Intermittent fasting.
Replies
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justsmile535 wrote: »I've stared IF, this is my 3rd day. I'm following a OMAD method and only drinking coffee in the morning, followed by about 2-3 cups of tea (I switch between green, black, and herbal depending on the amount of caffeine I want to intake) and drink lots of water until the evening when I eat dinner with my boyfriend. So far it hasn't been that hard. The only problem I've had is a few stomach cramps due to taking some of my meds on an empty stomach but it's not terrible and goes away after rehydrating. My goal is to lose a decent amount for a wedding I'm going to in June and visiting some family and friends over the summer. I know there's a lot of controversy about IF but I feel like it works for me so that I can prevent overeating. I'm also attempting to go vegan. But for now I'm at least vegetarian and working on getting rid of dairy products because I believe I'm slightly lactose intolerant and dairy products are very fattening. I wish everyone else luck on their IF journey. (:
That's the thing there isn't a lot of controversy about IF, it's literally just a meal timing thing, and still requires a calorie deficit to lose weight. It takes the same calorie deficit doing a specific IF (I mean aren't we all really doing IF, since we don't eat 24 hours a day) to lose weight as it does to eat 15 meals a day.
The so called controversy lies in the people, trying to tell other people that there is some sort of fat burning power by doing IF compared to eating the same food not doing IF. IE the guy talking about Fung. It all comes back to people wanting to give credit to somebody or something else for their hard work. Doesn't make sense to me, I lost weight because I worked my butt off, and ate less than I burned, I'm not giving a specific diet credit for my hard work. Somebody else above said proof is in the pudding giving her weight loss credit to IF, instead of her own hard work.
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I feel most of the benefits are behavioral- I fast 3 nonconsecutive days per week, eating nothing until dinner. I do find I'm more energetic and clear-headed in general, and (surprisingly) even more so in fasting days. Mainly I do it so I can have big meals the rest of the time and still lose weight - being short and eating at a deficit is hard! This way I feel great, eat satisfying (even decadent) meals, and I'm having a much easier time keeping my weekly calories within my goal range.1
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To answer your question, yes! I am an intermittent faster and believe strongly in it as a method to actually tap into your fat stores, not just stored glycogen in your liver. What many people don't understand, is that fasting isn't about maintaining a caloric deficit; I average the same amount of weekly calories as I did prior to fasting. It's the understanding that obesity is a hormonal disease, and the culprit you need to control most is insulin.While insulin is spiked in your system after eating (and it's not just carbs, but excess protein), it signals the body to store fat and not burn it. Plainly, insulin makes you fat - ask someone who is a Type 2 diabetic and goes on insulin about their weight gain. Or ask Type 1 diabetics who dangerously cut back their insulin in order to lose weight. Whichever fasting program works best for you, will assure that during those hours your insulin will remain low, allowing your body to tap into your fat stores after your stored carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen in the liver) are exhausted in about 8 to 10 hours. If you do what I do, which is team intermittent fasting with a ketogenic diet, you will multiply your effect with no hunger during fasting. The other benefit of fasting and eating a larger calorie meal on your feast days is that you will avoid the dreaded metabolism slow down from consistent daily low caloric intake. I fast every other day, and the scale shows about a half pound loss per fasting day. Search up Dr. Jason Fung on YouTube, and check out his book on Intermittent Fasting. He lays the science out clearly and understandably. Good luck!
What you fail to see is that obesity is caused by eating too much. If you eat the same as you burn you won't put on weight. Anyone who takes what Jason Fung says as gospel follows woo instead of science.4 -
I love IF. I have my eating window and then I'm done. I don't crave salty snacks, normally my biggest downfall, nor sweets, nor do I ever feel starved. My husband and daughter can be munching on chips, popcorn, or whatever else kind of junk foods we have on hand and it doesn't phase me. I credit this to IF, axing coffee creamer (I just drink straight black now), as well as me filling up on mostly whole foods and/or minimally processed ones, rather than overly processed foods with added sugars and other junk. My carb intake averages about 120/day, so not low carb or high carb although sometimes I will have low carb meals. I haven't had heartburn in weeks, and I was a Zantac and/or TUMS everyday type for several years. I can't explain it aside from making healthier choices, but on 3 or more meal a day plans, though I ate healthier on those too, I still had heartburn, daily. So, I dunno. All I know is that heartburn sucks and I don't have it anymore. :-)
Regardless of how well it's working for me, it still boils down to calories in and calories out. I eat from 1200-1400 calories (actually working to keep eating more so when I plateau, I can then lower calories without falling below 1200), daily, and am working on eating calories earned by exercise. I feel like IF is something I can do for life and that's something I've never felt like I could do with "only eat this or that" type diets. I don't feel like I'm on a diet even though I'm counting calories, whereas smaller meals throughout the day, even ones meant to keep you full until the next meal, had me always feeling hungry, or they were too restrictive and I would end up stuffing my face with all kinds of crap before the next meal. I had no control whatsoever, whereas now I do--it's the number one reason I love the IF way of life.
5'5", 47 yo
Start Weight 3/5/2017: 224.8
Current Weight 5/10/17: 203.8
Average loss per week: 2.1 pounds0 -
To answer your question, yes! I am an intermittent faster and believe strongly in it as a method to actually tap into your fat stores, not just stored glycogen in your liver. What many people don't understand, is that fasting isn't about maintaining a caloric deficit; I average the same amount of weekly calories as I did prior to fasting. It's the understanding that obesity is a hormonal disease, and the culprit you need to control most is insulin. While insulin is spiked in your system after eating (and it's not just carbs, but excess protein), it signals the body to store fat and not burn it. Plainly, insulin makes you fat - ask someone who is a Type 2 diabetic and goes on insulin about their weight gain. Or ask Type 1 diabetics who dangerously cut back their insulin in order to lose weight. Whichever fasting program works best for you, will assure that during those hours your insulin will remain low, allowing your body to tap into your fat stores after your stored carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen in the liver) are exhausted in about 8 to 10 hours. If you do what I do, which is team intermittent fasting with a ketogenic diet, you will multiply your effect with no hunger during fasting. The other benefit of fasting and eating a larger calorie meal on your feast days is that you will avoid the dreaded metabolism slow down from consistent daily low caloric intake. I fast every other day, and the scale shows about a half pound loss per fasting day. Search up Dr. Jason Fung on YouTube, and check out his book on Intermittent Fasting. He lays the science out clearly and understandably. Good luck!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I guess I wasn't around for the vote deciding that "FUNG is a 4 letter word around here." LOL0 -
justsmile535 wrote: »I've stared IF, this is my 3rd day. I'm following a OMAD method and only drinking coffee in the morning, followed by about 2-3 cups of tea (I switch between green, black, and herbal depending on the amount of caffeine I want to intake) and drink lots of water until the evening when I eat dinner with my boyfriend. So far it hasn't been that hard. The only problem I've had is a few stomach cramps due to taking some of my meds on an empty stomach but it's not terrible and goes away after rehydrating. My goal is to lose a decent amount for a wedding I'm going to in June and visiting some family and friends over the summer. I know there's a lot of controversy about IF but I feel like it works for me so that I can prevent overeating. I'm also attempting to go vegan. But for now I'm at least vegetarian and working on getting rid of dairy products because I believe I'm slightly lactose intolerant and dairy products are very fattening. I wish everyone else luck on their IF journey. (:
That's the thing there isn't a lot of controversy about IF, it's literally just a meal timing thing, and still requires a calorie deficit to lose weight. It takes the same calorie deficit doing a specific IF (I mean aren't we all really doing IF, since we don't eat 24 hours a day) to lose weight as it does to eat 15 meals a day.
The so called controversy lies in the people, trying to tell other people that there is some sort of fat burning power by doing IF compared to eating the same food not doing IF. IE the guy talking about Fung. It all comes back to people wanting to give credit to somebody or something else for their hard work. Doesn't make sense to me, I lost weight because I worked my butt off, and ate less than I burned, I'm not giving a specific diet credit for my hard work. Somebody else above said proof is in the pudding giving her weight loss credit to IF, instead of her own hard work.
That's oversimplification to the point of being wrong!
It's not just a meal timing thing. In fact timing is rather inconsequential, not the main factor. People can have completely different timing, timing of their choice. To me the biggest factor is the training and conditioning of the body to stop asking for food all the time or reduce the window.
The effect is not the same as if you eat 15 meals a day. For example if you fast 23 hours and eat only in one hour (there's a group that eat one meal a day), it's quite difficult that you overeat in one meal without knowing. The satiety factor is likely higher too if a meal is more substantial.
I think your oversimplification is not helping you in that you readily dismiss those who have tried things, gotten good results and might want to share. You're doing calorie deficit in a blunt way and no surprise that you feel like you "worked your butt off"
Something to think about.
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Im doing 16:8 fasting and have so far lost 6.3kg in just under 4 weeks. However ive also cut right back on my eating to about 1000 calories a day and dont feel hungry, heaps of eggs, apples, mandarins and lots of water, dont feel hungry0
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I did IF for 6 months and noticed great benefits including weight loss and a general lowering of my blood sugar and cholesterol levels. However I also noticed a lot of hair loss to the point where I thought i would go bald so I stopped IF. I have always been hypothyroid (20+ years) and my tsh is normal by being on synthroid. IF also made me lower my dossage of synthroid (which is good i guess) even after I stopped IF.
Has anyone had hair loss issues with IF. I would like to resume it but my endocrinologist and hair specialist are both recommending not to do this anymore. My body doesnt respond well overall to IF.1 -
kommodevaran wrote: »Fancy name for not eating the whole freaking time. Add some sciencey-sounding woo, and it all becomes legit. Gah.
Alternate Day Fasting is legit, but folks with short-term memory problems probably ought to avoid it. That is, if they can remember what we were talking about.0 -
reddwarf63 wrote: »Im doing 16:8 fasting and have so far lost 6.3kg in just under 4 weeks. However ive also cut right back on my eating to about 1000 calories a day and dont feel hungry, heaps of eggs, apples, mandarins and lots of water, dont feel hungry
if you arent under a drs care,extremely short,elderly or a combo of all those things 1000 calories is too little.thats almost 3.5 lbs a week,safe weight loss is 2lbs a week1 -
I did IF for 6 months and noticed great benefits including weight loss and a general lowering of my blood sugar and cholesterol levels. However I also noticed a lot of hair loss to the point where I thought i would go bald so I stopped IF. I have always been hypothyroid (20+ years) and my tsh is normal by being on synthroid. IF also made me lower my dossage of synthroid (which is good i guess) even after I stopped IF.
Has anyone had hair loss issues with IF. I would like to resume it but my endocrinologist and hair specialist are both recommending not to do this anymore. My body doesnt respond well overall to IF.
if you were having these issues and it wasnt due to your thyroid then its possible you were eating too little calories. hair loss usually when dieting happens when you are eating a low calorie diet(not eating enough). or not eating enough fats can mess with hormones as well.could have been anything causing it though0 -
for those who think IF means a very low calorie diet(it doesnt), while you need to be in a deficit to lose weight,eating very little calories is not healthy,so make sure you have enough calories whether you feel hungry or not. Im not saying overeat,Im saying eat enough to sustain your body2
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To answer your question, yes! I am an intermittent faster and believe strongly in it as a method to actually tap into your fat stores, not just stored glycogen in your liver. What many people don't understand, is that fasting isn't about maintaining a caloric deficit; I average the same amount of weekly calories as I did prior to fasting. It's the understanding that obesity is a hormonal disease, and the culprit you need to control most is insulin. While insulin is spiked in your system after eating (and it's not just carbs, but excess protein), it signals the body to store fat and not burn it. Plainly, insulin makes you fat - ask someone who is a Type 2 diabetic and goes on insulin about their weight gain. Or ask Type 1 diabetics who dangerously cut back their insulin in order to lose weight. Whichever fasting program works best for you, will assure that during those hours your insulin will remain low, allowing your body to tap into your fat stores after your stored carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen in the liver) are exhausted in about 8 to 10 hours. If you do what I do, which is team intermittent fasting with a ketogenic diet, you will multiply your effect with no hunger during fasting. The other benefit of fasting and eating a larger calorie meal on your feast days is that you will avoid the dreaded metabolism slow down from consistent daily low caloric intake. I fast every other day, and the scale shows about a half pound loss per fasting day. Search up Dr. Jason Fung on YouTube, and check out his book on Intermittent Fasting. He lays the science out clearly and understandably. Good luck!
Fung is a quack. The guy says calories don't even matter. He joined our FB IF group and when asked to provide proof for his claims he admitted he couldn't and left the group. The guy is just trying to make a quick buck. Insulin does not make you fat. Excess calories make you fat. Your body is always in a fat burning mode regardless of whether you're fasting or not. There are also no valid peer reviewed scientific studies that prove there is any advantage to a ketogenic diet compared to a moderate or high carb diet where one maintains the same calorie deficit. People gain weight on keto and on IF just as easily as they lose. There are only two ways to lose fat period. 1) Liposuction 2) calorie deficit. IF is not special.2 -
endlessfall16 wrote: »justsmile535 wrote: »I've stared IF, this is my 3rd day. I'm following a OMAD method and only drinking coffee in the morning, followed by about 2-3 cups of tea (I switch between green, black, and herbal depending on the amount of caffeine I want to intake) and drink lots of water until the evening when I eat dinner with my boyfriend. So far it hasn't been that hard. The only problem I've had is a few stomach cramps due to taking some of my meds on an empty stomach but it's not terrible and goes away after rehydrating. My goal is to lose a decent amount for a wedding I'm going to in June and visiting some family and friends over the summer. I know there's a lot of controversy about IF but I feel like it works for me so that I can prevent overeating. I'm also attempting to go vegan. But for now I'm at least vegetarian and working on getting rid of dairy products because I believe I'm slightly lactose intolerant and dairy products are very fattening. I wish everyone else luck on their IF journey. (:
That's the thing there isn't a lot of controversy about IF, it's literally just a meal timing thing, and still requires a calorie deficit to lose weight. It takes the same calorie deficit doing a specific IF (I mean aren't we all really doing IF, since we don't eat 24 hours a day) to lose weight as it does to eat 15 meals a day.
The so called controversy lies in the people, trying to tell other people that there is some sort of fat burning power by doing IF compared to eating the same food not doing IF. IE the guy talking about Fung. It all comes back to people wanting to give credit to somebody or something else for their hard work. Doesn't make sense to me, I lost weight because I worked my butt off, and ate less than I burned, I'm not giving a specific diet credit for my hard work. Somebody else above said proof is in the pudding giving her weight loss credit to IF, instead of her own hard work.
That's oversimplification to the point of being wrong!
It's not just a meal timing thing. In fact timing is rather inconsequential, not the main factor. People can have completely different timing, timing of their choice. To me the biggest factor is the training and conditioning of the body to stop asking for food all the time or reduce the window.
The effect is not the same as if you eat 15 meals a day. For example if you fast 23 hours and eat only in one hour (there's a group that eat one meal a day), it's quite difficult that you overeat in one meal without knowing. The satiety factor is likely higher too if a meal is more substantial.
I think your oversimplification is not helping you in that you readily dismiss those who have tried things, gotten good results and might want to share. You're doing calorie deficit in a blunt way and no surprise that you feel like you "worked your butt off" Something to think about.
When did I dismiss those who have tried it? Really point it out. I commented on the fact that somebody said it was controversial. and the fact that people use a term like IF as why they lost weight instead of giving themselves some credit for the hard work they did WHILE using IF. I mean the guy I talked about said he lost weight while in a calorie surplus because of IF. Are you telling me that is true, and can happen?
How is not eating for a specific period of time, and then eating for a specific period of time not meal timing? Doesn't matter if it's the timing of their choice, it is still timing... Don't you stop your body (as you say) from asking for food all of the time by timing your meals and reducing the window? How can you achieve a 23 hour fast and one hour eating window with out timing your meal?
I mean maybe you are oversimplifying meal timing?
Also you're telling me that it doesn't take the same calorie deficit eating 15 meals a day to lose weight as it does 1? Besides that I didn't mention any other effect the two ways of eating have on your body or mind.
I think you may have been doing a little projecting here for some reason, and commented on a bunch of points I did not make. I mean if you want to use me to rant against people who don't like IF go for I guess.
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endlessfall16 wrote: »justsmile535 wrote: »I've stared IF, this is my 3rd day. I'm following a OMAD method and only drinking coffee in the morning, followed by about 2-3 cups of tea (I switch between green, black, and herbal depending on the amount of caffeine I want to intake) and drink lots of water until the evening when I eat dinner with my boyfriend. So far it hasn't been that hard. The only problem I've had is a few stomach cramps due to taking some of my meds on an empty stomach but it's not terrible and goes away after rehydrating. My goal is to lose a decent amount for a wedding I'm going to in June and visiting some family and friends over the summer. I know there's a lot of controversy about IF but I feel like it works for me so that I can prevent overeating. I'm also attempting to go vegan. But for now I'm at least vegetarian and working on getting rid of dairy products because I believe I'm slightly lactose intolerant and dairy products are very fattening. I wish everyone else luck on their IF journey. (:
That's the thing there isn't a lot of controversy about IF, it's literally just a meal timing thing, and still requires a calorie deficit to lose weight. It takes the same calorie deficit doing a specific IF (I mean aren't we all really doing IF, since we don't eat 24 hours a day) to lose weight as it does to eat 15 meals a day.
The so called controversy lies in the people, trying to tell other people that there is some sort of fat burning power by doing IF compared to eating the same food not doing IF. IE the guy talking about Fung. It all comes back to people wanting to give credit to somebody or something else for their hard work. Doesn't make sense to me, I lost weight because I worked my butt off, and ate less than I burned, I'm not giving a specific diet credit for my hard work. Somebody else above said proof is in the pudding giving her weight loss credit to IF, instead of her own hard work.
That's oversimplification to the point of being wrong!
It's not just a meal timing thing. In fact timing is rather inconsequential, not the main factor. People can have completely different timing, timing of their choice. To me the biggest factor is the training and conditioning of the body to stop asking for food all the time or reduce the window.
The effect is not the same as if you eat 15 meals a day. For example if you fast 23 hours and eat only in one hour (there's a group that eat one meal a day), it's quite difficult that you overeat in one meal without knowing. The satiety factor is likely higher too if a meal is more substantial.
I think your oversimplification is not helping you in that you readily dismiss those who have tried things, gotten good results and might want to share. You're doing calorie deficit in a blunt way and no surprise that you feel like you "worked your butt off" Something to think about.
Can you tell me which way I have specifically creating my calorie deficit? I mean when I used IF as part my weight loss journey was that a blunt way of doing it, or was that just something you assumes as well, because I gave myself credit, and not IF?0 -
@optimisticShark So... what did you decide about trying IF? I've tried IF for the simple reason of low morning appetite. Sticking to meal timing this way helped me maintain a prior loss in the past. But I continue to go back and forth with it and experiment. Sometimes I feel I need more protein in the mornings.0
This discussion has been closed.
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