UK Programme on fasting

Huffdogg

I've been doing IF (Leangains 16/8) for about 8 months now, and the results have been stellar. I've gotten leaps and bounds stronger and stayed at roughly the same weight (recomposition). I haven't gone into a hard cut on it yet, but I'm sure it would work like gangbusters. I eat AT LEAST as much as I did when I was just eating throughout the day, usually a 1k calorie lunch at noon and then after I get home from work, I eat between 1k and 1500 calories more (depending on if I went to the gym that day).

Also, regardless of whether or not you actually give intermittent fasting a try, this website has some GREAT recommendations for calorie totals and macros splits for people who weight train. MFP's are crap, so even if you don't use the one I recommend, do some independent research on that.

http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

Huffdogg

This sounds like "calorie cycling". I read up on it and I hear it's a pretty good way to break a plateau.

Calorie cycling isn't the same thing, but most people who follow IF also cycle calories. Basically, what calorie cycling means is that you don't track exercise calories; you just eat a pre-determined amount depending on whether it's a training day or a rest day. Particularly useful for people who are strength training and want to be able to build muscle while still digging into fat reserves. Eat a deficit on rest days, and a slight surplus on training days, and whittle away.

Tigermad

This sounds like "calorie cycling". I read up on it and I hear it's a pretty good way to break a plateau.

Calorie cycling isn't the same thing, but most people who follow IF also cycle calories. Basically, what calorie cycling means is that you don't track exercise calories; you just eat a pre-determined amount depending on whether it's a training day or a rest day. Particularly useful for people who are strength training and want to be able to build muscle while still digging into fat reserves. Eat a deficit on rest days, and a slight surplus on training days, and whittle away.

I am going to give Lean Gains a try after watching the show last night. Seems like the best IF for me.

robert65ferguson

What I find really interesting is how a television audience can watch a TV programme and yet take away such mixed messages. As I saw it the programme dealt with three issues; a restricted calorie diet based largely on fruit and veg; an alternate day diet fasting one day and eating ' normaly the next; a variant of this with a restricted 600 calorie for men and 500 calories for women for two consecutive days followed by five days of eating a healthy balanced diet. Dr Molesly did add a caveat that this approach may not work for everyone and that fasting should not be undertaken without medical advice. He also said that much more research would be needed but that the approach showed the most promise for his situation. I plan to watch the programme again if only to test the accuracy of my recall ability. Has anyone else been puzzled by the number of people showing a desire to adopt a similar approach without seeking validation of the claims made in the programme. References were given for the academics appearing in the programme as well as the universities where the studies took place. How many people will follow this up before trying to adopt such a course of action. I'm not seeking to be controversial, just puzzled. Just for the record I found the programme interesting and thought provoking. Dr Molsley is an excellent presenter.

yarwell

Has anyone else been puzzled by the number of people showing a desire to adopt a similar approach without seeking validation of the claims made in the programme.

Not really, A similar thing happened when Newcastle University did a reversal of Type II diabetes with a VLCD quick weight loss - all the interest was in the diet and losing weight, the diabetics were ignored !

As a statistical outlier I have read up the authors / institutions / concepts involved, but I know that isn't for 90% of the general public - they-re just looking for a way to lose weight that actually works for them. Some of them are looking for an easy fix too I guess.

llstacy

Fasting is safe, people have been doing it forever, now it just looks like we know the reason why, it's good for us. Besides, I'd bet most people won't keep it up anyway for the same reason...it's good for us. :bigsmile:

Whisperinghorse

bump

Tigermad

What I find really interesting is how a television audience can watch a TV programme and yet take away such mixed messages. As I saw it the programme dealt with three issues; a restricted calorie diet based largely on fruit and veg; an alternate day diet fasting one day and eating ' normaly the next; a variant of this with a restricted 600 calorie for men and 500 calories for women for two consecutive days followed by five days of eating a healthy balanced diet. Dr Molesly did add a caveat that this approach may not work for everyone and that fasting should not be undertaken without medical advice. He also said that much more research would be needed but that the approach showed the most promise for his situation. I plan to watch the programme again if only to test the accuracy of my recall ability. Has anyone else been puzzled by the number of people showing a desire to adopt a similar approach without seeking validation of the claims made in the programme. References were given for the academics appearing in the programme as well as the universities where the studies took place. How many people will follow this up before trying to adopt such a course of action. I'm not seeking to be controversial, just puzzled. Just for the record I found the programme interesting and thought provoking. Dr Molsley is an excellent presenter.

I have been on the if boards on here and done a fair bit of research other than just the programme.

whyisthisusernamealwaystaken

I watched the programme and found it very interesting. What I'm trying to find out is, do the fasting days HAVE to be on consecutive days or any two (non consecutie days) in a week??

This would seem to me to make a big difference.

twinkletoes66

In saw the programme was a bit wushu washy but my hubby is a personal trainer & reads slots of science studies from valued places! Iv been intermittent fasting for 4 weeks iday of 24 hrs! Feel so much better! Iv cut all sugar , processed foods , dairy , wheat , alcohol! So days in eat it's lean proteins, veg , berries, apples, salad! 4-5 ltr water , nuts seeds, lost 11 inches & 9 lb in 4 weeks ! Total 84 lb now!! Going to up to x2 days a week fasting!

barmum

I saw this and after doing some reading up was going to give it a try because I have to lose quite a lot of weight which I've only ever managed to do in the past by getting down to unhealthy levels of low calorie intake. Hoping this might be a more sustainable approach

Brentm77

I have lost 45 pounds since February with a combination of fasting and low-carb diet. I actually fast 5-6 days a week. This means that on the fasting days, I only eat dinner and sometimes a light snack before bed. It sounds terrible, but for me it is so much easier than the six small meals advice. Instead of being hungry all day as I am when I try to eat six small meals, I start to get a little hungry at about 4:00 pm. Dinner is just around the corner, so it is easy to wait and eat at dinner time. I also get the benefit of not getting the sleepy afternoon feeling.

I don't count any calories at night. But again, I eat less than 20 carbs a day. If I wasn't doing low-carb, I would count calories, which would still be great because you could eat a huge dinner and not feel guilty every night.

I have to question the advice of several small meals and snacking. Am I the only one who always counts down the minutes until the next snack/meal, to only be left unsatisfied by the small amount of food?

I would recommend trying it. It really isn't as hard as it sounds.

suziecue66

Krista Varady who was in the programe was involved in http://www.ajcn.org/content/90/5/1138.long a study of alternate day fasting.

That paper reported that " Fat mass decreased (P < 0.01) by 5.4 ± 0.8 kg after 8 wk of diet, whereas changes in fat-free mass were not significant (−0.1 ± 0.1 kg). "

The diet intervention used was "All subjects consumed 25% of their baseline energy needs on the “fast” day (24 h) and then consumed food ad libitum on each alternate “feed” day (24 h)." So the "fast" is actually a 75% calorie reduction.

On the "fast" days they ate 25-30g protein only, 450 calories. http://www.ajcn.org/content/90/5/1138/T1.expansion.html

On his Twitter feed the presenter says that exercise isn't helpful to IGF-1 reduction.

ETA For clarity, the paper above is for illustration and to anwer the lean body mass question, it isn't directly related to the TV programme other than through its lead author appearing.

Thanks Yarwell.

suziecue66

did the program mention any long term effects of intermittent fasting? it may lose weight quickly but i'd want to know what effect it had on my hormine balance in the long run before considering it!

the programme was about longevity and the effects that calorie restriction and fasting could have on the production of IGF-1. I recoomend trying to get hold of it if possible if you want to know more. It wasn't really about weight loss, that was just a side-effect.

Yes that's right. The new brain cells growing was interesting. Its also perhaps an easier way for some to lose weight (if they had weight to lose) AND get all the benefits.

suziecue66

This sounds like "calorie cycling". I read up on it and I hear it's a pretty good way to break a plateau.

With calorie cycling you don't go that low on calories, and its not just one meal. On the fast day:

''All subjects consumed 25% of their baseline energy needs on the “fast” day"
(as per Yarwell's comment)

I presume baseline energy needs is BMR so as an example, on fast day 1400 x 25% = 350 calorie meal

suziecue66

You Tube of Horizon fasting program:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...6&amp;feature=plcp

barmum

I know I was advised to do the six small meals as it's less stress on the stomach and better in cases of hernia or acid reflux if thats any help? I find if there is at least some fibre in every meal then its not so bad

Whisperinghorse

I would be interested in the reduction of Alzheimers risk as that scares me most, yes the weightloss is great too, but having watched both my grandmothers dying in the last 10 months with it, if I could somehoe reduce the risk that'd be great.... Appreciate no human trials but it was interesting what the mice study showed.

mandyw30

I watched the programme and found it very interesting. What I'm trying to find out is, do the fasting days HAVE to be on consecutive days or any two (non consecutie days) in a week??

This would seem to me to make a big difference.

The presenter chose to do his fasting days on Tuesday and Thursday as they suited him best, so no they weren't on 2 consecutive days.

neontiiger

I saw the programme and rather like the idea. However, I am diabetic so not sure how I would cope with my sugar levels on the 2 fasting days. Any comments from other diabetics would be most welcome.