Fasting

I have fasted 1-3 days for various reasons in the past, some of them were dumb. Sometimes it's warranted if it's a part of your strategy and not just a punishment protocol, other times it's useless or even harmful. Any longer than that without supervision is also ill advised (ended up in the hospital as a teen after a 2 week fast).

I fast for 24 hours twice a week. I feel fine. But if I fast for longer I feel weak and light headed. My workouts suffer too.
I would not fast for a few days at a time.

I think success requires doing something for the rest of your life. Fasting for a few days is the same as saying "what do you think of starvation for a few days" Bad idea

amtyrell wrote: »

I think success requires doing something for the rest of your life. Fasting for a few days is the same as saying "what do you think of starvation for a few days" Bad idea

Nobody starved from not eating for a few days. Have you ever been sick and not eaten for a few days? You still survived.
I wouldn't do it on purpose for weight loss though.

Anyone who says that fasting is a bad idea and you must eat throughout the day with snacks simply does not understand how the body works, we all fast everyday. Well night. During a fast is the only time for some people to tap into the fat reserves. So for weight loss intermittent fasting is a great tool. But man is it controversial

There's some interesting science out there on short-term water fasts. They can help your body temporarily become better at getting rid of old cells (called autophagy). And that's a good thing.

I'm curious to see how the science develops further over the coming decades. But for now it's promising - and a 3 day water fast every month or two wouldn't hurt. I've done one 3-day water fast and it was an interesting challenge.

TimothyFish wrote: »

As a weight loss strategy, I don't think it gains you much.

B.S.

My whole wt control approach is based on fasting and light eating which affords me not to miss out a single eating out with friends and family, and I don't eat superficially. I get the most out of my eating and my money. I also love buffets.

I'm stronger and higher stamina than most of my peers in the workout circle and I only sleep 5-7 hours a day. When I can get 8, 9 hours of sleep, I become even more hyperactive and alert.

I did IF on the 16:8 schedule and liked it a lot. I recently only switched my eating to support my new workout regimine.

amtyrell wrote: »

I think success requires doing something for the rest of your life. Fasting for a few days is the same as saying "what do you think of starvation for a few days" Bad idea

Yes, starving is the only way to lose weight...hold on...I am not saying go a month without food and water starving. Calorie deficit no matter how and when you do it is starving. If your definition of starving is to deprive the body of calories that are required to maintain your current wait, then yes starving a little for days, weeks, months, years is how you are going to reach your weight goals. I said this was a very controversial subject.

Go search YouTube for videos featuring Dr. Fung. He's and MD who re educated himself on what food does in the body. He's got 2 books out contains the science behind IF. Obesity Code and The Conplete Guide to Fasting. He now treats obese and type 2 diabetic patients through IF. Many patients come off their meds entirely. There's actually quite a lot of research out there about the benefits of giving your body a *longer than "normal"* break from digestion. Two benefits include lower insulin levels and an increase in sensitivity to insulin. Also, most people who IF eat the same amount of calories as before, just in a more condensed time frame. (Unless they decide to do a block fast which would be fasting for 24-36 hrs) So IF is truly NOT starvation. Again, this is to give the body a true rest from digestion. However, this will not be for everyone! But if it seems to fit your lifestyle, great!

To chime in again I thought it might be useful to say...

• On and off I've used fasting protocols for about 5 years now, so it is easily sustainable.
• I started using the 5:2 diet and later progressed to IF (8:16). I've kind of settled into a 6:18 type thing.
• When cutting or maintaining I fast about 29 days or the month, only eating a "breakfast" type meal as a special event or family type thing (when bulking I need to eat more frequently to get the calories in)
• I've played around with longer fasts and they were OK but not for me on a regular basis.
• I've read a lot about fasting and although I have my own personal opinion on the benefits, my reading of the studies (I restricted my searches to Human iso-calorific studies) tells me that there is no benefit of fasting over that of eating the same number of calories over a longer period*
• I often work out fasted and do not see a dip in my lifting performance or running times when fasted (unless I embark on a long steady state run of greater than about an hour)
• I was very surprised when I started fasting about how easy it was to forgo food for long periods and for this reason I recommend that anyone attempting fasting tracks their weekly calories to ensure that the are neither under eating or overeating.
• I enjoy the simplicity of fasting and it does allow me to hit my calories even when I have a family event or special meal planned.

* My last data search on all this was about a year ago - there may be new stuff I've not seem and there is also the fact that my searching skills are not up to the job. As such, I would be happy to be proven wrong on this point. There are several opinion pieces which talk about the autophagy argument and the increase in autophagy when fasted, but there doesn't seem to be any studies (that I'm aware of) that show that the increased autophagy levels seen in fasted humans results in a health benefit (although it may well turn out to be the case).