Intermittent Fasting. Anyone tried it?
Replies
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I'm only just now hearing about IF.
I have a hard time losing weight as I really don't have a lot to lose. I, too, hate small meals and quickly feel impatient after them. If I eat to feel full, I don't have cravings afterwards.
I've noticed that when I allow myself to go hungry for a while, it's easier.
I really think this might be for me. I think it might fit who I am, and let me take some of the power back from food (especially from snacking). So.. 10 hour eating window, you say?0 -
The results are to IF or you being in a calorie deficit? That being said, the leangains site is a wealth of information and great to read. He has cleared a lot of the broscience up for that.I hate all these fad diets and ways of eating.
Your body works in a very basic way, less calories in than you body burns in a day then you will loose weight.
More calories in than you burn in a day, then you gain weight.
I can't see how these sites praise IF, talk to a doctor. IF is not good for your blood sugar levels your causing it to crash then spike.
This is how to end up as a diabetic over time.
Eat a good healthy balanced diet, spread across the whole day so it will keep your metabolism up and your blood sugar balanced.
It has been proven that it does not matter even if you eat a large meal then sleep, just as long as your calorie intake for the day is lower that what you burn.
KISS (keep it simple, stupid) eat when your hungry , drink when your thirsty. Everything in moderation and you can't go wrong.
there is really no need to waste your energy "hating" and this site does not praise IF, some of the folks here praise it. I like it myself because I have gotten results. chill out. your first post and you got the hate goin already? thats not good for you.
Oh and for the most part, astrojunky correct. "KISS (keep it simple, stupid) eat when your hungry , drink when your thirsty. Everything in moderation and you can't go wrong" Is spot on.0 -
Do a search for leangains and take a few days to read.I'm only just now hearing about IF.
I have a hard time losing weight as I really don't have a lot to lose. I, too, hate small meals and quickly feel impatient after them. If I eat to feel full, I don't have cravings afterwards.
I've noticed that when I allow myself to go hungry for a while, it's easier.
I really think this might be for me. I think it might fit who I am, and let me take some of the power back from food (especially from snacking). So.. 10 hour eating window, you say?
http://youtu.be/L4gQriubibU
That is a link to my video describing my experiences with fasting. I also suggest you search for other feed back.0 -
The results are to IF or you being in a calorie deficit? That being said, the leangains site is a wealth of information and great to read. He has cleared a lot of the broscience up for that.I hate all these fad diets and ways of eating.
Your body works in a very basic way, less calories in than you body burns in a day then you will loose weight.
More calories in than you burn in a day, then you gain weight.
I can't see how these sites praise IF, talk to a doctor. IF is not good for your blood sugar levels your causing it to crash then spike.
This is how to end up as a diabetic over time.
Eat a good healthy balanced diet, spread across the whole day so it will keep your metabolism up and your blood sugar balanced.
It has been proven that it does not matter even if you eat a large meal then sleep, just as long as your calorie intake for the day is lower that what you burn.
KISS (keep it simple, stupid) eat when your hungry , drink when your thirsty. Everything in moderation and you can't go wrong.
there is really no need to waste your energy "hating" and this site does not praise IF, some of the folks here praise it. I like it myself because I have gotten results. chill out. your first post and you got the hate goin already? thats not good for you.
Oh and for the most part, astrojunky correct. "KISS (keep it simple, stupid) eat when your hungry , drink when your thirsty. Everything in moderation and you can't go wrong" Is spot on.
I understand that caloric deficit and only a caloric deficit results in weight loss however you manage to get your deficit. I was talking about how easier it really is doing IF. talk about KISS...IF is really simple after you get it down. No more silly 6 meal planning nonsense, no more packing a lunch if you dont want to hassle...IF is really simple as far as the eating window etc. I use the leangains protocol for the most part but have thrown in a 24 hour fast on occasion and will do so again. IF, to me, is easier than worrying about when and where my next feed will be. Now I know and I can focus on other things.0 -
I love IF for cutting, but Im finding it tough for maintaining or gaining weight, its tough to eat 3,000 between getting home from work and going to bed. And It can create some anxiety in your mind if you let yourself get to wrapped up in the idea of it. I cook 99% of my familys meals and come weekend if my kids want waffles? I sure am gonna sit down and have a stack with them. Im gradually moving towards just eating when I want just to make it easier. BUT when I go back to cutting??? I will definately get back to IF because reduced calories is easier when you have a small time frame to eat.0
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I can't see how these sites praise IF, talk to a doctor. IF is not good for your blood sugar levels your causing it to crash then spike.
This is how to end up as a diabetic over time.
Eat a good healthy balanced diet, spread across the whole day so it will keep your metabolism up and your blood sugar balanced.
If you have links to studies showing that IF leads to diabetes and/or slows the metabolism, I'd love to see them. I've been IFing for 3 months and I sure don't want to become a diabetic or go into starvation mode.0 -
I can't see how these sites praise IF, talk to a doctor. IF is not good for your blood sugar levels your causing it to crash then spike.
This is how to end up as a diabetic over time.
Eat a good healthy balanced diet, spread across the whole day so it will keep your metabolism up and your blood sugar balanced.
If you have links to studies showing that IF leads to diabetes and/or slows the metabolism, I'd love to see them. I've been IFing for 3 months and I sure don't want to become a diabetic or go into starvation mode.
Gestational diabetes, is one that pregnant ladies may get while carrying, do to extra pressure on pancreas
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic trait... if you don't have it, your not getting it....
As for Type 2, is caused by high sugar in the blood and your body can't break it down fast enough.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002194/
I am finding sites, where Fasting "cured" type two... but nothing on the reverse
http://www.fasting.com/diabetes.html
Probably because no one has studied it long enough to discover the truth... instead people are just blowing smoke to stand against something they don't understand0 -
Gosh!! This thread is something else!!! Haven't looked up the sites refered but remember reading a long time ago in a book called 'Fit for Life' how our daily/24hr biorhythm is divided into three 8-hour cycles which for people with normal work daytime hours are:
noon - 8 pm APPROPRIATION (eating and digestion), occurs when metabolism is most awake and ready for the task of taking on new food for digestion;
8 pm - 4 am ASSIMILATION (absorption and use, of nutrients for cell and tissue repair and growth) which is why our bodies naturally bring on sleep in order for this to happen effectively without energy being spent on any other activity;
4 am - noon ELIMINATION ( of body wastes and food debris), by this stage the body has completed its repair and growth work and is mainly shifting things south through your digestion and cranking up the metabolic engine again, which explains why people are generally not hungry in the morning.
All this said, everyone is a little different in their work/sleep patterns but essentially these hours follow the sun and express what would be our rhythm with nature, ie without the invention of fire or electricity to alter our activity hours. Remember that while we have changed our world technologically, our bodies remain in the stone age period ....
Understanding this natural rhythm is where IF comes into play. By allowing our bodies to have time down, away from digestion and repair in order to eliminate we are allowing our metabolism to fire it's engines with no lag and so it does it's job most effectively.
Fit for Life has a few other theories tagged to it around how, and how not, to mix macronutrients which I must say led to a whole lot of weight loss very quickly for me without counting calories and never going hungry. What eventually made this method 'not sustainable' after about 6 months for me was not the rhythm of eating etc, but the food combining was not socially viable in the long term.
Finally i like to mention that there are a few variations to the concept of fasting such as no food or water, water only, or a much softer approach, fruit only, which many argue is not strictly a fast but others say it is still can be considered a fast as fruit is the easiest food for the body to ingest and begin feeding the brain and muscles with fuel, and you generally start with your melons and berries and move toward your apples and bananas as you approach noon. What I liked about Fit for Life is that I was able to eat as much fruit as I wanted till noon ( getting all manner of vitamins and minerals and without a carb count) provided it was with absolutely not any other food. In this way it was a fruit fast. I never became bloated and I got my sugar fix for my brain at the beginning of the day without weighing my body down from its elimination process. Like I said, I lost a lot of weight consistently and easily without ever going hungry.
PS it just occurred to me that if we were living in the stone age, upon waking up with the sun rise it would probably take us a few hours to hunt down our next protein meal, which would have to be fresh as there would not be any refrigeration to keep leftovers from the night before. Our bodies are meant for our survival so it makes sense that we would not want our metabolisms screaming to be fed first thing upon waking. Fruit, vegetables and nuts are the only foods in nature that do not purtrify and are available straight out of the ground or off a tree.0 -
Makes perfect sense to me, Seamaiden, thank you for posting that. :flowerforyou:
I just wish everybody would do what they feel is right for them, without being so desperate to label and box up everybody else. It's not 'them and us' depending on the viewpoint, we're not competing against each other - or shouldn't be.0 -
I hate all these fad diets and ways of eating.
Your body works in a very basic way, less calories in than you body burns in a day then you will loose weight.
More calories in than you burn in a day, then you gain weight.
I can't see how these sites praise IF, talk to a doctor. IF is not good for your blood sugar levels your causing it to crash then spike.
This is how to end up as a diabetic over time.
You could not be more wrong. Diabetes type 2 is caused by insulin resistance, which is caused by high amounts of visceral fat and chronically elevated insulin. From a theoretical stand point, it makes much more sense that a fast would increase the sensitivity of your body's insulin receptors, thereby decreasing insulin resistance.
Eat a good healthy balanced diet, spread across the whole day so it will keep your metabolism up and your blood sugar balanced.
It has been proven that it does not matter even if you eat a large meal then sleep, just as long as your calorie intake for the day is lower that what you burn.
KISS (keep it simple, stupid) eat when your hungry , drink when your thirsty. Everything in moderation and you can't go wrong.
Eating less to lose weight is obviously what everything boils down to. But that's easier said than done. And body composition is different than losing weight. Regardless, if IF makes it "easier" to eat less, then that's a good thing.0 -
Thanks for the acknowledgement CookieCrumble. I think the key is to get back to stone age basics as far as our bodies are concerned since they cannot be expected to evolve at the breakneck speed of our technology, ie since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century.
Our bodies have been hard wired over millennia and we would gain precious insight by looking into our earlier, long held behaviour patterns for our survival and health. Think about it. Who stood a better chance of surviving, someone who needed to be fed immediately upon waking at a time when food did not come out of refrigerators, tins, supermarkets or takeaways; or someone whose body was able to aptly perform a search, hunt and preparation of food without passing out due to not being able to have breakfast first thing upon waking, and was still able to run for a few hours more on a piece of fruit, a few nuts and seeds or lettuce leaf only...0 -
Sorry if this was posted already, but whoever claimed that IF is bad for insulin sensitivity:
http://jap.physiology.org/content/99/6/2128.full
This is at least one piece of evidence suggesting the contrary.
And here's one more that's indirect examining behavior and glucose concentration after long periods of fasting:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/187792820 -
What's the point of going on a forum to only post negativity? Do the world a favor and keep it to yourself. There's no shackles involved with IF, you eat in an 8 hour window, where is the shackles with that? No one has said that fasting will be the only reason for someone getting ripped, it's more than obvious that calories and the macronutrients you consume are what matters. The problem is that you fail to either notice or admit the benefits to IF, you'd rather post a biased bitter opinion that no one cares to hear about. News flash, IF works, end of the story. If you disagree or have some quarrels on IF then start your own thread to talk about it with like minded individuals.
I think the whole point of a forum is to discuss ALL aspects of an issue, not just to hear from the posters who agree with the original poster (ie: you). While you may not agree with those who don't like or don't see any benefit to "IF", it is not your place to tell them they shouldn't be posting their opinions on what you call "YOUR" thread. I don't want to hear just one side of the issue, I want to hear other opinions and experiences as well. If you're unable to accept the fact that others have valid but differing opinions, perhaps YOU should be the one not posting.
The problem is that he doesn't have a valid opinion, his argument is that it's not better than 6 meals a day. Well sorry, that's not an argument and has nothing backing it. So if you take opinions from someone who posts no scientific backing then by all means continue to blindly follow ignorance.0 -
Sorry if this was posted already, but whoever claimed that IF is bad for insulin sensitivity:
http://jap.physiology.org/content/99/6/2128.full
Thanks for posting this. It's interesting that the trial was done with just men. I've been reading more and more about some possible negative consequences for women with IF (not enough for me to get off of IF but still worth keeping a pulse on).
This is just a summary article about many studies (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3200169/?tool=pubmed), but an interesting snippet:
"Human trials have noted mixed findings with ADF [alternate day fasting] regarding glucoregulatory function. Heilbronn and colleagues [101] noted a decrease in fasting insulin but no difference in fasting glucose following 22 days of ADF. Another study by the same group [103] found that women on a 22 day ADF regimen cleared serum glucose following a test meal (500 kcal, 12.2 g fat, 90 g carbohydrate, 17.6 protein) less efficiently when compared to pre-fast values; no difference in glucose clearance efficiency was seen in men. In the same study, men on an ADF diet experienced a reduced insulin response to the test meal, but this effect was not observed in women. Taken together, these findings suggest that men and women may respond differently to ADF."
Anyway, for what it's worth.0 -
Fasting is not better than eating 6,7 or 8 meals. What is better is dependent on the person. Leangains, Eat Stop Eat, Carb Cycling whatever all work because you're in a calorie defect(if you're trying to lose body fat). Not because you're eating in a 8 hour window.What's the point of going on a forum to only post negativity? Do the world a favor and keep it to yourself. There's no shackles involved with IF, you eat in an 8 hour window, where is the shackles with that? No one has said that fasting will be the only reason for someone getting ripped, it's more than obvious that calories and the macronutrients you consume are what matters. The problem is that you fail to either notice or admit the benefits to IF, you'd rather post a biased bitter opinion that no one cares to hear about. News flash, IF works, end of the story. If you disagree or have some quarrels on IF then start your own thread to talk about it with like minded individuals.
I think the whole point of a forum is to discuss ALL aspects of an issue, not just to hear from the posters who agree with the original poster (ie: you). While you may not agree with those who don't like or don't see any benefit to "IF", it is not your place to tell them they shouldn't be posting their opinions on what you call "YOUR" thread. I don't want to hear just one side of the issue, I want to hear other opinions and experiences as well. If you're unable to accept the fact that others have valid but differing opinions, perhaps YOU should be the one not posting.
The problem is that he doesn't have a valid opinion, his argument is that it's not better than 6 meals a day. Well sorry, that's not an argument and has nothing backing it. So if you take opinions from someone who posts no scientific backing then by all means continue to blindly follow ignorance.
Get a freaking clue.0 -
Repost from earlier in the thread
Intermittent fasting does not affect whole-body glucose, lipid, or protein metabolism. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Nov 2009; 90: 1244-1251
www.ajcn.org/content/90/5/1244.full.pdf0 -
I couldn't have said it any better. This is where the problems lie. People get so wrapped up, they actually think their way of eating is actually better than another form.Eating less to lose weight is obviously what everything boils down to. But that's easier said than done. And body composition is different than losing weight. Regardless, if IF makes it "easier" to eat less, then that's a good thing.
They way you eat is the no religion. I posted my personal experiences, stated that claims for fasting are over hyped (consider ing calories matter, NOT when you eat them, or how many meals). I get labeled as being a hater. Please.0 -
I am not attacking fasting at all. I am attacking the ridiculous claims that many in the IF community cling too. I was one who fell for them.You say shackles I say options. Lets face it, we wouldn't be on this site if we didn't have to 'shackle' ourselves one way or another in order to get the body we want. For me and many others, fasting is a less painful shackle than eating more frequent low cal meals. I totally accept that for other natural grazers the opposite is true. However you must admit that the current mainstream belief is very heavily skewed towards the "breakfast starts your metabolism and you have to keep eating every couple of hours to keep it going" rhetoric. I don't think it hurts to let people know that they don't have to if it doesn't suit them
And time after time I see people say "I tried the multiple meal thing and it didn't work". Like fasting is going to cure their lack of calorie control. Even with the Leangains method you're still eating MULTIPLE meals (2-3) so the notion of not eating multiple meals is null and void.
As for going into it thinking you'll get ripped, couldn't the same be said for just about anything. There is always going to be the desperate uninformed minority that think something is a magic bullet.... its hardly unique to IF. look at paleo, there are people who seem to think that they can eat anything as long as its clean... um no.
Instead of being concerned about eating "meal 6" you're now concerned about eating in your "window" or wondering if you fasted long enough. Yeah, that's true freedom right there....
Respect for this man. My insight, I do a 16-18 hour fast everyday because it fits my life style and lets me loose from having to worry about eating and planning for 5-6 meals throughout a work day. It's important to know that fasting will not make your muscle tissue dip into catabolic breakdown and it will also not make you more anabolic in any way shape or form. Same can be said with the opposite approach of eating say 6 meals a day. Results of both approaches will eventually be influenced by your overall intake.0 -
I don't know that there's enough evidence to support a distinct physiological advantage to adopting an IF style of eating.
That being said, I ENJOY it for personal preference/adherence reasons specifically when eating at a deficit.
I'm not aiming this at anyone in this thread, but I think there's some risk in claiming that IF is physiologically superior than any other meal frequency given we are comparing equal calories and macronutrients.
It's just another way to eat.0 -
I don't know that there's enough evidence to support a distinct physiological advantage to adopting an IF style of eating.
That being said, I ENJOY it for personal preference/adherence reasons specifically when eating at a deficit.
I'm not aiming this at anyone in this thread, but I think there's some risk in claiming that IF is physiologically superior than any other meal frequency given we are comparing equal calories and macronutrients.
It's just another way to eat.
Unless you combine it with Paleo style of eating, then it's vastly superior to all known forms of dieting0 -
I started IFing about 6 weeks ago. It broke my 3 month plateau and I'm down 7 pounds. For the first time since I started counting calories 2 .5 years ago, I'm not hungry all the time. I eat a big lunch that holds me until dinner. Then I eat a big dinner. No hunger pains. It's easier to stay within my calorie goals and I no longer think about food constantly. It works for me!
*Edit: BTW, I do not take BCAA and I do not lift weights. I do yoga, walking, and stationary bike only. And it still works for me.0 -
I don't know that there's enough evidence to support a distinct physiological advantage to adopting an IF style of eating.
That being said, I ENJOY it for personal preference/adherence reasons specifically when eating at a deficit.
I'm not aiming this at anyone in this thread, but I think there's some risk in claiming that IF is physiologically superior than any other meal frequency given we are comparing equal calories and macronutrients.
It's just another way to eat.
Unless you combine it with Paleo style of eating, then it's vastly superior to all known forms of dieting
I actually tried combining the two but I ended up with an erection lasting 31 hours. I had to stop.0 -
I fast at night. Is that long enough to go without food???0
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Did it last week, loved it. Doing it again today.
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Tagging, not only for the highly amusing erection comment but because there are some good links here.0
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Very confusing to a newbie.
Can someone explain how this would work for someone that works from 8-5? My workout opportunity is either 4-6am or 8-9pm.
I can not work out mid day .0 -
Very confusing to a newbie.
Can someone explain how this would work for someone that works from 8-5? My workout opportunity is either 4-6am or 8-9pm.
I can not work out mid day .
http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html0 -
Can I just say, I am now trying this, but not necessarily doing exercise before food, anyway. Im wondering why this should work, when really you see so mnay people who go all day without food and there fat coz they eat all there cals in one go. Most nutritionalists will say that you should kick start your metabolism as soon as you can as this is what helps you burn calouries, ie you need to eat to start burning cals.0
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Can I just say, I am now trying this, but not necessarily doing exercise before food, anyway. Im wondering why this should work, when really you see so mnay people who go all day without food and there fat coz they eat all there cals in one go. Most nutritionalists will say that you should kick start your metabolism as soon as you can as this is what helps you burn calouries, ie you need to eat to start burning cals.
You're not going all day without food, you have 10 hours of the day to eat since you're a woman. If you were to begin eating at 10am you can eat all the way till 8pm, I'm not sure what time of the day you wake up but waiting till 10am isn't that long of a wait regardless. People who are fat become fat because they over eat, you do not become fat because you consume your daily calories in one go. As long as you're in a caloric deficit you will lose weight, how many calories you consume at once and when you consume those calories simply does not matter as long as it doesn't exceed your caloric maintenance level. The whole concept of needing to eat the second you wake up to "kick start" your metabolism is complete broscience which I'm sure you heard from people putting out falsified information. If it was necessary to eat breakfast to lose weight, then the thousands of people who intermittent fast like myself wouldn't be seeing weight loss.0 -
Can I just say, I am now trying this, but not necessarily doing exercise before food, anyway. Im wondering why this should work, when really you see so mnay people who go all day without food and there fat coz they eat all there cals in one go. Most nutritionalists will say that you should kick start your metabolism as soon as you can as this is what helps you burn calouries, ie you need to eat to start burning cals.
Then most nutritionalists would be wrong. The is no study that shows an impact on your metabolism between eating once a day and six times a day or at 6am v 6pm (calories being equal).0
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