fasting! anybody done it? results please, advice!

I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with this. I have been on and off with it for a while I haven't seen brilliant results.
They say fasting works better with males. Is it worth my time?

Replies

  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    Your body needs nourishment. Why deny it something it needs?
  • No I fast with a 8 hour eating window. It still consume at least 1200 calories a day
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    If the goal is weight loss, you only need a calorie deficit. Fasting need not apply.

    Are you talking about intermitent fasting? The people I see doing IF mainly do so because they like to eat big meals. If you're talking about a juice fast, water fast, or an other ridiculous fast, read megsmom2's post.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    No never have. I go hungry fasting for a couple of hours.
  • That's not fasting, that's intermittent fasting. Otherwise known as skipping meals ;)
    Do what you know works for you! :)
  • Yeah IF sorry was not clear. My partner does it when he is cutting he normally consumes over 3000 calories a day as he is a strength athlete. He sees great results but for me not the case.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with this. I have been on and off with it for a while I haven't seen brilliant results.
    They say fasting works better with males. Is it worth my time?

    I would suggest that you use a meal timing/distribution that makes it easiest for you to adhere to your goal intake, and that provides the best gym performance.

    If that's an 8 hour eating window then do it.
    If that's 5 meals per day, then do that.

    Performance and adherence are substantially more important than any minimal (or non-existent) secondary effects of nutrient timing.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Yeah IF sorry was not clear. My partner does it when he is cutting he normally consumes over 3000 calories a day as he is a strength athlete. He sees great results but for me not the case.

    In that case, it's just a personal choice. Eating 1200 calories in an 8 hour window helps no more than spreading it throughout the day. Eat your calories whenever you want if IF is not what you like.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    so you mean something like intermittent fasting?

    considering that most of weight loss is about your calorie intake, meal timing isnt that big of a deal. as long as you're eating at a deficit t the end of the day then it really doesnt matter if it's spread out over 8 hours or 4 or 20.

    i naturally do something like this and the main advantage for weight loss i can see is that it tends to put me below my calorie goal that already has a deficit built in to it. for instance yesterday i had a pretty feeling first meal and was left with 1200 calories. i wasnt hungry again until around 8 pm and wanted to sleep at 11 which means i had very little time to get those calories in. i ended up having a 900 calorie meal which put me under by 300.
  • Thanks for the feedback. Im just trying out new things to see what my body likes.
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with this. I have been on and off with it for a while I haven't seen brilliant results.
    They say fasting works better with males. Is it worth my time?

    I would suggest that you use a meal timing/distribution that makes it easiest for you to adhere to your goal intake, and that provides the best gym performance.

    If that's an 8 hour eating window then do it.
    If that's 5 meals per day, then do that.

    Performance and adherence are substantially more important than any minimal (or non-existent) secondary effects of nutrient timing.

    This. I did alternate day IF for weight loss and it worked great, but it was because I was cutting back on calories :smile:
  • Lillyloooo
    Lillyloooo Posts: 174 Member
    I'm doin 5:2 fasts
  • BetterThanExpected
    BetterThanExpected Posts: 104 Member
    I've had great results with intermittent fasting. The first time I did it I was doing a 14hr-18hr fasting window, and the second time I was doing 21hrs.
  • 33Freya
    33Freya Posts: 468 Member
    The only reason to fast that I can see is for religious reasons... if that's part of your religion... if you're one of the devout to that particular religion. Otherwise, you're losing water weight... eat something. Love and Nourish your body.... :flowerforyou:
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with this. I have been on and off with it for a while I haven't seen brilliant results.
    They say fasting works better with males. Is it worth my time?

    Given equal calorie / macro / training / excercise measures, your results will largely be the same. The main reason to do IF is because it fits your lifestyle. Most people do it because it gives them more calories either around there workout time or night time. Its no magic bullet and any metabolic advantages people tout are at best severly overstated and at worst completely non existant.
  • dnamouse
    dnamouse Posts: 612 Member
    I've done IF in differing forms since about April last year. I started with 5:2, but now in maintenance I do a mixture of 6:1 & 16:8 - mostly because it fits in perfectly with my lifestyle as the above poster said. I'm not a big eater in the morning, but we have large evening meals. This way everything balances out :)
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    yes,,, I am all for it,,, good fasting groups on here too
  • I strength training 3 times a week as I'm trying to get on the powerlifting route. I thought IF would work as im training at night and consume food around 9/10.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    About once a week, I simply pick a day and decline to eat.

    I feel fantastic on my fast days. More alert, more energy .. I've never been convinced that we're actually *supposed* to eat every day.
  • As a male, fasting works really well for me, Eat my last meal at 6-7pm and then wake up about 6-7am and walk the dog (the key for me is to exersize, even just walking, on an empty stomach) and then have a couple of pints of water to last me til midday, I then eat my calories as normal.

    However, an ex girlfriend of mine tried it, and my mother has tried it, and they both had similar results, they felt like their blood sugar dropped or something and they went all weak.... So it was no problem for me to fast 12 hours then walk 3 miles, but for my ex, it was really really hard.

    Take from that what you want, but I'm not sure fasting works the same for women...
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
    I strength training 3 times a week as I'm trying to get on the powerlifting route. I thought IF would work as im training at night and consume food around 9/10.

    Consume food whenever you want. Meal timing doesn't matter.
  • Keiras_Mom
    Keiras_Mom Posts: 844 Member
    ADF worked well for me, and I maintain with 5:2.
  • Erin_goBrahScience
    Erin_goBrahScience Posts: 1,215 Member
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  • Yeah I agree it does give me the same effect of feeling weak. I was only attracted to it as it's speeds up metabolism? Like I said although I don't seem to be getting great results.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    Yeah I agree it does give me the same effect of feeling weak. I was only attracted to it as it's speeds up metabolism? Like I said although I don't seem to be getting great results.
    how exactly does it speed up metabolism?