who realized the benefits of fasting! I'm so used to being surrounding by naysayers!

This is really exciting to me

Anyway for those of you who mentioned that they'd like to hear about the benefits of fasting for weight loss, they are best explained by either Brad Pilon in his book "Eat Stop Eat" (eatstopeat.com) or simply by reading his blog on his website (bradpilon.com), or by Martin Berkhan at leangains.com. They go about their fasting differently (Brad's plan involves fasting for 24 hour periods once or twice a week, and Martin's plan is to have an 18 hour fasting period and 6 hour feeding window every day) but the science and basic principles are the same.

I'm not great at explaining things so I would recommend checking it out for yourself, but on a basic level, studies show that fat burning/metabolism actually slightly increases during short term fasting periods, contrary to popular belief.

kgool

Interesting. A colleague of mine lost 100 lbs two years ago and did it in around 7 months. He did not eat at all between 4pm and 8am the next morning. I had no idea this was considered borderline fasting.

kgool

Interesting. A colleague of mine lost 100 lbs two years ago and did it in around 7 months. He did not eat at all between 4pm and 8am the next morning. I had no idea this was considered borderline fasting.

lizzil0

I'm so glad you posted this!
IF has helped me stop obsessing about the next thing going in my mouth, and lets me finally feel full while counting calories. I feel so much better not eating breakfast before my hourly walk/jog, so much information told me this was wrong- it's nice to get some info that it's fine to do what my body was already telling me!
It's great to see so many like minded people, I really don't feel like I can bring it up with anyone for fear of having an argument. I love Johnny's take on IF over at the lean saloon- http://theleansaloon.com/
I'm working on eating dinner fairly early and not eating my first meal of the day until at least 10am, most days.

cutmd

Fitness blackbook is a website about reaching a celebrity-type body and getting nice and lean. He advocates combining fasting and Paleo. Here is an article in which he discusses eat stop eat vs warrior diet, but he makes much mention of IF throughout his blog: http://fitnessblackbook.com/diet-tips/eat-stop-eat-vs-the-warrior-diet/

xaintes

I'm going to read Eat Stop Eat - I think this would be more manageable with my lifestyle than Fast-5 or something. We'll see how it goes...

cutmd

Hey - bump! I posted on the wrong thread, meant to report I finished ESE last night and then resumed leangains which gave me a tiny eating window, but I'm on track today and feeling good. The ESE really helped to flush my system, got 2 lbs of my vacation water weight off

chazspk

BUMP>>>>>Cant get over how many do this im doing it about a month now i swear its just a life stlye i LOVE it....

rileysowner

I do Eat Stop Eat. I have looked a Lean Gains and might try that someday.