Fasting?

BR1986FB

So, I've been reading up on fasting, and lots of people are of the opinion that intermittent fasting is healthy, safe, and will definitely help you lose weight. I've been thinking about fasting for 24 hours once a week, on my day off from exercise and work. Does anyone here do anything similar? If so, do you feel like you benefit from it?

check out this thread lots of people do intermittent fasting
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/226488-intermittent-fasting-support-group

I also fast every day i am doing leangains 16/8 i eat from 9.30am-5.30pm i eat all my calories breakfast lunch and dinner in this 8 hour eating window then i fast for 16 hours. Also with fasting i no longer have the craving to binge it at night as i am fasting and my body has just got used to eat.

Use the LeanGains protocol myself and eat between 12pm & 8pm but it's usually only 2 large meals. I do this daily and have become accustomed to it. If people can do the "5-6 small meals a day thing, every 2-3 hours" go for it. From my experience, most people are usually complaining about being hungry eating this way (5-6 small meals...myself included before going 16/8).

I also train fasted with only BCAA's in my system. This has allowed me to go into straight fat burning mode. My strength is increasing and my bodyfat is dropping.

Best of luck to the OP with whatever you choose.

http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

marie_2454

I'm not against fasting. I know people do it for personal and spiritual/religious reasons, but I'm personally against fasting for weight loss. I haven't tried it, so I can't say in my experience, but I don't see how not eating once a week would really make that much of a difference in your weight loss goals. If you really want to try it, I think you should weigh yourself the day you do the fast, weigh the next day to see if you lost any weight (which would most likely be just water weight), and then weigh a day later, because I would think that as soon as you start eating again you would put the water weight back on. Again, I've never tried it and I'm not an expert by any means, but this is just what I think.

rileysowner

I have been fasting 1 or 2 days a week for 24 hours since December. I fast usually from supper one night to supper the next although I have done breakfast to breakfast and lunch to lunch as well. Basically I stop eating and only drink non-caloric beverages (mainly water) during the fast. Then I break fast with a normal meal. This is the Eat Stop Eat approach in a nutshell, and if you want an excellent e-book on it you can purchase it at http://bradpilon.com/

Here is another good article on intermittent fasting http://www.thefatlossninja.com/2011/06/27/the-truth-about-intermittent-fasting-and-how-to-do-it/

And of course there is http://www.leangains.com and I would recommend lots of reading there as well. In particular this 10 myths about fasting http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

The great thing about Brad Pilon (Eat Stop Eat) and Martin Berkus (Leangains) is that they both base their views on actual clinical research not on epidemiological studies of people's behaviour.

If you are in good health there is nothing dangerous about fasting for 24 hours.

rileysowner

I'm not against fasting. I know people do it for personal and spiritual/religious reasons, but I'm personally against fasting for weight loss. I haven't tried it, so I can't say in my experience, but I don't see how not eating once a week would really make that much of a difference in your weight loss goals. If you really want to try it, I think you should weigh yourself the day you do the fast, weigh the next day to see if you lost any weight (which would most likely be just water weight), and then weigh a day later, because I would think that as soon as you start eating again you would put the water weight back on. Again, I've never tried it and I'm not an expert by any means, but this is just what I think.

I think you may want to research it more, because my experience is that is not how it happens. The Eat Stop Eat approach is to eat normally on your non-fasting days and have your fast day or days establish your caloric deficit. When your body goes into fasted mode (about 16-18 hours after stopping eating) it starts burning a lot of fat. In fact fasting increased your metabolism slightly for the first 36 hours at least and I think I remember the study they did found up to 72 hours with an increase. It increases growth hormone production, insulin sensitivity, glucogon, and more. Remember our bodies can only be in one of two states, fed or fasted. It in only in recent times (maybe the last 200 years) where a constant fed state has become the norm. Further, the more we are in a fed state, the more obese we seem to be. In the past we has to work for or hunt our food. That meant periods of lots of food (remember no refrigeration) follow by periods of no food at all. Our bodies are made to handle that, not to handle constant eating which is what we do today.

Azdak

There are no health concerns with intermittent fasting. I suspect that much of the benefit is psychological--you invest in it emotionally, so you are more likely to be compliant. I also think the concerns about "binge eating" in response are also overstated. My biggest problem with IF is just the fact that I don't think it is amenable to making a permanent lifestyle change and I feel that any radical lifestyle restructuring method has a much higher chance of long-term failure. Doesn't mean that people can't be successful long-term, I just think the odds are stacked against you.

Huskeryogi

I recently started intermittent fasting - I use the leangains approach of a 16 hour fasting with an 8 hour feeding window. I eat between 1PM and 9PM. I started this after reading Martin Berkham's research on leangains.com.

For me this is a lifestyle change that feels like I can do it for the rest of my life. I think I'm wired as an overeater so essentially shutting off the intake valve mentally for 16 hours a day makes it so much easier to not eat too many calories (I am still counting).

Since beginning this lifestyle I have done more research (I've gotten a little obsessed) and am convinced there are so many benefits of fasting beyond weightloss (improved cognitive function, increased insulin sensitivity, etc) I'm now also incorporating one 24 hour fast monthly.

I only started 2 weeks ago and I'm down 4 lbs. The kicker for me is how easy it is. I'm not planning my day around food - I get to enjoy preparing dinner because I have so much more flexibility now that I can eat more that 300-500 in that meal. No more forced grazing for me.

agent300

I recently started intermittent fasting - I use the leangains approach of a 16 hour fasting with an 8 hour feeding window. I eat between 1PM and 9PM. I started this after reading Martin Berkham's research on leangains.com.

For me this is a lifestyle change that feels like I can do it for the rest of my life. I think I'm wired as an overeater so essentially shutting off the intake valve mentally for 16 hours a day makes it so much easier to not eat too many calories (I am still counting).

Since beginning this lifestyle I have done more research (I've gotten a little obsessed) and am convinced there are so many benefits of fasting beyond weightloss (improved cognitive function, increased insulin sensitivity, etc) I'm now also incorporating one 24 hour fast monthly.

I only started 2 weeks ago and I'm down 4 lbs. The kicker for me is how easy it is. I'm not planning my day around food - I get to enjoy preparing dinner because I have so much more flexibility now that I can eat more that 300-500 in that meal. No more forced grazing for me.

Isn't it liberating to not have to think about food all day long? after doing this for the past week, i can honestly say i could do this forever just from the convenience part of it.

suzycreamcheese

i couldnt do it. I feel soooo ill when my blood sugar gets low.

cruiseking

After commenting; then reading the responses, I may try to prepare myself for a fasting program. I have to do a little research and find an approach that appeals to me. But it sounds interesting. Does it really get any easier for your body to stop craving? Just wondering.

agent300

After commenting; then reading the responses, I may try to prepare myself for a fasting program. I have to do a little research and find an approach that appeals to me. But it sounds interesting. Does it really get any easier for your body to stop craving? Just wondering.

it really does stop. you get hungry at certain times, because that is when you regularly eat. my body adjusted pretty quickly to the point of where i feel like i could easily go longer than the 16 hours of fasting.

Huskeryogi

Isn't it liberating to not have to think about food all day long? after doing this for the past week, i can honestly say i could do this forever just from the convenience part of it.

Absolutely! Every other time I've tried to lose weight I've thought forward to what maintenance looked like and thought "I can't do this for the rest of my life". IF has been so natural for me I don't see any problems.

Also I agree - The first couple days I got hungry between 10-11 AM, but it passed (I drink a lot of water in the mornings). Now I don't generally get hungry.