Intermittent Fasting

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  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited January 2018
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    danrhess wrote: »
    AnvilHead, Isn't eating meant to fuel the body? Eating a large dinner at 7:30 doesn't seem smart. I go to bed around 9:30... not leaving my body much time to use that food. Maybe it will be stored if the carbs aren't used initially?... You're stomach never rests, but if there is nothing in it... the body will pull from other places (fat, muscle) for the energy....

    1) The first error is assuming that the body won't "use" that food while asleep. Everything in your body is still functioning at night, and it takes energy to fuel it. Your brain is still working, your central nervous system is still functioning, your heart is still pumping, you're still breathing, your body is constantly in the process of digestion, nutrient transport, cellular repair, balancing all the hormones, etc. necessary for homeostasis and a ton of other functions. You don't go into suspended animation when you sleep. Your brain and liver are the two organs in your body which use the largest percentage of the energy needs which constitute your BMR, and both of them are still fully functioning while you sleep (see research review here.) As shown in the research review, your liver, brain, kidneys and heart constitute around 70-80% of your resting caloric expenditure - and guess what? All those things are busily working away while you're sleeping.

    2) The entire process of digestion takes longer than most people think. While your stomach empties in a few hours, the food remains in your intestines (where it's further digested/metabolized/absorbed) for up to 30-40 hours. It's not like you eat and your body is all done with that food and has neatly tucked it away into compartments by the time you're done sleeping.

    3) There is no net storage of fat in a caloric deficit, regardless of what you eat or when you eat it. There is certainly some storage of nutrients, or your body wouldn't function - but that doesn't mean it automagically turns to fat. There are actually very limited and rare circumstances where carbs are converted to fat. Carbs are primarily metabolized into glucose (which is used for cellular processes) and glycogen (which is stored in the muscles and liver).

    4) The thought of your body only pulling from other places when your stomach is empty, or only when you're asleep, makes the assumption that the process is like a light switch - on or off. We're in a constant flux between anabolism and catabolism all day, every day, and it's not a light switch, it's a continuum.

    Not arguing at all. All points are valid.

    One question though as it relates to sleeping. There are a few differences. For instance, I have read that your heart rate slows but your body heats up. This is supposedly a process that ensures you get rest (slow heart rate), but stay safe (warm).

    I only bring this up out of interest. I realize it’s off-topic but maybe relevant as your body does some tricky things while sleeping. While I don’t think you go into suspension or anything, things happen that are different when you are awake.

    I don’t know if any of that is relevant at all. Probably not. Just thought it might be worth bringing up.

    If the sleep tracking on my Garmin is any indicator, the heart rate certainly does go down while sleeping. My heart rate stays from the high 40s to low/mid 50s pretty much the entire time I'm asleep, and you can then see the elevation after I get up and start moving around. I'm not sure what body temp does during sleep.

    I'm no expert on sleep, but I'm sure the body does different things while sleeping. IIRC, EEGs show that your brain patterns are altered, you're moving around less than when you're awake, etc. Nonetheless, all your involuntary functions (metabolism, respirations, circulation, etc.) are still going on, so energy expenditure is still happening via all the nonstop physiological processes.

    Of the four processes that expend energy (BMR, NEAT, EAT, TEF), BMR is the main one still happening while you sleep. For most people, BMR constitutes about 65-70% of their daily energy expenditure, so what I was addressing was the apparently pretty common misconception that the body doesn't burn anything while we're asleep and that any food remaining in your stomach/intestines will instantly be converted to fat because you didn't "burn it off" before you laid down to sleep.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    Dear Posters,

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  • cedarsidefarm
    cedarsidefarm Posts: 163 Member
    IF is an interesting subject. I'm glad I found people talking about it. I once just disregarded it until I used it with low carb, high fat dieting and wow, I am back to losing half a pound a week.

    Of course at first I Iost about a pound a day but we all know weight loss like that is probably mostly water. So when I had some salt and plenty of water, my weight loss went back to more reasonable levels.

    But it got me out of my weight loss stall...I had lost 20 pounds on LCHF but though I was still losing inches off my waist, I wasn't losing weight. I needed to lose another 20 pounds to get back to a normal weight, BMI not in overweight category. A 500 calorie a day fat fast kicked it off then I went to one meal a day. When I was just low calorie, I could never make it through a day of 1 meal only, without being so ravenously hungry I would eat 2000 calories in one sittting. I just couldn't help it. I was just too hungry. But combining it with Low Carb eating and mild exercise and wow. I'm back on the road of weight loss again.

    So, is anyone else getting good results with combining low carb and IF? Will I eventually stall out again? Will my hunger levels go crazy again? Anyone with direct experience?
  • I had a go over 6 months ... stabilised after about 4 months however month 5 reintroducing 500 calorie into the late mesl .. it went yoyo. I couldn't keep it working. Wasn't for me.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    At the risk of being dragged into this debate, by any chance is "metabolic confusion" supposed to refer to metabolic flexibility? Which is normal physiology for the body to burn predominantly fat during rest and low intensity activities, and relying more on glycogen during intense activity.
  • I think of it as a side shoot of Calorie shifting....
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    danrhess wrote: »
    What do you all think about intermittent fasting?.

    It's simply an eating pattern. Can be as healthy or as un-healthy as any other. What you eat, and more importantly, how much you eat are the drivers...

  • Resistive
    Resistive Posts: 212 Member
    My metabolism is confused for sure. It’s lost it’s way and has not returned to me in years.
  • J72FIT wrote: »
    If we were able to "confuse" our metabolisms we would have become extinct a long time ago...

    Word play. ... funny. ...calorie shifting... ssme thing..... if thr Neanderthals birthdate had been 2% higher we easily could have been instead.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    J72FIT wrote: »
    If we were able to "confuse" our metabolisms we would have become extinct a long time ago...

    Word play. ... funny. ...calorie shifting... ssme thing..... if thr Neanderthals birthdate had been 2% higher we easily could have been instead.

    More then likely no significant advantage, whatever you want to call it...
  • freedomofnow
    freedomofnow Posts: 37 Member
    I have to give a shoutout to IF aswell. Lately I haven't been feeling like eating in the evenings at all, so I've sort of eased my way into it a little. The only real difference I had to make was delaying my breakfast a little bit. So between noon and 8pm I eat whatever I feel like basically. I don't binge or anything, but I have healthy meals with meat and lots of veggies and some carbs.

    I've only done this for some days now but I've seen a consecutive loss every single day, and I think what I really am starting to like about it is the not feeling stuffed, in fact I've come to appreciate the lightness of not being constantly in a digestive process. That lightness seems to just get better and stay throughout the day so it's going to be fun to see how this develops. Especially it's going to be interesting to see how this copes with my golfing season that's about to start.
  • Kycatz101
    Kycatz101 Posts: 5 Member
    I started this last week. My goal is 1200 calories for the day and I have meals about 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. I like it simply because I'm full after my meals. When I divided my calories throughout the day, I never really felt full. (And I'm eating the same type foods, barring the oatmeal I'd usually have in the morning.) When I get up in the morning, I'm a bit hungry, but I'm not starving or having cravings. It hasn't been difficult waiting until the early afternoon. Some days I could go longer and one day I might go for a 24-hour fast. I'm happy doing this for now.
  • jfan175
    jfan175 Posts: 812 Member
    tar2323 wrote: »

    I feel a bit dense, but what's "metabolic confusion"?

    Nonsense...


    Its not ... its valid ... The metabolic confusion is a strstetgy and employers a concept of dieting known as “calorie shifting”... its what you want ftom intermittent fasting.

    It's not what I want from intermittent fasting. What I want is to be able to use most of my cals in the evening when I find I'm hungrier than during the day. It's a calorie intake/timing restriction for me, nothing more.

    This is exactly what intermittent fasting should be used for. Satisfying your hunger and sticking with your caloric and nutritional goals. Many people find it easier and more satisfying to have fewer large meals in a smaller window vs. trying to plan/manage those calories throughout a long day. Personally, I love going to bed with a full belly.