Is Intermittent Fasting really as easy as people claim?

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Replies

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    LynnJ9 wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    LynnJ9 wrote: »
    ladystrick11 wrote: »
    I did IF twice. The first time, I lost 15 pounds in a month? The second time, I actually gained 6 pounds. IF is a bit tough for me to do as I can't function without breakfast and work an 8-5 job. That means that my window was always 7-3pm which was not optimal for me as I am a 3 square meals type gal. I think IF works best if the feeding window does not interfere with your normal feeding schedule.

    If I did IF and ate my first meal at 10:30, I could eat until 6:30 pm. If I get stuck in meetings until 7 pm, do I stop even though I may have only eaten 600 calories?

    to stop would be very unhealthy. you need to eat all your calories, if you can`t fit them in your narrow window change the window a little or eat more often within that window. or bigger meals. but to function and maintain your body you need to eat all teh calories recommended by MFP (and add exercise cals) because that is what you should eat to LOSE the weight.

    Thank you. I wish my schedule would accommodate this style of eating. I know I would love to eat fewer meals with more calories.

    Can you change the window to allow that?

    IMO, the main thing is discovering how many meals you want to eat and what size. I like 3, I'm just traditional that way (usually at 6, noon, and 9, I have a weird schedule), but at one point preferred 2 big meals. One reason I dislike some of the IF is magic stuff is that I really think that what feels right and sustainable for you is going to be what works. If you like two big meals and can only fit them in at 6 am and 8 pm, does that mean you won't do as well as someone eating the same meals at noon and 6? Honestly, I think that claim is unsupported and extremely unlikely.

    So if you want 2 big meals, figure out the schedule that works for you and see how it goes.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    CarvedTones wrote: »
    nowine4me wrote: »
    IF can be a great tool, and I do believe there are benefits to fasting (beyond weight loss). But NO, it doesn’t give you a license to eat whatever you want in the 8 hour window. You still need to be in a deficit

    I read this article:
    https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fasting-benefits

    that makes all sorts of claims that seem suspect but they link to references. I followed a few and they are actual peer reviewed studies. Some are small and many are on animals with the assumption that it may also happen with humans. A skeptic could probably find a study that refutes the findings of each of them. It is very difficult to know what to believe.

    Bring on the woos (even though I said I am not sure whether to believe it or not). :laugh:

    I'm not necessarily buying into the claims about fasting or the similar claims about circadian rhythm (which also has some studies supporting it), but those are different than just IFing (as often defined).
  • mburgess458
    mburgess458 Posts: 480 Member
    edited January 2019
    Sumo wrestlers eat one or two meals a day. I doubt anyone here wants to look like a sumo wrestler. Like others have said, IF isn't magic. How much you eat still matters. For some people limiting the window in which they eat almost automatically limits their calories without thinking about it too much. If you eat too much no matter what the timing you will gain weight.

    https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/sumo/sumo04.html
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,937 Member
    ^^ Okay, but I'm not eating snakes.
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    I'm not into fasting and have no real opinion on it but the research of Dr. Valter Longo, PhD might be something some folks want to follow. His research now includes some human trials.

    This link has a link for his PubMed, Google Scholar, etc research.
    http://gero.usc.edu/faculty/longo/
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    concordancia wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    Intermittent fasting is alright but prolonged fasting (24-72+hours) is amazing. Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of autophagy. Autophagy starts after 12 hours of fasting but people who fast longer while drinking "salt water" (potassium and sodium in certain amounts) reap amazing benefits such as....


    Big jump from citing a Nobel Prize for studying yeast to insisting that 12 hours is the ideal number for people.

    Where did I say 12 hours is the ideal number? I think longer is better. And what's wrong with studying yeast?

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/05/why-do-scientists-always-use-yeast-in-their-experiments.html

    Because people aren't yeast?

    There's nothing wrong with taking direction for further study from yeast results. But just like mouse studies often fall down when expanded to humans, yeast results do not mean human results.

    And that's why we as logical human beings need to take matters into our own hands and test things out; because it can take years for conclusions to be accepted by the medical field. I'm all about results. Less talk, more action :+1:
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    Intermittent fasting is alright but prolonged fasting (24-72+hours) is amazing. Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of autophagy. Autophagy starts after 12 hours of fasting but people who fast longer while drinking "salt water" (potassium and sodium in certain amounts) reap amazing benefits such as....


    He did not discover autophagy - what he discovered were the mechanisms within the cell that kick off autophagy - people have just jumped on the bandwagon and assumed that the same mechanisms apply to humans without any proof of said assumptions.

    Where did I say he discovered autophagy? I said "for his discoveries". If someone discovers things about the universe, it doesn't mean they discovered the universe.

    As for your proof, you might be waiting awhile if you need some lab controlled studies. But, here is the next best thing:

    https://www.instagram.com/snake_diet_wizard/?hl=en

    Honestly, you linking to "the Snake Diet" doesn't really help. There are actually a lot of research and health care professionals in this forum, and using an almost literal carnival barker to prove a point is probably not going to change any minds here.

    I'm in excellent health, and have a lot of longevity on both sides of my family tree. So using myself as a guinea pig, considering how many health-related fad salesman who misrepresent science come and go like a revolving door, is not something I'm willing to do. Long term ramifications are important. Lots of new ideas look amazing in the light of a year or two. And end up with a lot of ruined health and law suits in the long run.
  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    I ate 1 time per day for about 6 months (mostly work stress related); I did lose weight so obviously was in a calorie deficit (eating huge fajita salad with pita almost every day). But beside that, I was rarely hungry AND I had a crazy amount of energy and needed so much less sleep. I haven't done all the research - but I am seriously considering going back to it just for the crazy energy boost.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    lbride wrote: »
    I ate 1 time per day for about 6 months (mostly work stress related); I did lose weight so obviously was in a calorie deficit (eating huge fajita salad with pita almost every day). But beside that, I was rarely hungry AND I had a crazy amount of energy and needed so much less sleep. I haven't done all the research - but I am seriously considering going back to it just for the crazy energy boost.

    Meal timing can certainly affect appetite and it makes sense it would affect energy level, so if you can find a schedule that checks both those boxes for you, I say go for it :smiley:
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    concordancia wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    Intermittent fasting is alright but prolonged fasting (24-72+hours) is amazing. Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of autophagy. Autophagy starts after 12 hours of fasting but people who fast longer while drinking "salt water" (potassium and sodium in certain amounts) reap amazing benefits such as....


    Big jump from citing a Nobel Prize for studying yeast to insisting that 12 hours is the ideal number for people.

    Where did I say 12 hours is the ideal number? I think longer is better. And what's wrong with studying yeast?

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/05/why-do-scientists-always-use-yeast-in-their-experiments.html

    Because people aren't yeast?

    There's nothing wrong with taking direction for further study from yeast results. But just like mouse studies often fall down when expanded to humans, yeast results do not mean human results.

    And that's why we as logical human beings need to take matters into our own hands and test things out; because it can take years for conclusions to be accepted by the medical field. I'm all about results. Less talk, more action :+1:
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    Intermittent fasting is alright but prolonged fasting (24-72+hours) is amazing. Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of autophagy. Autophagy starts after 12 hours of fasting but people who fast longer while drinking "salt water" (potassium and sodium in certain amounts) reap amazing benefits such as....


    He did not discover autophagy - what he discovered were the mechanisms within the cell that kick off autophagy - people have just jumped on the bandwagon and assumed that the same mechanisms apply to humans without any proof of said assumptions.

    Where did I say he discovered autophagy? I said "for his discoveries". If someone discovers things about the universe, it doesn't mean they discovered the universe.

    As for your proof, you might be waiting awhile if you need some lab controlled studies. But, here is the next best thing:

    https://www.instagram.com/snake_diet_wizard/?hl=en

    Seriously? Some random dude on Instagram convinces people to follow a VLCD with a bunch of sciency BS and you hold that up as proof of your argument???
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,937 Member
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    concordancia wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    Intermittent fasting is alright but prolonged fasting (24-72+hours) is amazing. Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of autophagy. Autophagy starts after 12 hours of fasting but people who fast longer while drinking "salt water" (potassium and sodium in certain amounts) reap amazing benefits such as....


    Big jump from citing a Nobel Prize for studying yeast to insisting that 12 hours is the ideal number for people.

    Where did I say 12 hours is the ideal number? I think longer is better. And what's wrong with studying yeast?

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/05/why-do-scientists-always-use-yeast-in-their-experiments.html

    Because people aren't yeast?

    There's nothing wrong with taking direction for further study from yeast results. But just like mouse studies often fall down when expanded to humans, yeast results do not mean human results.

    And that's why we as logical human beings need to take matters into our own hands and test things out; because it can take years for conclusions to be accepted by the medical field. I'm all about results. Less talk, more action :+1:
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    TrailRunnerMN82 wrote: »
    Intermittent fasting is alright but prolonged fasting (24-72+hours) is amazing. Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of autophagy. Autophagy starts after 12 hours of fasting but people who fast longer while drinking "salt water" (potassium and sodium in certain amounts) reap amazing benefits such as....


    He did not discover autophagy - what he discovered were the mechanisms within the cell that kick off autophagy - people have just jumped on the bandwagon and assumed that the same mechanisms apply to humans without any proof of said assumptions.

    Where did I say he discovered autophagy? I said "for his discoveries". If someone discovers things about the universe, it doesn't mean they discovered the universe.

    As for your proof, you might be waiting awhile if you need some lab controlled studies. But, here is the next best thing:

    https://www.instagram.com/snake_diet_wizard/?hl=en

    Seriously? Some random dude on Instagram convinces people to follow a VLCD with a bunch of sciency BS and you hold that up as proof of your argument???

    Yeah, and I'll save you clicking that link, too. A thousand people in before and after pictures means absolutely nothing.

    I could post my before and afters. It has nothing, zero - zilch to do with intermittent fasting. Zip.

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