Intermittent Fasting

[Eric Northman 16522]

In case any of you struggle with your weight, I thought I'd share something that works for me. I think it's becoming more popular lately but as someone who's been doing it for going on 4 years, I have a bit of experience.

 

As we all know, dieting and losing weight is hard. Many (all?) diets seem to work initially but are hard to maintain, leading to cycles of yo-yo weight gain. Around 4 years ago I was reading up on the health benefits of calorie restriction and I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Over the course of about 3 months I lost 25 pounds and now, almost 4 years later, I've continually been within about a 5 pound range of that target weight. The nicest thing about it is that I've not had any difficulty and have never needed to give up any of the foods I like to eat.

 

There is a beginners guide that gives a lot more information but the summary is, the benefits are much greater than simple weight loss. There are health and longevity effects as well such as improved insulin sensitivity and potentially lower cancer risk. In fact, the National Institute of Health says, "Caloric restriction (CR) is the only experimental nongenetic paradigm known to increase lifespan." That's right, the ONLY proven way to live longer.

 

My current schedule is alternate day fasting. There are lots of ways to do it and I've done quite a few variations over the years but this is the one I've settled on and found easiest. It works like this. Every second day, I skip breakfast and lunch. That's it. 24 hour fast ever 48 hours.

 

So you think, "Not eating for 24 hours? That sounds really hard." Well, it's not EASY but it gets easier the more you do it. Compare that to dieting. You have to stop eating particular foods or count points or some other type of discipline. Long term. All the time. It gets harder and harder. You start to crave carbs. Or a juicy steak. Or you slip up and forget to count your points. With this method, I simply don't eat. It's actually easier because all of a sudden, there's a few meals a week I don't have to think about. Don't need to buy or cook anything; don't need to plan or shop. Just don't eat.

 

So now I'm thinner and have more energy and generally feel healthier than I ever have. I try to eat well on my feeding days but you know what? If I feel like pigging out on a poutine, I don't beat myself up because I know I've got headroom and besides, I'll just be fasting the next day anyway. It's so easy that I even do it on vacations. No more coming back from the all-inclusive 10 pounds up and hating yourself.

 

Anyway, long story short, if you struggle with your weight or simply want to try to be healthier, consider intermittent fasting. It's working for me.

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

As soneone who has struggled with their weight for a long time and now a thyroid problem as a result of adrenal fatigue from a constant go go type lifestyle, I used to go all day without eating. Sometimes I've had to force myself to eat but then if you've gone all day without eating, a person is going to be ravenous and not make the proper food choices. I literally have to set an alarm clock now for when I eat because I should be eating small amounts every 2 hours. I have done low calorie regimes of only 400 calories a day losing 50 lbs in 3 months only to gain it back in a short period of time. I practice mindful eating now and prefer low carb because I have a problem with sugars. I've also stopped eating after 7. Consistent patterns keep me in check while asking myself if I really need to eat this or that. I also got off the criticism treadmill about my body. Acceptance goes a long way in conjunction with healthier attitudes towards food.

 

While fasting here and there may work for you, it interferes with the metabolism. After 3 days of starvation, your body starts to get scared and will begin to store body fat because it fears thar a famine is coming on. In the past i have always prefered to do high and low calorie days because then the body does not get used to whatever plan you are following or basically starvation and doesn't quite know what to expect. It then becomes like a fireplace consistently burning instead of dying out as if a person were to continue fasting or very low calorie diets for longer periods of time.

 

What may work for one person may not work for another. I can no longer starve myself even just for a day or two. It has gotten me nowhere in the past.

[Eric Northman 16522]

Well, I certainly wouldn't postulate that any given thing works for all people. Keep in mind, however, I'm talking about a very specific method of fasting, not starving oneself. There is a fair bit of science and research behind this dating back to the 50s. Humans never evolved to eat constantly and would have spent much of the time in a fasting state so our bodies can clearly handle it. Big difference between the starving state which happens after multiple days or weeks of little or no food vs. a short term fast.

 

In any event, this is not opinion or conjecture but rather something that works for a great many people and has solid research behind it. I'm just sharing it because it works for me and has seemed to work for a number of people to whom I've recommended it.

[Jabba 18389]

Interesting concept. The plan sounds very contrary to conventional dietary thinking.

 

So, I'm going to make excuses....

 

I'm the main food prep person in my household. Personally, I would find it pretty difficult to prepare food while I'm starving.

 

We eat together as a family (more or less). It would be a bit of an adjustment not only for my body, but I think the plan would throw a wet towel on family time.

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

I for one appreciate you posting it even if it doesn't work for me and if a short term fast works for you, that's great. If it can help someone even better but at the same time, we are also here to share opinions to what one posts. I'm not disputing science but those are just my opinions from my own personal experience.

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[Eric Northman 16522]

Ooh, one other thing that was interesting on a slightly related note. There was a study done where it was found that fasting before chemotherapy prevented a significant amount of white blood cell loss.

 

Additional Comments:

I'm the main food prep person in my household. Personally, I would find it pretty difficult to prepare food while I'm starving.

 

Agreed but I definitely got used to it. I don't mind food, cooking or thinking about it when fasting at all anymore.

 

We eat together as a family (more or less). It would be a bit of an adjustment not only for my body, but I think the plan would throw a wet towel on family time.

 

True enough. We tend to only eat dinner together so it's not as big a problem for me. For a long time I just did two fasts per week which was pretty easy to map into my lifestyle.

[VedaSloan 119179]

Just popping in to say I initially misread the title as "Intermittent FISTing." Hahaha.

[Eric Northman 16522]

Just popping in to say I initially misread the title as "Intermittent FISTing." Hahaha.

 

You have to do that intermittently...if you do it constantly how will you go to the bathroom?

 

:-P

[cinelli 22184]

I tried intermittent fasting when it was popular on bodybuilding dot com.

Carb cycling has worked much better for me and is easier to follow. The basic idea is that you cut back to absolute minimum carbohydrates, some guys go down to seventy grams per day or less. From Friday at six pm until bedtime Saturday you eat all the carbs you want. At first I felt lousy so instead of cutting out carbs I tapered off them.

I seriously think 99% of our diet and obesity problems are caused by over consumption of carbs, not overeating in general.

High fructose corn syrup is killing us.

[PhantomKnight 7914]

I too tried intermittent fasting. I found the strength loss and over crap feeling to be too much. I felt drained until I ate, then felt disgusting when I did. Despite doing heavy weights and cardio.

 

I'm a much bigger fan of "If it fts your macros"

[cinelli 22184]

If It Fits Your Macros is far better than any other plan. Adjust your carbs to suit energy levels and weight desired. Again, it's the carbs that caused my problems.