Opinions on Intermittent Fasting?

altairego21
altairego21 Posts: 52 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
thoughts/personal opinions/ etc on intermittent fasting??
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Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I do 14:10, though I don't follow it too strictly (it's more based on my work schedule). If it helps you stick to a calorie deficit, then it'll work.
  • Nmarine1996
    Nmarine1996 Posts: 166 Member
    I find it to be easy and very effective! Stops my late night snacking.
  • Alans936
    Alans936 Posts: 1 Member
    I think a balanced lifestyle approach is preferable e.g. eating three normal meals a day.

    Whether you're doing IF, low carb or any other dieting method, it ultimately comes down to calories.

    All the IF allows you to do is squash your calories into a shorter eating window which gives you the allusion that you are eating more when, in reality, you are not. If you do over consume calories in the eating window you will still put on weight. If it fits around your lifestyle then I think it is useful but it is not needed to lose weight.

    Just like my trim fellow above I am around 10% bf but I eat three meals a day. If you are wanting to eat more of the foods you enjoy whilst losing weight the only solution is to raise the amount of calories you burn e.g. increase levels of activity.

    Good luck!
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    willgt78 wrote: »
    It works. It's what I use to stay lean year around. IF is for health benefits and the weight loss/weight control is in my opinion a side affect. Note IF is not a diet there is nothing off limits, it doesn't restrict calories so your not starving yourself if done properly. Any questions add me and fire away.
    Good luck #mind_body_soul_mbs
    What benefits would they be?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited July 2017
    I'm torn. I think IF is a great concept with an annoying name. It's consciously using a traditional meal structure to help regulate calorie intake, but thinking about it as something special so it doesn't sound boring. For me, it's working wonderfully. My worries and obsession around food and eating are gone. I used to think I had to eat often and spread my meals out as much as possible to avoid "slowing my metabolism", "binging because I was famished", getting dizzy and irritable and unfocused and weak. All that was wrong. I feel great with three meals a day in a 6-8 hours "window". My preoccupation with food is much less. Three meals a day is simply not enough variables to micromanage meal planning like I used to. I don't feel I "have to" eat at a certain time anymore, I know I can wait. But this also means that I don't aim to eat within 6-8 hours - it just happens naturally most days.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    A good tool for calorie adherence but only for people who enjoy the eating pattern they select - there's many different protocols for IF, not just the daily eating window version.

    Do your research and give it a go.
  • GrumpyHeadmistress
    GrumpyHeadmistress Posts: 666 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    . But if woo makes you do the right things, you need to keep the woo alive for you.)

    :D

  • willgt78
    willgt78 Posts: 24 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    willgt78 wrote: »
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    willgt78 wrote: »
    It works. It's what I use to stay lean year around. IF is for health benefits and the weight loss/weight control is in my opinion a side affect. Note IF is not a diet there is nothing off limits, it doesn't restrict calories so your not starving yourself if done properly. Any questions add me and fire away.
    Good luck #mind_body_soul_mbs
    What benefits would they be?

    Fasting allows for your digestive system to reduce inflammation from constantly working. This allows you immune system to focuse on it's main purpose recovery and regeneration. Fasting is the most researched form of eating. It has been proven to reduce the changes of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disiese and cancer. Weight loss / maintenance is just a side affect in my opinion..
    Fasting is not eating. Your intestines don't get inflamed by digesting food, they are designed to digest food. All those positive effects come from a regulated calorie intake, not because of when you eat. But calorie intake is much easier to regulate when you eat in accordance with your own rythm.

    (I hate woo. Woo makes me do unnecessary and stupid things. So I like to kill woo. But if woo makes you do the right things, you need to keep the woo alive for you.)

    Kom Ch4 talks about the inflammation and better explains it than I."Obesity: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional" 2013 edition.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    I like it, it helps me adhere to my calories for the day - but there is nothing special or magical about it. As @stevencloser is saying - you can IF and be fat, thin, healthy, unhealthy.

    Calories and the quality of your overall diet are what determine your composition and health - not the pattern by which you choose to eat.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    edited July 2017
    I hated it. I always struggled with intense hunger, bad breath and tiredness. I do much better with 3 large meals. But I am also a huge breakfast eater.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited July 2017
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I hated it. I always struggled with intense hunger, bad breath and tiredness. I do much better with 3 large meals. But I am also a huge breakfast eater.

    What is IF to you, if it is not compatible with breakfast and 2 more large meals?
  • saintor1
    saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    It's a strategy to ration calories that makes it easier to diet for some people and harder for others. If you're in the second camp then it's not for you. That's all there is to it.

    This.

    It will work only if you find it normal to be hungry. When it happens I say to myself;"

    "Don't worry. This is America. You will eat again."

    It is really an habit.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I hated it. I always struggled with intense hunger, bad breath and tiredness. I do much better with 3 large meals. But I am also a huge breakfast eater.

    What is IF to you, if it is not compatible with breakfast and 2 more large meals?

    I should have added, i was doing 16:8
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I hated it. I always struggled with intense hunger, bad breath and tiredness. I do much better with 3 large meals. But I am also a huge breakfast eater.

    What is IF to you, if it is not compatible with breakfast and 2 more large meals?

    I should have added, i was doing 16:8

    But that makes it even more confusing. I'm doing 16:8, and I split my intake into 1/4 for breakfast, 1/4 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    I skip breakfast so I do an accidental fast due to personal preference but I don't have a "stop" eating time. I really hate the idea of following someone else's rules for my body so I make my own.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    It's not for me. I like to eat every few hours.. and clearly what I am doing works for me. But many people find success with it.
  • notreallychris
    notreallychris Posts: 501 Member
    I do 16:8 IF. It helps me keep my calories in check by only eating in an 8 hour window ILO "x number" of meals a day. I kept my calorie goal the same when switching to IF. It's just a different eating pattern. Basically I stop eating at 8-8:30, sleep, skip breakfast, and eat lunch around noon after I go to the gym, then dinner when I get home. All of my calories are used up in these 2 meals. Eating this way works for me.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    edited July 2017
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I hated it. I always struggled with intense hunger, bad breath and tiredness. I do much better with 3 large meals. But I am also a huge breakfast eater.

    What is IF to you, if it is not compatible with breakfast and 2 more large meals?

    I should have added, i was doing 16:8

    But that makes it even more confusing. I'm doing 16:8, and I split my intake into 1/4 for breakfast, 1/4 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner.

    I think you are making it more complicated. When i was doing 16:8, I was always starving, etc... I do much better with 3 big meals at what most people think of, when you talk breakfast, lunch and dinner (in terms of times). I typically eat meals between 0600-0800, 1100-1200 and 1700-1900.

    Fasting for 16 hours, just didn't find my personality and always made me hungry, lethargic, etc... I find better compliance and enjoyment eating more frequently and not fasting for long periods of time.
  • jusjoking
    jusjoking Posts: 56 Member
    I dont do "intermittent fasting" in any kind of official sense. That being said, on my days off from work I dont eat anything until around noon or 1p.m. and then again at maybe 5pm and maybe again around 8 or 9 pm. So I assume thats pretty close to "16:8" intermittent fasting

    On work days I eat at 730am, 1030, 130pm and then around 6-7pm.

    So I guess I do a form of IF on 3 days per week lol.

    Personally I doubt it makes any difference at all as long as whatever you choose fits your preferences and schedule etc. Me personally, there is simply no way I am going to eat 7 times per day. Id rather stretch it out to 2-4 meals and then actually eat something

    Some people simply cant get going in the morning without breakfast though so they wouldnt do well trying to eat their first meal at noon or whatever.

    I doubt there is any real "right or wrong" way to structure your meals. There are people being successful who are using every approach possible.

    One thing I will say. Intermittent fasting has a nice benefit as far as being more flexible for stuff like vacations and changes in schedule etc. I just went on vacation for 3 days and we left at like 9am and drive for over 3 hours etc. I think my first meal was at maybe 1:30ish PM. I wasnt even THAT hungry and certainly wasnt fainting away.

    If you eat 2000 calories per day, divided into 3 meals. Thats around 670 cals/meal. That makes it way easier to travel and vacation etc because you can walk into a restaurant and enjoy a meal with your family without worrying too much about eating too much.

    If you follow IF it probably makes it way easier to go out to the occasional dinner with family etc because you can just eat lightly during the day to "save up" some calories for that last meal

    Peace, JJ
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