INTERMITTENT FASTING - A LIFESTYLE MAKEOVER
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trigden1991 wrote: »I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?
I don't "believe" it means that you don't eat breakfast. I understand the definition of intermittent. However skipping "breakfast" is the easiest way to implement IF if you have a normal 9-5 work schedule. To be even more pedantic; if you skipped break-fast you would remain fasted for eternity
Which is why I put quotes around "breakfast" as most people think "breakfast" = morning meal whereas some people take it literally "break fast".0 -
I also have lead the IF way, like MommyL2015 almost all my life, and this about 30 years or so. That was time when people did not know how to count calories, and time of internet were far ahead in the future. My weight did not budge even 3 lb up or down, Two pregnancies went easily, I remember that I was losing the pregnancy weight for about 30 days. Some nedical reseach indicated that constancy of the body mass thru life is best for your health. My weight now 124 lb at heigh 5" 5" (my high school level). I just used logic to consume food. Moderation in everyting. But if I overeat sometimes, I had 2-5 "unload" days: eat little less than normally, I guess, they call it Very low cal days. It come to me intuitivly.0
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I also have lead the IF way, like MommyL2015 almost all my life, and this about 30 years or so. That was time when people did not know how to count calories, and time of internet were far ahead in the future. My weight did not budge even 3 lb up or down Two pregnancies went easily, I remember that I was losing the pregnancy weight for about 30 days. Some medical reseach indicated that constancy of the body mass thru life is best for your health. My weight now 124 lb at heigh 5" 5" (my high school level). I just used logic to consume food. Moderation in everyting. But if I overeat sometimes, I had 2-5 "unload" days: eat little less than normally, I guess, they call it Very low cal days. It come to me intuitively.
This is how I remained slim when I was younger also. My body automatically did it for me, and my hunger correctly guided me.
If I had a holiday meal, special event, or buffet where I ate a bit over, then my body would naturally compensate the next few days when I would eat lighter. I never in my life counted calories until I hit my late 40s and 50s. I had never been overweight either until I got older.
The intermittent fasting seems to be restoring my intuitive eating. I ignore food during the part of the day I'm not having a meal. This is freeing to me.2 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »@82jeh I would take what Jason Fung says with a very big grain of salt.
That's a very diplomatic way of putting it. Fung is about on equal footing with with Dr. Oz in terms of being a reliable source.
There's nothing wrong with IF if that's how one chooses to eat - but there's nothing magical about it either. For some people it helps with adherence/satiety or workout performance or whatever, but as far as weight/fat loss goes, it doesn't do anything more than any other eating pattern at equal caloric intake.
And no, it doesn't cure diabetes. Of that you can be 100% sure.1 -
As much as I love IF and practice it effortlessly daily, it's true there's nothing magical about it in terms of curing diseases or spurring weight loss on its own.
I have Celiac Disease that went undiagnosed for 20 years. When I was in my 20's I never ate breakfast because it made me feel sick. I'd have a small lunch and then I'd have a good dinner when I was safely at home (read: near my own bathroom). I was at a good weight then. If I gained a bit, I'd just cut back on portions. So, I'm actually just going back to that way of eating, except this time it's for different reasons-- but the result with regard to my weight is the same. All these years later. It's quite amazing to me, honestly-- and exciting.
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I also have lead the IF way, like MommyL2015 almost all my life, and this about 30 years or so. That was time when people did not know how to count calories, and time of internet were far ahead in the future. My weight did not budge even 3 lb up or down Two pregnancies went easily, I remember that I was losing the pregnancy weight for about 30 days. Some medical reseach indicated that constancy of the body mass thru life is best for your health. My weight now 124 lb at heigh 5" 5" (my high school level). I just used logic to consume food. Moderation in everyting. But if I overeat sometimes, I had 2-5 "unload" days: eat little less than normally, I guess, they call it Very low cal days. It come to me intuitively.
This is how I remained slim when I was younger also. My body automatically did it for me, and my hunger correctly guided me.
If I had a holiday meal, special event, or buffet where I ate a bit over, then my body would naturally compensate the next few days when I would eat lighter. I never in my life counted calories until I hit my late 40s and 50s. I had never been overweight either until I got older.
The intermittent fasting seems to be restoring my intuitive eating. I ignore food during the part of the day I'm not having a meal. This is freeing to me.
This is what I find happens when I simply eat according to a schedule (meals only, no grazing). It's not IF for me -- back in my 20s I never ate breakfast, so it could be an "IF" schedule (though we never called it that then), but the same happens if I just eat 3 regular meals as I've been doing. I don't think about food if it's not mealtime.
It's also, if I look back on it, how I ate most of my life before ever getting fat and what I did after losing weight and maintaining it for 5 years. I don't see it as about hunger or intuitive eating, but that if you eat to any schedule it's common to adapt to it and want food when you expect to have it (and if you graze all day and what's available is fruit and veg, probably no biggie -- if you graze all day, as many are in the habit of these days, and what's available are higher cal stuff, well, lots of obesity).
Clearly what works for me isn't going to work for everyone, and I'm not saying that, but this is part of my overarching theory of why so many are overweight.0 -
The point--if we knew and understood everything in our natural world, science (the scientific process) would no longer be necessary. But we don't, and hypotheses, and even theories are proven and disproven all the time, and new hypotheses and theories are formed.
And that is science.
Thank you tigerblue.
This was my point earlier in this thread, but you expressed much better than I did my friend.
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I'm doing 16:8 add me!!0
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ChristinaOne21 wrote: »In the 90's now, but I realise I can't rely on the calories entered in this site as some of them are so random or completely different from each other, so when it looks like I'm in a calorie deficit I realise I need to add on a few things, as I know I'm really not. The wine has been featuring far too much this week. Also haven't been to the gym forever and the weight is definitely not moving due to those two things. Tomorrow it will be different!
Hey was wondering how the IF went for u x0 -
lauraryanx1 wrote: »Hey was wondering how the IF went for u x
Hi Laura -Thanks for asking and it's lovely to know you are interested I just had to reset my password as it has been so long since I was last on here and it had logged out.
How's IF going for me? Well life kind of got in the way with work getting so busy, being away all the time and a few crazy events happening - one example being our golden retriever dog got stolen (thankfully back now) and that wasn't the only traumatic thing to happen in the last few months.
I have probably maintained my weight by keeping some of my habits going, but I stopped losing as soon as I stopped fasting and tracking my food. Instead I started eating cooked breakfasts when my partner made them, consuming bigger portions, grazing over longer periods of time and drinking more alcohol. I often seem to crave peanut butter sandwiches and cheese at midnight (woops just had one of those now) and then still waking hungry (something about eating later makes me hungrier earlier the next day). I'm also more thirsty at bedtime as I'm not drinking as much water and coffee in the mornings as I was. And I have started to crave sugary treats I had totally cut out. I'm also finding it hard to get to sleep at night, with less energy in the day, feeling bloated and getting more headaches again....
In other words I have reverted right back to how I was feeling before doing IF.
I'm dissappointed in myself as I was seeing results and feeling great and if I had stuck to it I should have been a heck of a lot lighter by now (possibly even 10kgs lighter in fact).
So it is high time for me to get back on track now - it's just hard when I am working such long days right now to want to spend any more time on the computer filling in my food diary and I never seem to find the time for any exercise. New Zealand has got well and truly into the silly season here where everyone wants to get everything wrapped up before the Christmas summer holidays and the world around me seems to be running on stress and putting so much pressure on each other...
However focusing back on IF and calorie tracking is definitely a preferable choice to reading mindless conspiracy theories and the continuous negative news about wars and political disasters online - which has been the latest pass-time when I can't sleep
Time to start tracking again tomorrow.........0 -
I was going to make a new thread, but my question fits well here.
Why do people believe IF means no "breakfast" (aka a morning meal)? Is it because that's what most IFers do?
Most likely because it's easiest to do a 16:8 fast over night, so you end up skipping breakfast time. Not breakfast itself. I have bacon and eggs and noon when I "break-my-fast" or breakfest ;-)4 -
I absolutely love IF. I was on just a 1200 calorie diet first with exercise. My husband stated talking about IF. At first, I didn't agree with it but got hooked on it. With other diets, as soon as I had my breakfast I would start feeling hungry. ALL THE TIME. I would eat every 3 hours. Always busy with my food and my diet. Now, with IF, my last meal goes in at 7pm and my first meal goes in at 1pm (sometimes noon3
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ChristinaOne21 wrote: »Intermittent Fasting might help with your Weight Loss too...
I have just started with My Fitness Pal logging food and calorie counting for 1200 calories a day.
I've also stopped smoking, lowered alcohol intake from my daily glass (or 4) of wine, to just 1 this week and I'm doing 10,000 steps a day for Steptember (sometimes )
It may sound like I am the motivated type (that has fallen off the band wagon), but I am far from that normally and more of a couch potato - in fact lying in bed working on my computer has been my comfort zone for a long time.
However, I discovered Intermittent Fasting online (see links below) and I have been doing the 16/8 - that's 16 hours no food and 8 hours of eating and it is working miracles! I am also incorporating the Primal eating type lifestyle to a point - more protein, less carbs, lots of veggies, no packaged chemical ridden crap, avoiding sugar apart from some fruit.
Our Primal ancestors probably didn't eat breakfast, let alone 6 meals a day, or take a snack everywhere with them and I've learnt that these type of diets just don't cut it for me. I simply become food obsessed and always hungry.
I have found IF actually does work for me. I am not hungry during the fasting time at all and tend to eat a lot less in the 8 hour window I've allocated myself. Now I do 2 meals rather than 3 and find I don't need anything in between, so taking in a lot less calories overall. I also have motivation to make all of the above lifestyle changes for the first time in many years and energy to get up and moving. And I'm sleeping better as well - insomnia and sleep apnoea has been an ongoing nightmare for me, but maybe the change in overall eating patterns has helped with this.
I am only just on the start of my journey, so I am not sure whether I will have the willpower to keep it up - my willpower with anything is usually non existent. However, I have set myself a goal of 30kgs (66 pounds) to lose by April and right now I am determined to make it happen - hence the blog post to keep me accountable!
I'm only about a week in now and I have already found that eating the IF way has set me free from a life long struggle where I have been eating emotionally - when bored, lonely, depressed, grieving, self-sabotaging relationships - heck even when everything was fine and I was happy I'd still eat. I was never really listening to my body’s own hunger or satiety signals and just eating because I could and because food was readily available. I was not stopping when full - to the point I would go back for second or even third helpings and then feel ill from overeating - but be hungry again in a few hours.
I'm ditching that cycle for good!
Now I only get an empty, growly tummy just before 1pm when my eating window is about to start, the first few days was more often - but I discovered that being hungry didn't mean I had to give in to it. And then the hunger pangs would disappear after a few minutes.
What a great feeling of control and empowerment I have today. And what an unusual feeling that is for me.
I recommend reading up on Intermittent Fasting and giving it a go if you want to lose weight or improve your overall wellbeing - it's proven to be great for a myriad of other health reasons too.
It's free; nobody is making money out of a diet gimmick, pills and protein shakes, or selling you a book - you can google everything you need to know; humans have been doing it for centuries...
Did I mention it costs nothing?
In fact it may save you money, especially if you end up eating less like me and drinking more water - rather than wine
And even if you don't reduce your calorie intake or increase your exercise output your body will still get a few hours of fat burning time, so even the most sedentary couch potato has a chance of success!
Thanks for reading and hope this blog helps others like me
Christina
Some good articles that have helped me understand the benefits of IF:
http://jamesclear.com/the-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting
http://mamasweeds.com/weight-loss/intermittent-fasting-for-weight-loss/
I'm a huge fan of fasting. It resets your body and mind. Eating just to eat is why I've struggled. I dont regularly fast like you but it sounds like a good idea for me. I will typically fast after I've had a day where I've gone off the rails with food. It gets me right back on track.5 -
Did u stick to it? And how did it go?4
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Yes, TELL US CristinaOne21 did you do it?0
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She hasn't been on for awhile, so she might have fallen off... at least from MFP.0
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No advice on the topic here but just wanted to say congrats on quitting smoking! That's major to do on top of all the other stuff.1
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Thank you for this. I just joined.2 -
EvgeniZyntx wrote: »ChristinaOne21 wrote: »
Nope. That's mumbo jumbo.
If you eat 1300 calories spread out over 10 meals or only eat 1300 calories in one meal a day you'll burn the same amount of fat.
I do not believe that statement to be true. The only thing I can agree with is that if you consume 1300 calories at once or over time, you will have consumed 1,300 calories. It's how your body REACTS to consuming 1,300 calories that matters. Most people will lose weight on 1,300 calories/day, even without exercise, if they are very overweight, regardless of the method used. However, for those of us who are INSULIN RESISTANT or have METABOLIC SYNDROME, fasting is very different from calorie restriction. In addition to following Dr. Jason Fung (search for him on YouTube), I have queried several endocrinologists within the health system that I work in, and all agree that intermittent fasting (fasting begins after 12 hours of not eating) boosts your metabolism/energy and fat burning to the maximum.
I have a friend who is calorie counting (1,200 calories per day) and one who is doing IF (1,200) calories per day. Both started January 1st of this year. The person who is calorie counting has lost 8 lbs, the one who is doing IF has lost 15 lbs (almost double). Both are women in mid-life.
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