2022 Intermittent Fasting Anyone?

I do IF and fasting that I learned from Dr. Fung. In 3 months (Oct to Dec 2021) I lost 20 lbs. Put back on 5 lbs over the holidays, and am now just finishing up a 48 hour fast. My plan is to do a weekly 48 hour fast, and 3 days of OMAD (The other 2 will be 2 meals per day) I will do this the rest of Jan and Feb. I am eating very low carbs and trying real hard to not eat sugar.
starting weight 183lbs; current weight 159.2 lbs. Goal weight 130lbs

OMAD works for some people (I am definitely not one of them) and if it suits you, is a reasonable strategy.

Fasting for 48 hours does not seem reasonable or sensible to me at all.

A week ago, I completed reading Dr. Jason Fung's fascinating book "The Obesity Code". Most everything you see and read about dieting may be incorrect (according to the book). I found reading the book captivating and a page turner. Been on OMAD for the past week. Eventually plan to try 48 hours.

paperpudding wrote: »

It doesn't seem reasonable or sensible to you because you're not someone who has benefitted from it.

No that isnt why.

Lots of things that I have not benefited from still seem reasonable and sensible to me.

Sure, but there are many of us who *have* benefitted from it. Just because you can't fathom it being beneficial doesn't mean it can't be.

As I've said before, I too initially reacted as if IF was the dumbest thing I had ever heard, but then it was prescribed to me by a top neurologist, so I decided to be open minded, and yes, it has been significantly beneficial for me.

I also happen to be a doctor, and a staunchly anti-woo doctor at that, and I can objectively say that IF, including some fasts 40-48hrs long here and there, has been more medically beneficial than more than half of the medications that I've tried over the past 3 years for a serious condition.

For me, personally, it's also been remarkably easy. Every body is different, we know this exquisitely in medicine because everyone responds differently to treatments and meds. So I'm sure IF is not right for many people, but for people like me, it's comfortable, easy, and a nice, sustainable way to eat indefinitely.

I'm not about to tell other people they should do it, I just share my personal experience of it being highly beneficial. But that's my *personal* experience.

ETA: I wrote a scathing comment about Dr Fung's science in another IF thread, so as much as I personally have benefitted from IF, and am happy to talk about it, in no way does that mean I endorse the various pseudo science nonsense out there about IF from the pop media gurus

debrag12 wrote: »

oh to go back to the day when this board was anti Dr Fung

Many of us still are, to some extent, and @Xellercin (who described IF's benefits for her, just above) wrote what I considered a good, very nuanced critique of Fung on this thread, at the post linked, very much worth reading IMO:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/46545640#Comment_46545640

It's possible to think Fung is utterly incorrect on the science, even talking nonsense, and still think IF or carb restriction can be useful and safe . . . same for anything else non-destructive he may advocate, for that matter. It should be possible to discuss the techniques and Fung as separate issues, y'know: Baby, bathwater.

I don't IF, wouldn't IF unless literally medically essential (which I don't expect to happen), find the whole concept utterly unappealing. That doesn't imply, to me, that it's necessarily bad for others, or that no others should ever do it. I find some of the arguments for it not to be very plausible (some of the natural selection ones, for example), but I'm open-minded about what research may reveal as it evolves.

I'm extra skeptical about promotion of long fasts (24 hours and more) for all, because I don't feel the research support is There Yet about general benefits, and long fasts can have negative effects for some people, or in some health conditions. (That's not the same as me saying people who are healthy, robust, shouldn't try it, in an appropriate context, or even that those with medical issues shouldn't, assuming they have adequate medical supervision or clearance. I'm saying I don't think it should be promoted - as some do - as a thing anyone and everyone should try, willy-nilly, because It's Just So Great, without mentioning any of the relevant cautions).

If IF helps a person stick with a reasonable calorie goal, while getting decent overall nutrition, and doesn't cause health complications for them, I think that's fine. Laudable, even. Personalization of one's techniques and strategies is helpful.

However, IF (or any other form of carefully timed eating) is not universally necessary for weight management.

(I'd guarantee that, based on my N=1 eating all day long, pretty much only avoiding eating when literally asleep, and successfully losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight for 6+ years since, after 30 previous years of overweight/obesity. I'm also not saying everyone should do it the way I did, or that my way will work for everyone. I don't think there are universal tactics, except calorie balance, and even that is a pretty nuanced thing in practice, since CI dynamically affects CO, among other practical complications.)

There was also a reasonable thread over in the Debate Club** part of the Community, that would be worth reading, especially the Layne Norton video about Fung that's near the current end of that thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10853951/the-latest-trend-is-fasting-what-say-you#latest

** Other participants in this thread: If you go to the linked one in Debate, be aware that arguments grow more pointed (not personal, but very frank) over in Debate. If you're not up for that, don't post there. It's a good place to learn other perspectives, and assess them, if one can stay calm in that atmosphere.

Caralarma wrote: »

Dr Fung is a quack. Obviously you are going to lose weight when you don't eat for 24 hours or more at a time. It's because like with any diet you are creating a calorie deficit and there are easier and more sustainable ways to achieve that. Dr Fung makes it seem like fasting has some magical effect but it doesn't. It's just a painful way to create a calorie deficit. I personally do 'intermittent fasting' which means I skip breakfast, and it has helped me keep the weight off because it lets me save calories for later. That's it. Nothing magical.

I have no love for Dr Fung, nor does the doctor who prescribed IF to me, but my metabolism was in the toilet before I started IF. My neurologist prescribed IF and my energy levels were significantly better within the first week. This increase in energy also allowed me to start losing weight again, which had stalled for a year, and not from further calorie restriction, because I'm eating on average *more* calories than before I started IF. Even if I skip a day of eating, I double up on calories the next day. So more calories and more weight loss, and I don't find it painful at all, because I actually have less hunger than when I was eating multiple times a day.

Now, I think that's an exceptional result, and don't think it can be generalized to everyone. But I think that the dismissal of IF being anything other than "a painful way to create a calorie deficit" also can't be generalized to everyone. I mean, I've already said that this was prescribed to me by a top neurologist, and not for weight loss, so obviously there's more going on for some people than just restricting calories.

Every body is different, every body responds to interventions differently. This is *well established* in medicine, so why is it so hard to accept that it is the same with various eating interventions?

IF works really well for *some* people, in terms of weight loss and other affects. Should everyone do it because of that? No, obviously. Is the BS science behind almost all of the "gurus" total nonsense? Yeah, also obvious, but that's the same for almost every diet out there. But that doesn't mean that there aren't legitimate indications for it, or legitimate outcomes.

I have been doing IF and dirty keto since thanksgiving 2021. did a 2 day intentional binge for Christmas eve and christmas and a 48 hour fast afterwords.

Since then my eating schedule is noon and six most days. On days I don't have time for one of those meals I just do OMAD.

I have lost 40 pounds since thanksgiving. I haven't been under 220 since my wife died in 2019. So yay!!