Question about Intermittent Fasting

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Replies

  • crabbybrianna
    crabbybrianna Posts: 344 Member
    I get up at 3:30am, work out, and have my first meal around 11am. Second meal at 2pm or 3pm. I started eating this way a couple of months ago, not because I wanted to, but because it was the easiest way to fit meals into my current schedule. The only benefit I’ve seen is it’s been way easier to control my calories. Other than that I feel exactly the same as when I started eating earlier in the day.
  • scotgirl78
    scotgirl78 Posts: 47 Member
    I get up at 3:30am, work out, and have my first meal around 11am. Second meal at 2pm or 3pm. I started eating this way a couple of months ago, not because I wanted to, but because it was the easiest way to fit meals into my current schedule. The only benefit I’ve seen is it’s been way easier to control my calories. Other than that I feel exactly the same as when I started eating earlier in the day.

    Great insight, thank you!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,937 Member
    scotgirl78 wrote: »
    I think this is my second time ever posting a discussion on this site and it's been eye opening. Haha!
    I wanted to try IF to see if it "did" anything for me in terms of energy, sleep, convenience, health, etc. I don't believe I ever mentioned I wanted to use it as a magic solution to all life's problems or even as a weight loss tool. I'd understand the response if I said "hey guys, I'm gonna try meth for a couple months...who's on board?" but ok...I'm fully aware of all opinions now! :)

    For me, I didn't find it affected anything but convenience, preparing or acquiring and eating one less meal in a day. Didn't affect energy or sleep. Impacted health indirectly as it helps me hit my calorie targets.

    You are probably not aware of this but there have been some threads where there have been some pretty outlandish and unsubstantiated claims about IF in the last couple of months. There have been some health benefits ascribed to it that are totally unproven. Which is why I linked the meta analysis upthread. You didn't make these claims and that is understood. The folks responding were primarily trying to be helpful and give you fact based information as well as personal experience and warn you of the woo in the press and general circulation about IF.
  • scotgirl78
    scotgirl78 Posts: 47 Member
    Nope, wasn't aware of all the outlandish claims and definitely wasn't making any.... just wanted feedback before I tried it out. Assumptions that I expected magic to happen threw me off a bit, that's all. I appreciate your feedback, for sure! ☺
  • teresamwhite
    teresamwhite Posts: 947 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    There is no harm at all. I've done it off and on and, for me, it helps with hunger control. I don't eat my first meal til late morning to early afternoon. If I eat first thing in the morning, I am hungry all day but I can put off eating indefinitely without much issue. Some people experience this with IF. Some do not with IF. Kind of have to try and see.

    This is my experience, too...My eating window is 12p-6p. If I am absolutely ravenous (light headed, feeling weak, etc) at 9a or whatever, then I'll have a snack, but if it's just a little hunger, then I can wait til 12p. If I "break the seal", so to speak, then I am hungry all day. It helps me pay more attention to whether or not I am truly hungry, or if I am bored/cravings to have a more disciplined food schedule.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,937 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    There is no harm at all. I've done it off and on and, for me, it helps with hunger control. I don't eat my first meal til late morning to early afternoon. If I eat first thing in the morning, I am hungry all day but I can put off eating indefinitely without much issue. Some people experience this with IF. Some do not with IF. Kind of have to try and see.

    This is my experience, too...My eating window is 12p-6p. If I am absolutely ravenous (light headed, feeling weak, etc) at 9a or whatever, then I'll have a snack, but if it's just a little hunger, then I can wait til 12p. If I "break the seal", so to speak, then I am hungry all day. It helps me pay more attention to whether or not I am truly hungry, or if I am bored/cravings to have a more disciplined food schedule.

    Yes, I've talked with many that feel like you and I do. I like the "break the seal" analogy. For me, I can just forget about food for a while doing IF. For some others, they get cranky and obsess about food or get too hungry. It's a very individual thing.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited August 2018
    Im somewhere in the middle, Once i start eating i dont stop im hungry always, And putting it off does help even when i wake up starving...because a side benefit of putting eating off until later in the day is it sort of is a daily reminder of what hunger feels like, And that its not a huge emergency that needs to be fixed instantly. I find that a huge benefit. Before i lost my weight my blood sugar would rise and crash and do loops and id bee shakey and weak almost constantly if i wasnt eating every few hours. Helped me add on alot of weight. Realizing hunger exists and is okay and makes my next meal amazing when i wait out the initial hunger ping was a big breakthrough for me.

    edit to clarify: It wasnt a breakthrough, It was THE breakthrough lol. My weight loss started when i had just decided to see what happened when i waited out the shakiness. For me it went away and my appetite dropped again. Was me begining to realize everything and it spiraled from there into 110 pounds loss. So the daily reminder is very deeply involved with my loss
  • scotgirl78
    scotgirl78 Posts: 47 Member
    I've noticed that too! Wait through the hunger pangs and they go away.
    Meal prepping and going to the gym at the same time has focused me... kinda made me OCD with my health and sticking to a schedule. My mindset is IF (intentional or coincidental) will be a good tool too, even if just for planning.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,937 Member
    scotgirl78 wrote: »
    I've noticed that too! Wait through the hunger pangs and they go away.
    Meal prepping and going to the gym at the same time has focused me... kinda made me OCD with my health and sticking to a schedule. My mindset is IF (intentional or coincidental) will be a good tool too, even if just for planning.

    For me, some coffee (I drink wonderful organic, free trade locally grown and roasted beans here in Oaxaca) is kind of an appetite suppressant. Again, everyone doesn't experience this. But, the flavor and the caffeine just kind of puts off any hunger. I rarely have hunger pangs.

    Once I head to the gym and get moving about my day, I don't even think about it usually. Sometimes have gone as late as 3 or so in the afternoon before I felt a need to eat. If I'm busy, I just don't think about it other than focusing on hitting my protein to support my training.
  • scotgirl78
    scotgirl78 Posts: 47 Member
    Coffee and water definitely help me, as well. Weekends are easy for me to go until noon/afternoon before I even remember to eat, but when I'm in my office at 7am that's when the stomach growls are noticed. Probably all in my head! I'll just start chugging coffee or water...then I'll be REALLY alert haha
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    I don't eat until noon, but I usually do at least one work out (strength or cardio-based HIIT) around 6:30. I often do another one around 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. (just some steady state cardio like a jog or a hike). I'm losing weight just fine. For me, it's been completely about being consistent with not eating before noon and, more importantly, stopping by 8 p.m.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,023 Member
    edited August 2018
    scotgirl78 wrote: »
    Coffee and water definitely help me, as well. Weekends are easy for me to go until noon/afternoon before I even remember to eat, but when I'm in my office at 7am that's when the stomach growls are noticed. Probably all in my head! I'll just start chugging coffee or water...then I'll be REALLY alert haha

    That's interesting! I'm fine at work with coffee until like 10AM, but on the weekend I wake up thinking about food food food. :lol:

    I used to wake up with very low blood sugar and HAD to eat first thing or I would get lightheaded. That resolved itself, and a few years later I realized I was basically forcing myself to eat in the AM, but was super hungry at night and blowing through my calorie goal. So I started not eating until noon so I could save calories for after dinner. Worked great for awhile. Then a couple months ago, for no reason i can figure, I started being a bit hungry in the morning and REALLY hungry by 10-11. So I ditched the window and spread out my calories more. It's weird, but i just keep going with whatever works for as long as it works!

    IMHO the evidence of health benefits to IF is shaky at best, but there's certainly no harm in trying it. I've seen some research to suggest longer term fasting, or in other cases just severe calorie restriction, has longevity benefits, but both would make me so miserable it wouldn't be worth it anyway :smile: Just don't get so caught up in chasing "maybe's" that you can't nail the definite basics.

    Water doesn't do a *kitten* thing for me, but coffee/tea/diet soda definitely have a mild appetite supressant affect for me personally, and I think just keep my taste buds distracted.

    Good luck!
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    edited August 2018
    I'm the same way. I get so hungry during the week at work, but on the weekends it's no problem at all for me to not eat until 1pm or so, and I don't even feel that hungry. I don't really wake up that much later on the weekends, maybe 1.5 hours later. I think it's just from boredom, sitting at my desk. Whereas on the weekends I'm on the move.
  • scotgirl78
    scotgirl78 Posts: 47 Member
    hesn92 wrote: »
    I'm the same way. I get so hungry during the week at work, but on the weekends it's no problem at all for me to not eat until 1pm or so, and I don't even feel that hungry. I don't really wake up that much later on the weekends, maybe 1.5 hours later. I think it's just from boredom, sitting at my desk. Whereas on the weekends I'm on the move.

    It's absolutely from being stuck in an office! Exactly!
  • yukfoo
    yukfoo Posts: 871 Member
    IF is just another tool in your weight loss arsenal. Also remember to track your calories (for better or worse) and stick to your intake / exercise goals. What IF did for me was let me take back control of mindless eating at all hours. It allows me to actually say no to food (very tough thing for me to conquer).For some people fasting can trigger binge eating so tread cautiously there. Give it a try. No magic but the sense of control it an give you can be inspirational.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    scotgirl78 wrote: »
    Coffee and water definitely help me, as well. Weekends are easy for me to go until noon/afternoon before I even remember to eat, but when I'm in my office at 7am that's when the stomach growls are noticed. Probably all in my head! I'll just start chugging coffee or water...then I'll be REALLY alert haha

    This is me. I want to eat when I get to work, and once I start I seem to want to keep eating. So, I wait until 10:30 or so and then I am good. In the weekends, I have no problem not eating until afternoon. Usually 1-1:30. So I guess I need to quit my job to cut my calorie intake. Lack of money at that point would cut them even more.