Intermittent Fasting? - Sorry if this isn't new

anaboneana
anaboneana Posts: 195 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay... So, I'm not really sure what intermittent fasting is all about. Could someone please explain it to me? Or, at least, direct to somewhere where I can learn about it. If you do it, would you recommend it for others? What have your own results been? Do you ever feel weak/tired doing it? How long do you fast for?

Sorry... I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times. But I'm having troubles finding resources to turn to.

Thanks so much for your help!

Replies

  • Kbjust4me
    Kbjust4me Posts: 22
    bump
  • bonjour24
    bonjour24 Posts: 1,119 Member
    click on the 'search' button- it's just above your initial post, next to home- recent posts- my topics- settings- search.
    type 'intermittent fasting' in there.
    it gives over 50 pages of responses, so hopefully you'll find something useful in there!
    i do IF- i can't eat when i'm sleeping!
  • marekdds
    marekdds Posts: 2,233 Member
    Some like it and seem to find it useful. I lost plenty of weight w/o starving myself. Different strokes for different folks.
  • Ghkffb56
    Ghkffb56 Posts: 263 Member
    http://www.drsarasolomon.com/screw-breakfast/ maybe this will help a little. i like it ..beats eating 6 meals a day.. like i was doing before.. when i thought that was the only way i would get fit..
  • anaboneana
    anaboneana Posts: 195 Member
    http://www.drsarasolomon.com/screw-breakfast/ maybe this will help a little. i like it ..beats eating 6 meals a day.. like i was doing before.. when i thought that was the only way i would get fit..

    ok.. so.. you can skip breakfast (and lunch) then eat a majority of your daily calories in the evening? am i understanding that correctly? that's what intermittent fasting is... not taking complete days off from eating? or can you do that, too?

    and wouldn't not eating breakfast make you sluggish?
  • anaboneana
    anaboneana Posts: 195 Member
    Some like it and seem to find it useful. I lost plenty of weight w/o starving myself. Different strokes for different folks.

    it doesn't seem like you're "starving" yourself... it just seems like you're... holding back from eating?? taking some time to let the hunger sink in, rather than eating when you think you should be eating - due to the habit of eating 3+ meals a day from a young age (not necessarily when your own body thinks it needs fuel)
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Some like it and seem to find it useful. I lost plenty of weight w/o starving myself. Different strokes for different folks.

    Most people who practice IF are likely eating more than people using MFP's defaults, just sayin.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Okay... So, I'm not really sure what intermittent fasting is all about. Could someone please explain it to me? Or, at least, direct to somewhere where I can learn about it. If you do it, would you recommend it for others? What have your own results been? Do you ever feel weak/tired doing it? How long do you fast for?

    Sorry... I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times. But I'm having troubles finding resources to turn to.

    Thanks so much for your help!

    Please start with www.leangains.com and look up 16/8 intermittent fasting.

    It's not for everyone but it's certainly not starvation.

    Someone who practices a 16/8 IF will typically skip breakfast, eat something around lunch time/afternoon, and eat a buttload of food before bed. The first few days can be tricky but eventually you'll get some adaptation with hunger signaling (ghrelin) and it will become very easy to get through the fasted portion.

    Anyways, it's not magic, it's just a different meal frequency/timing that has you generally eating larger meals but less snacking/etc.
  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
    Okay... So, I'm not really sure what intermittent fasting is all about. Could someone please explain it to me? Or, at least, direct to somewhere where I can learn about it. If you do it, would you recommend it for others? What have your own results been? Do you ever feel weak/tired doing it? How long do you fast for?

    Sorry... I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times. But I'm having troubles finding resources to turn to.

    Thanks so much for your help!

    Please start with www.leangains.com and look up 16/8 intermittent fasting.

    It's not for everyone but it's certainly not starvation.

    Someone who practices a 16/8 IF will typically skip breakfast, eat something around lunch time/afternoon, and eat a buttload of food before bed. The first few days can be tricky but eventually you'll get some adaptation with hunger signaling (ghrelin) and it will become very easy to get through the fasted portion.

    Anyways, it's not magic, it's just a different meal frequency/timing that has you generally eating larger meals but less snacking/etc.

    ^^^^^ this - study up on leangains if you are interested in following IF.

    Personally I eat "breakfast" at 11am - lunch around 3pm and dinner after my training at7pm - and then "fast" 16 hrs till " breakfast"
  • kandilynn03
    kandilynn03 Posts: 110 Member
    Wow. So that's what it's called. I hate breakfast. Trying to lose weight I begrudgingly eat breakfast, but it sucks. Back in high school, I wouldn't eat at all until after school, and I lost around 40 pounds around that time. But everybody thought my eating was unhealthy, and even now, I force myself to eat something when I'm not really hungry and it kind of makes me nauseous and then 20 minutes later I'm ravenous.

    I'm definitely going to look in to this intermittent fasting thing.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Wow. So that's what it's called. I hate breakfast. Trying to lose weight I begrudgingly eat breakfast, but it sucks. Back in high school, I wouldn't eat at all until after school, and I lost around 40 pounds around that time. But everybody thought my eating was unhealthy, and even now, I force myself to eat something when I'm not really hungry and it kind of makes me nauseous and then 20 minutes later I'm ravenous.

    I'm definitely going to look in to this intermittent fasting thing.

    Even if you don't look into it, if you really feel that way about breakfast I would stop eating it immediately. See how you feel.

    NOTE: I am not suggesting you eat less food. I am suggesting you skip breakfast, and eat those calories later in the day or at night. Keep your totals the same, just move that breakfast meal to evening or afternoon or wherever the heck you WANT to eat it, rather than eating a meal you truly don't want to eat.
  • pullipgirl
    pullipgirl Posts: 767 Member
    Some like it and seem to find it useful. I lost plenty of weight w/o starving myself. Different strokes for different folks.

    you aren't "starving" yourself during IF you still eat the same amount of calories you would any other day just in 2-3 larger meals instead of 5 - 6 tiny mini meals.
  • pullipgirl
    pullipgirl Posts: 767 Member

    Personally I eat "breakfast" at 11am - lunch around 3pm and dinner after my training at7pm - and then "fast" 16 hrs till " breakfast"

    This is how I do it too, sometimes if throw in a few 24 hour fasts depending on how I'm feeling
  • KBSwinger_deleted
    KBSwinger_deleted Posts: 2
    I eat post workout usually 6am -10am then just coffee/green tea/water or some whey during my fast. Its alot easier to to say no to food then trying to stop eating food.

    As SideSteel says its not magic and its not for everyone or for every lifestyle... Have found its harder around family and friends but alot easier when I am working so I try to keep that balance where I IF during the week and dont on weekends.

    http//www.fast-5.com
    http://www.eatstopeat.com
    http://www.leangains.com
    http://www.warriordiet.com
    http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting
    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-intermittent-fasting/#axzz2B8FReg6Y
  • _Tuyana_
    _Tuyana_ Posts: 83 Member
    http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html <<<< that's the link to the guide to Leangains protocol for intermittent fasting. I find that it suits my lifestyle the best.

    The first month on MFP I dropped 1% body fat in 4 weeks (went from 29% to 28%) with body fat to lean mass loss ratio 6:1.
    Last month i started following leangains and after 4 weeks I dropped 2% of body fat and retained all my lean body mass, even gained a little bit (70g) which I'm really stoked about. It's hard for me to lose body fat (I'm already in the lower part of the healthy BMI range).
  • KBSwinger_deleted
    KBSwinger_deleted Posts: 2
    Eating my calories around workouts has been one of the best things I have done! In a way if I don't workout I don't get to eat ;)
  • ChasingStarlight
    ChasingStarlight Posts: 424 Member
    I love IF, I do 16.8 and 5:2. I find I eat much more nutritiously as you plan and eat healthy larger meals rather than snacks. I have dropped a fair bit of bf% eating the same cals as before. I find it easier to not eat at some times then eat more at others, rather than having the whole day like a buffet. I am at my goal weight but I still do IF, I just eat maintenance cals. There is no starving, you get used to it and I feel little hunger until right before I eat.
  • medoria
    medoria Posts: 673 Member
    There is a group here on MFP called Intermittent fasting. Join it. A lot of useful info and stickys.

    And to the idiots spreading this **** about IF beeing starving yourself, STFU.
  • beattie1
    beattie1 Posts: 1,012 Member
    There may be a bit of confusion here as there is another approach to dieting which is sometimes lumped in with IF. This is Alternate Day Fasting. There are variations such as the Johnson Up Day Down Day Diet (http://www.johnsonupdaydowndaydiet.com/html/how-to-do-the-diet.html) where you eat very low calories on one day (down day) followed by a feed day (up day) where you eat considerably more. Believe it or not, this pattern of eating is good for your metabolism if it suits you.

    I do the 5:2 diet where you eat 500 calories if you are a woman (600 if you are a man) on 2 separated days (not consecutive) and eat enough healthy food not to feel hungry on the other 5. It's an easier version of the JUDDDD.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfna7nV7WaM
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/9480451/The-52-diet-can-it-help-you-lose-weight-and-live-longer.html

    I think that's where the reference above to "Starving yourself" comes from. If you look at the week's calorie intake it probably averages out the same, but it's split up differently, a bit like calorie cycling or zigzagging.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    http://rippedbody.jp This guy Andy breaks things down into tiny bite size chunks of easy to follow info about IF and leangains.
    Good info and website.

    I prefer to IF when cutting because it allows me to eat larger meals and I dont feel hungry all day.
    I used to follow the 6 meal a day frequency but now its more like 2-3 meals a day.
    I do the 5:2 diet where you eat 500 calories if you are a woman (600 if you are a man) on 2 separated days (not consecutive) and eat enough healthy food not to feel hungry on the other 5. It's an easier version of the JUDDDD.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfna7nV7WaM
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/9480451/The-52-diet-can-it-help-you-lose-weight-and-live-longer.html

    I think it needs to be said that if you are following a 5:2 protocol that you eat at or near TDEE on regular days and create the weekly deficit using the ADF.
    So a person who is dieting regularly would have a TDEE ie:2500 and cut 20-30% off that daily giving them 1700-2k a day to cut fat.
    ADF would have them eating 2500 daily except on the fasted days where they would eat 2500 then stop at about 7pm, not eat till 7pm the next day where they eat a regular 500cal meal.
  • obeserat
    obeserat Posts: 218 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/695972-intermittent-farting?hl=intermittent+farting
  • shiftysheep
    shiftysheep Posts: 44 Member
    I used IF, it helped me get down to around 10% body fat & now it's helping me stay close to 10% body fat while bulking. I eat generally in a 4-6 hour eating window, at the minute it's 1pm-7pm & I eat 3500 calories in this eating window. But when I was losing weight I so eating 1pm-5pm, a four hour eating window & I would drop 1 eating window a week. So it would end up been a 36 hour fast once a week.
  • ahoier
    ahoier Posts: 312 Member
    When I first heard "fasting" diets....I was like huh? what? No food for 12 hours? ARGHH! But really....if you think about it....it's not all that bad.....

    A buddy of mine mentioned his fast to me......he does a 12-hour fast EVERY DAY......basically, he shoots for a 10 p.m. bed time (college student....so he's got early classes), we've all heard about "not eating before bed" since you body supposidely slows down digestion during sleep or something.......soooooo.....he does not eat ANYTHING (only 0 calorie stuff.....basically, water) after 7 p.m......So, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the only thing he consumes is water ;)


    Really....it's not all that bad.....I've done it a couple days already.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    http://www.paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/

    This might be worth a read. I don't do IF but I read this on another thread yesterday. It's about how IF may not work as well for women as it does for men, and why that might be the case. Spoiler alert-- hormones.

    Again, I'm not able to vouch for the validity of this because I don't do IF, but it seems worth a mention.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    Some like it and seem to find it useful. I lost plenty of weight w/o starving myself. Different strokes for different folks.

    People who do IF are not starving themselves.
  • shiftysheep
    shiftysheep Posts: 44 Member
    QUOTE:

    Some like it and seem to find it useful. I lost plenty of weight w/o starving myself. Different strokes for different folks.


    People who do IF are not starving themselves.

    The person who posted that put w/o, this mean without. "I lost plenty of weight w/o (without) starving myself. Different strokes for different folks."
  • pullipgirl
    pullipgirl Posts: 767 Member
    http://www.paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/

    This might be worth a read. I don't do IF but I read this on another thread yesterday. It's about how IF may not work as well for women as it does for men, and why that might be the case. Spoiler alert-- hormones.

    Again, I'm not able to vouch for the validity of this because I don't do IF, but it seems worth a mention.

    I follow a plan like this and have seen great results:
    http://eatstopeatinsider.com/intermittent-fasting-for-women

    If I ever feel the need to snack I will snack on some dried berries but most of the time I have no appetite at all.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    QUOTE:

    Some like it and seem to find it useful. I lost plenty of weight w/o starving myself. Different strokes for different folks.


    People who do IF are not starving themselves.

    The person who posted that put w/o, this mean without. "I lost plenty of weight w/o (without) starving myself. Different strokes for different folks."

    The sentence was ambiguous: I thought the poster meant s/he lost weight without starving herself [and without doing IF].

    In any event, people who are doing IF are not starving themselves. They are not seeking to eat an extraordinarily low amount of calories. They're merely shifting their eating times.

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