Intermittent Fasting

Bunny Colvin

Is anyone else doing this?

I've used it in the past to lose weight and have had great results. I went off the wagon a little, for various reasons over the last six months and have put on a stone and a half.

Back to using IF once again, along with eating clean and cutting back on alcohol. We'll see how it goes but so far so good.

RGDATA!

i've done it before, but never saw it as anything other than a way of restricting calories. i don't believe there's any magic benefit to the body being in "fasting mode" for 16 hours a day or whatever. that was my experience.

Meeeee79

Is there a recommended max or min fasting time?

Bunny Colvin

RGDATA! wrote: »

i've done it before, but never saw it as anything other than a way of restricting calories. i don't believe there's any magic benefit to the body being in "fasting mode" for 16 hours a day or whatever. that was my experience.

There is a lot of claims made about it and for example, I never experienced myself becoming a lot sharper while in fast mode.

One thing I will say though, you definitely get more used to it. I can easily go to 1/2pm without being hungry. As long as I have water and coffee, I'm good. Funny thing is, if I ate at 8am then I'd be starving at 12.

Bunny Colvin

Meeeee79 wrote: »

Is there a recommended max or min fasting time?

There's more than one way of doing it.

I eat from 1-9, so that gives me a 16 hour fast.

gerrybbadd

I do it twice as week. I have diabetes, and find it works good for blood sugar control.

I laxed a little over the summer, missed 6 weeks, and put on over a stone though!

Meeeee79

Bunny Colvin wrote: »

There's more than one way of doing it.

I eat from 1-9, so that gives me a 16 hour fast.

Thanks, 16 hours seems extreme but Im sure its something you get used to. I cant imagine not eating until 1pm. Would you train/exercise while fasted also?

JoseJones

Bunny Colvin wrote: »

There's more than one way of doing it.

I eat from 1-9, so that gives me a 16 hour fast.

Do you do that 7 days a week or would you have a "cheat day" or else a day where you would go fully fasting for example?

Also, what would you eat between 1-9pm, calorie wise?

Bunny Colvin

Meeeee79 wrote: »

Thanks, 16 hours seems extreme but Im sure its something you get used to. I cant imagine not eating until 1pm. Would you train/exercise while fasted also?

Definitely is something you manage better when your body gets used to it.

It seems extreme but it's not really. By 1pm you're definitely ready to eat but it's far from an ordeal. You're not going to bed hungry either.

I went for a slow three mile jog last night while in 'fast mode', no issue at all. Might be different if you're training high intensity but can't say.

Bunny Colvin

JoseJones wrote: »

Do you do that 7 days a week or would you have a "cheat day" or else a day where you would go fully fasting for example?

Also, what would you eat between 1-9pm, calorie wise?

I'm not long back on this so haven't had a day off it yet.

When I used it before, I had plenty of cheat days and that didn't affect things at all. If you were off IF for a few days or more, it might be harder to get back on track immediately. From what I've read though, there is no issue going off it whenever you like.

As for what I eat, it's up to yourself. I'm trying to lose weight so I'm eating as healthy as I can. I had a beef stir fry with noodles and plenty of veg at 2pm. I'll probably eat again when I get home from work at seven. It's mainly just two healthy meals without any snacks or junk food. Also throwing in the odd nutribullet here and there.

Fantomas9mm

Bunny Colvin wrote: »

Is anyone else doing this?

I've used it in the past to lose weight and have had great results. I went off the wagon a little, for various reasons over the last six months and have put on a stone and a half.

Back to using IF once again, along with eating clean and cutting back on alcohol. We'll see how it goes but so far so good.

Been a few months , how has it been ?


Any good guides on where to start ?

How long typically do you go without food for ?

silverharp

I started this about a month ago and it suits me well , it helps that I have regular work hours , I eat between 1pm and 7pm Mon to Fri and up to now break it Sat morning . I have a normal lunch, salad mainly then I have a snack at ~4pm if I remember, and then dinner around 6. As I am trying to lose some weight Mon and Thursday I only have a tiny lunch 1 or 2 boiled eggs and a regular dinner, longer term 1 day a week is sufficient
What I find surprising is I have no desire to snack in the evening , I think it must be because I don't come home hungry as Ill have just eaten an hour or 2 previous. While I don't count carbs I try to eat low carb during the week and at the weekend eat higher carb food but try to stick to low GI carbs.

Calibos

Entered this sub-forum for the first time ever to research Irish sources for some Keto friendly food products and cam across this thread.

I accidentally fell into OMAD (One Meal a Day) IF (Intermittent Fasting) due to lifestyle and food preference (and laziness!!) reasons a few years ago. I eat my entire TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) worth of calories in one main evening meal and drink water the rest of the day. My TDEE is 2500kcals so as you can imagine that means I'm pigging out in my one and only meal of the day in order to eat those 2500kcals. I only realised that OMAD was a thing and even had a name after coming across a Fasting Video on Youtube.

Rest assured, you totally get used to it, certainly if your eating near your TDEE. Never tried eating much less than my TDEE in my OMAD meal though. Hence I never lost weight on it. What it did do though is rid me of my Insulin insensitivity and I am only left with the after effects of the Metabolic Syndrome. ie. the excess weight and high BP. I'm actually starting 3 days of only 600kcals Keto in preparation for a Water and Electrolyte only fast next week so I'll post back how I got on in terms of hunger outside my OMAD hours. With OMAD your body quickly learns to not have the Ghrelin (Hunger Hormone) spike except at your regular meal time. If you eat 3 meals a day your body will secrete Ghrelin at those 3 times every day like clockwork. OMAD trains it to only secrete once a day at your one and only meal time.

I'm the Accidental Faster! I'd been lurking on the r/fasting subreddit for months after discovering fasting but have procrastinated due to apprehension about starting a water/electrolyte longer-term fast. Last Sunday after an especially hard days work a nap turned into a marathon 11 hour sleep and I slept right through my OMAD dinner time on Sunday and didn't wake till 5am on Monday morning. I was amazed to find that I was neither weak nor hungry. I hadn't eaten for 35 hours since Saturday Evening! Mondays family meal was my least favourite so I decided to try and skip it. It was a breeze!! I awoke Tuesday morning and again no hunger nor weakness. I realised I'd have done a 72 hour fast by Tuesday dinner time! However at dinner time I lost a mental battle rather than a physical one. Physically I could have easily pushed through. I had dinner on Tuesday evening but felt no better for it...not that I felt bad before it though. Kicking myself because by day 4 or 5 it becomes easy street for most people when they enter full ketosis. Mental clarity and energy is supposed to rise/return to normal or even above normal levels as the body switches to getting its full TDEE requirement of calories from burning fat. Its not a 100% efficient process though so despite the fact that 1LB of fat equals 3500kcals, my own TDEE of 2500kcals would lead to a near 1LB of fat loss a day. This experience rid me of any fear or apprehension about longer term fasts. I had it in my head that the way I sometimes feel coming up to the 24 hour OMAD mark where I might feel very hungry and edgy and have jelly legs when the Ghrelin surge hits at 24 hours. I imagined thats the way one would feel constantly for the next 4 days till one enters full ketosis as lots of fasters say the first 3-4 days are the worst. Turns out thats not the case at all. Apparently the ghrelin surge weakens every day and it only lasts about 2 hours anyway. I indeed found this to be the case. Was amazed how little hunger pangs or cravings I felt. Remember it was a mental battle I lost, not a physical one. So all apprehension gone now and I am straining at the bit to try again with some tactics to get over that first 24 hour hump.

I tried to restart the fast the very next day after I broke at 72 hours but as soon as my OMAD Ghrelin surge hit on Wednesday evening I caved straight away. Seems like that 'Nap' was more important than I thought for getting me over that initial 24 hour hump but I can't rely on naps to start every fast. I've a plan to get over that hump with 600kcal <50g carb Soup and Sandwich once a day over the next 2 or 3 days which will also pre-start the process of entering ketosis and then switch to a full Water/Electrolyte only fast on Monday or Tuesday. I plan to try for two or three 14-21 day fasts to lose my 50LB excess weight by mid Summer with a break of a week in between. I want to stay KETO during those feeding weeks in order to stay in Ketosis which will make starting the next fast much easier. Hence I've come to this forum to find sources for some low carb alternatives to certain foodstuffs like Spagetti and Noodles for Bolognese and Stir Fry etc because I can't see myself lasting on Soup alone during the feeding weeks!!

Bunny Colvin

Fantomas9mm wrote: »

Been a few months , how has it been ?


Any good guides on where to start ?

How long typically do you go without food for ?

I'm well used to it but I work shift hours sometimes so I have to break it from time to time. Also, if I go for a run/gym in the morning on my day off, I'll usually eat straight away when I get in.

When I am intermittent fasting, I'll usually eat a meal between 1-2pm. Then I'll eat again around 7-8pm and that's my food for the day (sometimes I'll have a nutribullet in between those meals).

I'm usually not hungry waking up but in fairness, I'd struggle if I didn't have coffee or two at 11pm - that completely kills the hunger for me. Plenty of water helps too but your body will adjust to it quickly.

As for weight loss, it helps immensely. I still have some to lose at the moment but that's down to me drinking and eating too many takeaways. I'm doing well at the moment though so I should be down to my goal weight soon!

Mars Bar

I did it under the supervision of a trainer for a month but didn't know I was doing it. He said you eat within an 8 hour window and my routine really suited it! That was the second time I had a decent amount of weight loss and the IF way was far safer and controlled than the first weight loss which I cringe at when I think about how I went about it.

I'm starting back at it again tomorrow with a 16/8 window.

silverharp

^^

@marsbar how many days a week , do you get a cheat day? any calorie restriction involved?

Mars Bar

silverharp wrote: »

^^

@marsbar how many days a week , do you get a cheat day? any calorie restriction involved?

Every day was at least 16/8. Cheat day would usually mean cutting out a meal to make room for that cheat. I was eating roughly 1,400 to 1,500 calories (4ft11 female). I lost 6% body fat in 4 weeks.

wally1990

Interested to hear people's thoughts who did this.

I'm currently 47 hours in.

I'm planning on doing 72 hours fast with mainly water, coffee and tea only.

This is my first ever fast.

The first day was tough,

Started 2pm Wednesday after a light salad lunch and yesterday from 4 to 11 I felt weak and had headaches but I'm putting that down to not enough water and electrolytes

Last night I fell asleep at 11 and I'm wide awake since 5am and feel great now.

Its like my body is detoxing from bad stuff and I'm clear headed.


Going to take water and electrolytes now before work and a cup of tea with no milk.


202 Wednesday.
This morning 199lb
(obviously this mainly water loss) and fat burning is probably starting now too.

I am not doing this to lose weight but rather shock my system given I've had a very bad weekend and this week of alcohol and fast food(nothing but take away for 3 days last weekend and pints etc)

Weirdly enough, I am craving fast food now of all foods, would love chips or a burger ha.

Would be interested to k ow other people thoughts who did this and any tips?

If I get to tomorrow at 2pm and no feel side effects I might try it again in the future.

silverharp

^^

obviously you need to clean up your act boyo , you're undermining your good work if you totally blow it at the weekend

A simple way to keep you electrolytes up is to just add some salt to a glass of water , also can add in Lo salt which is a potassium based salt.

GooglePlus

Have been doing 16/8 IF since January and I'm 2.5 stone down so far and to be honest, it's been a walk in the park! I've fell off the wagon plenty of times with take aways and drink at the weekend but always make sure I climb back on come Monday.

The weight has been falling off and now that I'm lighter, I'm back in the gym which is great.

IF makes total sense though, it's what our bodies have been built for.

SuperRabbit

Is it what our bodies are built for? I'm not criticizing it i think the more strategies exist the better because that way we can see that everyone is finding something that works for them.. but is it what our bodies were built for? I'm sure some of our ancestors went long periods without eating but surely many more ate a little often throughout the day, foraging and eating as they went. The thing you'd only get every now and then would be meat, but we are omnivours, not carnivores...

anyway i guess that is a different debate for a different thread so i won't argue the point.. it's good to see it's working for people!


tell us how it goes with your headaches, Wally, personally i do get headaches when i'm hungry but i find coffee usually clears it up... hangry is a much bigger problem

paul7g

I’ve studied Intermittent Fasting for some time so will add a few notes, and hopefully it will be of some help to someone:

- first of all, I don’t like the term Intermittent Fasting as it sounds negative so I call it Intermittent Eating :-)

- a lot of people are not aware that you cannot consume anything other than water while in your fasting window... anything other than water (inc. coffee) brings your body out of fasting and your insulin spikes, so make sure you stick to water only and not supplements or other drinks

- it’s a very Irish thing to think that breakfast is the most important meal of the day... as your parents probably always made sure you had breakfast... however it was in fact Kellogg’s who coined the phrase and scare monger tactic that ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’

- when you do start your eating window each day MAKE sure to consume nutritious food... your body has been fasting so now you need to give it nutritious food to replenish your body... so if you are meeting friends for lunch and the only thing on the menu is a fry, break your fast before you leave and eat a small portion of broccoli or some other nutritious food before you leave

Hopefully the above is of some help :-)

Gerlad

Started IF last Saturday and despite it being a short timeframe, I have noticed immediate results although may be possibly mostly water. Had got myself in a good routine from the start of the year going to the gym frequently and eating well and lost a stone in the first month. However I began to plateau a little but put this down to back to drinking alcohol at the weekends. The 16/8 1-9 suits me at mo and I have been going to the gym at 12 for the last hour of my fasting but have been fine doing cardio HIIT. Have been eating healthy when I do eat - no white carbs, plenty of lean protein and veg. It working for me so far and have been surprised how relatively easy it has been although I do get a bit famished around 11am but that passes with a black coffee or green tea.

I get the calorie deficit thing with skipping a meal but the research out there seems to indicate that when we constantly eat our body is continually trying to break down that food. So if you have a period of 8 hours of not eating, your body moves into breaking down your fat stores in that extra 6-8 hour window which contributes again to the weight loss.

Alf Veedersane

Gerlad wrote: »

I get the calorie deficit thing with skipping a meal but the research out there seems to indicate that when we constantly eat our body is continually trying to break down that food.So if you have a period of 8 hours of not eating, your body moves into breaking down your fat stores in that extra 6-8 hour window which contributes again to the weight loss.

If you're constantly eating, you're probably not in a deficit and that's why people won't lose weight rather than because they're not letting their body do anything other than digest the constant intake.

IF is one way people find useful to it calories because it means less snacking.

Nothing against IF and not saying that it is solely caloric reduction but I would be surprised if caloric reduction wasn't the main driver of weight loss on IF.

SuperRabbit

If you're constantly eating, you're probably not in a deficit

That's not true. I eat constantly most days but a lot of what i eat is stuff like olives and garlic mushrooms, with 0 or almost 0 calories. It is probably very true if you have the typical Irish diet of bread, butter, jam, beef, potatoes and cheese though.I think the jury is still out on whether fasting helps people lose weight above and beyond the deficit it causes. Anyone have the actual science on this? I think it is worth a shot so long as you are vigilant about not getting addicted to it and ending up with an eating disorder!

paul7g

If you are consuming anything (coffee or green tea) other than water in your fasting window... you are not fasting.

Alf Veedersane

SuperRabbit wrote: »

That's not true. I eat constantly most days but a lot of what i eat is stuff like olives and garlic mushrooms, with 0 or almost 0 calories. It is probably very true if you have the typical Irish diet of bread, butter, jam, beef, potatoes and cheese though.I think the jury is still out on whether fasting helps people lose weight above and beyond the deficit it causes. Anyone have the actual science on this? I think it is worth a shot so long as you are vigilant about not getting addicted to it and ending up with an eating disorder!

I did say probably. Though an olive is probably 5 cals and I'd go through a dozen easily

Like I said, I'm not dismissing IF in the slightest. It works for lots of people.

I just think in a lot of cases, its presented as more than it is for your average Joe. I'm not saying caloric reduction is the only benefit but for most people who use it successfully for weight loss, I would venture that the reduced intake of calories without having to count anything, is the main driver in that weight loss.

Large bottle small glass

paul7g wrote: »

If you are consuming anything (coffee or green tea) other than water in your fasting window... you are not fasting.

A cup of coffee might have 4 calories.

Gerlad

Green tea probably has about 2.5. Don’t think there’s any definitive evidence that either green tea or coffee causes insulin spikes thus keeping you in the fasted state.

paul7g

Large bottle small glass wrote: »

paul7g wrote: »

If you are consuming anything (coffee or green tea) other than water in your fasting window... you are not fasting.

A cup of coffee might have 4 calories.

Yep, but calories are not what determines your body to start processing a substance.

Coffee, tea and supplements are know to be 3 of the most popular faults people make on IF... however if you find your current plan is working for you, then stick to it.

I am not a nutritional scientist, but when I study something I tend to study it in detail both from a Pros and Cons point of view, so i’m just informing you of my findings, and hoping it helps.

I used to drink plain black coffee in mid morning for an energy kick but when I cut it out I did feel the benefits.

My MAIN point on coffee, etc while in IF is that it is not nutritious. Your body has been fasting so I think it is vital that you provide it with something nutritious when breaking / ending the fast such as whole foods (greens, nuts, etc).

Blacktie.

Do you have anymore I could read on this? I've always heard caffeine and 0 calorie drinks are fine for staying in the fasted state.