Fasting Diets Are Gaining Acceptance

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  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited March 2016
    ernestrodgers82 wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    I do it on and off. I tend to do best on it both weight loss and mood wise out of all the diets I cycle through. I do the every other day kind, but don't exactly eat 500 calories. I eat anywhere between 800 and 1200 on my fast days depending on how much exercise I do and maintenance on non-fast days.

    I think your approach is wise. Do you simply restrict the amount of food you're eating or are your food choices different?

    The way I cook my foods is different. My fast days are essentially low fat high protein. For example: on normal days when I make a stew I would add a tablespoon or so of oil and little to no meat (not a big fan) plus extra potatoes. On fast days I only use a teaspoon of oil, if any, and replace some of the potatoes with lean meat (predominantly skinless chicken breast). Another example: on normal days I would do 2 eggs+1 white with extra cheese and bread for an omelet, on fast days I would do 1 egg+2 whites with a slice or two of low fat turkey cold cuts and half the bread, and just enough oil for it to not stick. I also utilize soups a lot, the brothy 50 calorie kind, on fast days and have them with my meals to help bulk up my meal size.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    I practice IF but nothing structured. I eat all my calories in a 12-4 hour window, and I have at least one day per week at ~ 100-500 kcals.

    I eat a ketogenic diet so fasting is quite complimentry. I don't get that blood sugar crash or the hangries that I would if I ate higher carb. I might get a bit hungry but there is no dip in energy if I haven't eaten for 12 or 60 hours.
  • hamelle2
    hamelle2 Posts: 297 Member
    The words "intermittent fasting" can sound faddish or unhealthy to some folks. It really is neither. Some people feel great eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day or eating a huge breakfast or not eating after 7pm. I feel great eating between 6pm-10pm. Because I have found a way to stay within my calories and also feeling satisfied has made me a very happy gal.
  • dwaterfield
    dwaterfield Posts: 34 Member
    I've recently started doing 5:2 because I had plateaued for several weeks. Well, my version of 5:2. I'm basically following my recommended calories 5 days a week and skipping breakfast and lunch 2 days a week and then eating a normal dinner (about 800 calories). I think the extended period of time (dinner one night until dinner the next) without calories is making a difference. I'm off my plateau and back to losing steadily over the last two weeks.

    Now it's also possible that my plateau would have ended anyway and all this is doing is helping me keep my calories within limits, but it seems to be working so I'm going to stick with it for a while.
  • BoaRestrictor
    BoaRestrictor Posts: 194 Member
    I used to do 20:4 but stopped simply because eating 1500 calories in 4 hours was really hard, but I did feel pretty good on IF 20:4 and I'm a female, I might go back to it. Now I guess I go 12:12 which isn't IF but I try to have breakfast at 6AM and not eat past 6PM (and no not because of the 3 hours before bed myth).
  • cblack8
    cblack8 Posts: 42 Member
    IF gave me a lot of wonderful tools. None of the structured plans worked for me but just trying to only eat 500 calories one day or go 24 hours without eating taught me so much (I couldn't do either of those for a single day). I'm much more aware of when my body needs food as opposed to just wanting it and I know I start to get dizzy and tired if I really need to eat. It also made me really look at my schedule to figure out what works best for me which was huge. I eat 200-300 calories during the week at work (filling things: oatmeal, soup, etc.) and that leaves me 1000 calories for dinner. I then eat at maintenance on the weekends and I've been steadily losing weight while not affecting the parts of my lifestyle that are really important to me.

    I would recommend giving different plans a shot and then going with what works best for you!
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    Did it as part of research for my book. Lasted 3 days. My husband went out and came back with a huge pile of Indian take-out and told me to eat it or I could sleep in the yard. (He was joking about the yard part. ... i think... though we did have a lovely hammock at the time.)
    I need to keep my calorie intake even throughout the day, or I become a candidate for a 5150 psych admit. :)
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,645 Member
    Jruzer wrote: »
    To my mind, one advantage of the wider acceptance of intermittent fasting will be the slaying of the "eat many small meals to keep your metabolism stoked" myth. Once people realize they have a lot more dietary freedom than they realized, they can adapt their eating patterns to their circumstances and be more successful.

    That would be awesome. Unfortunately, it could just as easily become the new "only way to lose weight."
  • ernestrodgers82
    ernestrodgers82 Posts: 208 Member
    I don't know how many of you follow Kris Gunnars of Authority Nutrition. She just wrote a review of The Military Diet. One thing she did write was the diet wasn't technically an IF diet because three "meals" are eatin. Here's a link to her review http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Oo6T2&m=h7Y44AHXRM2fnbk&b=WocKaCoVJ.7PBeR0NBqnbA
  • japfume
    japfume Posts: 11 Member
    I tried IF just to simplify meal plans, but I try to eat plant based and high fiber, there's just no way to eat that much volume and fiber in a narrow window. I think it's more ideal for people on a high protein or keto diet.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    I've been doing IF since 2012. I did alternate day IF (JUDDD) for the weight loss phase, 5:2IF as I transitioned into maintenance and now in maintenance I do 16:8IF. I've been thinking about ditching IF because I'm kind of bored with it, but then I reflect back and see that it's really worked well for me, so I'll probably keep doing it in one form or another for the long term.

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    This is my second week following 5:2. I am eating 600 calories, not 500. My maintenance is around 2350 so I chose a higher calorie level. I'm doing it on Tuesday and Thursday, which are non-lifting days. So far it has been pretty easy. I've hit the point where cutting calories every day seems endless but cutting steeply a couple days gives me the "it's just one day" feeling mentioned upthread.
  • ernestrodgers82
    ernestrodgers82 Posts: 208 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    This is my second week following 5:2. I am eating 600 calories, not 500. My maintenance is around 2350 so I chose a higher calorie level. I'm doing it on Tuesday and Thursday, which are non-lifting days. So far it has been pretty easy. I've hit the point where cutting calories every day seems endless but cutting steeply a couple days gives me the "it's just one day" feeling mentioned upthread.

    It sounds like you have a good plan. I'll be interested in keeping up on your progress.
  • CJsf1t
    CJsf1t Posts: 414 Member
    I am doing 5:2 IF since past 3 weeks and I feel great! On non fast days I still eat at a 15% deficit. I am losing weight and getting really nice compliments! As the weeks pass I am finding it easier and easier to adhere to 500 cals on fasting days. Q
  • 88meli88
    88meli88 Posts: 238 Member
    What the article does not say though is that if a person makes up for the calorie deficit they create on fasting days on the other 5 days, they will not lose any weight. We all make much poorer food choices when we are hungry so I can also see that this approach would work very poorly with people who do not have that much self-control. Like everything else, it will of course work to reduce weight if it helps people adhere to a calorie deficit but for many like me it would totally have the opposite effect. I blame for some of my weight gain the skipping breakfast approach (Not that hungry), then having a light lunch and then ravenous by he evening so much that I would have a hard time stop eating. And then of course I am not hungry next morning, if I consume 200 cals for dinner. So for me, part of my new habits include 3 main meals including breakfast and 1-2 snacks.
  • 88meli88
    88meli88 Posts: 238 Member
    BTW: I have read some of the original articles supporting the NY piece, and it looks like the author is misrepresenting the conclusions of the studies. E.g. on 5:2:


    RESULTS: Last observation carried forward analysis showed that IER and CER are equally effective for weight loss: mean (95% confidence interval ) weight change for IER was -6.4 (-7.9 to -4.8) kg vs -5.6 (-6.9 to -4.4) kg for CER (P-value for difference between groups = 0.4). Both groups experienced comparable reductions in leptin, free androgen index, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and increases in sex hormone binding globulin, IGF binding proteins 1 and 2. Reductions in fasting insulin and insulin resistance were modest in both groups, but greater with IER than with CER; difference between groups for fasting insulin was -1.2 (-1.4 to -1.0) μU ml(-1) and for insulin resistance was -1.2 (-1.5 to -1.0) μU mmol(-1) l(-1) (both P = 0.04).
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    LadyTalulah wrote: »
    I did IF for a few months. Not the 5:2 method, but I would reduce my eating window to 4-6 hours a day. It wasn't at all for me, I got really bad blood sugar crashes and lost my period. I was probably around 18-19 % BF so not low enough to justify that bad of a reaction. Of course, studies on IF for women are inconclusive at the moment. Some women have great results with no side effects, and others (like myself) develop hormonal and blood sugar issues. Luckily everything stabilized as soon as I went back to eating normally.
    I would definitely recommend trying it out though and seeing if it's for you! Especially since you're a male, I've only heard good things about IF for men!

    There are a couple of studies done in the Middle East about intermittent fasting (during Ramadan) that show that women who fast are more likely to develop blood sugar and other issues, even if a too unhealthy diet often present during Ramadan is taken out of the equation.
  • blewbell
    blewbell Posts: 30 Member
    I've always skipped breakfast and not eaten after 8pm. Got 30 pounds overweight while doing that. I don't think IF is the whole story, I have to restrict calories. In my case I've also excluded bread/pasta/rice/potatoes - I guess that's low-carb but sometimes I end with a lot of carbs from veggies/nuts. I'm not sure meal timing has anything to do with it in my case. I wouldn't dare try to fast for more than 16 hours, I have enough blood sugar/hormonal issues as it is.

    As other posters have said, it seems like men get more benefit out of it than women do. I know all my hubby has to do is not eat after dinner and he loses a ton. Sure wish he would start doing that!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I'm playing around with a 16:8 (sometimes 14:10). I'm not finding it nearly as hard as I thought I would.
  • ernestrodgers82
    ernestrodgers82 Posts: 208 Member
    88meli88 wrote: »
    BTW: I have read some of the original articles supporting the NY piece, and it looks like the author is misrepresenting the conclusions of the studies. E.g. on 5:2:


    RESULTS: Last observation carried forward analysis showed that IER and CER are equally effective for weight loss: mean (95% confidence interval ) weight change for IER was -6.4 (-7.9 to -4.8) kg vs -5.6 (-6.9 to -4.4) kg for CER (P-value for difference between groups = 0.4). Both groups experienced comparable reductions in leptin, free androgen index, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and increases in sex hormone binding globulin, IGF binding proteins 1 and 2. Reductions in fasting insulin and insulin resistance were modest in both groups, but greater with IER than with CER; difference between groups for fasting insulin was -1.2 (-1.4 to -1.0) μU ml(-1) and for insulin resistance was -1.2 (-1.5 to -1.0) μU mmol(-1) l(-1) (both P = 0.04).

    Yeah, most people don't expect you to go to the source documents. Like you said, the author came to some different conclusions. Don't you love Google Scholar? ☺
  • ernestrodgers82
    ernestrodgers82 Posts: 208 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    LadyTalulah wrote: »
    I did IF for a few months. Not the 5:2 method, but I would reduce my eating window to 4-6 hours a day. It wasn't at all for me, I got really bad blood sugar crashes and lost my period. I was probably around 18-19 % BF so not low enough to justify that bad of a reaction. Of course, studies on IF for women are inconclusive at the moment. Some women have great results with no side effects, and others (like myself) develop hormonal and blood sugar issues. Luckily everything stabilized as soon as I went back to eating normally.
    I would definitely recommend trying it out though and seeing if it's for you! Especially since you're a male, I've only heard good things about IF for men!

    There are a couple of studies done in the Middle East about intermittent fasting (during Ramadan) that show that women who fast are more likely to develop blood sugar and other issues, even if a too unhealthy diet often present during Ramadan is taken out of the equation.

    That's an interesting finding, but with a religious requirement is there really any choice?
  • nancycola
    nancycola Posts: 98 Member
    It's been great to read others' experiences on IF'ing. I'm just starting it myself, eating within a 5-6 hour window. The book I'm reading said it would take 3 weeks to adjust. Fingers crossed.
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