Is Fasting ok?
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wowisforstuds1238
Posts: 77 Member
I am really hoping someone can clarify something for me. I care about hitting my macros everyday, but at the same time there are days I just am not hungry. Is it ok not to eat and not reach my macros during those days when I don’t feel like eating?
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Replies
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Well, I tried intermitent fasting before and I was told you have to eat at least your minimum calories(average male is around 1700 and female is 1200 I believe) just be careful about that, maybe if you arent really hungry, I would say try a liquid meal replacement or a protein shake? Hoping someone can answer better then me to make it more clear!1
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I guess it depends what your goals are, if they are to lose I think it is ok but I would make sure to at least hit my protein target. Also, if you do that every now and again figure out if it makes you eat over your macros on the subsequent days... if that is the case I would stick to my macro target +\- 5g.3
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There's no flat "yes" or "no" answer for this.
First, if your total lack of appetite on some days is a new thing or something you've never had checked out, you probably should speak to a doctor about it. We all have times when we're less hungry than usual, but a new change in appetite or lack of interest in eating for extended periods is something that should be checked out.
Second, lots of people fast without issues. The key is making sure that you're meeting your calorie and nutritional needs overall. If your fasting is putting you at a too large deficit for the week or is causing you to not get enough nutrients, that would be an issue. On the other hand, if you're fasting for a single day and simply eating more than you usually would the next day, it might not be harmful for you.
Third, you have to consider your fitness goals. If you're sedentary, not eating for extended periods probably won't be an issue. If you're active, it could complicate your workouts so that's something you'll also want to consider.7 -
Thanks. Yeah It doesn’t happen to me like ever, but I also don’t want to feel like I’m force feeding myself when I simply am not feeling hungry. I am just hoping if I don’t get my macros for today it’s not a big deal. I’m sure this will pass, I may be hungry tonight lol just so far today I haven’t felt hungry and didn’t want to eat. In regards to working out I agree, but I also just started back at the gym so my workouts aren’t really extreme. Just novice lifting and cardio every day.0
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I'm not saying it's okay, cause lets be honest most people that use MyfitnessPal generally don't agree with fasting. Fasting can go wrong, and there are plenty of people that have visited here over the years that have gone way to far in terms of calorie restriction ultimately serious hurting themselves or worse.
For me personally as well as my wife, we don't eat at all on Sundays... Nor do we binge eat Saturday evening, or over eat Monday morning. We are both extremely obese at the moment, and we believe we can afford to do so without much risk of damaging our health. Not many people here would agree with what we are doing. And I certainly wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. The smaller you are the less fat reserves can be easily mobilized to sustain you during a fast.
This will be our 5 consecutive Sunday... For us, it's quite easy, and don't find it difficult at all. We are eating Keto the other 6 days, so this may be why it's been easy for us.
(I'll get many disagree's or thumbs down for this post).6 -
Poobah1972 wrote: »I'm not saying it's okay, cause lets be honest most people that use MyfitnessPal generally don't agree with fasting. Fasting can go wrong, and there are plenty of people that have visited here over the years that have gone way to far in terms of calorie restriction ultimately serious hurting themselves or worse.
For me personally as well as my wife, we don't eat at all on Sundays... Nor do we binge eat Saturday evening, or over eat Monday morning. We are both extremely obese at the moment, and we believe we can afford to do so without much risk of damaging our health. Not many people here would agree with what we are doing. And I certainly wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. The smaller you are the less fat reserves can be easily mobilized to sustain you during a fast.
This will be our 5 consecutive Sunday... For us, it's quite easy, and don't find it difficult at all. We are eating Keto the other 6 days, so this may be why it's been easy for us.
(I'll get many disagree's or thumbs down for this post).
I don't think that anybody disagrees with limited time fasts... the issue with fasting (at least for me) is when people want to extend the fasting window beyond a reasonable time frame. Current studies have shown that pretty much anything beyond 36 hours will force the body into a catabolic state and when that happens you are losing muscle mass that 1) will be difficult to replace and 2) downgrades your resting metabolism (it takes more calories to maintain muscle than it does to maintain fat).9 -
wowisforstuds1238 wrote: »Thanks. Yeah It doesn’t happen to me like ever, but I also don’t want to feel like I’m force feeding myself when I simply am not feeling hungry. I am just hoping if I don’t get my macros for today it’s not a big deal. I’m sure this will pass, I may be hungry tonight lol just so far today I haven’t felt hungry and didn’t want to eat. In regards to working out I agree, but I also just started back at the gym so my workouts aren’t really extreme. Just novice lifting and cardio every day.
The rare lighter-eating day (light on both calories & macros) in response to reduced perceived reduced hunger? Not going to be a problem. (If it were me, I'd consider what might have triggered it, if anything: Could be useful to have a theory.)
I think the thing for a person to watch out for would be getting a little jolt of reward if the scale is down next day (from fewer carbs/less sodium so a little less water retained, plus lower digestive contents), then letting that reward become a seduction to feel less hungry for more days, more often. I'm not suggesting that you, personally, are at any risk in that regard. I'm just suggesting generically that for someone who *was* at risk for dysfunctional eating behavior, that could be putting one toe on the slippery slope.
No, I'm not saying that I think sensible planned fasting periods are "dysfunctional eating" within an overall pattern of adequate average calories (sensible weight loss rate) and overall adequate nutrition. That would be silly.
BTW, I feel exactly the same way, even during weight loss, about having the rare day where one eats much more than usual, because of feeling more hungry than usually. That has the same slippery-slope potential, off the other side of the path: See limited consequences, start doing it more often . . . etc. Ditto for being under minimum macro goals on the rare day, at sensible calories. Nutrition is important, but bodies don't reset at midnight.
Sensible nutrition/calories on an overall basis, as averaged over a short span of days, is fine.
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wowisforstuds1238 wrote: »I am really hoping someone can clarify something for me. I care about hitting my macros everyday, but at the same time there are days I just am not hungry. Is it ok not to eat and not reach my macros during those days when I don’t feel like eating?
It seems your question is about hitting macro targets, not fasting.
This depends a bit on your personality. For me I'm ok with going under some days, and a bit over on other days. However, if you are missing a macro consistently, you should examine both your targets and your go-to daily foods.
When I kept missing my protein target I read up, adjusted my macros, and added protein powder to my kitchen.2 -
Probably better to look at it in terms of calories than fasting. You should really try to eat all your calories each day. Or macros, if you prefer to look at it that way. One day of not being hungry and undereating won't kill you, but that shouldn't be habitual, because it isn't good for you. WHEN you eat the food is irrelevant as long as you're eating the food and getting proper nutrition. Eat it all at noon if you want. I eat between noon and 7:30 and that seems to be fine for me. I wouldn't worry about the schedule, but getting your proper nutrition and caloric intake is worth keep up with.3
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Basically like others have said -- if you occasionally aren't that hungry and eat below your cals, even very little, that's okay, although if you have a much larger weekly deficit than planned I would think twice about what is going on. If this is something that is a common occurrence, and you are regularly having days where you have no desire to eat anything, even if you have not planned them into your week (one day fasts over the course of a week is a version of IF, so something different), I would question what is going on. It doesn't seem healthy to just not want to eat anything for a whole day, such that I might question whether this is related to weight loss in some way (some idea in your head that it is better not to eat if you aren't feeling like you absolutely have to) or if there might be a health issue.3
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You're going to get varying views on this. For me personally I've been following an intermittent fasting plan since January, 2020. I eat 8 hours a day and fast for the remaining 16 hours. It has worked wonders for my appetite and calorie intake. I always make sure I eat at least 1200 calories daily, but often have at least 200 calories leftover. I often use those 1000 calories during the weekend.
This has allowed me to have a nice balance. I would likely have lost weight more quickly if I didn't utilize the calories, but slow and steady was my goal from the beginning. I'm down 75lbs in 13 months.6 -
Highly debated subject. I am doing it myself once a week a 36 hour fast and for me it works wonders. I am pretty comfortable doing it but it took a while to get used to it, and I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who has never done it. I count my calories on a weekly base more or less, and it definitely helps to keep the numbers down. On my feast days though I certainly make up for the lost macros and calories to be sure.
Fasting is fine IMHO, but needs to be controlled, one has to understand the body's reaction. Before I started going the distance i did some massive research on the subject to learn, you have to know what you are doing otherwise it
can get dangerous.0 -
Thanks everyone for your posts. You’ll be happy to know that I did get my appetite back and plan on eating a nice filling dinner, and although I may not reach all my macros 100%, I at least can chalk my non appetite to just that. Just not hungry and not some underlying health condition. Thanks again!5
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Poobah1972 wrote: »I'm not saying it's okay, cause lets be honest most people that use MyfitnessPal generally don't agree with fasting. Fasting can go wrong, and there are plenty of people that have visited here over the years that have gone way to far in terms of calorie restriction ultimately serious hurting themselves or worse.
For me personally as well as my wife, we don't eat at all on Sundays... Nor do we binge eat Saturday evening, or over eat Monday morning. We are both extremely obese at the moment, and we believe we can afford to do so without much risk of damaging our health. Not many people here would agree with what we are doing. And I certainly wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. The smaller you are the less fat reserves can be easily mobilized to sustain you during a fast.
This will be our 5 consecutive Sunday... For us, it's quite easy, and don't find it difficult at all. We are eating Keto the other 6 days, so this may be why it's been easy for us.
(I'll get many disagree's or thumbs down for this post).
Nobody here disagrees with fasting, the key is making sure that people are meeting their needs for nutrition and calories, that's all. Many people can do that while incorporating either some form of IF or longer fasts.
The issue is that some people make claims for fasting that aren't supported by evidence and that some people advocate for using fasting in a potentially harmful way. Both of those will get called out (appropriately, IMO). But if someone is just using fasting because it makes them easier for them to hit a calorie goal or if they're fasting for spiritual/religious reasons . . . that's never an issue here.7 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Nobody here disagrees with fasting, the key is making sure that people are meeting their needs for nutrition and calories, that's all. Many people can do that while incorporating either some form of IF or longer fasts.
The issue is that some people make claims for fasting that aren't supported by evidence and that some people advocate for using fasting in a potentially harmful way. Both of those will get called out (appropriately, IMO). But if someone is just using fasting because it makes them easier for them to hit a calorie goal or if they're fasting for spiritual/religious reasons . . . that's never an issue here.
That may be so, but I got more disagree's then grains of salt in the shaker thus far. *It's all good*
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Poobah1972 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Nobody here disagrees with fasting, the key is making sure that people are meeting their needs for nutrition and calories, that's all. Many people can do that while incorporating either some form of IF or longer fasts.
The issue is that some people make claims for fasting that aren't supported by evidence and that some people advocate for using fasting in a potentially harmful way. Both of those will get called out (appropriately, IMO). But if someone is just using fasting because it makes them easier for them to hit a calorie goal or if they're fasting for spiritual/religious reasons . . . that's never an issue here.
That may be so, but I got more disagree's then grains of salt in the shaker thus far. *It's all good*
I'm also guessing several of those disagrees came from folks who read the thread you created about this (I did not hit the disagree button, FTR)1 -
I heard someone refer to "intermittent fasting" (IF) as meaning, you're just not stuffing your face all the time. That made me laugh but I tend to fast b/c that's the way I eat--morning coffee holds me for a long time; I'm just not hungry. Then I eat most of my calories, most days, within a relatively short window, like 6 to 8 hours. And I sometimes just forget to eat when working on something engaging, so my morning fast stretches out longer than usual. I get really hungry when I forget to eat, but I find that b/c I don't overeat anymore, my stomach is satisfied with a normal meal and I'm back on my usual pattern. I've been this way when thin and when overweight. I was doing it long before IF became a thing. I suspect that it is more natural, following the pattern of one's body signals--which works great if tempting foods are not around. I can't ignore tempting foods and now that my kids are out of the house, those foods are, too. If I really want something, I go buy a signal serving. And b/c I'm lazy, I often choose not to go b/c laziness trumps craving. My whole point in this long essay is, find what works for you. Keep the wisdom of others in mind and catch yourself if you start repeating their mistakes--or find yourself repeating your own. Good luck.2
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dragon_girl26 wrote: »Poobah1972 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Nobody here disagrees with fasting, the key is making sure that people are meeting their needs for nutrition and calories, that's all. Many people can do that while incorporating either some form of IF or longer fasts.
The issue is that some people make claims for fasting that aren't supported by evidence and that some people advocate for using fasting in a potentially harmful way. Both of those will get called out (appropriately, IMO). But if someone is just using fasting because it makes them easier for them to hit a calorie goal or if they're fasting for spiritual/religious reasons . . . that's never an issue here.
That may be so, but I got more disagree's then grains of salt in the shaker thus far. *It's all good*
I'm also guessing several of those disagrees came from folks who read the thread you created about this (I did not hit the disagree button, FTR)
yes, that.
or who disagreed on purpose in responce to provocative "I bet I get disagrees!" statement.
I did not disagree here - but I will disagree with posts I feel give incorrect information or make unfounded claims or extrapolations (it works for me so everyone should do it! )
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Probably better to look at it in terms of calories than fasting. You should really try to eat all your calories each day. Or macros, if you prefer to look at it that way. One day of not being hungry and undereating won't kill you, but that shouldn't be habitual, because it isn't good for you. WHEN you eat the food is irrelevant as long as you're eating the food and getting proper nutrition. Eat it all at noon if you want. I eat between noon and 7:30 and that seems to be fine for me. I wouldn't worry about the schedule, but getting your proper nutrition and caloric intake is worth keep up with.
Why?
I dont agree with that.
I would say- you should really eat your weekly calories each week - how you divide them by day by day does not matter
Obviously within reason - am not suggesting eating nothing for 6 days them stuffing 14,000 calories in on one day
Fasting -if you have no medical contraindications and are not pregnant - any SENSIBLE TIME LIMIT version of fasting is fine if that works for you.
not something I am into myself though.
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Thanks guys! Yeah I got my appetite back later that night, but I was just curious. I appreciate all you guys post and opinions. Very novice in my journey to regain my health here and just wanted to make sure that if I go 1 day here or there not feeling hungry that it’s not a big deal. What I didn’t want to do was feel like I’m having to force feed myself just to hit my macros when literally my body was telling me I wasnt hungry. That make sense? And in those times on those days I feel that way, I just needed to know I’m not the only one that gets like that sometimes.4
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