Intermittent Fasting
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HarveyA2020
Posts: 8 Member
What’s people thoughts on Intermittent Fasting using the 16/8 rule? Health benefits, weight loss.
3
Replies
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Health benefits?
Completely neutral by itself - it's just skipping a meal, nothing special about that at all, it's only extending people's normal sleeping fast by a few hours anyway.
Weight loss?
Might be helpful for some people who find it helps them control their calories and maintain a deficit easier. But if calories are the same then completely neutral.
Personally experience although I'm a frequent breakfast skipper the artificial time restriction just irritated the hell out of me and made me food and clock obsessesed. I'm more of a guideline person than a rule person, if I want to skip breakfast I do but just don't want to HAVE to skip breakfast or wait until xx o'clock before I can eat or stop at xx o'clock if I'm genuinely hungry. If someone thrives on set rules their experience may well be different.
I see no reason not to try it if you think it might help you manage your food allowance better but don't believe the non-scientific woo around what really is a very minor change for most people.10 -
Many thanks for your comments.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos especially CrossFit and I found these athletes have evidence to prove it improves sleep, well-being and most important of all testosterone levels. I’ll certainly give it ago.1 -
HarveyA2020 wrote: »Many thanks for your comments.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos especially CrossFit and I found these athletes have evidence to prove it improves sleep, well-being and most important of all testosterone levels. I’ll certainly give it ago.
Proof or anecdotes?
Did those athetes have identical twins eating in a different pattern but training the same?
Did they submit themselves to medical testing, along with their twins for comparison?
See no reason not to give it a go and certainly people are "successful" eating in an 8hr window.
While of course people are also equally successful not eating in a time restricted pattern, eating twice a day, eating 6 times a day etc. etc.8 -
HarveyA2020 wrote: »Many thanks for your comments.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos especially CrossFit and I found these athletes have evidence to prove it improves sleep, well-being and most important of all testosterone levels. I’ll certainly give it ago.
Its more anecdotal that supported by evidence from what i see. I know they promote increases in HGH, but that isn't supporting muscle building, it supports fatty acid mobilization. As the saying goes, no one gets jacked fasting. Muscle building is driven from muscle protein synthesis and having more protein turnover than periods of protein breakdown.
Overall, if it helps you control calories and lose weight, than its a great tool. Personal, it doesn't align to my eating style or goals. Some of the current evidence supports spreading protein for improved muscle building.5 -
Whether you do IF or not, remember that you need to be in a caloric deficit regardless to lose weight.
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Agreed!0
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HarveyA2020 wrote: »Many thanks for your comments.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos especially CrossFit and I found these athletes have evidence to prove it improves sleep, well-being and most important of all testosterone levels. I’ll certainly give it ago.
Proof or anecdotes?
Did those athletes have identical twins eating in a different pattern but training the same?
Did they submit themselves to medical testing, along with their twins for comparison?
See no reason not to give it a go and certainly people are "successful" eating in an 8hr window.
While of course people are also equally successful not eating in a time restricted pattern, eating twice a day, eating 6 times a day etc. etc.
Interested to know what someone disagrees with?
Two questions and pointing out that people who do and don't do IF both have can both have success - doesn't seem that controversial to me.....
Personally I had great results from using 5:2 intermittent fasting while losing weight.
But I lost weight due to my calorie deficit not because of my eating pattern.
I got a lot fitter - but was that due to increasing my cardio a lot?
I got a lot stronger - but was that due to finding the time to train consistently with the correct volume and intensity?
It might be reasonable to speculate that 5:2 can for some people support a high exercise regime better than an everyday deficit (majority of the time training and recovering fully fuelled) but it wouldn't be reasonable to make a sweeping statement that 5:2 causes better results.
There's a world of difference between saying X happened while doing Y and saying X happened because someone did Y.2 -
HarveyA2020 wrote: »Many thanks for your comments.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos especially CrossFit and I found these athletes have evidence to prove it improves sleep, well-being and most important of all testosterone levels. I’ll certainly give it ago.
Proof or anecdotes?
Did those athletes have identical twins eating in a different pattern but training the same?
Did they submit themselves to medical testing, along with their twins for comparison?
See no reason not to give it a go and certainly people are "successful" eating in an 8hr window.
While of course people are also equally successful not eating in a time restricted pattern, eating twice a day, eating 6 times a day etc. etc.
Interested to know what someone disagrees with?
Two questions and pointing out that people who do and don't do IF both have can both have success - doesn't seem that controversial to me.....
Personally I had great results from using 5:2 intermittent fasting while losing weight.
But I lost weight due to my calorie deficit not because of my eating pattern.
I got a lot fitter - but was that due to increasing my cardio a lot?
I got a lot stronger - but was that due to finding the time to train consistently with the correct volume and intensity?
It might be reasonable to speculate that 5:2 can for some people support a high exercise regime better than an everyday deficit (majority of the time training and recovering fully fuelled) but it wouldn't be reasonable to make a sweeping statement that 5:2 causes better results.
There's a world of difference between saying X happened while doing Y and saying X happened because someone did Y.
Have you ever listened to Dr. Rhonda Patrick? She has done some stuff with Layne Norton, the Paleo community, Dom D'agistino, and many others. She has discussed there are benefits of fasting in various lengths but its more related gene expression and increasing longevity. Obviously, the field is in its infancy but it is fascinating. Not really a silver bullet for fat loss and definitely not going to help people get jacked but interesting none the less.4 -
I’ve been doing IF since 2/23. It has been pretty life changing for me. I’m down 22lbs since starting. Some good books to read are The Obesity Code and Delay, Don’t Deny. This is something I can commit to long term, without a doubt.6
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I have had success with it. I recognize that for me it's just an easier way to stick to a calorie deficit; I don't think there is something magical happening because of IF. For me it's significantly easier to wait/tell myself I can have the food I want, just later, than to eat earlier in the day and end up hungry later with no calories left. I also don't tend to feel as hungry until I start eating for the day, so this is easier for me to stick to. Every once in awhile I'll have breakfast if it's a work event thing or something, and on those days I am ravenous the rest of the day. I also used to try the small and frequent meals/grazing thing and found I was just starving all of the time. Eating 2-3 bigger meals per day works much better for me to not feel deprived.
I am a teacher and when school was still "in person" I would skip breakfast and start eating at my lunch time, which was 12:45. I would pack a 300ish calorie super healthy lunch, recognizing that at work I was too busy to really enjoy the food anyway. This saved the majority of my calories for evening when I could relax and enjoy them. On weekends, I would wait until at least 2 PM to start eating for the day. Once we moved online, I've had success with pushing my eating window even later- recognizing that it's harder to have a calorie deficit when I'm just home all day! Now I just don't stop to eat until I'm done working for the day, which is 4:30 PM at the earliest. I either have two big meals between 4:30-5:30 and 10:30-11:30, or 3 medium sized meals maybe around 5, 9, and 12 (I stay up late).3 -
I feel it helps with not consuming too many calories. It’s less likely to go over your daily allowance when the eating window is shortened. It also helps out with getting to eat what you enjoy eating. You could eat a high calorie meal at 12 of something you love and stay full for a while.5
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Getting to enjoy what you eat is so important for me and others. IF is perfect for that !2
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I've been doing IF for about three weeks now and I'm seeing results, I started a caloric deficit in February and I lost a little weight at first but then nothing and I was frustrated, I'm finally seeing results again with IF. Though I admit it may be because I eat fewer calories now, or maybe I just finally passed the stubborn not budging phase in my weight loss. Who knows, either way I've liked it. It's helped me cut off my night time snacking by not eating past eight which has helped a lot (though I miss my morning iced coffees and I refuse to drink it black). I also feel like it's helped me with bloating.1
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Health benefits?
Completely neutral by itself - it's just skipping a meal, nothing special about that at all, it's only extending people's normal sleeping fast by a few hours anyway.
At the risk of being a pedant, IF is not "skipping a meal" but instead is eating meals only during a particular time period. It is simply convention that most eat 3 daily meals - morning, midday and evening. IF steps away from that, allowing the individual to eat their calories in a way that makes managing the number of calories consumed easier for them.2 -
HarveyA2020 wrote: »Many thanks for your comments.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos especially CrossFit and I found these athletes have evidence to prove it improves sleep, well-being and most important of all testosterone levels. I’ll certainly give it ago.
There is no benefit to increased testosterone levels if they are within normal physiological levels, and those levels fluctuate throughout the day anyway so not seeing any benefit even if this were true.
As for IF itself, I decided to try it just because I noticed I'm having issues sticking to my caloric budget sometimes due to eating at night out of boredom...go figure in this crazy time. I don't see anything wrong with it if it helps you, but I also don't see anything special. It's just another strategy to keep your diet in check.2 -
HarveyA2020 wrote: »Many thanks for your comments.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos especially CrossFit and I found these athletes have evidence to prove it improves sleep, well-being and most important of all testosterone levels. I’ll certainly give it ago.
Proof or anecdotes?
Did those athletes have identical twins eating in a different pattern but training the same?
Did they submit themselves to medical testing, along with their twins for comparison?
See no reason not to give it a go and certainly people are "successful" eating in an 8hr window.
While of course people are also equally successful not eating in a time restricted pattern, eating twice a day, eating 6 times a day etc. etc.
Interested to know what someone disagrees with?
Two questions and pointing out that people who do and don't do IF both have can both have success - doesn't seem that controversial to me.....
Personally I had great results from using 5:2 intermittent fasting while losing weight.
But I lost weight due to my calorie deficit not because of my eating pattern.
I got a lot fitter - but was that due to increasing my cardio a lot?
I got a lot stronger - but was that due to finding the time to train consistently with the correct volume and intensity?
It might be reasonable to speculate that 5:2 can for some people support a high exercise regime better than an everyday deficit (majority of the time training and recovering fully fuelled) but it wouldn't be reasonable to make a sweeping statement that 5:2 causes better results.
There's a world of difference between saying X happened while doing Y and saying X happened because someone did Y.
Have you ever listened to Dr. Rhonda Patrick? She has done some stuff with Layne Norton, the Paleo community, Dom D'agistino, and many others. She has discussed there are benefits of fasting in various lengths but its more related gene expression and increasing longevity. Obviously, the field is in its infancy but it is fascinating. Not really a silver bullet for fat loss and definitely not going to help people get jacked but interesting none the less.
I've seen some of that research, there is some supporting evidence, mostly from mice studies that I have seen, that fasting can increase life span. Much of the research is on restricting food intake in general and not just IF as a diet strategy. Obviously, it's hard to say if this applies to humans as the majority of rodent studies really don't pan out but it's possible that reducing load on organs such as the pancreas, as well as reducing the time of inflamation in the body due to eating might logically improve long-term health.
I think we'll be dead before this is settled science though.1 -
Since this lockdown began 2 months ago, we have been, in effect, intermittent fasting by virtue of a planned menu program to accommodate the erratic resupply situation. While we aren't "rationing" our foods, there hasn't been a lot of excess or snacky stuff, and we are fitting into the IF eating windows through our planned meal program.
We have all lost weight (15-20lbs). Our calories and macro goals (esp. of protein, which I fret over) are being met; MFP planning and recording tools are helping, so it isn't strictly the IF timing theory that can take the bow for working. But the IF concept is gaining cred with us. I was more-or-less neutral to the idea before, now, the Dark Side is gaining appeal.0 -
Hi,
I hope somebody can give me advice what to do. I am 32-year-old, and I have around 9 pounds to lose. I usually eat healthy, Mediterranean diet with a lot of vegetables fish, white meat, healthy snacks etc. My philosophy is everything in moderation, and it is the diet I feel the best with.
I work out at least two times per week, sometimes three (pilates, a lot of walking, biking…) I am stuck at losing the last 9 pounds I want to lose.
I started intermittent fasting in January. From January to March I did 16/8 and from March I am doing 20/8.
In summary: I ate good before I'm eating good now, I still workout the same amount as I did before. I feel good, I feel that 20/4 is the right option for me. If I do something longer I don't feel right.
The weight just will not budge. It is not a lot to lose but I can see the pounds in my problem area, and I do not know what to do anymore. I did reach my goal weight before and I know how it feels and looks.
I don't know if I should keep trying or I should just make peace with the fact that this is the lowest my body can get and just accept myself.
Thank you!
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@ReaGaladrielReaGaladriel wrote: »Hi,
I hope somebody can give me advice what to do. I am 32-year-old, and I have around 9 pounds to lose. I usually eat healthy, Mediterranean diet with a lot of vegetables fish, white meat, healthy snacks etc. My philosophy is everything in moderation, and it is the diet I feel the best with.
I work out at least two times per week, sometimes three (pilates, a lot of walking, biking…) I am stuck at losing the last 9 pounds I want to lose.
I started intermittent fasting in January. From January to March I did 16/8 and from March I am doing 20/8.
In summary: I ate good before I'm eating good now, I still workout the same amount as I did before. I feel good, I feel that 20/4 is the right option for me. If I do something longer I don't feel right.
The weight just will not budge. It is not a lot to lose but I can see the pounds in my problem area, and I do not know what to do anymore. I did reach my goal weight before and I know how it feels and looks.
I don't know if I should keep trying or I should just make peace with the fact that this is the lowest my body can get and just accept myself.
Thank you!
The one thing you haven't mentioned is calories - which actually determine weight gain/loss/maintenance.
Obvious solution is to continue eating the diet and in eating window that suits you but eat less (*) or move more. If you reached your goal before there's no reason you can't again.
* = the eat less part might be a result in reviewing and tightening up your logging accuracy (portion creep?) or simply reducing your calorie goal a little for simplicity.1 -
Health benefits?
Completely neutral by itself - it's just skipping a meal, nothing special about that at all, it's only extending people's normal sleeping fast by a few hours anyway.
At the risk of being a pedant, IF is not "skipping a meal" but instead is eating meals only during a particular time period. It is simply convention that most eat 3 daily meals - morning, midday and evening. IF steps away from that, allowing the individual to eat their calories in a way that makes managing the number of calories consumed easier for them.
Being equally pedantic when I skip breakfast (as I have today) I meet the criteria for 16:8 IF although more likely to be 17:7.
Yes time restricted eating IF can be simply skipping a meal.
Yesterday however, I would have had to skip a meal and several snacks to meet the criteria as eating three meals and about four snacks allowed me to manage that day's calorie goal better (4,563 cals).3
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