Intermittent Fasting Please help

pierinifitness wrote: »

mmapags wrote: »

pierinifitness wrote: »

L1zardQueen wrote: »

pierinifitness wrote: »

Thanks for sharing @sgt1372, you sre one of many who have an n=1 experience with IF that gives you more knowledge snd insight than the naysayers. Me too. Keep up the good work and thanks again for sharing.

I do IF too, I am still waiting for that experience. Keep marching on.

Why don’t you tell us more about your experience or lack of it so we can learn something, much like we did from the OP’s sharing?

You feel that there is something to be learned from individual anecdotes. But anecdotes =/= proof. There are way too many uncontrolled variables to draw any conclusions for n=1 anecdotes. They are just that, anecdotes. Not facts. For every anecdotal claim of some magic benefit from IF, there are many others, from people who have done it for long periods, that experienced nothing of the sort.

Personally, I'll put stock in an abundance of study data that shows similar conclusions and the studies so far have yet to show a metabolic advantage for IF. Some animal studies are interesting and indicate further study in humans should be conducted. But, a large percentage of the time, benefits in animal studies don't prove in humans.

I will wait until there is more conclusive evidence to make any larger claims about my IF than it helps me control calories. I don't find anecdotes from random people on an internet forum meets any standard of credible evidence I would trust.

Thanks for telling me what you're going to do. Yes I do believe there are lessons to be learned from what other people have done but I have to temper that sharing with my own experiences and research studies. Some of what other people share aligns with my own n=1 experiences and I find it interesting. Others, for example, don't align such as those who have practiced IF and gained weight. This, for me, is hard to imagine because I haven't experienced it.

The OP's share was interesting and his n=1 results are his/her to enjoy, not to be dismissed by those who haven't experienced similar results. The sum of a bunch of n=1 experiences is more than n=1.

If you're not taking note of your own n=1 experiences in the gym or in other aspects of your fitness, health and wellness, chances are your missing something valuable.

Interesting is that those who want to rain on the IF parade seem to be those who haven't experienced benefits or have gained weight following it. This is understandable.

Hard for you to imagine or not, it is very common. Weight loss is solely driven by consistently eating in a caloric deficit. Intermittent Fasting can help some people achieve the required deficit that results in weight loss, by shortening the number of hours in a day that they eat. But it is entirely possible to actually gain weight doing IF because, again, it's the amount of calories you consume in a day that matters and not when you consume them. It's easy to fall into a "Oh, I don't eat breakfast, so I'm good to eat what I want for the rest of the day." Sadly, that's not how it works.

Having done IF for literally decades (I don't eat breakfast) my personal N=1 has learned that I can gain, lose and maintain weight while Intermittent Fasting. Eat too much? I gain. Just the right amount? I maintain. Eat less than my body's daily maintenance? I lose. The key to all three of these states has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Intermittent Fasting and everything to do with caloric intake.

Tl;dr? There's no magic, no extra special benefits to IF. Calories still rule.

IF can be a valuable tool for weight loss...or not. I did IF for years and put on about 40 Lbs over the course of 8 years. I wouldn't have anything in the mornings except black coffee...then for lunch I'd usually go to Taco Bell and get a burrito supreme, two taco supremes, 4 bean burritos, and a 32 oz soda. Then I would have a few more sodas throughout the afternoon and go home and have a generous dinner and drink several craft beers.

I'm not currently trying to lose weight, but I am practicing IF for the summer as well as cycling in the early mornings fasted. I'm currently maintaining my weight which would suggest I'm consuming maintenance calories.