Intermittent fasting friends!

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  • FeebRyan
    FeebRyan Posts: 738 Member
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    Here's a little clarity on 5:2

    The point of the 500 cal is that you are fasting from dinner one day until dinner the next (24hrs). During that 24hrs you can only have water/plain tea/black coffee. When you eat dinner that night, it is suggested that you eat a normal sized meal (rather than gorge) which for a woman, who would normally eat 3 meals a day with one or two snacks, is ~500 cal. You are not suppose to eat 500 cal stretched out over that 24hr fast period, since that is NOT fasting. I see a lot of confused "fasters" do this and eat small snacks all day. I believe the confusion comes from a thinking that 5:2 is all about cutting calories (eating only 500 cal x two days is around a 3000 cal restriction each week, and you can then eat at maintenance the other five days) and not realizing that the purpose is actually the fasting part, while the calorie deficit is just a perk.

    I don't get the fasting while eating thing either, but I also don't make sure my meals are exactly 500 calories when I break my fast

    I love fasting, it makes me feel fuller for longer and had given me a much better relationship with food. Tomorrow I will have a big breakfast/lunch and then fast for 24 hours completely, nothing but water and green tea. I do this twice or three times a week
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Sometimes I skip breakfast. But that is due to intermittent laziness.
  • CoachTommyB
    CoachTommyB Posts: 43
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    Here's a little clarity on 5:2

    The point of the 500 cal is that you are fasting from dinner one day until dinner the next (24hrs). During that 24hrs you can only have water/plain tea/black coffee. When you eat dinner that night, it is suggested that you eat a normal sized meal (rather than gorge) which for a woman, who would normally eat 3 meals a day with one or two snacks, is ~500 cal. You are not suppose to eat 500 cal stretched out over that 24hr fast period, since that is NOT fasting. I see a lot of confused "fasters" do this and eat small snacks all day. I believe the confusion comes from a thinking that 5:2 is all about cutting calories (eating only 500 cal x two days is around a 3000 cal restriction each week, and you can then eat at maintenance the other five days) and not realizing that the purpose is actually the fasting part, while the calorie deficit is just a perk.

    I don't get the fasting while eating thing either, but I also don't make sure my meals are exactly 500 calories when I break my fast

    I love fasting, it makes me feel fuller for longer and had given me a much better relationship with food. Tomorrow I will have a big breakfast/lunch and then fast for 24 hours completely, nothing but water and green tea. I do this twice or three times a week

    Do you ladies, ever do 2 days in a row of fasting? I hear some people do that and really like it, it seems a little intimidating. I did a 21 hour fast just the other day and it was not hard but, 48 hours would be definitely harder.
  • FeebRyan
    FeebRyan Posts: 738 Member
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    Here's a little clarity on 5:2

    The point of the 500 cal is that you are fasting from dinner one day until dinner the next (24hrs). During that 24hrs you can only have water/plain tea/black coffee. When you eat dinner that night, it is suggested that you eat a normal sized meal (rather than gorge) which for a woman, who would normally eat 3 meals a day with one or two snacks, is ~500 cal. You are not suppose to eat 500 cal stretched out over that 24hr fast period, since that is NOT fasting. I see a lot of confused "fasters" do this and eat small snacks all day. I believe the confusion comes from a thinking that 5:2 is all about cutting calories (eating only 500 cal x two days is around a 3000 cal restriction each week, and you can then eat at maintenance the other five days) and not realizing that the purpose is actually the fasting part, while the calorie deficit is just a perk.

    I don't get the fasting while eating thing either, but I also don't make sure my meals are exactly 500 calories when I break my fast

    I love fasting, it makes me feel fuller for longer and had given me a much better relationship with food. Tomorrow I will have a big breakfast/lunch and then fast for 24 hours completely, nothing but water and green tea. I do this twice or three times a week

    Do you ladies, ever do 2 days in a row of fasting? I hear some people do that and really like it, it seems a little intimidating. I did a 21 hour fast just the other day and it was not hard but, 48 hours would be definitely harder.

    On Thursday I started fasting, finished Friday afternoon and then had a small lunch and dinner, then due to a massive mental health disturbance, I ended up not eating until 25hrs after that, so Saturday late late evening. That was the closest to a consecutive day fast I have done but obviously I ate I between them.

    I would like to, at some point, try a three day water fast just to see if I can do it but it seems really hard.
  • MelanieSkittle
    MelanieSkittle Posts: 43 Member
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    It's personal choice I guess, but I've picked Mondays and Thursdays for myself.
  • Willowana
    Willowana Posts: 493 Member
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    I'm just starting to do the ESE method. So far, it's been pretty easy to meet the 24 hr fast without killing anyone. I've only done 2 fasts last week, so it's too soon to judge any benefits from it. I'm going to try it out for the next 3 months and monitor my progress against the last 3 months of my normal way of eating.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,783 Member
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    A cautionary word for anyone thinking of going down the intermittent fasting route.

    This hasn't worked for me at all and there are suggestions emerging that it's not always a good idea for women*.

    I haven't found it difficult to stick to 500 calories on fast days and have worked out some good, very low calorie meals. However, I have slept poorly on fast nights, I have gained weight (not much, but still) and I have become increasingly preoccupied with food. I've also had to work my running regime around fast days - I'm not one of those people who can run for miles without fuel.

    I took up the IMF more as a cancer prevention strategy than for weight loss but I've reluctantly admitted that my overall health and wellbeing isn't being served well by this regime. The most uncomfortable effect is the psychological one - I feel like I'm losing the plot with normal eating on non-fast days, which I guess explains the weight gain.

    I've hung in there for about 6 months because the science is persuasive. I certainly haven't felt unwell on it and I'm definitely not anti giving it a try. My husband has lost weight and seen his cholestrol level fall so I'll continue to support him with it.

    *http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/373665/Caveman-fasting-diet-may-leave-women-diabetic

    First of all your supposed to eat your same calories on your fast days not 500. Going past 18 hours burns 600 calories so no need to NOT eat all your calories. I'm doing 20:4 or 18:6, whatever is good for me that day, and I eat all my calories everyday. And I think the risk of being obese is more a risk factor for diabetes than fasting. I'm doing this so I don't get all those "fat" people diseases. Already had sleep apnea and the rest were just waiting to happen. Now I don't even have sleep apnea so for me it's a win win. Why would you only eat 500 calories on your fast days? I'm not understanding why you cut them down on those days. Even when I did 24 hour fasts I still ate all my calories, but I'm finding I like the 20:4 or 18:6 much better than 24 hour ones because I can do it everyday and it works for me.
  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
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    Whats this? How does it work

    Imagine if there was a magical search engine that allowed you to ask such questions and found them for you...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting

    Really if you're going to use sarcasm when someone asks a perfectly legit question on a forum board, telling them to go to Wikipedia would not be the best advice to give. My kids aren't allowed to use it as a source on any school papers because of it's inaccuracies.

    Thats not a good argument about your kids school not allowing them to use Wiki - schools have been teaching in outdated methods for years now, and can't keep up with how people learn now-a-days. Sure there are some inaccuracies, but not more than would be in your standard text book. If anything, Wiki SHOULD be used as a buffet for information, and further research from the citations and references listed. That would, at the very least give them a more rounded idea of the truth compared to an outdated book, or other online source (which is what wiki is).

    In your context, I agree - telling someone to search for the info to a basic question is a little off...
  • CoachTommyB
    CoachTommyB Posts: 43
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    So This thread has shown that are many dfferent styles of Intermenttant fasting, Anyone do larger fastings like 20 to 21 hour? I just started doing it about a week ago. Anyone have some thoughts about it, meal sizes, working out time, ect?
  • caribougal
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
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    A cautionary word for anyone thinking of going down the intermittent fasting route.

    This hasn't worked for me at all and there are suggestions emerging that it's not always a good idea for women*.

    I haven't found it difficult to stick to 500 calories on fast days and have worked out some good, very low calorie meals. However, I have slept poorly on fast nights, I have gained weight (not much, but still) and I have become increasingly preoccupied with food. I've also had to work my running regime around fast days - I'm not one of those people who can run for miles without fuel.

    I took up the IMF more as a cancer prevention strategy than for weight loss but I've reluctantly admitted that my overall health and wellbeing isn't being served well by this regime. The most uncomfortable effect is the psychological one - I feel like I'm losing the plot with normal eating on non-fast days, which I guess explains the weight gain.

    I've hung in there for about 6 months because the science is persuasive. I certainly haven't felt unwell on it and I'm definitely not anti giving it a try. My husband has lost weight and seen his cholestrol level fall so I'll continue to support him with it.

    *http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/373665/Caveman-fasting-diet-may-leave-women-diabetic

    First of all your supposed to eat your same calories on your fast days not 500. Going past 18 hours burns 600 calories so no need to NOT eat all your calories. I'm doing 20:4 or 18:6, whatever is good for me that day, and I eat all my calories everyday. And I think the risk of being obese is more a risk factor for diabetes than fasting. I'm doing this so I don't get all those "fat" people diseases. Already had sleep apnea and the rest were just waiting to happen. Now I don't even have sleep apnea so for me it's a win win. Why would you only eat 500 calories on your fast days? I'm not understanding why you cut them down on those days. Even when I did 24 hour fasts I still ate all my calories, but I'm finding I like the 20:4 or 18:6 much better than 24 hour ones because I can do it everyday and it works for me.

    There are many ways to do IF. The 500 cal on fast day is part of the 5:2 approach. Five days of the week eat without restrictions (although many on MFP still count calories and eat at or near TDEE), then 2 non-consecutive days you fast from dinner to dinner, with only 500 calorie dinner to break the fast. The rationale is that rather than IF every day with an approach like 16/8 or 19/5, you only fast 2 days a week, you benefit from a reduction in your weekly calories without too much effort, and potentially gain the hormonal/metabolic advantages of fasting (the live longer part). The reason there is no restriction on non-fasting days is because studies show that initially people might binge after a fast, but generally not more than 10% above what they would normally eat, and over time those binges disappear and people do not tend to eat more on non-fasting days. So the idea of 5:2 is that it's an "easier" way to fast since you only need to do it 2 days a week, the other days you don't worry about intake.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,783 Member
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    ahhh okay thanks.
  • NavyKnightAh13
    NavyKnightAh13 Posts: 1,394 Member
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    bumping. I do it off and on.
  • ldbuster0
    ldbuster0 Posts: 207
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    Right know I'm doing 5:2 fast. I really don't know if it working for weight as I have incorporated a lot of things such as exercise and eating more foods with fiber.
  • marielaem
    marielaem Posts: 202 Member
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    I do the 5:2. Feel free to add me.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Here's a little clarity on 5:2

    The point of the 500 cal is that you are fasting from dinner one day until dinner the next (24hrs). During that 24hrs you can only have water/plain tea/black coffee. When you eat dinner that night, it is suggested that you eat a normal sized meal (rather than gorge) which for a woman, who would normally eat 3 meals a day with one or two snacks, is ~500 cal. You are not suppose to eat 500 cal stretched out over that 24hr fast period, since that is NOT fasting. I see a lot of confused "fasters" do this and eat small snacks all day. I believe the confusion comes from a thinking that 5:2 is all about cutting calories (eating only 500 cal x two days is around a 3000 cal restriction each week, and you can then eat at maintenance the other five days) and not realizing that the purpose is actually the fasting part, while the calorie deficit is just a perk.

    Actually there are different styles of 5:2 fasting. Yours sounds more like eat-stop-eat. The majority of people from the UK are following the 5:2 method as outlined in The Fast Diet by Dr Michael Mosley (http://thefastdiet.co.uk/) With this style women can have 500 cals (men 600 cals) during the two (non-consecutive) fasting days. They can also have the calories in whatever way suits them - small snack, two meals etc. It gives the same health benefits (IGF-1 reduction, insulin response etc.) but in a way that is easier to fit into your lifestyle.

    So what you interpret as "confused fasters" are just people following a different routine.

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