Curious - Has anyone ever done Intermintent Fasting?

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MainahGirl
MainahGirl Posts: 282 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was just watching my local noon news and they talked about Intermintent Fasting. A person eats "normally" for 5 days and on days 6 and 7 you fast only consuming water and tea.

I just don't get this. As a food addict, I would be afraid of having a binge like no other.

Granted I struggle with food, but what works for me is staying within my calorie goal and moving my *kitten*.

That's my opinion, I welcome yours.

Replies

  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    Yes there are quite a few people here who do it. There are some IF groups.

    I do it as well. It's aided me in losing about 100 or more pounds, without calorie counting or logging at all.

    I plan to do it my entire life. During the weight loss phase I have been more fast and loose with the IFing, having no specific structure or rules, but my maintenance plan is to follow a 5:2 split. It is the perfect way to build in a natural deficit, while allowing you incredible freedom during your 5 "normal" eating days. It also allows me to have a very high calorie load on the 5 eating days. My issue with maintenance is actually likely going to involve trying to get enough calories, vs struggling with deprivation.

    But I know how to fast well. It is easy for me. Fasting does not spark me to binge, or overeat, the next day at all. I actually enjoy fasting, for many different reasons, one of them being for spiritual reasons. But binging and pigging out the day after a fast day can be an issue for some.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
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    Check out the group on here 5:2 fasting. There are people in there that talk about it.

    Personally, I have been doing it the last few weeks with really good results and am very happy with it.
    Was much easier than I had first expected. YOu fast 24, can eat 24. Some fast 2 times a week, but I have been mon-wed-friday.

    Great thing is.....you do it 24 hours, not specifically for the day.

    Dinner on Sunday around 7pm. Fast until monday 7pm. Eat senisbly for the most part until 7pm the next night. I eat to my maintance on the non fast days.
  • toolzz
    toolzz Posts: 163 Member
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    I work a 16/8 plan - I only eat between 12pm and 8pm. It works well for me as I am not contantly thinking about my next meal/snack...I have a good lunch and good dinner and dessert after each. I rarely go over my net unless I plan to.
  • MainahGirl
    MainahGirl Posts: 282 Member
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    Interesting. Do you fast on the same days consistantly or do you plan a fast day based on times food may be an issue. Not sure I could fast two days in a row. How many calories do you intake on your free days? And on the days you fast, do you have the energy to workout? I've had some major issue with binging in the past and I'm so afraid of doing so many times. When you first being, did you struggle?

    Congrats on your 130 lbs lost! Awesome work!
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
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    Interesting. Do you fast on the same days consistantly or do you plan a fast day based on times food may be an issue. Not sure I could fast two days in a row. How many calories do you intake on your free days? And on the days you fast, do you have the energy to workout? I've had some major issue with binging in the past and I'm so afraid of doing so many times. When you first being, did you struggle?

    Congrats on your 130 lbs lost! Awesome work!
    I personally fast mostly the same days, but you can change it up. Many do Monday for sure and then later in the week but you can most def change it. If you usually do a thurdsay but you have something going on like a work party or speical dinner thing....do it a diff day.

    On my non fast days I eat my intake to maintain, which is 2500 but have been switching it to where I do closer to 2000 because I feel more full when I eat the day after a fast.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
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    Only struggle I had to start was a headache from caffeine withdrawal. I just took an excedrin for migraine or some other sort of headache medicine with some caffeine in it.

    Chewing gum helps a ton, and you can drink diet pop if you want but personally I hate that stuff
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    Interesting. Do you fast on the same days consistantly or do you plan a fast day based on times food may be an issue. Not sure I could fast two days in a row. How many calories do you intake on your free days? And on the days you fast, do you have the energy to workout? I've had some major issue with binging in the past and I'm so afraid of doing so many times. When you first being, did you struggle?

    Congrats on your 130 lbs lost! Awesome work!

    I don't follow any rules or structure during weight loss. Pretty much fast when I want, and eat when I want. While I personally have no issue doing multiple fast days, keep in mind that none of the structured IF programs ask you to fast two days in a row. It's not necessary.

    My maintenance plan, which I should be hitting before summer, is to fast Mondays and Thursdays. But I am all about flexibility and freedom, so those days can easily be switched around if I have reason to eat on the fast days.

    I don't calorie count, so I couldn't tell you how many calories I'm eating now. But I know that for my goal weight when I get to maintenance I'll be allowed per eating day between about 2800 calories in a sedentary lifestyle to 3800 calories in a very active one, and I tend to be very active during maintenance. I might started doing some initial calorie counting in early maintenance to ensure I'm eating enough.

    The only things I have a tendency to binge on is ice cream, cookies, and cake, so I don't have any overall food binging issue. Fasting helped me with this actually, it did not drive me to binge eat. Fasting helps reset my taste for more natural foods, and it's amazing for kicking cravings. But the deficit is enough that when I do overindulge in my sweets, I continue to lose.

    A one day fast doesn't interrupt my energy in any major way. In fact sometimes I have even MORE energy on fast days, and have done long, exhaustive exercise before while in a fasted state.

    When I first tried fasting, it wasn't for IF, but for spiritual reasons. Yes it was somewhat difficult at first. But I'm so used to it now that going a day without food is no problem whatsoever.

    Thank you for the congrats! Good luck!

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