Intermittent fasting... 20:4 too much?
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I've been intermittent fasting recently, fasting for 20 hours and having a 4 hour window to eat. I've been stressed recently and don't have much of an appetite anyways, so I usually don't get hungry until about 5pm. Is fasting for 20 hours too much? Is it Unhealthy?
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Replies
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It's only too much if you can't get adequate nutrients and calories. Also, it should be something that will allow you to achieve your goals (both weight loss and other).
So how much are eating? What are your goals? And do you exercise? How much protein do you get?4 -
As long as you are able to get adequate nutrition and calories, it shouldn't be a problem. However, if you have a lot of other outside stresses, it may be a good idea to take a break from IF here and there, or reduce the number of days per week that you practice it.1
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As long as you're not resorting to binging during those 4 hours...2
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I have been doing one meal per day for the past month. just one big meal at around 11:30 am. 8 oz of meat + 8 oz of green leafy vegs + 2 cups of bone broth. no hunger. no craving. losing weight. so far so good. simple and easy life.2
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I went through a stage of stretching the standard IF (16:8) to (20:4) and then eventually 1 meal in the evening.
I find it easy to consume large volumes of food so I had no issues. However as others have pointed out, there are no magical benefits to fasting.2 -
Fasting doesn't do anything good for you. Eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Eat enough every day. The body is designed to normally have adequate amounts of food every day. You will not burn any fat from short fasts.
Wrong on so many counts...
Intermittent fasting while eating a sensible and nutritious diet is perfectly fine.
Fasting is practiced by hundreds of millions of healthy people.
Your body hasn't been designed, it also has plenty of energy reserves.
You burn fat if you are in a deficit over a time period irrespective of whether you are fasting or not.8 -
lilysillycat wrote: »I have been doing one meal per day for the past month. just one big meal at around 11:30 am. 8 oz of meat + 8 oz of green leafy vegs + 2 cups of bone broth. no hunger. no craving. losing weight. so far so good. simple and easy life.
This not meeting your calorie needs or nutritional needs and is quite unsustainable and unhealthy.
OP the question is are you able to get in all your calories in this one meal and meet adequate nutrients and calories? If so, no harm. If not, may want to reassess this method.
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Fasting doesn't do anything good for you. Eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Eat enough every day. The body is designed to normally have adequate amounts of food every day. You will not burn any fat from short fasts.
Gonna have to disagree with you on that. Studies show that there are many benefits but the most common is detoxifying the body.
Ramadhan starts tomorrow - 30 days of fasting from Dawn till dusk. Depends on where you're situated, for me it's roughly 12 hours a day2 -
A 12 hour fast is easy, I don't know why people make such a big deal about it5
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lilysillycat wrote: »I have been doing one meal per day for the past month. just one big meal at around 11:30 am. 8 oz of meat + 8 oz of green leafy vegs + 2 cups of bone broth. no hunger. no craving. losing weight. so far so good. simple and easy life.
This not meeting your calorie needs or nutritional needs and is quite unsustainable and unhealthy.
OP the question is are you able to get in all your calories in this one meal and meet adequate nutrients and calories? If so, no harm. If not, may want to reassess this method.
I'm on a keto diet. most of my calories came from fat. I use fat to cook the meat and vegs. 8oz of meat and 8 oz of green leafy veg and 2 cup bone broth have enough nutrients for any adult.1 -
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lilysillycat wrote: »lilysillycat wrote: »I have been doing one meal per day for the past month. just one big meal at around 11:30 am. 8 oz of meat + 8 oz of green leafy vegs + 2 cups of bone broth. no hunger. no craving. losing weight. so far so good. simple and easy life.
This not meeting your calorie needs or nutritional needs and is quite unsustainable and unhealthy.
OP the question is are you able to get in all your calories in this one meal and meet adequate nutrients and calories? If so, no harm. If not, may want to reassess this method.
I'm on a keto diet. most of my calories came from fat. I use fat to cook the meat and vegs. 8oz of meat and 8 oz of green leafy veg and 2 cup bone broth have enough nutrients for any adult.
Diary entries I saw were less than 1000..3 -
It's fine.1
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lilysillycat wrote: »lilysillycat wrote: »I have been doing one meal per day for the past month. just one big meal at around 11:30 am. 8 oz of meat + 8 oz of green leafy vegs + 2 cups of bone broth. no hunger. no craving. losing weight. so far so good. simple and easy life.
This not meeting your calorie needs or nutritional needs and is quite unsustainable and unhealthy.
OP the question is are you able to get in all your calories in this one meal and meet adequate nutrients and calories? If so, no harm. If not, may want to reassess this method.
I'm on a keto diet. most of my calories came from fat. I use fat to cook the meat and vegs. 8oz of meat and 8 oz of green leafy veg and 2 cup bone broth have enough nutrients for any adult.
Diary entries I saw were less than 1000..
that is because I didn't add any tbs of cooking oil. I never know how to add cooking oil as some oil usually stay in the cooking pan. Like when I use 4 tbs of oil + butter to cook my steak, I have no idea how much of that I actually consumed.1 -
Fasting doesn't do anything good for you. Eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Eat enough every day. The body is designed to normally have adequate amounts of food every day. You will not burn any fat from short fasts.
Biggest bs I've ever read. I do agree with you that to lose weight, you do need to be in a caloric deficit, that point you are right, but saying that fasting doesn't do anything good for you is wrong in so many levels. I can tell you by experience when you are fasting, your mind is more clearer and you are more focused on the task in hand. I am not the only one who experiences it. There are many proven scientific studies showing the benefits of doing IF, I would suggest that you read a few articles from Martin Berkhan for example and even Alan Aragon has done research on that and has given many proven studies on benefits from IF.
indeed
There is a great sense of accomplishment too. The first times I went 24 and 48 hours I was almost euphoric. Most of the negative things people say about fasting are hogwash. You don't lose muscle going a few hours without food. Think about it. If humans shriveled up and got weak after skipping a meal we would have died out a long time ago. Be mindful if you take medication for type II diabetes and high blood pressure. Fasting adjusts your body so you don't need nearly as much medicine. If you feel weak or fuzzy you are likely low on sodium. A simple test is to drink a glass of water with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If you feel great in 5 minutes, you were low on sodium.4
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