Intermittent Fasting

jasondwightpowell
jasondwightpowell Posts: 40 Member
edited November 25 in Food and Nutrition
What is everyone's take on intermittent fasting?

I just started intermittent fasting this past Monday.
My fast lasts from 9:00pm - Noon (15 hours) (8 hours while sleeping).

I have read where IF can increase insulin sensitivity which can lead to lean muscle gains, a rise in growth hormone levels and testosterone levels can be increased.

So far the only problems that I have personally run into is trying to consume the same amount of calories that I had been getting in 4 meals into 3 meals.

I appreciate any and all feedback.

Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    I do it most of the time as it fits my schedule. I find I feel more hungry during the day if I eat in the morning. No other benefits imo..
    (my GH and testosterone levels are close to zero, so didn't do anything to improve those)

    You can still eat 4 meals. Or choose more calorie dense foods if you struggle with volume.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    "Intermittent Fasting" is a catchier name than "Stop Eating All The Goddamn Time Already". It's great if it can help people start eating regular meals again, and thus stop overeating. It's bad if it makes people believe in magic...

    ^ This.

    Intermittent fasting is a huge fad right now. Nothing wrong with it per se, but a lot of the hype is just...hype. It's a tool that can be used by some to help with adherence and satiety, but there's nothing magical about it. If it works for you and helps you stick to your calorie goals, great....if it doesn't, there's no compelling reason to force yourself to do it.
  • jasondwightpowell
    jasondwightpowell Posts: 40 Member
    Thanks for the feedback.

    Don't worry - I don't believe everything I read or what other post on internet forums. I do however appreciate real life examples like LivingLean posted.

    Personally if I don't see any real life benefits on how I feel or true increases in my test levels (I already have a base line) and after a few months of IF I will have labs pulled again, then I will just go back to my normal four meal split, continue to count my calories and hit my macro targets.

    And I guess I had better add the ONE EXTRA hour to "qualify" ;)
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    "Intermittent Fasting" is a catchier name than "Stop Eating All The Goddamn Time Already". It's great if it can help people start eating regular meals again, and thus stop overeating. It's bad if it makes people believe in magic.

    15 hours does not qualify as IF. (You need at least 16 hours of not eating.)

    I have read that Elvis is alive and that the moon landing is a hoax. (Don't believe everything you read.)

    Agreed.

    IF offers a bit of structure that some people benefit from, while others have problems with. If it lines up with your natural tendencies, than it can be great. If it doesn't, then it's probably just making things harder than they need to be. 99.9% of the hormone related stuff probably doesn't apply to most of us, so as with anything diet related, it all comes down to proper calorie intake and reasonable macro/micros... and IF does nothing to address those priorities.
  • akopesky
    akopesky Posts: 42 Member
    edited February 2018
    I started IF a couple of weeks ago. Before that, I was eating before my 5am workout & then continued to eat all day long. I constantly felt hungry, sometimes this would put me over my macros for the day. Now I do 11am-7pm (16:8). This has kept me feeling full all afternoon & has kept me from late night snacking. I have noticed too that I feel like I have more energy for my early AM crossfit class & have even hit a couple of PR's as well. Probably just a coincidence of feeling better. I plan to try it for a full month before deciding if it's right for me, but so far so good. Even my husband started it a week after I did & seems to like it so far too. For him it has cut down on snacking in the evening & grabbing donuts/tacos from work that is being brought in.

    It took me a few days to get to used to it but my body adjusted that first week easily. I did struggle with getting in all my food within that time period at first but now it just feels normal.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    I more or less eat in a 16:8 pattern. Not because I think there's anything magical about it, but because it works for me in terms of satiety. I'm not that hungry in the morning and I like having a lot of calories for a big dinner.

    I say "more or less" because if I'm hungry outside that 8 hour window on either side for whatever reason, I eat something. I use it as a guideline, not a hard and fast rule that will result in some kind of disaster if I eat outside that window.
  • yvonneangelgoh
    yvonneangelgoh Posts: 34 Member
    I am also new to IF, the is my 2nd week on IF and I had kept to pretty much a 8/16 and managed a 4/20 once. I thought I will be starving and crying out for food every minute but it surprises me that 8/16 truely can become a way of life. I am challenging myself now for 4/20.

    Result is what everyone is most keen upon. So i was at 74 kg when i started on 26 Feb, I am at 71.3kg today
  • eminater
    eminater Posts: 2,477 Member
    yvonneangelgoh wrote: »
    I am also new to IF, the is my 2nd week on IF and I had kept to pretty much a 8/16 and managed a 4/20 once. I thought I will be starving and crying out for food every minute but it surprises me that 8/16 truely can become a way of life. I am challenging myself now for 4/20.

    Result is what everyone is most keen upon. So i was at 74 kg when i started on 26 Feb, I am at 71.3kg today

    The weight loss is due to CICO not to do with what time you eat and/or don't eat. The IF is a tool helping you keep your deficient in check. If that's what works for you, or motivates you, that's cool.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Be very cautious of IF research being quoted - there's one hell of a lot of cherry picking going on and taking a small excerpt completely out of context.
    "Oh look this mouse study on a completely different eating schedule produced marginal and probably insignificant changes so let's extrapolate this to the version of IF I'm pushing being wonderful...."
    OK slight exaggeration perhaps. :)
    Read the studies to get the real context rather than rely on someone with an agenda interpreting or sampling them.

    I did a different IF style to lose weight and found the eating pattern made adhering to my modest weekly deficit easier. That was the main benefit but I did learn to manage my hunger cues better. Useful when you love your food...

    Did try 16:8 at maintenance but despite being a regular breakfast skipper (I like an early morning breakfast but find it easy to skip it) I really disliked the feeling of having an artificial restriction, like being on a permanent diet. I turned into a clock watcher - 11:57, 11:58, 11:59 - yay 12:00 time to eat....
  • SabAteNine
    SabAteNine Posts: 1,867 Member
    I very, very rarely eat breakfast, about 1-2 times per month, only when I am abroad / travelling. It makes me bloat and I end up overeating anyway (since a light dinner is NOT an option because it releases the cranky kraken). I used to have lunch at 1-2, dinner at 8-9, big meals, rarely any snacking inbetween. I didn't think of it as intermittent fasting though, to be honest, and I didn't notice any particular benefits out of this, other than the happines of enjoying the bulk of my cals in the evening.

    What I noticed now since I started keeping my carbs low (20, 30g max per day), is that this doesn't work anymore. If at 12 I'm not preparing for lunch, my stomach starts to grumble really bad. I also snack, and end up eating until maybe 10 PM. I have no idea why or whether this happens to anyone else, but it kinda breaks a possible „IF” routine.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    I'm currently transitioning into OMAD (One Meal a Day) because I'm really sick of calorie counting and almost ready to switch to maintenance. I just drink tea and maybe a bit of savory broth during the day, then eat one large meal around 7pm. I really enjoy this way of eating and fasting during the day is surprisingly easy and hunger is manageable. And being able to have a huge meal for dinner is awesome!
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    By far, the hardest and most important part of burning fat is maintaining a calorie deficit. IF gives people a structure that helps with maintaining a calorie deficit. IF works great for a lot of people, just like low carb works great for others. If it fits your schedule and you like it then do it.

    Insulin sensitivity, metabolic advantages, etc are all pretty insignificant compared to CICO. Nobody fails in weight loss because they maintained a calorie deficit but didn't manage their insulin sensitivity (unless they're a diabetic).
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Be very cautious of IF research being quoted - there's one hell of a lot of cherry picking going on and taking a small excerpt completely out of context.
    "Oh look this mouse study on a completely different eating schedule produced marginal and probably insignificant changes so let's extrapolate this to the version of IF I'm pushing being wonderful...."
    OK slight exaggeration perhaps. :)
    Read the studies to get the real context rather than rely on someone with an agenda interpreting or sampling them....

    You mean like this?:

    w4wpqd10ynwg.jpg
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    edited March 2018
    jasondwightpowell wrote: »
    What is everyone's take on intermittent fasting?

    I just started intermittent fasting this past Monday.
    My fast lasts from 9:00pm - Noon (15 hours) (8 hours while sleeping).

    I have read where IF can increase insulin sensitivity which can lead to lean muscle gains, a rise in growth hormone levels and testosterone levels can be increased.

    So far the only problems that I have personally run into is trying to consume the same amount of calories that I had been getting in 4 meals into 3 meals.

    I appreciate any and all feedback.

    To quote Alan Aragon, no one gets huge fasting. Test only increases after several days of fasting. It's a physiological increase based on starvation. What they don't tell people, is muscle gains aren't just done by test increase, but when you have greater periods of protein turnover. And that certainly doesn't happen with fasting. That happens with an adequate supply of protein and some more recent evidence may suggest there is a bit of an advantage if you spread protein throughout the day so you optimize MPS.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    jasondwightpowell wrote: »
    What is everyone's take on intermittent fasting?

    I just started intermittent fasting this past Monday.
    My fast lasts from 9:00pm - Noon (15 hours) (8 hours while sleeping).

    I have read where IF can increase insulin sensitivity which can lead to lean muscle gains, a rise in growth hormone levels and testosterone levels can be increased.

    So far the only problems that I have personally run into is trying to consume the same amount of calories that I had been getting in 4 meals into 3 meals.

    I appreciate any and all feedback.

    To quote Alan Aragon, no one gets huge fasting. Test only increases after several days of fasting. It's a physiological increase based on starvation. What they don't tell people, is muscle gains aren't just done by test increase, but when you have greater periods of protein turnover. And that certainly doesn't happen with fasting. That happens with an adequate supply of protein and some more recent evidence may suggest there is a bit of an advantage if you spread protein throughout the day so you optimize MPS.

    I think the direct quote is, "There is nothing anabolic about NOT eating". :)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    jasondwightpowell wrote: »
    What is everyone's take on intermittent fasting?

    I just started intermittent fasting this past Monday.
    My fast lasts from 9:00pm - Noon (15 hours) (8 hours while sleeping).

    I have read where IF can increase insulin sensitivity which can lead to lean muscle gains, a rise in growth hormone levels and testosterone levels can be increased.

    So far the only problems that I have personally run into is trying to consume the same amount of calories that I had been getting in 4 meals into 3 meals.

    I appreciate any and all feedback.

    To quote Alan Aragon, no one gets huge fasting. Test only increases after several days of fasting. It's a physiological increase based on starvation. What they don't tell people, is muscle gains aren't just done by test increase, but when you have greater periods of protein turnover. And that certainly doesn't happen with fasting. That happens with an adequate supply of protein and some more recent evidence may suggest there is a bit of an advantage if you spread protein throughout the day so you optimize MPS.

    I think the direct quote is, "There is nothing anabolic about NOT eating". :)

    Haha... close enough.. but yea, I believe that actually might be it.
  • joliepqr
    joliepqr Posts: 2 Member
    Here is an interesting clinical report I how time restricted eating can improve BP, oxidation and insulin sensitivity.
    https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(18)30253-5
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