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Hey, do you guys fast?

Posts: 204 Member
edited November 2024 in Social Groups
Hey do any of you guys fast? I just realised i do this supposed fasting 16hours just by eating dinner and not eating breakfast quite often...
Is there really a difference between fasting and just eating low calories if you still eat the same calories?

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  • Posts: 204 Member
    I'll take that as a no.. lol
  • Posts: 141 Member
    I do this often, it is my lifestyle. I often just dont eat until lunch or dinner in order to have a bigger meal. It doesnt melt more fat in my opinion. It is only suitable in combination with low carb cos otherwise you will be too hungry.
  • Posts: 141 Member
    it just gives you permission to eat a bigger meal. No magic.
  • Posts: 1,001 Member
    As above, do it if it fits your lifestyle and if it will make your diet easier for you, but I don't think there's any benefit over eating the same amount of calories spread over lots of meals and snacks. :) Totally personal preference. x
  • Posts: 9,812 Member
    Some people do great with intermittent fasting, others (like myself) don't. You eat the same number of calories..it is just another way to distribute calories and help people stick to a deficit (typically).

    Try it out and see how it goes
  • Posts: 204 Member
    Pretty sure i do the 16 hour one without trying. Have dinner at 8:00 and then nothing till lunch at 12:00. I think it would be too hard for me to do any further than that.
  • Posts: 204 Member
    Thanks for your advice everyone!
  • Posts: 14 Member
    I'm doing a 24-hour fasting now but seeing how easy it is (only 3 hours left) I'll directly try with 36 hours.
  • Posts: 507 Member
    I think it doesn't matter doing a 16:8, if the calories are the same. Although they say it has benefits to your body the longer it is in a fasting state. I do OMAD, fast 23 hours, eat one meal in one hour. But I try to eat all my calories in one meal, 1500. It gives me control on how much I eat for the day. It also makes me lose a bit if weight, although I am not trying. I may increase more calories if I lose any more..
  • Posts: 204 Member
    Coool
  • Posts: 9 Member
    I've been intentionally doing intermittent fasting for 3 months now and haven't looked back. Like you, I was pretty much doing 16:8 before I started committing to IF just because of my schedule. Usually I'll eat throughout the 8 hour period (usually stick to around 1200-1400 since I'm trying to lose atm) but even if I eat above my calorie goal I've been losing weight
  • Posts: 854 Member
    I used to do IF, but it makes me crave food more and I am more likely to give in to said cravings. Now I stick to a calorie deficit and I am much more in control that way. Each to their own though.
  • Posts: 625 Member
    Is there really a difference between fasting and just eating low calories if you still eat the same calories?

    Yes, in the sense that it is much much easier for some people to consume fewer calories by fasting. If they ate all day they would go over their calorie limit.

    I do Intermittent Fasting (IF) formally sometimes, but also informally by not eating until noon or afterward.
  • Posts: 625 Member
    Pretty sure i do the 16 hour one without trying. Have dinner at 8:00 and then nothing till lunch at 12:00. I think it would be too hard for me to do any further than that.

    There's no reason you should. Do what feels right for you and what works.
  • Posts: 63 Member
    I am starting with 16:8 - but would like to work to 20:4
  • Posts: 2 Member
    I have found that intermittent fasting has helped reduce my overall food cravings. I generally try to fast from 4pm to 8am, which works nicely because I'm usually at my calorie max for the day by 4pm (I try to stick to around 1400 calories a day). Its hard to sustain a social life on that routine but even doing it a few times a week is good. I've thought about modifying my window and perhaps fast through breakfast and lunch but I know I'd eat everything in sight come dinner time and it would defeat the purpose.
  • Posts: 119 Member
    I don't think of it so much as fasting as recognizing that after 6 p.m., I'm not going to make good food choices. I tend to finish my eating for the day around 6 p.m., and then have breakfast at around 7 a.m.

    I hope this doesn't sound disrespectful, but whenever I visited my in-laws in Florida, we went to the early bird special at 4: 30 and they went to bed around 8 p.m. and then got up at 5 p.m. DH and I just went along with this (though we didn't go to bed at 8 p.m.) So, maybe I'm not so much fasting, as I am an early adopter of more senior citizen habits!
  • Posts: 303 Member
    I started doing IF 16:8 and loved it. I gave it up for the past week with Christmas but found it was an easy way to control calories without feeling deprived. I could have nightly dinner with my family as usual. I plan to start up again in Jan. I’m also curious about the 5-2 where two days a week you fast and eat 500 calories. There again, it would be pretty easy to do in my situation because it wouldn’t disrupt my family. Looking forward to hearing others’ thoughts.
  • Posts: 16 Member
    i prefer to fast rather than spread calories out but fasting is not suitable for everyone. If you want to know more look at thefastdiet.co.uk it has the science of why fasting is good for your body and tells you how to try intermittent fasting.
  • Posts: 219 Member
    edited December 2017
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  • Posts: 219 Member
    I’ve been intermittent fasting for 4 1/2 years. I do the 5/2 way though.... Monday’s and Thursday’s limit calories to 500. This works for me, though I find my body has become used to it now, so it does nothing for weight loss.... it did in the beginning. I do however feel greater mental clarity on fast days. I’m contemplating trying 16/8 as welll....
  • Posts: 431 Member
    No I do not fast. I go to bed too late and wake up too early in the morning for it to work for me. When I was in college, I would sleep in until like noon some days and that made it much easier.
  • Posts: 45 Member
    I sometimes fast when I feel like I'm fixating too much on food, depriving myself and feeling unsatisfied. I've gone as many as 4+ days on just water, but more for spiritual reasons than weight-loss. I wouldn't recommend it on a regular basis, because your body goes into conservation mode after a couple days and it won't help you burn the reserves you have. But if I'm going to do a regular light-calorie day, like the 2 in the 5/2, I always start early to make sure I'm not letting my metabolism hit the snooze button from the night before rather than skipping breakfast entirely.

    Fun fact: all you need to start your metabolism in the morning is 7 almonds. Not enough to be a meal that makes you hungry when it's gone, but just enough to start the day!
  • Posts: 794 Member
    I don't fast as such but I don't usually eat after 8 at night (I usually go to bed around 10 so don't like eating in the couple of hours before I try and sleep or I get heartburn). So if you count the 12 hours between 8 pm and 8 am as a fast then I guess I do it inadvertently? I'm the sort of person that does better spreading my calories over a series of low calorie meals and snacks, I get REALLLYYY hungry if I try and fast (I usually eat every 2 hours)
  • Posts: 951 Member
    edited January 2018
    .
  • Posts: 1 Member
    I just started IF. I start my fast at 6pm. I workout the next morning (fasted). Then eat at 10:00am. (16:8). 1200 Calories.
  • Posts: 403 Member
    I don't call it fasting but I guess so- I skip breakfast often because I get busy or the idea of food makes me a little sick. I'll go about 16 or so hours between dinner/dessert and the next day's lunch. If I do small meals or graze, i end up overeating.
  • Posts: 74 Member
    Love it. I started in Aug and was doing it consistently until mid November. I lost 15 pounds. I stuck to 1200-1400 calories and I also cut out dairy and grains. My weight it creeping back up so I'm back to IF starting TODAY. My eating window is 11:00-7:00. I also have wine at night. :)
  • Posts: 1 Member
    Fasting does the exact opposite you what you want it to unfortunately. :/

    https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/is_fasting_healthy

    It slows your metabolism. I tried it for 48 hours and gained 2.5 pounds throughout the next week.
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