Intermittent fasting and or 5:2 diet

Intermittent fasting or whatever eating "protocol" you choose to follow does only one thing. Allows you to adhere to your diet better. Eating at a caloric deficit, no matter if that's 6 meals spread across the day or 2 meals spread across a few hours, will produce the same weightloss results. Where I.F. comes into play is with the extended period of not eating during the day, the hormone for hunger gets quelled for those who have hunger issues, and some feel better eating one or two larger meals than more smaller meals.

So from a weightloss perspective, if I.F. allows you to hit your daily calorie goals easier (for you), then sounds like that's what will work for you. That weight loss will probably cause the other health markers you are asking about, but not because of the I.F. per say, but in general because of the weight loss.

Just came across a new study today from the University of Florida on possible benefits of IF.
sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150227112508.htm

I have been doing intermittent fasting for 8 weeks and have lost 18 lbs. I will tell you some of the things I have done (as a mix of info on the website and suggestions from others) that I feel have made me successful.

On my fasting days, I try to eat very clean. You can make your low cal/fast days out of whatever calories you want technically, but I found with trial and error that when I eat fruit, veggies, and lean proteins I am not only more satisfied but my results are better. I also do not "make" myself eat every calories. If I come in 50 under, that's fine as long as I'm satisfied.

I do not go all out on my non fasting days. I hear some people saying they eat whatever they want with abandon on non fast days. These people will argue that this is the only way to save your metabolism. My issue with careless eating 5 out of 7 days a week is that it's a slippery slope..eventually that turns to careless eating 6 days a week and then careless eating 7 days a week. On my non fast days, I eat a healthy diet of 1200-1600 calories.

I watch my salt intake...I have found that eating in this way tends to make me more sensitive to water weight retention. So in addition to drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day, I keep my salt under 2000mg/day (max is 2300 so I am under that.)

I have one cheat meal a week...I tend to make this Friday date night..but if I have something coming up such as a family get together, I just juggle my cheat meal to that occasion.

On weeks that I am not seeing the results I want, or I had a couple days where I wasn't able to eat how I wanted to, I will occasionally do 4:3 fasting which is adding a fast day that week.

Hope this helps...it is a pretty simple eating plan to follow.

cajuntank wrote: »

Intermittent fasting or whatever eating "protocol" you choose to follow does only one thing. Allows you to adhere to your diet better.

I generally stick to an aggressively modified 16/8 format, except for me it's more like 21/3. The benefit, as you point out, is adherence.

It allows me to go out to restaurants, pubs, order pizza, or eat essentially whatever I want, once per day. Six days a week this tends to be relatively healthy home cooked meals, but on that 7th day when my family or friends want to go out for some social eating, I can do it.

Never having to say "no" to a social obligation is what has allowed me to keep my "diet" up for 151 days so far, showing that this is do-able as a lifestyle change and not just a short term restriction.

I tried 5:2 IF but I began to dread those 500 calorie days.

Now I am fasting 16 hours each day and eating only between 11AM and 7PM. It's been three months now and it's very very helpful for managing unplanned late night snacking. I think of those 16 hours as critical to the process and I simply won't break my fast for anything.

It has also trained me to tolerate a little hunger and not feel an urgent need to eat at the first twinge.

On days I have social plans for the evening, I just slide the eating window to a few hours later.

cajuntank wrote: »

Intermittent fasting or whatever eating "protocol" you choose to follow does only one thing. Allows you to adhere to your diet better. Eating at a caloric deficit, no matter if that's 6 meals spread across the day or 2 meals spread across a few hours, will produce the same weightloss results. Where I.F. comes into play is with the extended period of not eating during the day, the hormone for hunger gets quelled for those who have hunger issues, and some feel better eating one or two larger meals than more smaller meals.

So from a weightloss perspective, if I.F. allows you to hit your daily calorie goals easier (for you), then sounds like that's what will work for you. That weight loss will probably cause the other health markers you are asking about, but not because of the I.F. per say, but in general because of the weight loss.

TRUE, it is CICO when talking about the longterm. Day to day weight would depend on a variety of things, such as calories burned, water intake/discharge, and food intake/discharge. Any diet is just a specific method for following that CICO rule. I, personally, will not ever fast on purpose, because my body does that on its own. I have 1 OR 2 meals a day, never three when on my high fat, mostly-but-not-always ketogenic diet. The fat keeps me satiated for a minimum 8 hours, and my body runs on fat for energy throughout. Yes, sometimes I get hungry and I am unable to take care of it, so I go a few hours without food, but this is usually after about the 11th-13th hour since my last meal.