Anyone ever try intermittent fasting?

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justiceevers
justiceevers Posts: 43
in Food and Nutrition
Hey, so I've read and seen a lot of videos about intermittent fasting. Basically, you get all your calories in about an 8 hour window and fast for the remaining 16 hours of the day. So you eat an early dinner, stop eating and skip breakfast. It's supposed to give your body more time to burn fat instead of digesting food all the time. I know it goes against the traditional "6 small meals a day" method of eating, but was wondering if anyone has ever had any experience with this. I'm just trying to burn off this last bit of fat to reach my goal.

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  • sydneyplainjane
    sydneyplainjane Posts: 140 Member
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    I haven't, but there's a MFP group that focuses on intermittent fasting that you might be interested in:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting
  • iechick
    iechick Posts: 352 Member
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    There's quite a few here who do IF. I did a calorie restricted version for weight loss (JUDDD,), and now do the 8/16 version as part of my maintenance plan.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
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    I did that before I got pregnant and am not fully back to it because I'm nursing, but it worked great for me. It was easy too because I'm usually not hungry in the morning and during the day. I'm the kind of person who likes a big dinner and I was able to have satisfying dinners while staying within my calorie goals.
  • stillnot2late
    stillnot2late Posts: 385 Member
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    5:2
    I start mine tomorrow. I am so sick of failing and only maintaining. Only have 15 more to go, but it was 12 more! I've been reading so much about it, that I would like to give it a try, and stick to what I regularly do whereas I'm only maintaining, on my other 5 days. I exercise quite a bit already so we know that is not going to make you lose any weight! Good luck to you!
  • Trueray
    Trueray Posts: 1,189 Member
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    <--- Well I have been doing it for about 14 months now and it seems to work lol. I started of with a 4 hour eating window and now doing an 8 hour because i want to build some muscle now.
  • FixIngMe13
    FixIngMe13 Posts: 405 Member
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    I personally haven't, however... I have heard of people doing it that have tried it and have had amazing results with it.

    My sister did it, and she did fantastic on it and it seems to have stuck with her.

    :) You could try right?
  • perfect_storm
    perfect_storm Posts: 326 Member
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    Can someone explain this to me, I have never heard of it.
  • MG_Fit
    MG_Fit Posts: 1,143 Member
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    Check out leangains.com.

    There are a a bunch of people on here who practice IF. But like anything, it's not a magic recipe for fat loss or weight loss.
  • Mitcher86
    Mitcher86 Posts: 6
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    @Perfect_Storm Most simply put, intermittant fasting is going for an extended period of time without eating. There are a lot of different programs and a lot ofdifferent rationales offered. The period with out eating is most commonly 16 - 24 hours, sometimes up to 36 hour.

    The most common approach is to do this on intermittantly (hence the name). Personally, I like it 2 or 3 times a week.

    As I mentioned, there are a lot of rationales offered, but the one that makes the most sense and why I think it's working for me is that the problem with cutting calories continually (eating fewer than you burn) is that your body interperts this as starvation and as switches into survival mode. It starts to lower your metabolic rate. This usually happens within a week. When it does, it becomes progressively harder to lose weight and when you go off the diet your metabolism is low and the weight comes back extremely quickly (sound familar?).

    With IF, you significantly cut your calories periodically, but not long enough to switch into starvation mode. Your calorie intake varies and it's relatively easy to run a calorie deficit over time, say a week.

    I've found it very helpful. You still need to pay attention to the quality of your food. I stick with veggies, lean protein, some fruit maybe some beans and sweet potatoes except for one "free day" per week, the day I indulge cravings for ice cream, pizza, chocolate,etc. The day following the free day is usually a fast day.
  • paleojoe
    paleojoe Posts: 442 Member
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    I have had great success with IF. Have done 16/8 fasting and at present, am doing one to two 24 hour fasts per week a la Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon. Both worked great... by far the easiest way to control calories without feeling like you are controlling calories.
  • Showcase_Brodown
    Showcase_Brodown Posts: 919 Member
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    Yes, I do 16/8. Like a couple of others have said, it's not some kind of magic formula for weight loss, it's just a tool/strategy that you can use. You still have to hit your calories for the day/week as you normally would.

    If you are like me, you like to eat big when you do eat, so IF is pretty much all about that. I rarely feel hungry during my feeding window. I also don't usually feel hungry during the fast, except for a little stretch of time leading up to my first meal.

    I should add, I've actually been bulking using this approach, which isn't really any different, just some more calories.

    There is lots of good information about IF on leangains.com. Especially if you are also interested in weight training.

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