Intermittent fasting - who has tried it?

irisannRN

I fast daily for 16 hours. For example ... I eat from 12pm to 8pm and fast again until 12 pm the next day. This has helped my weight loss tremendously. When I eat just 2 larger meals a day I feel wayyyy more satisfied and do not feel the urge to snack or eat unhealthy because I am FULL !!! So essentially you just skip breakfast. After doing this for a few days your body adjust and I don't even get hungry until around noon. (I do drink coffee in the am though which they say is ok)

Acg67

I fast daily for 16 hours. For example ... I eat from 12pm to 8pm and fast again until 12 pm the next day. This has helped my weight loss tremendously. When I eat just 2 larger meals a day I feel wayyyy more satisfied and do not feel the urge to snack or eat unhealthy because I am FULL !!! So essentially you just skip breakfast. After doing this for a few days your body adjust and I don't even get hungry until around noon. (I do drink coffee in the am though which they say is ok)

that's more or less the reason i do it, it's more convenient for me and i prefer larger meals vs a bunch of smaller meals

LisaWeir74

This is all very interesting.

MinnesotaManimal

I find it very intruiging that some of the leanest and strongest looking people I have met on this site have used intermittent fasting.

ElementalEscapee

Sure!

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?

elizabethblake

I started IF lean gaines-style about a month ago, stick to it pretty well but if I'm starving, I'll eat no matter if it's been 14 hours or not. I've lost a pants size and the scale is finally moving again.

emmab0902

Um, aren't you the same person who posted about wishing MFP would "clean up" all of the people with anorexia?

Research shows IF has multiple health benefits.

People die from anorexia.

Think that sums it up.

UsedToBeHusky

Wish people would actually take the effort and go read the site before attacking IF, it feels like they are insulting my mom haha

Actually, she wasn't attacking IF so much as she was the OP because of a different thread.

UsedToBeHusky

I find it very intruiging that some of the leanest and strongest looking people I have met on this site have used intermittent fasting.

I do too. I've wondered about it myself, but I'm not sure I could manage the initial hunger pangs. I've got my body on a 2-3 hour clock, and I am ravenous when I do eat.

Apazman

I wrote up my thoughts on it in a blog post:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Apazman/view/one-meal-per-day-on-days-i-m-not-working-out-165876

UsedToBeHusky

Fasting shouldn't really be a way to lose weight, do like a 24 hour fast to prove that food doesn't have control over you. one day won't mess up your metabolism. It is good for emotional eaters like me who use food to cope. fasting for one day proves to me that food doesn't control my life and I can survive for one day without it. It is explained in a book by Chantel Hobbs called The One Day Way, great book!

I've considered this too. I would love to be able to make this work for me.

rileysowner

I have been doing the Eat Stop Eat type of fasting for about a year now on and off (mainly on). That is a 24 hour fast 1 or 2 times a week running from after supper one day to supper the next (basically 24 hours). You break the fast with a normal meal. and continue on as normal. I have also done the leangains approach in that time as I prefer eating larger meals and that way I can. Fasting has multiple health benefits, but there are people who due to health issues cannot do it.

For me it is a way to easily maintain my weight loss, and lose more if I desire. If I wanted to, I could stop counting calories and still keep this up and maintain or lose more fat.

Mmmary212

Love it. Lately (the past 2 weeks) I don't eat until 5pm and I eat what I want, however much I want/need until bedtime, which is usually 10pm and then start over and don't eat again until 5pm the next day....which turns into about an 18ish hour fast, depending when I go to bed (anywhere between 9pm and 11pm).

I threw my scale battery away, so I havent weighed, but my body is looking much different lately. It works great for me, because I'm at work and I purposely dont bring food or money, so I mentally know I wont be eating and it's not hard at all to do.

ImKindOfABigDeal40

I've gone 24 hours with only water a few times recently. I've not had any positive results from it. No weight lost as a result.

FearAnLoathing

opps.

joejccva71

I've gone 24 hours with only water a few times recently. I've not had any positive results from it. No weight lost as a result.

Why would you go 24 hours with only water? What are you trying to accomplish by doing this?

For the record, that's not what IF is all about.

season1980

I started the Leangains approach a week ago and the eating pattern is soooooo natural for me! I eat from 12-8 and get to eat huge meals which I loooove! I detested eating every 2-3 hours and always found myself starving by night fall and no calories left! This way I get to eat and eat alot, most of the time I am not even getting in the calories that I want for lean muscle building, but I am still seeing increases in my strength so I havent pushed it to much. As far as body changes or wt loss I havent seen any yet but time will tell. I am giving myself a month before I judge the wt loss/fat loss benifit for my body.

tnic86

Um, aren't you the same person who posted about wishing MFP would "clean up" all of the people with anorexia?

Intermittent Fasting and eating disorder are two completely different things.

Please do not immediately assume that the word "fasting" means unhealthy. www.Leangains.com for better information on this subject. It is simply a different meal timing and quite honestly I think it's excellent.

Exactly. 2 very VERY different things.

She just likes to start *kitten*

Gotta agree there.

Apazman

First of all I have to say ... its not for everyone or most or even some probably more for the few and crazy. When I started on this path a friend suggested this method to me, I thought... "I have tried many diets, and things.... but none have worked." I started to analyze why? well, I found that I could do ANY diet for a while .. but always failed in the end after a little while. I realized there were a few major factors:

1. Deiting NEVER stops. If you are forcing yourself to eat things you deep down don't like all that much, its going to get harder and harder to stay on it as time passes. Its like a vampire.. if they don't feed on blood the thirst will take over. They can eat all the normal food they want ... but if they don't satisfy that thirst it will take control and CRASH! So when you are dieting, its either a lifestyle change which has about a 10-15% chance of sticking or its a marathon that will never end. You can't run a marathon that never ends eventually your legs will give out and you will collapse.If you have that one delicious meal at the end of the day, its like a finish to that race. there is an end each day and a reward. It feels great!

2. Too many DAMN RULES! ... yes you can eat, but only certain things, and only in certain portions.Lets be honest ... health food tastes like crap COMPARED to the good stuff. What tastes better .... box of cookies or bag of salad... umm DUHH!! You also have to make sure its got protien and not too much fat ... and blah blah blah .... Here is my rule... DON"T EAT! Wait till dinner. Eat what you want and its more difficult to go over calorie targets.


3. Calorie Counting is tough on the fly. 90% of people miss calories they are intaking because they snack on this or that or add the salad dressing or ketchup...it all adds up.If you are only eating dinner, you can look at it .. and calculate pretty accuatley because you know you haven't had anything else to eat.

4. The HUNGER! I found that if I stuck to a diet all day .. if I ended up hungry at night .. thats when I would blow my diet. So if you go to bed totally full you feel satisified. Another point about hunger is that I found if I didn't eat breakfast I would be hungry about lunch time. But if I did eat breakfast, i would be SUPER HUNGRY at lunch time and over eat. I can usually stave off hunger using hot tea.

5. I take Multiviatims and fish oil suppliments to help maintain proper nutrition.

6. Strength training. For your body to keep getting at the fat stores, you a little protien to get some fat. so You not only need fat storage but muscle storage for access.

7. Starvation Mode! this is what everyone and thier mother freaks out about when you say you are eating once a day. first of all, it only kicks in if your body have been deprived of less than 1200 calories a day. Second, it only activates if its been 3 days with less than 1200 calories every day.

8. EXPECTATIONS! I don't expect this to work forever, but I am getting some good results at the moment I will continue until I don't.

Lastly, I came to this conclusion.
Conventional methods work for conventional people.
Maybe unconventional methods can work for unconventional people.
Basically, everybody is different and ever BODY is different. If it works for you, then give it a try!

HonkyTonks

IF != starving yourself. The most you would go without food is 24 hours. Your body isn't going to go into starvation mode that quickly!

ElementalEscapee

Wait wait what about growth hormones? You grow more if you fast for 18 hours??

k4evans1

No matter what method I use, I have difficulty losing without on WW. I went on it, lost some weight and quit to do it on my own and save money. I couldn't do it. For me, I need the group support and weekly weigh in. I can list the positive and negative aspects of WW but overall it's what I know I need.

tigersword

I love IF. I use the Eat Stop Eat method, Basically Tuesdays and Thursdays are my fasting days. I eat maintenance every day, and then after dinner on Monday I just don't eat until dinner on Tuesday night. A normal dinner, no bigger than normally. I do the same Wednesday night into Thursday. It's flexible, for instance this week, I'm fasting on Wednesday and Friday. It's basically like staggering your calories. You never go an entire calendar day without eating.

AdrienneKaren

I fast every single night from about 8pm until 5ish am. It's easy to do because I'm sleeping. If I go long periods without food during my waking hours, someone might...will die. I'll also get super shaky and wind up with a headache that rivals a migraine. I just don't see any good in depriving my body of nutrients just to lose a few pounds.

UsedToBeHusky

I fast every single night from about 8pm until 5ish am. It's easy to do because I'm sleeping. If I go long periods without food during my waking hours, someone might...will die. I'll also get super shaky and wind up with a headache that rivals a migraine. I just don't see any good in depriving my body of nutrients just to lose a few pounds.

You should really read the thread. Intermittent fasting is not going without food during waking hours. It is cramming your entire daily allotment of calories into a short period.

mochalovies

Wish people would actually take the effort and go read the site before attacking IF, it feels like they are insulting my mom haha

No kidding -- it is annoying to read posts hoping for additional information that I perhaps have missed or forgotten, but then I have to sort through a bunch of non-educated responses. >.< gah! I just want the good stuff!

ster81

Im actually on my second week of IF and so far, I can't really complain much. My main concern was performance in the gym and that hasn't been an issue at all. For the past year I've been eating 5 to 6 small meals a day, so the first 2 days of IF was tough. , but once my body adjusted from eating only from 12 to 7pm, I feel perfectly good. I don't crave food at all, I think it's great and I should have done this sooner! Also on the time frame I'm able to eat, I still stay on deficit to lose weight. So far I'm down two lbs with no loss in muscle strength.

BarbWhite09

Managed about 21.5 hours then caved before I ate my children.

You ate your children!? No fasting for you missy!

gp79

I've done IF 16/8 for about 2 months now. Prior to IF I was eating 5 / 6 meals per day and I'd end up feeling hungry between those meals (sometimes) but what was even more annoying now that I have something to compare it too,was the amount of food prep and containers I'd need to bring to work with me to sustain all of those small meals. It fits to my lifestyle perfectly, allows me to enjoy socializing with friends / family later in the evening and enjoy myself without worrying about eating in a surplus. On most days 16/8 becomes 19/5.

BarbWhite09

Anyway, now that I'm done teasing you about eating your children...Lol.
I don't know much about intermittent fasting...although now I'm going to go look it up
But I've been interested in various types of fasts in the past (no food ones, juice ones, fruit/veggie only ones)
I've done a couple of them myself, never lasted more than 48 hours.
Basically it's to just help your body repair itself & rejuvenate
I don't feel like short ones are that beneficial for that type of stuff though...
It would be beneficial for a little bit of weight loss & a little confidence boost from it but that's about it I would think.
But i havent looked into it whatsoever, so that's just a random illiterate opinion. Lol