Intermittent fasting - I don't get it

BlessedMom70
BlessedMom70 Posts: 124 Member
edited November 27 in Health and Weight Loss
Isn't it all about calories in/calories out? Why would it matter how long your body goes without eating, as long as you are eating at a deficit within that 24 hour period?
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Replies

  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    sharke087 wrote: »
    psychod787 wrote: »
    cloudsongs wrote: »
    It’s not just about calories in/calories out. Every single time you eat something, even if there are 0 carbs, your body produces a hormone called insulin. Once insulin begins circulating your body, all your fat-burning hormones like growth hormones begin to power down (and this is worse especially when you eat high carb meals) because they “think” they’re about to get easy energy from glucose pretty soon.

    This is where intermittent fasting comes in. You technically are supposed to eat one or two meals during your “feeding window” which allows the least amount of insulin spikes in your body (because you’re only eating 2 times a day with 0 snacking) within a short period of time. The rest of the day, insulin will be low while other hormones begin to use the energy from both your diet and your stored energy.

    So yes, calories are important because if you eat too much, your body will never tap into your reserved glycogen and fat. But intermittent fasting also helps speed up the process because of fewer insulin spikes!

    UHHHH????!?!? nope......
    Insulin Spikes according to the size of the meal. Large meal, large longer spike, Short meal, shorter smaller spikes. Does insulin stop the burning of fat for energy? Yes, for as long as the body uses glucose and then stores it. So, your "Larger" meal just causes a larger/longer insulin release. Though, I did hear that IF was curing HIV and helping restore the OZONE layer.


    Oh man....does that mean I fell for a ruse and I don’t NEED to fast? Does that mean that working out on my empty stomach first thing in the morning isn’t really beneficial either?

    If you feel better working out fasted, then its all good. I personally can do my morning walks fasted or hike, but my higher intensity hypertrophy weight training will kill me. I have to eat about an hour before the gym. I do time restricted eating myself 14/10 on work days and 16/8 on non work days. There are some benefits for me, 1. I have to get up pretty early on work days and have long shifts, so that extra 30 mins of sleep are nice 2. My hunger hormones go crazy once I start my eating cycle. 3 I have no kids and I am single, I eat when I want 4. I like larger meals and eating later at night helps me sleep. Kinda 5. Strange effect, but not exactly a benefit, My senses are heightened when I am fasted. My sense of smell is sharper, eyes move quicker, and mind is super clear. I never expected that. I wonder if anyone else has the same experiences?
  • sharke087
    sharke087 Posts: 30 Member
    edited July 2018
    psychod787 wrote: »
    sharke087 wrote: »
    psychod787 wrote: »
    cloudsongs wrote: »
    It’s not just about calories in/calories out. Every single time you eat something, even if there are 0 carbs, your body produces a hormone called insulin. Once insulin begins circulating your body, all your fat-burning hormones like growth hormones begin to power down (and this is worse especially when you eat high carb meals) because they “think” they’re about to get easy energy from glucose pretty soon.

    This is where intermittent fasting comes in. You technically are supposed to eat one or two meals during your “feeding window” which allows the least amount of insulin spikes in your body (because you’re only eating 2 times a day with 0 snacking) within a short period of time. The rest of the day, insulin will be low while other hormones begin to use the energy from both your diet and your stored energy.

    So yes, calories are important because if you eat too much, your body will never tap into your reserved glycogen and fat. But intermittent fasting also helps speed up the process because of fewer insulin spikes!

    UHHHH????!?!? nope......
    Insulin Spikes according to the size of the meal. Large meal, large longer spike, Short meal, shorter smaller spikes. Does insulin stop the burning of fat for energy? Yes, for as long as the body uses glucose and then stores it. So, your "Larger" meal just causes a larger/longer insulin release. Though, I did hear that IF was curing HIV and helping restore the OZONE layer.


    Oh man....does that mean I fell for a ruse and I don’t NEED to fast? Does that mean that working out on my empty stomach first thing in the morning isn’t really beneficial either?

    If you feel better working out fasted, then its all good. I personally can do my morning walks fasted or hike, but my higher intensity hypertrophy weight training will kill me. I have to eat about an hour before the gym. I do time restricted eating myself 14/10 on work days and 16/8 on non work days. There are some benefits for me, 1. I have to get up pretty early on work days and have long shifts, so that extra 30 mins of sleep are nice 2. My hunger hormones go crazy once I start my eating cycle. 3 I have no kids and I am single, I eat when I want 4. I like larger meals and eating later at night helps me sleep. Kinda 5. Strange effect, but not exactly a benefit, My senses are heightened when I am fasted. My sense of smell is sharper, eyes move quicker, and mind is super clear. I never expected that. I wonder if anyone else has the same experiences?


    I feel more alert and attentive while fasting, but only have done it off and on so far. I also don’t mind doing my cardio or weight lifting on an empty stomach. (Plus I am super self conscious about throwing up at the gym).

    The need to eat first might change once I change my workout to bulk instead of right now I am focusing on getting rid of my belly fat.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    If you set up your fast so that your "eating period" ends at 7-8pm it is supposed to help acid reflux/heartburn/etc. because you're giving your food more time to digest before you sleep. But of course, that can be done without adhering to a fasting schedule. Really the main benefit is having 1-2 bigger meals rather than 3 smaller ones. It's not nearly as magical as people like to claim.

    not unless someone has issues with those things at those times in the evening.as for amount of meals it will depend on the person
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    sharke087 wrote: »
    psychod787 wrote: »
    sharke087 wrote: »
    psychod787 wrote: »
    cloudsongs wrote: »
    It’s not just about calories in/calories out. Every single time you eat something, even if there are 0 carbs, your body produces a hormone called insulin. Once insulin begins circulating your body, all your fat-burning hormones like growth hormones begin to power down (and this is worse especially when you eat high carb meals) because they “think” they’re about to get easy energy from glucose pretty soon.

    This is where intermittent fasting comes in. You technically are supposed to eat one or two meals during your “feeding window” which allows the least amount of insulin spikes in your body (because you’re only eating 2 times a day with 0 snacking) within a short period of time. The rest of the day, insulin will be low while other hormones begin to use the energy from both your diet and your stored energy.

    So yes, calories are important because if you eat too much, your body will never tap into your reserved glycogen and fat. But intermittent fasting also helps speed up the process because of fewer insulin spikes!

    UHHHH????!?!? nope......
    Insulin Spikes according to the size of the meal. Large meal, large longer spike, Short meal, shorter smaller spikes. Does insulin stop the burning of fat for energy? Yes, for as long as the body uses glucose and then stores it. So, your "Larger" meal just causes a larger/longer insulin release. Though, I did hear that IF was curing HIV and helping restore the OZONE layer.


    Oh man....does that mean I fell for a ruse and I don’t NEED to fast? Does that mean that working out on my empty stomach first thing in the morning isn’t really beneficial either?

    If you feel better working out fasted, then its all good. I personally can do my morning walks fasted or hike, but my higher intensity hypertrophy weight training will kill me. I have to eat about an hour before the gym. I do time restricted eating myself 14/10 on work days and 16/8 on non work days. There are some benefits for me, 1. I have to get up pretty early on work days and have long shifts, so that extra 30 mins of sleep are nice 2. My hunger hormones go crazy once I start my eating cycle. 3 I have no kids and I am single, I eat when I want 4. I like larger meals and eating later at night helps me sleep. Kinda 5. Strange effect, but not exactly a benefit, My senses are heightened when I am fasted. My sense of smell is sharper, eyes move quicker, and mind is super clear. I never expected that. I wonder if anyone else has the same experiences?


    I feel more alert and attender I’ve while fasting, but only have done it off and on so far. I also don’t mind doing my cardio or weight lifting on an empty stomach. (Plus I am super self conscious about throwing up at the gym).

    The need to eat first might change once I change my workout to bulk instead of right now I am focusing on getting rid of my belly fat.

    There's nothing wrong with fasted cardio/weight training, if it fits your personal preference. Just understand that there's nothing magical about it as far as fat loss goes.

    There's also some evidence to show that post-workout nutrition, especially protein intake, becomes more important (from a muscle protein synthesis standpoint) when doing strength training in a fasted state.
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
    Research is ongoing: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28938796

    If it works for you, why not?

    Their seems to be no harm in an IF approach (as far as we know right now).

    Let's just let (unbiased) research and good science pan out on the subject.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    I am more than capable of eating 1800+ calories in one sitting when I'm very hungry.

    I don't even need to be "very" hungry to reach that mark. Four slices of pizza, a large soda and cinnamon-topped breadsticks can reach that mark easily. Heck, some of the drinks offered at Starbucks can surpass 2k calories with a single drink!

    (Personal record for pizza was 15 slices, but that was when I was 18 and able to eat like that yet still weigh 40 pounds less than I do now...)
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    I’m not hungry in the morning and I’m starving in the afternoon. So, I eat 3 meals at noon, 3 & 7. Andi personally don’t like going to bed with a digesting belly full of food. Voila - IF.
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
    A conversation about IF usually includes a discussion about circadian rhythms in conjunction with IF.

    There's a lot to digest here in the study linked below (pun intended) and again, if IF works for you, great.

    ..... If you're not a fan, that's okay too.

    https://www.hindawi.com/journals/grp/2017/3932491/
  • mrdre555
    mrdre555 Posts: 7 Member
    Best thing that happened to me
This discussion has been closed.