Intermittent Fasting (Two hours)

You can lose weight in a 2-hour feasting window, or whatever timeframe you've set, so long as you create a calorie deficit. If you've gone over your daily calorie intake with your meal of ice cream, chips, pasta, et cetera, then no matter what eating/diet plan you choose, you won't lose weight. Intermittent fasting by itself will not guarantee you weight loss. Calories in < calories out = weight loss, so I'd suggest tracking/counting your calories for now. Good luck, OP.

ithrowconfetti wrote: »

You can lose weight in a 2-hour feasting window, or whatever timeframe you've set, so long as you create a calorie deficit. If you've gone over your daily calorie intake with your meal of ice cream, chips, pasta, et cetera, then no matter what eating/diet plan you choose, you won't lose weight. Intermittent fasting by itself will not guarantee you weight loss. Calories in < calories out = weight loss, so I'd suggest tracking/counting your calories for now. Good luck, OP.

+1

JoAnjie20 wrote: »

Today, I didn't have a chance to eat at all until 6 in the evening and then I ate three ice cream sandwiches, two bags of chips, a chocolate rice krispie treat and cheese stuffed pasta. i don't know how many calories that added up to but I'm done eating. The thing is though I didn't feel horrible. I felt really good fasting and then giving myself a two hour window to eat (in this case, I ate whatever, but I could go healthier later on)

I'm definitely intent on doing this but do you think it would be possible to lose weight this way?

Thanks

I have a hard time believing that with only 20 lbs to go you would end up in a calorie deficit on this kind of junk food diet.

TimothyFish wrote: »

I'm guessing that amounts to 1700 calories. While you can survive on one meal a day, when you are overly hungry, it is hard to eat properly and you tend to feel like you need to eat more than is required.

I agree that this is something to look out for. There's no point in cramming all your calories (and this is assuming you're not eating in excess of your TDEE) into a 2 hour window if it doesn't help you to maintain a program in some way. If the day of fasting was good for you in some way (made it easier to keep to your calories, made you feel "really good", as you say), then keep it up.

As for the type of foods you're eating, yes I would be trying to get more nutritious foods into your 2 hours. Yes a calorie is a calorie but calcium, magnesium, potassium, not to mention a nice fat/protein/carbs ratio is desirable too!

I usually fast at least 2 hours between meals

lawdy

SnuggleSmacks wrote: »

JoAnjie20 wrote: »

Right, that makes sense. But there's so much to worry about with metabolism speed and starvation resulting in gaining weight. I just hope that doesn't get in the way

No, there really isn't. The meal timing myth and starvation mode myth have been thoroughly debunked. It makes absolutely no difference if you eat 6 small meals a day, or one giant one. All that matters is the total number of calories.

Now, for the sake of fitness and health, paying attention to macros during your feast is vital, and you might want to do some reading about intermittent fasting and see the various options on how to handle it, and some of the science behind it.

Once you've read up, just weigh the pros and cons. For instance, you might spend a large part of your day hungry until you get used to it. But on the other hand, you get to eat a really fantastic meal, and can eat higher calorie items accordingly, like pizza and burgers...just make sure you're still hitting your macro requirements.

I don't agree completely. There is something to be said for a 14-16 hour fast, based on the science behind IF. Fasting helps to normalize several hormones, including ghrelin (the hunger hormone), leptin and insulin (both of which can affect weight, and are associated with everything from type 2 diabetes to heart health to cancer). It also help promote production of Human Growth Hormone, which assists with fat burning, as well as helps slows the aging process.

Importantly, it takes most people 8-12 hours to deplete the food they eat plus their glycogen stores, which is what the body will use first for fuel. Most people's body's are trained to burn sugar for fuel first--we train our bodies to do this by eating multiple small meals every day. IF can help retrain your body to use fat for fuel.

That said, it's more than just eating whatever you want during your window--balancing macros is pretty important, and hitting your protein is 2nd only to hitting your caloric needs.

There's quite a bit of science behind it. If you're interested in reading more, one of my favorite bloggers is this guy:
http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/08/leangains-intermittent-fasting-guide-how-to-do-it-by-yourself/

And no, I'm not affiliated. I like the way he writes. Very understandable, and he makes it easy to get started.

I had been plateaued for quite some time--eating well, just had about 10-15 lbs that I wanted to get off. I'd lost 65lbs at one point, and then gained a little back despite quite a bit of exercise. I have been doing IF for about 6 weeks, and have lost 10 lbs, 4 inches in my waist, 4 in my hips, 1 in each thigh, 3/4 in each arm. Not bad for someone who was already well within their BMI range. My muscle mass doesn't seem to have dropped--I am carb cycling, which is supposed to help with that. At any rate, that was my two cents.