Intermittent Fasting

soTERRAble
soTERRAble Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I just want to know has anyone tried this type of diet or lifestyle and if so, what were your results? I have been doing my research on it, which I always do before I try something but I like to get personal opinions from anyone has been on it for a while. I want to know do you feel hungry on your fasting period and how long is your fasting and eating periods throughout the day(s)?
«1

Replies

  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    ur gonna get the same results as eating 6 meals a day... its just a method of eating that may be easier to do its not going to give you any hormonal boost or any nonsense like that... in the end its about macronutrient intake and caloric intake.

    meal timing is irrelevant just eat when you want to..

    me personally i eat 4 times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a post-workout meal)
  • DWCPHC
    DWCPHC Posts: 8
    We have a good book called "Fasting: the Ultmate Diet" by Allan Cott, M.D. which lays out a program for fasting as well as coming out of a fast. Drinking lots of water helps. He recommends that if you fast one whole day, spend the next day sipping a combination of orange juice and water. You need to be cleared by a doctor otherwise you can get very sick. Voice of experience.
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    12 lbs in 1.5 weeks with low carb diet eating 1000-1600 cals/day. Hunger disappeared by 3rd day...
  • DWCPHC
    DWCPHC Posts: 8
    P.S. You don't get hungry. You may get a slight headache but it's bearable and will go away.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    I unintentionally IF - I eat 5 meals/snacks between noon and 11pm every day. It is just how I get hungry.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Think of it like a different meal schedule.

    If it makes it easier to hit your calories/macros and gives you greater satiety and/or performance, do it.
    If it makes it harder to hit your calories/macros and gives you less satiety and/or performance don't do it.
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    12 lbs in 1.5 weeks with low carb diet eating 1000-1600 cals/day. Hunger disappeared by 3rd day...

    methinks you may not understand intermittent fasting
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Think of it like a different meal schedule.

    If it makes it easier to hit your calories/macros and gives you greater satiety and/or performance, do it.
    If it makes it harder to hit your calories/macros and gives you less satiety and/or performance don't do it.
    ^This. I love it and do it often now because it's just easier quicker and more convenient to make a gigantic calorific meal. If you think it's any different then breaking it into a bunch of smaller meals weight wise, it didn't have that effect on me and I'm not sure if that's mathematically possible.

    Also since you're female, you might be interested in reading this if you are looking for info on possible negative effects:
    https://www.marksdailyapple.com/women-and-intermittent-fasting/
  • envy09
    envy09 Posts: 353 Member
    I tried it for a day and loved it; I got to eat a big lunch and not worry about calories. However, I did a little more research and it doesn't work for women as well as it does for men. Something to do with hormones.
  • Ghkffb56
    Ghkffb56 Posts: 263 Member
    ur gonna get the same results as eating 6 meals a day... its just a method of eating that may be easier to do its not going to give you any hormonal boost or any nonsense like that... in the end its about macronutrient intake and caloric intake.

    meal timing is irrelevant just eat when you want to..

    me personally i eat 4 times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a post-workout meal)

    ^
  • SwimFan1981
    SwimFan1981 Posts: 1,430 Member
    This is a great BBC documentary about intermittent fasting and the results/benefits that you can achieve.

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.URHSe6WTOfQ
  • Annie120484
    Annie120484 Posts: 44 Member
    I know this might be a bonehead question, but isn't SLEEPING intermittent fasting? I have been having my last meal around 7pm, and I don't eat anything the rest of the night- wake up around 7, have my protein shake around 9:30... Boom, I fasted for 14.5 hours.
  • Kalbe17
    Kalbe17 Posts: 20 Member
    I haven't been doing it very long but I personally find it easier to manage what I'm eating calorie wise and nutrient wise when I'm only eating in a 4 or 5 hour window as opposed to snacking throughout the day.

    I fast from about 11PM to 6PM which is a 19 hour fast. I don't feel hungry until about 10 or 11AM after I've woken up. Then I'm only really feeling hungry until about 3PM and only when I'm not engaged. Because I have classes during the day, it's easy because I can focus on the lecture and not on my belly. Then once 6PM hits, I start off pretty slow because I don't want to overwhelm myself. If I start by eating lean proteins and vegetables, I am satiated pretty quickly and I pretty much just snack on fruits and nuts for the rest of the time. I also work out during or right after/before my eating period.

    Doing this just 3 times a week reduces overall calorie intake about 30% over the course of the week.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    I did leangains 16/8 strict protocol for about 5 months, but eventually ended up loosening the reigns. Now I do a modified version where the end of my feed is whenever I go to bed, and usually I don't eat anything until 2pm. Sometimes I have protein earlier than that. Now it's really just a 'skip breakfast' protocol for me. I found there to be no particular weight loss or performance benefits to the stricter fast vs. my modified version that firs my life more comfortably. Skipping breakfast has proven advantageous because it helps me stick to my calories with less hunger, and pretty much eliminated the food obsessions that I was developing with mini-meals (in 2 hours, what can I eat...then what's next, in 3 hrs after that? on my mind ALL DAY LONG). I get higher satiation from big meals, and I find it easier to balance my macros in a couple big meals than all day long.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    I know this might be a bonehead question, but isn't SLEEPING intermittent fasting? I have been having my last meal around 7pm, and I don't eat anything the rest of the night- wake up around 7, have my protein shake around 9:30... Boom, I fasted for 14.5 hours.

    Yeah, it is. Almost everyone who does it sleeps and then extends their fast for a few hours in the morning. The IF literature suggests that the benefits of fasting start with about a 14-hr fast though, so it's a bit longer than a normal person sleeps. Evidence is inconclusive about if those benefits are legitimate. But yes, most people do a short fast every night while sleeping.
  • babyblake11
    babyblake11 Posts: 1,107 Member
    the recommendation is a 14 hour fast but including a caffiene free tea with a tbsp of coconut oil as soon as you wake for women. in order to avoid negative affects. i have done it before but now im just trying to find an eating style that is individual to ME. because as everyone has said. meall timing is irrelevant mostly
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
    This is a great BBC documentary about intermittent fasting and the results/benefits that you can achieve.

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.URHSe6WTOfQ

    Thank you for posting this - I'd heard about it, but I couldn't access any of the other links. This one worked great and I found it well worth an hour of my time.

    Thanks!
  • AvalonAdelaide
    AvalonAdelaide Posts: 12
    I do it, but not excessively. Actually, IF was kind of the thing that kickstarted my interest in counting my calories and exercising.
    I don't believe in starving yourself but I do believe that it is important for people to actually feel hunger sometimes, especially in this day and age. Before I started proper dieting I couldn't remember the last time I had actually gone hungry (because I'd always have a little snack here or a little snack there + an extra helping of dinner) and I'd always end up bloated.

    IF has helped me to realise that sometimes when I eat it's not because I am hungry - it's just a habit.

    So yes, I am a fan of IF - not because of eating what amounts to basically nothing but because I think it is a good thing to know the feeling of going hungry for a little bit and recognising it for what it really is. Also, it helped me being better at actually paying attention to what I eat.

    It's not going to hurt you to do IF but if you really cannot do it then don't do it. For some people it works, for others it doesn't. No-one's going to smite you if you're not a fan and don't follow the rules to the tee.
  • elephant_in_the_room
    elephant_in_the_room Posts: 145 Member
    I just want to know has anyone tried this type of diet or lifestyle and if so, what were your results? I have been doing my research on it, which I always do before I try something but I like to get personal opinions from anyone has been on it for a while. I want to know do you feel hungry on your fasting period and how long is your fasting and eating periods throughout the day(s)?
    Thanks for asking! I have done intermittent fasting twice in my life. I always did it to mean: eat only every other day. Fast the days in between.
    The first time I did it when I was 18 and sick of being overweight. I lost 13.5 kg in about 10 weeks. I stopped it because I was down to normal weight and started to feel starved, starting to eat unhealthy and too much on the 'eat' days.
    The second time was just this January. I didn't do it quite religiously, I used to have coffee with a little bit of milk on fasting days, and sometimes even a salad, a handful of grapes. After all, my Physio had told me to eat 65g of protein a day, a goal that I was certainly not reaching. I did it to get over the Christmas period where I had eaten too much. I lost only about 3 kg or thereabouts, but I was already normal weight to begin with -- I am just trying to get back to what I was when I could still run, which my Physio is currently forbidding me.
    It's different - sometimes gorgeous, not hungry at all, or only late at night. Once I woke at night from hunger. Sometimes not just hungry, but really starved, as if my body wasn't getting enough. That was the time for the handful of grapes, and more coffee with milk.
    I don't get hungry in the mornings, which helps, and even less so if I have eaten well the night before.
    I have now modified it: every other day is a fruit-and-veg only day. At least I try.
  • marcharing
    marcharing Posts: 14
    I've been kind of following leangains for a couple of years now and it works for me big time. Sometimes I will have a brekkie, lunch hardly ever usually I will go about 20 hours between meals. After about 4.00PM the hunger if anything subsides and it really isn't ever that bad. Often I will actually go 24 hours between meals.

    It works for me, in fact it is the first time in my life I got to around the magic 10%BF and I am 52.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    I do 20/4 and I love it. I start eating around 7pm and eat until 11pm. The hunger during the day stops after about a week. Now I'm never hungry during the day and my energy levels are totally fine.
  • george29223
    george29223 Posts: 556 Member
    never clicked so fast in my life .......my bad thought it said fisting
  • delonda1
    delonda1 Posts: 525 Member
    i do 1-2 24 hr IF and do BCAA 3-4scoops during that period not to tamper with muscle mass and green tea and a gallon of water.

    I love it. I always feel amazing the next day
  • BelindaDuvessa
    BelindaDuvessa Posts: 1,014 Member
    I honestly didn't realize until recently, but this is how I eat. I generally don't eat until I've been at work for at least 3 hours, and sometimes closer to 4 (I work 12 hour shifts). And I wake up about 2 hours before work. I stop eating as soon as I get home. So I have about 14-16 hours in a day, depending on the day, where I'm not eating. I can't say as I love or hate it. I never actually knew that's what I was doing but I haven't had a problem with it.

    Hunger isn't usually a problem at work. At home, it can be, but not always. It really depends on how much I'm moving around or how bored I am in general. With 4 kids, I don't get bored alot, except when I have to stay up at night, like I am right now.
  • stratigou
    stratigou Posts: 5
    Hi! Ive been doing IF for a few weeks now and think it's the best thing since fried bread! Have lost almost a stone since beginning of Jan and feel great. I don't feel hungry on fast days but some people do. It gets better every time you do it. It's certainly the easiest way I've found of losing weight, so I should give it a go!!
  • kitoi
    kitoi Posts: 16 Member
    I've been doing a Lean Gains and Eat Stop Eat fasting for just over 2yrs. great for controlling callorie intake and getting results.
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
    Hi! Ive been doing IF for a few weeks now and think it's the best thing since fried bread! Have lost almost a stone since beginning of Jan and feel great. I don't feel hungry on fast days but some people do. It gets better every time you do it. It's certainly the easiest way I've found of losing weight, so I should give it a go!!

    Yeah, me too. I'm doing the alternate day fasting (modified = 500 cals on down days) since 1 Jan and I'm down 20 lbs since then.

    It is, for me, a super easy way to get a calorie deficit. Oddly, I almost have more energy on down days (after the first 2 or 3) and get a lot of work done.
  • sundaywishes
    sundaywishes Posts: 246 Member
    ... Skipping breakfast has proven advantageous because it helps me stick to my calories with less hunger, and pretty much eliminated the food obsessions that I was developing with mini-meals (in 2 hours, what can I eat...then what's next, in 3 hrs after that? on my mind ALL DAY LONG). I get higher satiation from big meals, and I find it easier to balance my macros in a couple big meals than all day long.

    ^ All of this, especially bolded....I'm doing 14.5/9.5 on weekdays (just how it works with my job) and somewhere around 18/6 on weekends.
  • AKDonF
    AKDonF Posts: 235 Member
    :smile: Leangains is amazing. It may not be for everyone, but I have strong opinions on the results and I have tried a LOT of different strategies. Willing to give opinions and help if others want help/support.

    -Don
  • Yeller_Sensation
    Yeller_Sensation Posts: 373 Member
    16:8 here. The first week was rough because I used to eat 5 small meals a day for almost a year. Switched to IF for practical reasons, i.e. I don't have to log as much and I need to hit all my macros in only two big meals.

    I like IF and it's a sustainable lifestyle for me. :flowerforyou:

Categories