Intermittant fasting

redheaddee

So, anyone here do intermittant fasting? I am considering trying it out, basically 16/8 and allowing myself to eat from noon-8pm. My question is this: would my juiced fruit/veg that I often have for breakfast be breaking my fast? Also, what have been your personal experiences with this, good, bad, and otherwise?

S/N: When responding, please note I am CONSIDERING. I am reviewing all available medical research and am looking for feedback regarding people's personal experience with this. Please do not lecture me about starvation mode, etc. I am perfectly capable of reading the medical journals and other peer reviewed, scientifically based information, and when I feel I am well-informed, I will make the decision best for ME. Thanks.

FirefitMike

Hey,

I've been doing IF for a couple of months now. Ignoring all the pros or potential cons, the thing for me is it is freeing. No more worrying about meals every 3 hours. I eat 2 or 3 times a day and enjoy a couple of large meals rather than several small ones. I do the 16/8 and fast between 7 pm and 11 am.

As far as I understand, anything beyond black coffee or sugar free gum is breaking the fast.

A couple of good sites about IF are leangains.com and theiflife.com.

Rays_Wife

I started 16/8 yesterday. I have had success with it in the past, and I really enjoyed eating that way. Eating small meals throughout the day for me is torture :laugh: So it's back to IF I go, before I fall off the calorie counting bandwagon! Depending on how well I do with the 16/8, I would like to progress to Fast-5 plan (5 hour eating window). Eating bigger meals and actually feeling full is key for me to stay on plan. I stopped doing it simply because I heard from many people it was better to spread your calories throughout the day. Did that for many months, and while I've been successful I HATE it. I was at my breaking point and ready to go off the deep end. That is why I researched it again, and decided to go back to IF yesterday.

First_Broadcast

I've been doing IF properly now for about 8 weeks now and whilst at first it's hard getting used to not eating until midday it doesn't take long. The main point for me is the fat loss. I'm trying to loose weight/body fat but turn myself mostly into muscle at the same time so for me making sure I'm at a calorific deficit of around 300-500 calories is all that really matters apart from not breaking 16/8 and keeping going to the gym on a 3 or 4 day split.

I've gone from 105.5kg to now about 103 and from mid to high 20's in terms of body fat percentage and am now just very slightly under 20%. I did start training seriously about a month before I started IF and did see some progress, but the fat loss has really sped up since doing IF.

This, really, would be the main benefits I would say to doing IF. Yes your stomach growls a bit from about 11-12 but who can say they've never had their stomach rumble on them? Overall it's been very rewarding and I couldn't recommend it enough :-)

redheaddee

As far as I understand, anything beyond black coffee or sugar free gum is breaking the fast.

Ooh, this may be a deal breaker. I cannot and will not give up my coffee, it is the one thing I will not compromise about. I switched to stevia to cut the sugar, but I gotta have some creamer.

Akimajuktuq

I intermittent fast most days every week. Yes, I do have my coffee with cream so some people will say it doesn't "count" but it does to me. However, there is still usually 12 hours of fasting before the coffee, and often 16 before I have food. I've never been one to enjoy eating until I have been up for many hours. I'm naturally that way. However, when I used to eat a high carb diet, intermittent fasting would lead to uncontrollable binging at night. Now that I eat a healthy diet with high fat, moderate protein, and very low carb, IF works AWESOME.

emilyerose

I currently enjoy fasting *occasionally*. I usually just go all-liquids, though. No food or high-calorie beverages. I usually do black coffee with Equal, or a herbal tea with Truvia or something in place of meals. Once a day, give yourself a 1/2 cup of some lean veggie (brocoli = FAVE!!), or put a lil milk in your tea/coffee. Not only does it taste good, but it keeps your body nourished adequately enough.

Occasionally fasting is actually proven to be good for your body. Cleans out your system and gives your digestive system a break, so your mind is often sharper, as it gets all the energy. The first two/three days of the fast are hardest, but stick it through and it gets better.

SuffolkSally

I must have been doing this for years unintentionally! As I rarely eat much before 1pm or after 9pm (the exceptions being sleepless nights) .I should think it mainly comes down to calorie input v calorie output, then beyond thta to your lifestyle and what happens in terms of meals to keep you feeling satisfied. I don't like big meals but graze and snack - that suits me, and now I've built this pattern into a calorie and macro nutrient plan and I'm logging, I'm seeing reasonable results.

To each his own - if you need a huge breakfast then have one, if eating small meals every few hours works for you do that, if you want to be able to eat big meals and choose to allocate your calories so you can, then IF is a way to control it by putting the consumption of those calories within a timeframe.