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MyFitnessPal Community

Intermittent fasting

Elitejammer

I’m down 9 pounds in 9 weeks with intermittent fasting. I’m fasting now 20 hours a day and eating within 4 hours. My workouts are done fasting to get the best results including more energy. My face is smoother and my sore knees feel better. I tried to do a 24 hour fast today but could only get to 22 hours. Still feel better.

Replies

WilmaValley

Great info!!!

cemckiss

wren176 wrote: »

Great job! I do low carb and intermittent fasting 1 or 2 days a week. Some days I’ll do a 24 hour fast. Eat breakfast then not eat again till the following day. It work great for me. I don’t have a schedule just choose to fast on the days I’m not feeling hungry.

@wren176 When you eat breakfast and then fast the rest of the day, do you usually do the same thing the following day or do you do another fasting protocol?

3DCAKE

If I am someone that just loves food and can't get enough of it... how do you think I can start out? 16/8? Do I eat all my calories I normally need to eat during my 8 hours of eating(1500)?

YvetteK2015

leahcollett1 wrote: »

its day 4 and today is the first time ive truly struggled to fast until 12. i have woken up at 6am absolutely starving. i think its worse that i cant have a coffee latte to see me through lol

But what are you doing IF for? Is it just to help you with your calorie deficit? That's why I do IF, and I still have coffee with a splash of milk. I'm not one of these people who believe if I consume over 10 calories in the morning I'm "breaking my fast" therefore all these magical properties of IF will go away. I have my coffee with a bit of milk. I just save all of my eating for later in the day.

So If you are doing IF to help you stay in a calorie deficit, just fit your coffee into your calorie goal. IF shouldn't make your life harder.

unknown

This content has been removed.

trdrsix0s

Great topic. Ive been toying with the topic myself. Have been eating 5-6 times a day for like 30 years. Started young to feed workout recovery and it became a habit. I was having trouble shedding fat at any calorie level and i was ALWAYS hungryl. Self diagnosed that i has some kindof metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance

The last few weeks ive been reading abiut intermittent fasting and decided to get all my foods in 3 meala with zero snacking. My hunger went away the first day and my carb cravings have gone away completely. Fat is starting to visibly come off my face and upper chest area in just first. Month. This is with minimal exwrciae too. Dont usually post but if it can help somebody with a similar iasue had to share.

Imho dont have to starve yourself 20 hours to get some benefits from the IF concept. But everybody has to do what works for them. 3 square and no snacks has had profound e impact for me albeit in a short month tome period.

pierinifitness

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29754952/

roughwaterexpress

I began seeing an RD early in November. I wanted help with losing weight and advice on eating as healthy as possible. Based on my history of high sugar consumption (basically my whole live, major sweet tooth) and difficulty losing weight, she suggested I have developed insulin resistance. We started out with cutting out sugar (ruthlessly) and limiting carbs. Next she had me eating 3 meals a day with 2 snacks, still limiting sugar and carbs, and starting to ramp up fiber. Then we cut out snacks. Finally, she encouraged me to to 16:8 IF a couple of days a week, continuing to avoid sugar and limit carbs with lots of fiber. All this took place over a 5 week period. After 2-3 years of not only failing to lose weight but slowly gaining weight, I am finally seeing success and have lost 15 pounds over the now 6 week period. I am not hungry except right before meals. Most of the time I don't crave sugar or carbs like I used to. Apparently this method is what works for me now that I am older, since all of the things that used to work don't seem to any more. She has suggested that we reevaluate my progress at 20 weeks, and possibly start adding back some healthy carbs at that time. At that time I will probably get my blood pressure and cholesterol checked to see what effect this change has had on my health.

I have never been a breakfast person either, and have forced myself to eat it based on the popular advice that breakfast is the most important meal. So far, it seems I can live without it quite nicely, LOL.

mhlew

I’ve had great success with IF. I’ve lost about 50 lbs in 5 months. I don’t count my calories, I do t log my food, my eating window is 11am-7pm. Don’t count macros any of that stuff. Make it simple.

YvetteK2015

trdrsix0s wrote: »

Great topic. Ive been toying with the topic myself. Have been eating 5-6 times a day for like 30 years. Started young to feed workout recovery and it became a habit. I was having trouble shedding fat at any calorie level and i was ALWAYS hungryl. Self diagnosed that i has some kindof metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance

First, you should never self diagnose. Second, you weren't losing weight because you weren't in a calorie deficit. One thing I noticed about eating later in the day is that it can really suppress the appetite of some people, especially if you go to that from eating 5-6 times a day which helps you stay in a calorie deficit. Other than that, there is no magic to IF. To lose weight, no matter how or when you eat, calories are king.

wren176

“@wren176 When you eat breakfast and then fast the rest of the day, do you usually do the same thing the following day or do you do another fasting protocol?”

@cemkiss I normally will eat breakfast which consist of 4 pieces of bacon and then fast till breakfast the next day. I don’t know what it is about the bacon but it keeps me from being hungry. I have tried other proteins but they haven’t worked as well for me.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

wren176 wrote: »

“@wren176 When you eat breakfast and then fast the rest of the day, do you usually do the same thing the following day or do you do another fasting protocol?”

@cemkiss I normally will eat breakfast which consist of 4 pieces of bacon and then fast till breakfast the next day. I don’t know what it is about the bacon but it keeps me from being hungry. I have tried other proteins but they haven’t worked as well for me.

are you only eating bacon for breakfast? are you getting your calories in per day?

musicfan68

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

wren176 wrote: »

“@wren176 When you eat breakfast and then fast the rest of the day, do you usually do the same thing the following day or do you do another fasting protocol?”

@cemkiss I normally will eat breakfast which consist of 4 pieces of bacon and then fast till breakfast the next day. I don’t know what it is about the bacon but it keeps me from being hungry. I have tried other proteins but they haven’t worked as well for me.

are you only eating bacon for breakfast? are you getting your calories in per day?

I wondered this too - it sounds like she's only eating 4 slices of bacon a day and nothing else. I hope that isn't true.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

musicfan68 wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

wren176 wrote: »

“@wren176 When you eat breakfast and then fast the rest of the day, do you usually do the same thing the following day or do you do another fasting protocol?”

@cemkiss I normally will eat breakfast which consist of 4 pieces of bacon and then fast till breakfast the next day. I don’t know what it is about the bacon but it keeps me from being hungry. I have tried other proteins but they haven’t worked as well for me.

are you only eating bacon for breakfast? are you getting your calories in per day?

I wondered this too - it sounds like she's only eating 4 slices of bacon a day and nothing else. I hope that isn't true.

Im hoping thats not the case either.

wren176

For all my peers that are questioning what I eat here it is. I eat about 1,500 calories a day. I do intermittent fast one day a week and possibly a second day later in the week if I feel like it. Before judging me, yes I do eat bacon for breakfast pretty much every day. If I fasting I do not eat again till breakfast the next morning. The intermittent fasting was started at the suggestion of my dr due to the fact it increases insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetics. I work in healthcare and I’m lucky enough to work with my dr. I get feedback on my condition everyday. She keeps track of my progress and is amazed! I started as a class 3 morbidly obese woman and in 112 days I am only 18 pounds from being just “overweight” besides the fact I no longer have palpitations or have to take my diabetes medication. You know what else she recommended? Lifting heavy things. So I toured gyms and chose a lifting program and started it. The bottom line is if I’m hungry I eat, if not I don’t.

All1971

Don;t assume all judging is negative - I'm judging you positively for eating bacon every day - its a great low carb food that will help you feel full. Way to go!

CharlieBeansmomTracey

wren176 wrote: »

For all my peers that are questioning what I eat here it is. I eat about 1,500 calories a day. I do intermittent fast one day a week and possibly a second day later in the week if I feel like it. Before judging me, yes I do eat bacon for breakfast pretty much every day. If I fasting I do not eat again till breakfast the next morning. The intermittent fasting was started at the suggestion of my dr due to the fact it increases insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetics. I work in healthcare and I’m lucky enough to work with my dr. I get feedback on my condition everyday. She keeps track of my progress and is amazed! I started as a class 3 morbidly obese woman and in 112 days I am only 18 pounds from being just “overweight” besides the fact I no longer have palpitations or have to take my diabetes medication. You know what else she recommended? Lifting heavy things. So I toured gyms and chose a lifting program and started it. The bottom line is if I’m hungry I eat, if not I don’t.

we werent judging because of the bacon,we were asking because you were saying you ate bacon as if thats all you are eating.you didnt say how many days or what type of fasting you were doing. and the 2 days of fasting (if doing 5:2) is usually 2 days of 500 calories and the others are maintenance calorie days.how much weight did you lose in 112 days? but the not eating if not hungry that all depends on several factors.

can you understand why we were concerned? we werent judging but if a newbie came to the thread and read all you ate was bacon and didnt see the rest that you cleared up,they might think its ok to eat very low calorie all the time.many think its ok to do as it is.Im glad you cleared it up for us and that you are eating enough food.

kgb6days

leahcollett1 wrote: »

its day 4 and today is the first time ive truly struggled to fast until 12. i have woken up at 6am absolutely starving. i think its worse that i cant have a coffee latte to see me through lol

I fast from dinner done night till dinner the next night. At that meal I can have 500 calories, or I can spread them out during the day, just cannot go over the 500 calories. When I hit those days that I am just starving (yes, I do have them) I start with drinking something hot. Sometime I will even drink a can of chicken broth as it is very low on calories. If that doesn't work I'll have a boiled egg. I just have to NOT go over 500 calories for the day.

foxtrot1965

kgb6days wrote: »

leahcollett1 wrote: »

its day 4 and today is the first time ive truly struggled to fast until 12. i have woken up at 6am absolutely starving. i think its worse that i cant have a coffee latte to see me through lol

I fast from dinner done night till dinner the next night. At that meal I can have 500 calories, or I can spread them out during the day, just cannot go over the 500 calories. When I hit those days that I am just starving (yes, I do have them) I start with drinking something hot. Sometime I will even drink a can of chicken broth as it is very low on calories. If that doesn't work I'll have a boiled egg. I just have to NOT go over 500 calories for the day.

Why 500? I fast, mostly 16:8, but sometimes 20:4. But I always eat the 1200ish

CharlieBeansmomTracey

kgb6days wrote: »

leahcollett1 wrote: »

its day 4 and today is the first time ive truly struggled to fast until 12. i have woken up at 6am absolutely starving. i think its worse that i cant have a coffee latte to see me through lol

I fast from dinner done night till dinner the next night. At that meal I can have 500 calories, or I can spread them out during the day, just cannot go over the 500 calories. When I hit those days that I am just starving (yes, I do have them) I start with drinking something hot. Sometime I will even drink a can of chicken broth as it is very low on calories. If that doesn't work I'll have a boiled egg. I just have to NOT go over 500 calories for the day.

are you eating 500 every day? or just a couple days a week(like 5:2)? 500 a day all week and over time IF that is what you are doing is NOT healthy.

wren176

I never fast more than 2 days a week and they are never consecutive. I do some of the same things a previous poster said. If I am hungry I will drink warm broth it helps curb the appetite. Today I ate 1,200 calories. I work 2 jobs and 80+ hours a week and have a large family. If I am super busy and can’t get away from my desk it’s an easy day to fast. I keep my fridge in my office stocked with low carb options like string cheese, avocado, boiled eggs, roast beef and I always have almonds in my desk. I very seldom drink anything other than water or broth.

wren176

I forgot to mention I do bacon or sausage for breakfast every morning. The higher fats keep me full longer. I’ve tried lower fat options but they just didn’t curb my appetite as well. I started taking apple cider vinegar pills yesterday and I will see if they do anything for me.

kgb6days

foxtrot1965 wrote: »

kgb6days wrote: »

leahcollett1 wrote: »

its day 4 and today is the first time ive truly struggled to fast until 12. i have woken up at 6am absolutely starving. i think its worse that i cant have a coffee latte to see me through lol

I fast from dinner done night till dinner the next night. At that meal I can have 500 calories, or I can spread them out during the day, just cannot go over the 500 calories. When I hit those days that I am just starving (yes, I do have them) I start with drinking something hot. Sometime I will even drink a can of chicken broth as it is very low on calories. If that doesn't work I'll have a boiled egg. I just have to NOT go over 500 calories for the day.

Why 500? I fast, mostly 16:8, but sometimes 20:4. But I always eat the 1200ish

I do 5/2 fasting. I fast 2 days per week - from dinner one night till dinner the next and then I eat up to 500 calories. I can eat the 500 calories at any time (such as when I am STARVING for some crazy reason). Non fast days I eat up to 2000 calories.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

foxtrot1965 wrote: »

kgb6days wrote: »

leahcollett1 wrote: »

its day 4 and today is the first time ive truly struggled to fast until 12. i have woken up at 6am absolutely starving. i think its worse that i cant have a coffee latte to see me through lol

I fast from dinner done night till dinner the next night. At that meal I can have 500 calories, or I can spread them out during the day, just cannot go over the 500 calories. When I hit those days that I am just starving (yes, I do have them) I start with drinking something hot. Sometime I will even drink a can of chicken broth as it is very low on calories. If that doesn't work I'll have a boiled egg. I just have to NOT go over 500 calories for the day.

Why 500? I fast, mostly 16:8, but sometimes 20:4. But I always eat the 1200ish

500 is what they call 5:2 fasting. you eat 500 calories 2 days a week and maintenance calories the other 5. it still puts you into a deficit of calories for the week. some can do 5:2 while others cannot. I could not do 5:2 I do 16:8 most of the time and sometimes 18:6.

foxtrot1965

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

foxtrot1965 wrote: »

kgb6days wrote: »

leahcollett1 wrote: »

its day 4 and today is the first time ive truly struggled to fast until 12. i have woken up at 6am absolutely starving. i think its worse that i cant have a coffee latte to see me through lol

I fast from dinner done night till dinner the next night. At that meal I can have 500 calories, or I can spread them out during the day, just cannot go over the 500 calories. When I hit those days that I am just starving (yes, I do have them) I start with drinking something hot. Sometime I will even drink a can of chicken broth as it is very low on calories. If that doesn't work I'll have a boiled egg. I just have to NOT go over 500 calories for the day.

Why 500? I fast, mostly 16:8, but sometimes 20:4. But I always eat the 1200ish

500 is what they call 5:2 fasting. you eat 500 calories 2 days a week and maintenance calories the other 5. it still puts you into a deficit of calories for the week. some can do 5:2 while others cannot. I could not do 5:2 I do 16:8 most of the time and sometimes 18:6.

Sounds difficult, but if it works for you guys!!!

CharlieBeansmomTracey

foxtrot1965 wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

foxtrot1965 wrote: »

kgb6days wrote: »

leahcollett1 wrote: »

its day 4 and today is the first time ive truly struggled to fast until 12. i have woken up at 6am absolutely starving. i think its worse that i cant have a coffee latte to see me through lol

I fast from dinner done night till dinner the next night. At that meal I can have 500 calories, or I can spread them out during the day, just cannot go over the 500 calories. When I hit those days that I am just starving (yes, I do have them) I start with drinking something hot. Sometime I will even drink a can of chicken broth as it is very low on calories. If that doesn't work I'll have a boiled egg. I just have to NOT go over 500 calories for the day.

Why 500? I fast, mostly 16:8, but sometimes 20:4. But I always eat the 1200ish

500 is what they call 5:2 fasting. you eat 500 calories 2 days a week and maintenance calories the other 5. it still puts you into a deficit of calories for the week. some can do 5:2 while others cannot. I could not do 5:2 I do 16:8 most of the time and sometimes 18:6.

Sounds difficult, but if it works for you guys!!!

its not difficult for me because Ive been doing 16:8 for more than 3 decades,I was doing it before I knew what it was or that it had a name. I just dont eat breakfast. I usually stop eating after 8 or 9pm the night before and usually dont eat until after noon the next day. sometimes as late as 3pm.I just find that Im not hungry until then. I mean if you think about it after you stop eating at night before you go to bed you fast up until you eat the next day, it may not be 16:8 or 18:6 or any of those. but its still considered fasting.you fast before you get blood tests done dont you?

menotyou56

I'm on a baseline of 16:8 seven days a week since Dec 3 and have lost 14 lbs so far. I've done three 24 hr fasts in that period because my appetite is so under control sometimes lol.

IF is awesome!

menotyou56

trdrsix0s wrote: »

3 square and no snacks has had profound impact for me albeit in a short month tome period.

3 square and no snacks is a beginning step into IF really. Glad it's working for you. 👍

CharlieBeansmomTracey

menotyou56 wrote: »

I'm on a baseline of 16:8 seven days a week since Dec 3 and have lost 14 lbs so far. I've done three 24 hr fasts in that period because my appetite is so under control sometimes lol.

IF is awesome!

weight was lost because you were in a deficit(a big one at that) due to those days of no food for 24 hrs so that means no calories. Ive gained weight fasting and Im maintaining weight now fasting.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

menotyou56 wrote: »

trdrsix0s wrote: »

3 square and no snacks has had profound impact for me albeit in a short month tome period.

3 square and no snacks is a beginning step into IF really. Glad it's working for you. 👍

not true. some people fast and do 1 meal a day, some do 2 meals a day. like me I eat 2 meals usually and a few snacks a day. IF is a window of time in which you eat your meals(calories) how many meals that is depends on the person. There is no one size fits all category when it comes to fasting or how many meals you need to eat per day