Intermittent fasting - who has tried it?

emmab0902

Especially interested in hearing from people who have tried more than one method and found one better than the other in terms of results.

I generally do a leangains approach, and today tried the Eat Stop Eat 24 hour fast. Managed about 21.5 hours then caved before I ate my children. I will try it again but not sure in the long run that this will suit my preferences.

Are there significant advantages in the longer 24 hour fast over the 18 hour one - I had read in ESE that increases in growth hormone only occurr after 18+ hours.

chevy88grl

I've heard a lot about it but I admit that there's NO WAY I can go 24 hours without eating.


I would be eating my own limbs. Or someone else's limbs.

Or my cats.

Dogs.

Children.


LOL

supertracylynn

http://www.cutandjacked.com/Get-Ripped-With-Intermittent-Fasting

This guy is beyond amazing! I follow him on Facebook and he inspires me in so many ways, and explains things in such easy to understand terms!
If I were single and we lived closer...
Heck. If we lived closer Period!!!!

Pebble321

The way I read it, she has already eaten her children. But then I reread it and worked out that she caved first!

I think it's an interesting theory and I'd like to try it, but I suspect that either I would eat my husband or he would kill me because I was being so grumpy. He may work away for a while next year, if so I might give it a go when I'm on my own at home for a while.

Kymmu

I have done it for a while once a week, or if I've had a big food day.
I keep reading about the extra health benefits.
It gets easier the more you do it.
It's also good if you know you have a party/function coming up.
When I was young I used to it with out trying because I was rushing from work to "out". I certainly was slim back then .

HonkyTonks

I'm interested too (bump)

venetianz

I dont see anyone commenting about intermittent fasting. I have tried it for a while. Im really not sure about the health benefits but i know it is the quickest way to lose weight. especially if you want to kick start. The problem with any kind of fasting is you might, well i have gained all the pounds back and more because you have to be careful how you get back to eating.

I tried the 24 hour one. where id only eat dinner, then i tried the fruit one, where i eat fruits only the entire day and one full meal at dinner. The fruit one was much healthier though and i didnt feel starved.

yesiwillbeloosingit

Especially interested in hearing from people who have tried more than one method and found one better than the other in terms of results.

I generally do a leangains approach, and today tried the Eat Stop Eat 24 hour fast. Managed about 21.5 hours then caved before I ate my children. I will try it again but not sure in the long run that this will suit my preferences.

Are there significant advantages in the longer 24 hour fast over the 18 hour one - I had read in ESE that increases in growth hormone only occurr after 18+ hours.

I have tired it. Once only though.. Going to retry it again after new years. Been moving and been very stressed so ya.. It is the eat stop eat plan I have tried.

I am a huge fan of Rusty Moore and I got this document on one of his newsletters that I find to be filled with loads of info. I am going to link it and hopefully you will find more info about it here :

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

AnthonyScalco

I might actually try this within the next few days.

Neonazu

I've actually tried for ONE DAY with my friend just to see how people in less developed countries feel when there's not enough food. It was quite energising, it being only one day.

I haven't repeated it again yet but I want to though.

Anyone wanting to just fast with me?

staceeyy3

bump!

crux

I'm not using IF at the moment because I’m doing too much endurance training and my body is constantly calling for carbs... But I do use it when I travel overseas with work (Maybe one week in every 4 on average). I use the lean gain’s method as I can’t get through a whole evening without eating. Going 24 hours, that would drive me nuts and I will not try what I know I can’t sustain.

The Lean gains method suits me very well, fit’s my natural inclination to eat more in the second half of the day. And fit’s very well with travelling in company when you know you’re going to be eating calorie dense restaurant food each evening.

It does have limits for me… Because I train lunch times and evening, that also cuts down on re-fuelling time, If I Intermittent fast while training endurance, I can’t get enough food inside me to maintain my weight and recover day to day... But that’s on about 12+ hours a week aerobic training, constantly depleting muscle carb stores.

lulabellewoowoo

Chrisdavey, where are you? He's awesome at this...

I have done the 24 hour fasts before. But I am using this month to do some serious goal changing and seeing what works, and that includes starting with heavy weightlifting. So I think starting tomorrow (as I have already eaten today), I am going to try the 8 on/16 off. This will be a little difficult at first as I go to sleep most nights around 9:30 and then am up at 2:30 for work, so I don't get to sleep 8 of those hours away. But hopefully after awhile it will become a habit and I won't notice. And it won't affect the kids as I don't tend to sit down and eat with them on any given day until late lunch or dinner time. So I'll dedicate to trying to do it for the rest of the month at least 6 out of 7 days a in the week.

Thanks for the reminder

nonafit

I am from Malaysia...its a Muslim country. I am not one though.

Anyway all Muslims fast for one month in a year. From the break of dawn till sunset. While going about their daily routine. And when they fast it means they do not take anything ...not even water. Most of them lose easily 5 to 10 kilos. But generally they gain all back (if not more) after the fasting season over. So its nothing new or created recently. Anyway they do that for religious purpose. And it was intend to develop empathy towards those less fortunate and to improve health.

That's from what I know. And if I am wrong correct me Muslim MFPians here.

sandislim

I've tried it. My fat is very stubborn so I used intermittent fasting to get some weight off. It wasn't difficult not to eat in one day - it was extremely difficult to eat normally on the off days. I found it difficult to lose weight also, but then I find it hard to lose weight with any diet. I've found that intermittent juice fasting is better. Its easier, I lose weight and don't feel starved that I over eat on off days. I also try to eat as much veggies as I can - and veggie up all my meals.

_JPH_

I try it in between meals..... Just kidding.

Bump!

Jacquibennett

I'd never heard of this but thanks for the links! I've read up now and think I'll give it a go

PBJunky

I've done it...

www.leangains.com

Kamalka

I had a "fasting period" a year in my life. The first thing is not considering fasting as a way to lose weight (I started with this objective while doing 2 hours sport/day). No need to explain that as soon as you get back to food, you get your weight back in 100% case (with extra in 85%). The fact is that fasting get your muscle mass down, not your fat. It was stupid but I wanted to try something new.

What I really appreciated with fasting was the clean feeling in my body. I would drink about 4liter water/day. The first 24h are the worst. After more or less 48h, you completely forget about food, you just think about water. At this time, you can look at people eating without any envy (you reject food and wonder how they do it), you also feel kind of happy. It is very easy then to fast for a week as long as you have water. The only thing that I could eat afterwards was fruits and vegetables. I sometimes stayed in this veterian mode for an extra week.

I see no point in fasting one day but, every 3 years, I like to have a week where I clean completely my body from salt. Instead of complete fasting, I would prefer fruits and vegetables now, maybe some eggs for proteins. Another consideration is that I did my "experiments" while being single. I find it impossible in living in couple simply because we have to eat together and that any person around you would tend to dissuade you (and they are right).

Finally, fasting also means high drops in blood pressure, meaning that for second, everything becomes "yellow", it would therefore not be a good idea to work, drive, etc. Basically, fasting gets you weaker and nervous, so that it is ok if you are in a position of stopping cmpletely your social life for a while (I remember getting angry with my mom because of the size of a bag, and many more stupid cases).

To conclude, many disavantages to "feel clean"...and you could get the same feeling eating grapes for 2 days. If I have dietetic food all year long, why should I fast? So after so many tries (1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 1 week, 3 weeks with complements, etc.), I end up with a "I can do it but why?"

skbruewer

bump

patsyanne

My opinion --for what it is worth-- is that the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat right and do some exercise each day. One day fasting might show a loss but it will not show up in the future days after you start eating again. I am only losing 0.8 lbs a week but it is consistent and I still enjoy my life by eating meals with my husband and friends.