Update: intermittent fasting

[inmypjs]

Wow, you guys are inspiring! Anyone find a way to get rid of that pesky belly or hip fat yet?

Seriously, look at the Faster Way to Fat Loss. Belly fat is the target. I feel better than I ever have!

[mikala]

Okay, I'll be the voice of dissent on Faster Way to Fat Loss, especially for anyone with a history of disordered eating. (ETA: no implication at all that the OP has any history, was posting that for the group in general because it was a definite problem for others I've known who went through the program and found themselves hyperfixating on food.) I've done the program and found parts of it helpful but overall did not feel that it was worth the MLM-fueled price tag.

I also wanted to clarify the comment upthread that the program doesn't have a calorie restriction. The very first part of setup has you setting up MyFitnessPal to a number of lbs a week to lose, thereby restricting your target calories and macros to below weight maintenance level. The program further cuts those calories for "low macro" days and days where you fast for all but one meal.

[basil]

I’ve been doing 12-8 this week, and it wasn’t too hard, but I’m glad I started with 10-8 and eased in. I do need a little milk in my tea, esp on workout days.

I can’t imagine 24 hour fasts. Does that mean water only? Many religions incorporate fasting, which I find interesting. I always thought it was to teach discipline, but I wonder if the origins are health related.

I do 24 hours from dinner to dinner...so I essentially skip breakfast and lunch. I think I would struggle with a 36 hour fast where I would have to go to bed hungry. I just can't sleep well even moderately hungry.

I drink coffee, unsweetened iced tea, lemon water, iced coffee. I'm completely used to skipping breakfast, so I don't start to get hungry until about noon anyway, and if I'm busy at work I just drink some water and usually forget about it. The only "tough" time for me is around 4:30-dinner time where I'm cooking and the kids are snacking. But since it's a short time, so far I have been able to power through.

I have to say it's kind of nice not having to worry about what I'm going to eat and preparing food for myself on those days! Keeps things simple.

I don't have any history of disordered eating behavior, probably would not be a good idea for someone with such history. I think I would find it much harder to do on a day where I am less busy and sitting around the house around food all day.

[nfceagles]

I do 24 hours from dinner to dinner...so I essentially skip breakfast and lunch. I think I would struggle with a 36 hour fast where I would have to go to bed hungry. I just can't sleep well even moderately hungry.

I drink coffee, unsweetened iced tea, lemon water, iced coffee. I'm completely used to skipping breakfast, so I don't start to get hungry until about noon anyway, and if I'm busy at work I just drink some water and usually forget about it. The only "tough" time for me is around 4:30-dinner time where I'm cooking and the kids are snacking. But since it's a short time, so far I have been able to power through.

I have to say it's kind of nice not having to worry about what I'm going to eat and preparing food for myself on those days! Keeps things simple.

I don't have any history of disordered eating behavior, probably would not be a good idea for someone with such history. I think I would find it much harder to do on a day where I am less busy and sitting around the house around food all day.

I’m curious why and how often you do a 24 hour fast. You’re not Mormon. Is it a religious reason or a health related reason? My mom does dinner to dinner once a month but it’s because she’s Mormon.


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[basil]

I’m curious why and how often you do a 24 hour fast. You’re not Mormon. Is it a religious reason or a health related reason? My mom does dinner to dinner once a month but it’s because she’s Mormon.


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No religious reason. Just trying to lose the proverbial last 5-10 lbs of hip/belly fat.

I started with 1x/week, but the last few weeks I’ve done 2x/week.

[mmsmom]

I’m curious why and how often you do a 24 hour fast. You’re not Mormon. Is it a religious reason or a health related reason? My mom does dinner to dinner once a month but it’s because she’s Mormon.


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There are health benefits to fasting in addition to losing weight. There are different methods of fasting and they all show additional health benefits. Occasional 24 hour fasts is one method. There is research that shows fasting can reduce dementia. This is all info I learned on this Diane Rehm show:
https://dianerehm.org/audio/#/shows/.../107358/@00:00

[basil]

There are health benefits to fasting in addition to losing weight. There are different methods of fasting and they all show additional health benefits. Occasional 24 hour fasts is one method. There is research that shows fasting can reduce dementia. This is all info I learned on this Diane Rehm show:
https://dianerehm.org/audio/#/shows/.../107358/@00:00

Yes, the Obesity Code kind of touches on this...I may have written this before, but my brother was diagnosed last year with Type 2 diabetes despite having zero risk factors. I don't think that the evidence is super strong, but what Dr. Fung says is that by lowering insulin levels (fasting, avoiding sugar) you are less likely to develop insulin resistance. That sort of makes sense to me, which I know is not the strongest form of evidence, but I do think that there is NO evidence that fasting is harmful. And now with diabetes in my family history I'd like to be even more preventative than I was already. It's also the thing that got me to finally give up artificial sweeteners, which was like the hardest thing for me to do, harder than the fasts themselves!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Wouldn’t fasting mess with your metabolism? I’ve wondered for some time if how I’ve been skipping breakfast forever might do more harm than good.


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[basil]

Wouldn’t fasting mess with your metabolism? I’ve wondered for some time if how I’ve been skipping breakfast forever might do more harm than good.


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In the book he says that because eating a low calorie diet still keeps insulin levels elevated, it decreases metabolism more than fasting, where insulin levels are zero. I'm not entirely sure that there is good data to back this up. Any time you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight, but your metabolism will also decrease. Personally, I sort of doubt that there is a big difference between eating 1000 calories spread out throughout the day, and fasting for the day then eating a 1000 calorie dinner. And there are studies that show that. But for me, eating 1000 calories in the 18 hours I'm awake means that I'm never full...whereas with fasting I'm sorta kinda hungry through some of the day, but I'm full and satisfied at dinner. And in that way, it's actually easier for me.

I feel LESS hungry at 4:30 pm having not eaten than if I ate something stupid for lunch, like a bagel or a slice of cake. And I feel more able to control my intake NOT having a small handful of nuts or popcorn and trying to stop eating them after I start, etc.

[bisous]

In the book he says that because eating a low calorie diet still keeps insulin levels elevated, it decreases metabolism more than fasting, where insulin levels are zero. I'm not entirely sure that there is good data to back this up. Any time you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight, but your metabolism will also decrease. Personally, I sort of doubt that there is a big difference between eating 1000 calories spread out throughout the day, and fasting for the day then eating a 1000 calorie dinner. And there are studies that show that. But for me, eating 1000 calories in the 18 hours I'm awake means that I'm never full...whereas with fasting I'm sorta kinda hungry through some of the day, but I'm full and satisfied at dinner. And in that way, it's actually easier for me.

I feel LESS hungry at 4:30 pm having not eaten than if I ate something stupid for lunch, like a bagel or a slice of cake. And I feel more able to control my intake NOT having a small handful of nuts or popcorn and trying to stop eating them after I start, etc.

I agree with your assessment that 1000 calories is 1000 calories whenever you eat it and can attest that IF worked for me because I simply ate less having less time to do it.

About metabolism—I have always heard what you state here: that dieting decreases your metabolism. In “The Secret Life of Fat” the author states that studies have shown that it is not dieting that decreases your metabolism. Rather, your metabolism shifts when you GAIN the weight in the first place. Once you reach a certain weight, your fat cells become incredibly efficient to try and keep you at that weight forever. I don’t have the study in front of me and would love to have a doctor or scientist review it to see if it has merit. To me that made a lot of sense and freed me from my fear of dieting. I gained weight in pregnancies. My metabolism is always going to be slower than it was whether I diet quickly or slowly.

I guess that helped me in the sense that now I view all “diets” as calorie restrictions and I think you just pick the method of restricting calories that works best for you. IF worked for me but I still felt lost about how to eat. I’m doimg something different now that’s a good next step for me.

About blood sugar levels. I really want to do an experiment. I have ready access to blood sugar testing supplies (child with Type 1 diabetes here). My blood sugars have been really stable on a high protein, eat every couple of hours diet. I didn’t test while IF but I almost want to start it again so I can see the difference, I say almost because I don’t want to stop what I’m doing because it’s working!