Intermittent Fasting...

justjenny

I have spent the last hour researching this, but I am still confused. If you eat for 8 hours and fast for 16.... do you still have a day each week where you eat nothing for 24 hours? Also, one of the notes on the IF group page said that women who plan to get pregnant should not eat this way. If this is a better way of eating for your health...why would that m
be? Sorry if these sound like dumb questions...but I am not grasping this as quickly as I thought I would....

Trueray

You would eat 8 hours and fast 16 hours everyday no 24 hours fast. 24 hour IF is another type of intermittent fasting. There are various types of IF's routine that an individual can chose. As for the pregnant thing, you are supporting life in you and in order for that life to grow and be healthy you need to eat frequently or the unborn child will have complications or possibly die from starvation.

justjenny

Thanks. I guess the thing I don't get is if I start eating at 7 am and eat dinner at 5 pm, how would that be dangerous? It 's more or less my schedule...except some nights I eat dinner at 6 or 7 depending....

SarahSmilesCA

These are NOT dumb questions at all. IF is not a perfect science. And for women the results are all over the map. I have had great success with it, so have many of my friends. HOWEVER you go on line and you will find women who have had trouble with it, especially women in childbearing years.

So let's start with your first question: Is it bad to do while pregnant? My answer would be no one probably knows right now but I would not risk it. You have different energy needs when you are with child and so does your baby during this time. With that being said, I went on a low carb South Beach diet when I was pregnant years ago and had two perfectly healthy babies. My doctor said it was a great diet for pregnant women.

Also for many women IF 16/8 is too long of a fasting window and some fall into low blood sugar issues. Leangains recommends no more than a 14/10 for women who are nearly to goal. And as far as 5:2 I would not even consider it. 500 calories on your fast day is gambling with your baby's health. IF is intended to put STRESS on your body to get it to perform, your body will not respond well to stress during pregnancy.

I think most of these hormonal and blood sugar issues that causes problems with women doing IF need more research to get a clear picture of the over all affects to younger women...but for me keeping my carb levels below 100 nearly always prevents me from spiking and dropping blood sugar issue. When I feel low blood sugar I eat a few rice crackers to address the immediate problem but then I lower my over all carb intake the next couple of days and it seems to fix the problem.

Here is the thought why women may not do as well with IF as men. We came from a hunter history, and there were times of fasting due to lack of food supply, especially for men. However since women were often pregnant this was not as much of a factor in their development. In other words women did not fast as often as men did so IF is not as easy for them to adapt to.

I don't what I think about that, other than it is a lot of conjecture. I feel great doing an IF 16/8, however if I was trying to get pregnant or was I would NOT do it. My morning sickness alone lasted nearly 7 months and rice crackers in the mornings were the only thing that allowed me to get up and go. Any type of stress during pregnancy can have really unforeseen consequences. I just would not be willing to experiment that way with my baby.

SarahSmilesCA

Also please note that with IF you are expected to TRAIN in a fasted state...and for most people the schedule is from 8 or 9 pm to 1 pm the NEXT day.... 7 am to 5 pm is pretty normal eating...I know some say it is IF but I wouldn't consider it because you are sleeping during the fasting time and therefore using less energy...but hey that is just my feelings...I have had people email me here and tell me that is how they are doing it and they call it IF...whatever, if it works for them, more power to them

SarahSmilesCA

Sorry one more thing. There are many different kinds of IF 5:2 and 16:8 are just two different types of IF. 5:2 you eat at maintenance TDEE for five days and fast (eat 500 calories) for two days. 16:8 you fast for 16 hrs during the evening to the next morning day, train during that fasted state and have an 8 hr feeding window. During that feeding window you shoot for 20 % over TDEE on lifting days and 20% under on cardio and rest days. You also adjust macro nurtrients for your own needs, but many people start with a 40:40:40 ratio to start and adjust from there. Like less carbs or less fat on certain training days.

Yes some people mix them up. Some are die hard fans of one type. There are a lot of ways to do IF and see results.

ecw3780

It is bad while you are pregnant because you should not be trying to lose weight while you are pregnant.

bornleader79

I personally IF 7 days a week 16:8 12pm-8pm I LOVE IT!

Snow3y

I wouldn't... ever heard the saying, what comes easy will come back just as easy? Tried it, wasn't worth it

chrisdavey

It is bad while you are pregnant because you should not be trying to lose weight while you are pregnant.

IFing doesn't mean you are in a calorie deficit.

I still wouldn't be trying to lose weight with whatever meal frequency while pregnant though.


Also, fasted training is optional for LG method.

Markguns

I have spent the last hour researching this, but I am still confused. If you eat for 8 hours and fast for 16.... do you still have a day each week where you eat nothing for 24 hours? Also, one of the notes on the IF group page said that women who plan to get pregnant should not eat this way. If this is a better way of eating for your health...why would that m
be? Sorry if these sound like dumb questions...but I am not grasping this as quickly as I thought I would....

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
-- Bruce Lee --
:bigsmile:

justjenny

Thanks all for your input. I am not pregant at the moment. I just want to lose about 20 pounds before that happens. I am 40, and my thyroid level was slightly elevated recently. I have to recheck again at the end of June, and I was hoping I could lose most of the weight by then. I do have 6 weeks after all....I would hope I could drop at least 10 of it by then....right?

If I do the 12/12...(or the 14/10 is it?) Would that be a safe place to start? I just want to drop weight and be at my absolute healthiest before getting pregnant. I would never diet if I got pregant.

I could workout in the evenings....so if I start eating at 7am and eat until 7pm...should I work out at 8:00? Does that sound right? I really appreciate all the info you have given me, and I really look forward to trying this. I am currently on my second week of carb cycling, and from what I understand, the two can work together nicely....have I heard correctly?

55in13

Getting weight off is all about calorie deficit. IF is one way that works for some people. I do it sometimes because it does work for me. If I skip a meal or two, I can just continue eating at the next meal like normal. Some people fail using IF because it is really easy to justify more food after the fasting interval and you can end up totalling too many calories. Try eating a normal dinner, not having any night time snacks, skip breakfast and have a normal lunch. If you take your lunch, make it ahead of time like right after dinner when you aren't hungry. You won't be as tempted to slip in extra. Exercising while fasting does make the fasting easier for a lot of people. There is no proven science to say that when you eat and when you exercise during the day makes any difference as long as you consume less than you use to lose weight.

justjenny

Thanks. Can anyone tell me how many calories I should consume? I usesd an IF calculator that was suggested on the group page, and it came out to 11717 calories weekly. Does that sound about right?

55in13

Thanks. Can anyone tell me how many calories I should consume? I usesd an IF calculator that was suggested on the group page, and it came out to 11717 calories weekly. Does that sound about right?

That's 1673 a day. Depends on your other factors. That is more than I eat, but I am losing at the high end of healthy, bordering on too fast. I would have guessed 1500 or so...

justjenny

Thanks. Can anyone tell me how many calories I should consume? I usesd an IF calculator that was suggested on the group page, and it came out to 11717 calories weekly. Does that sound about right?

That's 1673 a day. Depends on your other factors. That is more than I eat, but I am losing at the high end of healthy, bordering on too fast. I would have guessed 1500 or so...

Right now I am at 1600. How does it work with IF? Is it eat more to lose? Or should I drop down to 1500?

55in13

Right now I am at 1600. How does it work with IF? Is it eat more to lose? Or should I drop down to 1500?

It is never "eat more to lose". There is no point at which eating less will reduce your calorie deficit. There is a point at which your metabolism will begin to drop slightly and gradually but it will never "cross zero". Some people seem to believe it will, but no study has ever found such a point. And it is impossible to make the "eat more to lose" idea work if it never "crosses zero". However, it is very possible to want to prove that it is so badly enough to very firmly stick to calories below what you burn in a day and begin losing weight. Whatever it takes, whatever/whoever you want to believe is fine as long as you eat less than you burn and eat enough to stay healthy.

justjenny

Right now I am at 1600. How does it work with IF? Is it eat more to lose? Or should I drop down to 1500?

It is never "eat more to lose". There is no point at which eating less will reduce your calorie deficit. There is a point at which your metabolism will begin to drop slightly and gradually but it will never "cross zero". Some people seem to believe it will, but no study has ever found such a point. And it is impossible to make the "eat more to lose" idea work if it never "crosses zero". However, it is very possible to want to prove that it is so badly enough to very firmly stick to calories below what you burn in a day and begin losing weight. Whatever it takes, whatever/whoever you want to believe is fine as long as you eat less than you burn and eat enough to stay healthy.

"As long as you eat less than you burn and eat enough to stay healthy."
This seems like the best advice I have heard in awhile....thanks!

momzeeee

I did alternate day IF for my weight loss, which means I alternated between low calorie fasting days and normal calorie days (it's also called JUDDD). That's probably the strictest form of IF, since you really reduce calories (under 500) every other day, (flip side is you eat as you please every other day). After that is the 5:2 or 4:3 plans, which have 2-3 low calorie IF days a week. Then you have eating windows, which do not restrict calories-you just eat your normal (or mfp allotted) calories during a certain period each day, usually a 5, 8 or 10 hour window. The rest of the time you don't eat/only drink non-calorie drinks. There's health benefits connected to all of the different formats, you just have to figure out what works best for you and your goals.

Now that I'm in maintenance I'm experimenting with the 8 hour eating window

Couple books to get you started-
The Alternate Day Diet by Dr. James Johnson
The Fast Diet by Michael Mosley

Both have good websites too-google JUDDD to find Dr. Johnson's site or the 5:2 diet to find Dr. Mosleys.

justjenny

Thanks for the info. I am thinking of starting with the 8 or 10 hour window...and seeing what happens.


Edited to add... How long did it take to start seeing results from IF?

Wetcoaster

This is one of the best sites for IF....lots of great info there.......

http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

momzeeee

Thanks for the info. I am thinking of starting with the 8 or 10 hour window...and seeing what happens.


Edited to add... How long did it take to start seeing results from IF?

It depends on which one you do-with eating windows it's not necessarily a weight loss plan, since you're still eating your normal, allotted calories-just during a certain period of time everyday.

With the restricted calorie IF plans (alternate day, 5:2 and 4:3), it will just depend on the person. I lost around 40lbs from end of October to the beginning of March, with alternate day IF. That included taking a couple weeks off for the Christmas holidays and eating as I wanted through several Christmas parties Also, with these plans you're only fasting/dieting every other day or 2-3 days a week and then eating normal amounts of calories the other days, so you can't really compare it to other plans where you restrict calories every day. It's an unconventional way to lose weight, but I had great success with it Also, I had blood work done after doing alternate day IF for several months and my numbers all came back really good, including I was no longer pre-diabetic

55in13

How long did it take to start seeing results from IF?

For me, IF = IG (Instant Gratification). The reason I cautioned about not justifying eating more right after IF is that for me it translates pretty immediately to the scale at the next weigh in if I don't allow myself to go over. But I am very strict about making sure I only eat my normal diet the rest of the day and don't over indulge. IF is not easy to do, at least not for me, so I feel pretty strongly about "protecting my investment". Flip side is don't starve yourself all the time. It's a little booster rocket you can fire only intermittently. It could very easily lead to unhealthy habits. I do not lose even amounts each day. The day after IF is pretty reliably a slightly lower reading that will stick if I keep to the normal diet again.

55in13

This is one of the best sites for IF....lots of great info there.......

http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

I followed the link and read some of his other stuff. I love this article:

http://www.leangains.com/2010/01/marshmallow-test.html

I need to get to that point. I still see the marshmallow right now.

55in13

running monologue continues...

Thinking about this a little more, it occurred to me that I should note that there are several "styles" of IF and I think there is one major distinction between approaches to it. In the leangains and other highly scheduled IF models, you account for all your calories around the fast period. The other approach is to to have a more normal diet planned for meals and snacks through the day, not accounting for any fasting period and fasting for an interval every few days without any adjustment. The latter is what I do. There are two old diet myths that this flies in the face of. The first is that skipping meals is bad. Lots of science has proved this just isn't true. I have people tell me all the time that "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" to which I reply "Did you seriously just quote a McDonald's commercial as nutritional advice?". The other concerns VLC diets. It has been pretty well proven that lots of people thrive on diets that include periods of VLC and the debate about whether or not VLC diets even extend age rages on. I would absolutely not recommend an extended diet of under 1000 calories day after day. But throwing one in every now and then when you are healthy and trying to drop weight is simple and effective, if you can do it and just carry on again as normal afterward. Anyway, I just wanted to explain my comment about seeing the effect pretty much right away on the scale.

musketdude

Your mixing alot of IF diets together, since the information is a bit overwhelming on the internet.

The 16 hr thing is leangains

24 hr fasts once or twice a week is eat stop eat.

Leangains is free, and eat stop eat is a paid program both are great regardless.

Here is the free guide for leangains: http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

musketdude

Forgot to mention their is the warrior diet, but thats way too intense for me lol.

tiggy73

I know many of you are doing the 16/8 fasting. What kind of weight loss results are you achieving?