Any experience with fasting?

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TateFTW
TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm always quick to try something I read about if it makes sense. Last night I stumbled upon something I've heard of before, but never looked into, known as intermittent fasting. Basically it takes everything we've been told and turns it on it's head. You fast through the day, skipping breakfast and lunch, eating only 1 smaller meal 1 hour before a late afternoon/evening workout, then eat all of your remaining calories between your workout and bedtime. This protocall is based around weight training for muscle development and fat loss. There are different versions for just fat loss, but I haven't really looked into these.

I know. It's the opposite of what we've been told, and what I've believed, but the studies are there and the theories are sound.

I was wondering if anyone else here has experimented with fasting for health reasons?

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  • bree1609
    bree1609 Posts: 136
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    I would be interested in knowing who did these studies. It sounds totally backward, like you said. I would be hesitant to trust it. The only "fasting" I do is between the hours of 7 p.m. and about 8 a.m. (sometimes earlier). I couldn't imagine eating all of my calories before bed. I think I would be so uncomfortable that I wouldn't sleep.
  • SkierElle
    SkierElle Posts: 335
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    Hey, you should look at the thread for Eat Stop Eat. There is a lot of peer-reviewed research on this. I've been doing Eat Stop Eat 2-3 times per week for 1.5 months and seen great results, and not just with weight loss. I love intermittent fasting!! I am fasting today until tomorrow AM... so stoked not to have to make any food!

    I haven't heard about the meal before working out though. I always have plenty of energy to workout at the end of fasts and don't need a meal. the dependence of constant food and the crankiness will go away once you fast a few times. The author of ESE says you have to fast 18 hours, I believe, before the benefits are achieved. So that small meal before a workout, if it is before the 18hour mark, could just hinder you.
  • SkierElle
    SkierElle Posts: 335
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    Oh, I forgot to add: with ESE, you don't eat your calories between workout and bed. You would have one meal per day. What I do is have 2 days a week of 500 cals (usually breakfast) and then the rest of the days, have 1500... then also try to eat some of the exercise cals. That way I am meeting the lowest requirement over the week, but not daily. The gist of the research is that your body won't go into starvation mode until 72 hours of not eating, you will live longer, and metabolism may increase. Anyway, you are still eating daily and it's completely safe unless you're diabetic.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
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    Hey, you should look at the thread for Eat Stop Eat.

    Agreed, great thread and the best part, I'm 99% positive it’s the only thread so no annoying duplicates like 30-day shred threads or should I eat exercise calories threads, LOL!

    It’s very important you work-out on your fast days and especially do some resistance training in order to prevent lean muscle loss. Fasting should be done no more than 1-2x a week (and not consecutively) for 18-24 hours.

    Good luck! I like to fast on Saturdays from after dinner Friday to dinner Saturday since Saturday is usually a treat dinner.
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
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    Hey, you should look at the thread for Eat Stop Eat. There is a lot of peer-reviewed research on this. I've been doing Eat Stop Eat 2-3 times per week for 1.5 months and seen great results, and not just with weight loss. I love intermittent fasting!! I am fasting today until tomorrow AM... so stoked not to have to make any food!

    I haven't heard about the meal before working out though. I always have plenty of energy to workout at the end of fasts and don't need a meal. the dependence of constant food and the crankiness will go away once you fast a few times. The author of ESE says you have to fast 18 hours, I believe, before the benefits are achieved. So that small meal before a workout, if it is before the 18hour mark, could just hinder you.

    I believe that the difference of eating before the workout has to do with the heavy weightlifting I and people with goals like mine do. For cardio days I plan to do my sessions right after work, still fasted.
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
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    Hey, you should look at the thread for Eat Stop Eat.

    Agreed, great thread and the best part, I'm 99% positive it’s the only thread so no annoying duplicates like 30-day shred threads or should I eat exercise calories threads, LOL!

    It’s very important you work-out on your fast days and especially do some resistance training in order to prevent lean muscle loss. Fasting should be done no more than 1-2x a week (and not consecutively) for 18-24 hours.

    Good luck! I like to fast on Saturdays from after dinner Friday to dinner Saturday since Saturday is usually a treat dinner.

    Well then it's good that this is a tad different from ESE, so i didn't ruin the one thread thing. ;)

    As for resistance training, that's the main goal. This is a version of something called the warrior diet, which is based around bodybuilding type goals. I'm actually not even trying to lose weight at the moment, but rather lose fat while gaining muscle. Normally a tough proposition, but I've read reports of good results with this diet for my goals.

    Cardio is exremely important for my Army training, but at this point I'm not sure if I'll fast on my 2-3 cardio days, as I already weight train 4 times/week and will be fasting until 3:45 on all weight training days.
  • utamore
    utamore Posts: 53
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    I'm not familiar with ESE but I have fasted on about a dozen occassions (for holidays) but did so before seriously dieting/using MFP. My experience is that it sucks pretty hard. Extremely hungry, did not help me with weight loss, once you go into ketosis you feel like blacking out, impossible to concentrate at work... Obviously peoples' experiences will vary, but I will only fast every now and then (four times a year, perhaps?) to get some extra system cleansing, not to help with dieting. Maybe ESE does work if done consistently, correctly, whatever, but I would much rather stick to a manageable level of hunger (resulting from my daily calorie deficit) than try to fast with any consistent pattern.
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
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    I'm always quick to try something I read about if it makes sense. Last night I stumbled upon something I've heard of before, but never looked into, known as intermittent fasting. Basically it takes everything we've been told and turns it on it's head. You fast through the day, skipping breakfast and lunch, eating only 1 smaller meal 1 hour before a late afternoon/evening workout, then eat all of your remaining calories between your workout and bedtime. This protocall is based around weight training for muscle development and fat loss. There are different versions for just fat loss, but I haven't really looked into these.

    I know. It's the opposite of what we've been told, and what I've believed, but the studies are there and the theories are sound.

    I was wondering if anyone else here has experimented with fasting for health reasons?

    Yes, I practice IF (intermittent fasting) and it gives you a LOT of freedom. It goes very well with the Paleo style of eating.

    The longest I have IF is 36 hours.
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
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    I wated to throw out a quick update;

    I've been doing a daily fast for the last 2 days. On training days (which the last 2 days have been) I'm fasting all day until I get off work at 3:30, then consuming about 400 calories in one meal, then going to lift, then cramming the calories until bedtime. Last night I actually couldn't get in all of my calories. It was just too much, and I unded up 300 under, which is fine because I'm already set up to only loe .5lbs/week. I wasn't planning on losing weight fast, if at all, but with this plan it's so easy to eat under maintenance it's stupid.

    Today is my first non-training day. I'm fasting again until after work, but then going to meet my wife and her parents at the bar. At that point I plan to conservatively enjoy myself, but most non-weight training days I plan to eat well under maintenance, then try to eat just under maintenance on weight training days to help muscle development and avoid muscle loss.

    This has gone so well so far, with no low blood sugar issues and very little hunger, I plan to fast every day through my working day.

    Oh, and after planning to lose weight very slowly, I'm down 1 lb in 2 days. For someone as lean as me, that's very quick weight loss, especially considering I was already on a small calorie deficit.

    God, this is causing me to rethink everything I ever believed in regards to nutrition!

    Oh, and my wife tried it along with me. Disaster. If you have anxiety, DO NOT TRY intermittent fasting. Yesterday she had a panic attack and had to leave work. It's very odd, because I feel like a million bucks.
  • mlb929
    mlb929 Posts: 1,974 Member
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    I've done the Fat Track Fast by Ann Louise Gittleman. You prep for the fast with healthy foods - then on Fast Day you drink a Juice that tastes awesome - then do a sequel diet for the next week. I really enjoyed the results. Sometimes on a Sunday I will just drink the juice without the prequel or sequel as I eat very on plan for those days anyway.

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