intermittent fasting

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nelnova
nelnova Posts: 57 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
intermittent fasting-There is evidence suggesting that intermittent fasting may have beneficial effects on the health and longevity of animals—including humans—that are similar to the effects of caloric restriction (CR). There is currently no consensus as to the degree to which this is simply due to fasting or an (often) concomitant overall decrease in calories, but recent studies have showed support of the former[1][2] Alternate-day calorie restriction may prolong lifespan[3]. (IF and CR are forms of Dietary Restriction (DR), which is sometimes referred to as Dietary Energy Restriction (DER).)
Scientific study of intermittent fasting in rats (and anecdotally in humans) was carried out at least as early as 1943

So this is stated by wiki and other sites... It makes sense just from looking at how other lean people eat. I am going to give this a try starting next week after I come back for miami... and I will give it a go for 12 weeks and also give a weekly update on my SW and Progress till the end of the 12 weeks!!

If anyone has done this life still of eating please comment below about the pros and cons

Thank You
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Replies

  • BecomingElle
    BecomingElle Posts: 112 Member
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    Bumpity umpity :flowerforyou:
  • 110lbs50kgs
    110lbs50kgs Posts: 14
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    I used to fast every Sunday, nothing but water. It was a routine I enjoyed, and am about to restart. As long as you don't go crazy overboard with eating the next day, it works great at weight management.
  • austelle
    austelle Posts: 108 Member
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    I fast using the leangains method. Read more about it on leangains.com. I skip breakfast except for coffee with a little bit of cream in it. I have been doing this for about 3 months now and don't plan to go back.

    Pros:

    I love having larger, more calorie-dense meals. Since I condense my calorie intake into a shorter time-frame, I'm allowed to enjoy larger, more satisfying meals. This makes it easier to stick to a daily caloric deficit since you don't feel like you are being deprived.
    Another positive to eating 2-3, larger meals versus 5-6 small meals per day is that since they are more calorie dense, you feel more satisfied and not hungry. When I ate several small meals per day, I was hungry all the time and constantly thinking about food. Now, I'm freed up to get on with the business of living and only think about food at lunch and dinner!

    Cons:

    It isn't magic. It has to be combined with a sensible eating plan (macros and calorie goals designed to help you meet your goals) in order to work. It simply helps facilitate meeting those goals since it helps you feel fuller and gets food out of the forefront of your mind.

    There is a transition period. Your body needs time to adjust to the changes. At first, you are likely to feel hungry, irritable, weak...it may take a few days or a few weeks, depending on the method you choose, for you body to get used to the new schedule.

    There is a helpful booklet called Experiments with Intermittent Fasting that I read by an author who tried several different IF methods and journaled about his experience. You can get it free here: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting-download
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
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    Can I just say I have done a fair bit of reading on IF recently (from published medical articles as well as the more popular Leangains protocol and Eat stop Eat).

    The overwhelming evidence from what I have found is that for those who can handle this type of lifestyle, there are a HUGE number of benefits!

    A lot of people go into it for reasons of convenience (eg I don't like to eat breakfast anyway, or I love having BIG meals). I am not one of these people, but I will be trying IF for the number of other benefits.

    The main benefits as I see them are the bodies hormonal responses to the fasted state. There are benefits to both the Eat Stop Eat (ESE) method and Leangains, as the periods of fasting are different, and the bodies responses are therefore also different. I believe many more people will choose the Leangains method purely because of the shorter fasting period makes adherence easier, and is more conducive to regular 'social' eating.

    I'd like to touch on the hormonal benefits of fasting, without turning this into a paper of its own. I'd encourage people to do their own research on each of these and reach their own conclusions.
    1. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) - Fasting for a period of time will result in an increase in HGH, which in part is responsible for 'anti-ageing' including preventing the catobolism of muscle tissue.
    2. Glucagon - the opposite of insulin (which everyone will have heard of). Basically, this is only present when insulin is not (ie in the fasted state) and is responsible for raising your blood glucose level. It does this by pulling energy from your liver, then from fat cells (sound good?) :wink:

    I'm also curious on the theory of Uncoupling Protein-3 as a tool in fat oxidisation as mentioned by Brad Pilon, though I haven't found conclusive studies on this one yet - if anyone can point me in the right direction?!?

    All in all though, I have not found any significant substantiated evidence that suggests IF is not a safe and very beneficial lifestyle habit. All the evidence against seems pretty easily refuted.

    Basically, I'm sold. I will be giving this a trial run starting very soon. :drinker:
  • LindsayE007
    LindsayE007 Posts: 212 Member
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    I am on day 5 of giving IF a whirl. So far I REALLY like it. I have always preferred larger meals because I like to eat and feel FULL, not just eat and no longer be hungry. I have found it much easier to stay within my calorie goals and on a couple days even having to eat a little extra to meet them.

    The downsides so far for me: I really like breakfast and breakfast foods. So a few days I have had breakfast foods at lunch. I could never give them up. I haven't had weakness or anything but I have been really hungry a couple days, the other days not so bad. I know it is an adjustment and so far I have never been miserable. The days it has been the worst are days I am not busy at work or home, it makes the morning drag. When I am busy I honestly hardly notice.

    I was hoping this would help me break through my plateau. So far it's looking good but it hasn't been long enough to really tell yet. But I can honestly see this being a lifetime change for me. I much prefer 2-3 large meals to 5-6 small meals. Another random benefit is I have much more time in the morning not having to mess with breakfast. I used to have to get the perfect delicious and macro balanced breakfast made every morning and it always took awhile. I do still have 2 cups of coffee with a little cream in the morning though.

    My eating window has been noon-8pm. Loving this so far!
  • Madelinew22
    Madelinew22 Posts: 289
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    I'm gonna try it(if I'm not already doing it) my first meal isn't till about 11-12 anyways bug I drink a few cups of coffee with zero cal sugar. But my last meal the day before is about 11pm so I'm not sure about the IF guidlines. So maybe look into it more
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member
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    I've been doing it for a few days. It's been easy for me to dive right in as I have a habit of occasionally fasting a whole day or a good chunk of the day.

    So far I really like the leangains method, I can attest that fasted training with heavy lifting feels pretty great. Tons of focus.
  • run4yourlife
    run4yourlife Posts: 379 Member
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    bump
  • mollyW2012
    mollyW2012 Posts: 94 Member
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    Interesting, might give this a shot. Thanks for posting!
  • snoozypoo
    snoozypoo Posts: 32 Member
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    FAncy giving this a try - how do I do it?Do I just eat for 8 hours and nothing for 16hours?
  • rawhidenadz
    rawhidenadz Posts: 254 Member
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    FAncy giving this a try - how do I do it?Do I just eat for 8 hours and nothing for 16hours?

    That's one of the ways to do it. I usually do a 16-8 fast and find it pretty easy to do on a daily basis. Others will do a 24 hour fast a couple of times a week and eat normally the other days.
  • snoozypoo
    snoozypoo Posts: 32 Member
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    Thanks, which one is best?Is there another thread group with more information?
  • rawhidenadz
    rawhidenadz Posts: 254 Member
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    Not sure - 16/8 has worked very well for me, but everyone's different. I don't get hungry during the day and never have, so I usually have my first meal at 3 or 4 pm, then my last meal anywhere from 10 to 12, depending. I'm not super strict about my window or hours or anything.

    I don't know if there's a group on here. I'm sure if you search "intermittent fasting" a whole bunch of threads would pop up. I highly recommend leangains.com if you want more information about IF. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about how I do it
  • agent99oz
    agent99oz Posts: 185 Member
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    I have been doing the Eat, Stop Eat for 3 weeks now and I am finally breaking the plateau I have been on all year! It's a 24 hour fast I just drink plenty of fluid and stop eating about 7-8pm then won't eat until the next night at 7-8pm.

    You have to be weight training at least 3 times a week which I do with my split program...

    Anyway 50+ days of eating right training 6 days a week without a loss....I needed to do something and it is working :)
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
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    There's an IF group here that you may want to join.

    I've been doing it since February, and plan to continue forever... it's insanely easy, and I feel a million times better since starting it (first 3 weeks were kinda rough while my body adjusted though).

    Interested TED talk on life extension (relevant... the same states that they produced that resulted in 2x lifespan occur while in a fasted state):
    http://www.ted.com/talks/cynthia_kenyon_experiments_that_hint_of_longer_lives.html
  • mrskatie80
    mrskatie80 Posts: 133 Member
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    My goodness - I'd never heard of it before, but in summary it is ME!
    I HATE eating breakfast and find that if I do eat it, I'm starving hungry and will want to do nothing but eat for the rest of the day!
    I normally have a coffee (sometimes two) and then eat between 12pm and 7pm.
    I find this WORKS for me and I am over feeling hassled for it.
    It's nice to have someone that's done the research to WHY this happens and opens up the concept that many small meals aren't always the best way to go!
    Thank you!!
  • Telugammayi87
    Telugammayi87 Posts: 170 Member
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    bump
  • maggiepz
    maggiepz Posts: 141 Member
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    been reading up a lot about it and think I may try the 16 hrs fast eating my 8hrs from 10am to 6pm daily. This was a good article.
    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting/#axzz20FZgarFD.
  • Jamochadiva
    Jamochadiva Posts: 69 Member
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    I use this method to lose 70lbs and counting. I am not a big breakfast eater so this really appealed to me. It's not always easy as there are days that I have to break my fast . For the most part it gets easier, foods tastes so much better after a 24 hour fast. When I 'm short on time I fast 16-20 he's. I work a crazy schedule so it's difficult fitness to eat within windows like suggested buy fasting has worked great for me.
  • meagalayne
    meagalayne Posts: 3,382 Member
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    Bump. I am an EATER - big time! I eat constantly all day long. I am not sure I could ever cut down to 2-3 meals a day, but I am very curious about what works for other people and have many Pals on here that IF with great success.

    I look forward to reading the comments, questions, suggestions, and feedback here. And thanks for the TED talk link! I'll be watching that too when I have time :bigsmile:

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