Fasting...Is there anything wrong with waiting till dinner?

If you exercise I think it may be hard to have the energy without eating at all. I personally get headaches if I skip meals, but if you feel ok I think it's fine

it is fine, a lot of people do intermittent fasting because it makes eating a deficit easier, I personally only eat 2 meals a day in the evening and find it MUCH easier to stick to my diet than eating 6 tiny unsatisfying meals spread out, breakfast being the most important meal is archaic broscience that was debunked years ago

What matter is that your intake is consistent with your goals. If you are looking to lose, your intake must be less than what you burn. When you consume those calories doesn't at all matter. AT ALL.

Do what works for you. If you prefer one huge meal that contains all of your calories and macros, then do it. If you prefer 5-6 meals that add up to all of your calories and macros, then do it

I train fasted every morning. I perform better that way. Many people can't do that, but it works for ME.

So no worries about your one off day of no breakfast and lunch...and no worries about not wanting to eat breakfast. As long as you stay within your calorie goal, you are fine :flowerforyou:

I do intermittent fasting everyday, eating from 11 am to 10 pm. If you begin this protocol, be sure to check and see how you're feeling after a few weeks. As a woman, too long an extended period of fasting for more than 14 hours/day, day after day, can start to mess with your hormones. I used to do a 16:8 window and had issues until I moved it to 13:11.

Here's a good read: www.leangains.com

This is a cut and paste from the Eat, Train, Progress group.

Lyle McDonald has some great information on it here:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html

The take home from Lyle's article, in terms of practicality and application, would probably be this quote, this is Lyle here:


* If eating more frequently makes it easier to control/reduce calories, it will help you to lose weight/fat.
* If eating more frequently makes it harder to control/reduce calories, or makes you eat more, you will gain weight.
* If eating less frequently makes it harder for you to control/reduce calories (because you get hungry and binge), it will hurt your efforts to lose weight/fat.
* If eating less frequently makes it easier for you to control/reduce calories (for any number of reasons), then that will help your efforts to lose weight/fat

Or in other words, personal preference.


Some peer reviewed studies:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17483007


And it would be wrong of me to exclude Alan Aragon from this list. Here's a good read:
http://www.leangains.com/2011/04/critique-of-issn-position-stand-on-meal.html

Sourced from full page found here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/820577-meal-frequency-rev-up-that-furnace-lol

Much thanks to the ETP group for creating the thread.

Anybody who has not joined the group I highly recommend it: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

Also a great page for a lot of excellent and useful information: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

I was so busy on Saturday that I skipped both breakfast and lunch. I have been skipping breakfast fairly regularly as I noticed it actually making me hungrier once I ate it. But skipping lunch was not typical. I was then able to eat some foods I would typically have refused and still stayed within my goals. I'm wondering if there is any true detriment to fasting/eating this way, particularly on occasion, so that I can indulge on the weekends. I can't imagine doing it during the week at work but the weekends...definitely!

Is there much truth behind the "breakfast is the most important meal" thing? Or "eat every few hours"? Or is that only if you need help regulating blood sugar levels and if cravings are an issue?

No truth at all behind the breakfast is most important or the eat ever few hours thing.
I have been fasting for 6 weeks now. I fast M-W-F and eat at maintain on the other 4 days.

My plan is a 24 hour cycle of fasting, and not a calender day meaning each day I get to have a nice meal. Some fasting plans talk about 500 calories during your 24 hour fast, but mine talks of as close to 0 during the fast.

Has been working great for me, and to be honest, incredibly easy.

Intermittent fasting. You can schedule your intake accordingly depending on when you work out. You have a window of when you need to eat to sustain energy for your work out and a window of fasting. Pretty tough but can be done if you have strong will power.

Fasting is fine. There is an intermittent fasting group on here if you want more focused discussion about it: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/66-intermittent-fasting

I would, however, caution people about using it only at certain times to permit themselves to eat more (or to compensate for eating too much the day before). This is a lot like doing a ton of cardio after a binge. If it is always a spur-of-the-moment thing rather than a deliberate, planned practice, it can turn into various disordered eating behaviors.

i skip breakfast, as whether i eat it or not, i am hungry by 11 am anyways. like you said, sometimes i even felt that eating breakfast actually makes me hungrier. it could be due to the fact that simple carbohydrates in mouth and stomach is a strong stimulant for increased insulin production in our body, and sets off a cascade of hormonal and chemical messengers and digestive juices and gastric acid production. i read in some studies recently that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" thing is a myth, and there is no harm in skipping it as long as you feel okey, and do not overcompensate in the next meal.
if you feel fine, i don't think there is any harm in skipping meals, but you should tread the water cautiously. the line between dieting for weight loss and eating disorders and body image issues is blurry and you do not want to take yourself there. bottom line is as long as you are well nourished and happy, it does not seem to be a problem.

Fasting for a meal or two once a month or two is good for you. It gives your digestive system a little break. OTOH doing it regularly (like skipping breakfast daily) makes you prone to ulcers. You produce enzymes to digest proteins no matter what, and if there are no proteins to digest it will eat away at your organs. Hence, ulcers.

that is not entirely the case. our digestive track has strong defensive system like mucosal barrier and auto regulation of digestive secretions to prevent it digesting our own body. if a persons mucosal barrier is damaged, or genetically ulcer prone, or takes some medications or food that weakens these defenses, they are prone to get ulcers. increase amount of stomach acid or pancreatic secretion when one is fasting can cause ulcers, but the person will feel hunger, stomach pain, discomfort etc well before it start damaging the digestive track like causing ulcers. people who fast daily for a month for religious reasons do not develop ulcers, unless they have ulcer causing predisposing factors.

There is nothing wrong with it unless you have medical issues that would make it harmful. If you are diabetic/pre-diabetic or have cortisol issues you should stay away. It would make your blood sugar too high/low throughout the day then you get a huge spike after the huge evening meal.

Other than that it could be a way to regulate your intake, if it works for you.

Fasting for a meal or two once a month or two is good for you. It gives your digestive system a little break. OTOH doing it regularly (like skipping breakfast daily) makes you prone to ulcers. You produce enzymes to digest proteins no matter what, and if there are no proteins to digest it will eat away at your organs. Hence, ulcers.

that is not entirely the case. our digestive track has strong defensive system like mucosal barrier and auto regulation of digestive secretions to prevent it digesting our own body. if a persons mucosal barrier is damaged, or genetically ulcer prone, or takes some medications or food that weakens these defenses, they are prone to get ulcers. increase amount of stomach acid or pancreatic secretion when one is fasting can cause ulcers, but the person will feel hunger, stomach pain, discomfort etc well before it start damaging the digestive track like causing ulcers. people who fast daily for a month for religious reasons do not develop ulcers, unless they have ulcer causing predisposing factors.

Meh. It increases risk, it's not a guarantee. No one would deny that smoking is bad for you, yet there are people that smoke like a chimney and live to be unusually old. So there are other factors for sure, but just because it isn't a guaranteed death sentence doesn't make it okay for everybody.

I would see no problem with skipping meals as long as you aren't feeling hungry and are staying hydrated. (Refusing to eat while your stomach is trying to leap out of your body to find its own damn meal would be bad.) I would carry a meal replacement bar as a "just in case" so if you're out and about and you suddenly realize you are hungry NOW you don't make poor choices (vending machine, fast food, etc.).

I don't do "breakfast" in the morning in the traditional sense. I do have a protein shake that is 200 calories and then a coffee at my desk. If I tried to have actual food I'd feel sick.

I've spoken to many Registered Dieticians and Nutritionists as well as taking many courses for both Nutrition and Health - EVERYONE says the same thing. Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day, as well as starting the day with 16-20 oz of water. It gets your metabolism started. Not eating breakfast will slow down your metabolism a lot and by lunch time you are working against yourself.

Good luck.

Guess what, I don't believe you talked to all those people and that ALL of them told you that. This is an idea that was debunked some time ago. Only professionals that don't rely on current information would spout that misinformation. Do you know why? Your metabolism never stops. It doesn't go to sleep when you do. The metabolism does not slow down just because food has not passed through the system in 12, 16, 18 or 24 hours.

Please never post this misinformation again.