Intermittent Fasting
alanmonks
Posts: 115 Member
Is anyone doing this?
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Replies
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I've been doing it occasionally. I don't recommend except for those trying to really get lean (below 10% body fat). Even then, it can backfire and cause weight gain.
For someone overweight, a simple calorie deficit with exercise is probably the best approach.
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FitnessTim wrote: »I've been doing it occasionally. I don't recommend except for those trying to really get lean (below 10% body fat). Even then, it can backfire and cause weight gain.
For someone overweight, a simple calorie deficit with exercise is probably the best approach.
How does IF cause weight gain?0 -
I just started IF last week.
You might want to check out the IF Group here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/49-intermittent-fasting0 -
Some people when they break the fast go nuts with their intake and wind up in a caloric surplus...IsaackGMOON wrote: »FitnessTim wrote: »I've been doing it occasionally. I don't recommend except for those trying to really get lean (below 10% body fat). Even then, it can backfire and cause weight gain.
For someone overweight, a simple calorie deficit with exercise is probably the best approach.
How does IF cause weight gain?
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Yes I do, but there is a program I follow where you do that 4-6 days a month (2 in a row works best). Not too bad. But we get wafer snacks and chocolates to keep our blood sugar up so we don't pass out lol0
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2+ years. Love it, don't miss breakfast at all. I've done a cut, bulk, and recomp. Calories are still king.0
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IsaackGMOON wrote: »FitnessTim wrote: »I've been doing it occasionally. I don't recommend except for those trying to really get lean (below 10% body fat). Even then, it can backfire and cause weight gain.
For someone overweight, a simple calorie deficit with exercise is probably the best approach.
How does IF cause weight gain?
For me personally, after I fast, I tend to have the urge to overeat - the cravings are extreme once I start eating again. This effect could vary depending on the individual. I believe someone with experience dealing with this can compensate for that effect and experience a net loss of weight, otherwise there's the risk to fall off the wagon and binge eat.
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It's a great tool if you're already pretty lean and want to get sub 10% - I'm specifically thinking about the Berkhenesque version of it.
It's unnecessary if you're just overweight and want to lose a few (or more) pounds. Just stick to a calorie deficit.0 -
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About once a week I'll stop eating at 8pm and I'll resume at 5:00 pm the next day. So 21 hours. I'm overweight and I find that it just gives me a boost and allows me to eat an extra 50-100 calories the other days.
I don't understand the eating in surplus when its over. On more than one occasion I've fasted without meaning to. I'm just not hungry. I imagine it could be hard for people who are used to eating more frequently. I eat like maybe 2 large meals a day. Sometimes it's one large.0 -
I use it on the weekends sometimes if I know I'm going to be home all day, it keeps me from snacking later on and forgetting to record the snacks.0
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I was doing it for a while. I just stopped eating around 7pm or so and didn't eat again until 11am. I've never been big on eating breakfast, so it wasn't a big deal for me. It can help by creating an eating window and help from going over on calories, but if you binge out in that window it defeats the purpose.0
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I love it. Use it 90% of the time while cutting unless I'm just ridiculously hungry in the morning. It's pretty simple, the fewer times you eat a day, the larger the portions can be given that your caloric intake stays constant. I like bigger meals (normally I eat twice a day).0
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I'm working on getting into a IF routine. I think it depends on your definition of Intermittent Fasting. Based on my research it can mean many things. I'm basically working towards eating all my calories for the day between 5 and noon. Why? Because I have an active puppy that I am trying to train and in the evenings, after I make her dinner I either forget to make my own or she is too distracting and its too late. Then I end up making bad choices or I just don't to eat. A few years ago I only ate breakfast everyday, my shape & weight were the best they've ever been. Granted, when I say I only ate breakfast I mean I ate steamed veggies, a huge meat & cheese omelet, and toast (and the plate was loaded). I purposefully ate as much as I could and only ate again in the afternoon if I was actually hungry. I never was. I wasn't even trying to lose weight it was just so hot in the summer and I worked outside, eating is unappetizing when you are too hot.
So, yeah, Im trying IF.0 -
This is what I stGuitarJerry wrote: »For some people, like me, it serves as a tool to allow eating more food for dinner.
There seem to be some studies that suggest it's a great fat blaster for people that want to get very lean. They don't know why it works, but it does.
For me, I don't eat after 8pm, nor before noon the next day. It's that simple. My fiancé and I both do it. I don't suffer or have any issues with being hungry. Although, I have to eat at noon. My work sometimes tries to hold meeting over lunch, and I'm like, "hell no to that noise".
This is what I started yesterday, the 16:8. Going to do it in work as I'm busiest then and don't think so much about food. Stop eating at 8 and start again at 12 the next day. 1st week.0 -
In terms of energy and general feeling g, is everyone's energy up and feeling good? I know done right it will give great weight loss but I'm also after the way "I'm feeling too"0
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I got up this morning and decided not to eat today. I've been working out like crazy (for me, at least), and on most days, end up with a calorie deficit. Sometimes the scale gives me good news, other times, like the last few days, it goes up by a half pound or even a pound a day. How can it take me days to lose a half pound, but overnight I can gain a half pound? I know - weight fluctuates daily, and since I've been working out, I'm also building muscle, which weighs more, but at some point, the pounds have to come off, right? I'm super frustrated and can't reach even a short-term, realistic goal, so for today, every time I'm hungry, I'll be chugging a big glass of water. Maybe it will jump start something.0
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I got up this morning and decided not to eat today. I've been working out like crazy (for me, at least), and on most days, end up with a calorie deficit. Sometimes the scale gives me good news, other times, like the last few days, it goes up by a half pound or even a pound a day. How can it take me days to lose a half pound, but overnight I can gain a half pound? I know - weight fluctuates daily, and since I've been working out, I'm also building muscle, which weighs more, but at some point, the pounds have to come off, right? I'm super frustrated and can't reach even a short-term, realistic goal, so for today, every time I'm hungry, I'll be chugging a big glass of water. Maybe it will jump start something.
Wow. Right, so you're not going to eat at all today because of the scale?
Seems sensible.
How are you so sure you're building muscle? I reckon you're eating more than you think, and you're either gaining water weight or you've actually gained some fat from over-eating due to inaccurate logging.0 -
This is just my opinion so take it for what it's worth, you should not be fasting...I got up this morning and decided not to eat today. I've been working out like crazy (for me, at least), and on most days, end up with a calorie deficit. Sometimes the scale gives me good news, other times, like the last few days, it goes up by a half pound or even a pound a day. How can it take me days to lose a half pound, but overnight I can gain a half pound? I know - weight fluctuates daily, and since I've been working out, I'm also building muscle, which weighs more, but at some point, the pounds have to come off, right? I'm super frustrated and can't reach even a short-term, realistic goal, so for today, every time I'm hungry, I'll be chugging a big glass of water. Maybe it will jump start something.0 -
I got up this morning and decided not to eat today. I've been working out like crazy (for me, at least), and on most days, end up with a calorie deficit. Sometimes the scale gives me good news, other times, like the last few days, it goes up by a half pound or even a pound a day. How can it take me days to lose a half pound, but overnight I can gain a half pound? I know - weight fluctuates daily, and since I've been working out, I'm also building muscle, which weighs more, but at some point, the pounds have to come off, right? I'm super frustrated and can't reach even a short-term, realistic goal, so for today, every time I'm hungry, I'll be chugging a big glass of water. Maybe it will jump start something.
Yeah, you don't have the right mind frame to be doing any sort of fasting.
Your deficit determines how much you lose, and there are variables that come into play like glycogen stores, sodium, and if you're female your impending menstrual cycle. Also, if you are indeed in a deficit you are likely not building any appreciable muscle mass, and even then that requires lifting heavy things.
Here's some pointers @ndj1979 gives.
1. Enter stats into MFP and set for x amount of weight loss.
2. Eat to the number that MFP gives you.
3. get a food scale and weigh all solid foods, and as many liquids as possible.
4. log everything
5. make sure that you are using correct MFP database entries
6. realize that there are no bad foods and that while the majority of foods should come from nutrient dense sources, there is nothing wrong with having pizza, ice cream, cookies, etc, as long as ones micro and macro needs are met.
7. macro setting are typically .85 grams of protein per pound of body weight; .45 grams of fat per pound of body weight; fill in rest with carbs.
8. find a form of exercise that you like and do it < not necessary for weight loss, but is for overall health and body comp.
And this post is a good starting place...
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants0 -
I do it, helps me with diet compliance, quite a few studies around GH and other hormone improvements around fat loss and muscle retention. It's nice to train heavy on just BCAA's in the morning and eat a monster lunch.
Also check out Eat-Stop-Eat, by Brad Pilon... he is the research guy who provides a lot of good material to review. (Alan Aragon as well) and the usual LeanGains suspects (Berkhan)
also 31minutes AMA PDF on reddit is a good read for application0 -
During my first long plateau, after a couple months without losses, I got frustrated and took to the forums.
Someone suggested a version of IF. I tried it for 6 weeks and had the same binges that others have metioned at first. I'd literally eat 9K-10K calories some days, though I would log everything I ate. By the end of the 6 weeks, I was down to only eating around 5K-6K calories when I was finally allowed to eat. It didn't work to end my plateau. I didn't gain any weight with the high calorie level (because I was in a plateau, which means no matter what or how much I do or do not eat, I don't gain or lose), nor did I lose any because of the change in diet plan. After 6 weeks, I went back to a normal daily deficit and then had a "whoosh" to end the plateau a couple months later (I'm not sure what triggered the whoosh).
The only remarkable thing that I noticed was that rather than fluctuating up and down within a few lbs. every time I weighed myself (yes, fluctuations still happen in a plateau, but permanent losses do not), they would fluctuate large amounts. There was once that I even gained 9 lbs. in a few hours time before losing it again over the next day.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »During my first long plateau, after a couple months without losses, I got frustrated and took to the forums.
Someone suggested a version of IF. I tried it for 6 weeks and had the same binges that others have metioned at first. I'd literally eat 9K-10K calories some days, though I would log everything I ate. By the end of the 6 weeks, I was down to only eating around 5K-6K calories when I was finally allowed to eat. It didn't work to end my plateau. I didn't gain any weight with the high calorie level (because I was in a plateau, which means no matter what or how much I do or do not eat, I don't gain or lose), nor did I lose any because of the change in diet plan. After 6 weeks, I went back to a normal daily deficit and then had a "whoosh" to end the plateau a couple months later (I'm not sure what triggered the whoosh).
The only remarkable thing that I noticed was that rather than fluctuating up and down within a few lbs. every time I weighed myself (yes, fluctuations still happen in a plateau, but permanent losses do not), they would fluctuate large amounts. There was once that I even gained 9 lbs. in a few hours time before losing it again over the next day.
The bolded statement makes no sense at all. If you are eating more calories than your body needs to maintain you will gain. If you eat less than your body needs to maintain you will lose. End of story. A plateau is not some magical place where physics do not exist.0 -
PrizePopple wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »During my first long plateau, after a couple months without losses, I got frustrated and took to the forums.
Someone suggested a version of IF. I tried it for 6 weeks and had the same binges that others have metioned at first. I'd literally eat 9K-10K calories some days, though I would log everything I ate. By the end of the 6 weeks, I was down to only eating around 5K-6K calories when I was finally allowed to eat. It didn't work to end my plateau. I didn't gain any weight with the high calorie level (because I was in a plateau, which means no matter what or how much I do or do not eat, I don't gain or lose), nor did I lose any because of the change in diet plan. After 6 weeks, I went back to a normal daily deficit and then had a "whoosh" to end the plateau a couple months later (I'm not sure what triggered the whoosh).
The only remarkable thing that I noticed was that rather than fluctuating up and down within a few lbs. every time I weighed myself (yes, fluctuations still happen in a plateau, but permanent losses do not), they would fluctuate large amounts. There was once that I even gained 9 lbs. in a few hours time before losing it again over the next day.
The bolded statement makes no sense at all. If you are eating more calories than your body needs to maintain you will gain. If you eat less than your body needs to maintain you will lose. End of story. A plateau is not some magical place where physics do not exist.
I was sharing my experience. You can believe it or not, but that doesn't change what happened to me. There are probably people who never have and never will experience a plateau. I'm not a member of that club.0 -
If you neither gain nor lose weight eating 9K-10K calories, the only plateau that might make that happen are the Plateaus of Leng.midwesterner85 wrote: »PrizePopple wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »During my first long plateau, after a couple months without losses, I got frustrated and took to the forums.
Someone suggested a version of IF. I tried it for 6 weeks and had the same binges that others have metioned at first. I'd literally eat 9K-10K calories some days, though I would log everything I ate. By the end of the 6 weeks, I was down to only eating around 5K-6K calories when I was finally allowed to eat. It didn't work to end my plateau. I didn't gain any weight with the high calorie level (because I was in a plateau, which means no matter what or how much I do or do not eat, I don't gain or lose), nor did I lose any because of the change in diet plan. After 6 weeks, I went back to a normal daily deficit and then had a "whoosh" to end the plateau a couple months later (I'm not sure what triggered the whoosh).
The only remarkable thing that I noticed was that rather than fluctuating up and down within a few lbs. every time I weighed myself (yes, fluctuations still happen in a plateau, but permanent losses do not), they would fluctuate large amounts. There was once that I even gained 9 lbs. in a few hours time before losing it again over the next day.
The bolded statement makes no sense at all. If you are eating more calories than your body needs to maintain you will gain. If you eat less than your body needs to maintain you will lose. End of story. A plateau is not some magical place where physics do not exist.
I was sharing my experience. You can believe it or not, but that doesn't change what happened to me. There are probably people who never have and never will experience a plateau. I'm not a member of that club.0 -
If you neither gain nor lose weight eating 9K-10K calories, the only plateau that might make that happen are the Plateaus of Leng.midwesterner85 wrote: »PrizePopple wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »During my first long plateau, after a couple months without losses, I got frustrated and took to the forums.
Someone suggested a version of IF. I tried it for 6 weeks and had the same binges that others have metioned at first. I'd literally eat 9K-10K calories some days, though I would log everything I ate. By the end of the 6 weeks, I was down to only eating around 5K-6K calories when I was finally allowed to eat. It didn't work to end my plateau. I didn't gain any weight with the high calorie level (because I was in a plateau, which means no matter what or how much I do or do not eat, I don't gain or lose), nor did I lose any because of the change in diet plan. After 6 weeks, I went back to a normal daily deficit and then had a "whoosh" to end the plateau a couple months later (I'm not sure what triggered the whoosh).
The only remarkable thing that I noticed was that rather than fluctuating up and down within a few lbs. every time I weighed myself (yes, fluctuations still happen in a plateau, but permanent losses do not), they would fluctuate large amounts. There was once that I even gained 9 lbs. in a few hours time before losing it again over the next day.
The bolded statement makes no sense at all. If you are eating more calories than your body needs to maintain you will gain. If you eat less than your body needs to maintain you will lose. End of story. A plateau is not some magical place where physics do not exist.
I was sharing my experience. You can believe it or not, but that doesn't change what happened to me. There are probably people who never have and never will experience a plateau. I'm not a member of that club.
I didn't lose or gain when I was eating at a small daily deficit for months prior to the IF. I didn't lose or gain during ht IF, eating 9K-10K calories some days (pretty close to zero calories other days), and at a net surplus calorie consumption for 6 weeks. Afterwards, I went back to a small daily deficit for months. I didn't gain or lose until the "whoosh" (where I lost 7 lbs. in a few days), and I'm not sure what triggered the whoosh because I had not changed anything for more than 2 months since quitting the IF plan.
Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it didn't happen. Not everything is as simple as CICO = immediate gain or loss.0 -
PrizePopple wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »During my first long plateau, after a couple months without losses, I got frustrated and took to the forums.
Someone suggested a version of IF. I tried it for 6 weeks and had the same binges that others have metioned at first. I'd literally eat 9K-10K calories some days, though I would log everything I ate. By the end of the 6 weeks, I was down to only eating around 5K-6K calories when I was finally allowed to eat. It didn't work to end my plateau. I didn't gain any weight with the high calorie level (because I was in a plateau, which means no matter what or how much I do or do not eat, I don't gain or lose), nor did I lose any because of the change in diet plan. After 6 weeks, I went back to a normal daily deficit and then had a "whoosh" to end the plateau a couple months later (I'm not sure what triggered the whoosh).
The only remarkable thing that I noticed was that rather than fluctuating up and down within a few lbs. every time I weighed myself (yes, fluctuations still happen in a plateau, but permanent losses do not), they would fluctuate large amounts. There was once that I even gained 9 lbs. in a few hours time before losing it again over the next day.
The bolded statement makes no sense at all. If you are eating more calories than your body needs to maintain you will gain. If you eat less than your body needs to maintain you will lose. End of story. A plateau is not some magical place where physics do not exist.
Also, there are scholarly journal articles that explain what happens in a plateau. Not only do plateaus exist, but scientists have even figured out what happens in a plateau and published their research to the rest of the scientific community.0 -
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GuitarJerry wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »PrizePopple wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »During my first long plateau, after a couple months without losses, I got frustrated and took to the forums.
Someone suggested a version of IF. I tried it for 6 weeks and had the same binges that others have metioned at first. I'd literally eat 9K-10K calories some days, though I would log everything I ate. By the end of the 6 weeks, I was down to only eating around 5K-6K calories when I was finally allowed to eat. It didn't work to end my plateau. I didn't gain any weight with the high calorie level (because I was in a plateau, which means no matter what or how much I do or do not eat, I don't gain or lose), nor did I lose any because of the change in diet plan. After 6 weeks, I went back to a normal daily deficit and then had a "whoosh" to end the plateau a couple months later (I'm not sure what triggered the whoosh).
The only remarkable thing that I noticed was that rather than fluctuating up and down within a few lbs. every time I weighed myself (yes, fluctuations still happen in a plateau, but permanent losses do not), they would fluctuate large amounts. There was once that I even gained 9 lbs. in a few hours time before losing it again over the next day.
The bolded statement makes no sense at all. If you are eating more calories than your body needs to maintain you will gain. If you eat less than your body needs to maintain you will lose. End of story. A plateau is not some magical place where physics do not exist.
Also, there are scholarly journal articles that explain what happens in a plateau. Not only do plateaus exist, but scientists have even figured out what happens in a plateau and published their research to the rest of the scientific community.
LOL. I'm a non-believer. Look at kids in Africa. I'm sure they aren't starving because...plateaus.
1. Plateaus do not affect everybody.
2. Plateaus do not last as long as food shortages in some areas of Africa.
Your point fails to recognize these. Again, believe or do not believe... it doesn't change my experience either way. It doesn't change the science either way.
ETA: I'm going to stop at this point because this thread has become an argument about whether I could have possibly had a plateau / whoosh rather than about intermitent fasting. I've made my point that I've tried it during a plateau without success. I'm not going to contribute to any additional deviation from the topic.0
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