intermittent fasting for dummies (i.e., me)
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Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks for the replies! Do those who fast also count calories? |
Anonymous
I count carbs due to hormonal issues, but not calories. And I’ve lost 35 pounds over the past 9 months this way (IF plus low carb). My doctor recommended it. |
Anonymous
| A bit different but I have good luck just making sure each meal is more than 5 hours apart. 3 meals a day no snacks. I think it basically works because I am a snacker so cutting them out makes a calorie deficit but also allows insulin levels to drop. |
Anonymous
I don't find it difficult at all. And I've run up to 6 miles (I know, that might not sound like much to some of you) or done an hour of challenging yoga fasted. Everybody is different, don't let the posted who said it is difficult scare you. It isn't for everybody. In fact, I think it is not a big deal for most people. |
Anonymous
I am right now, but I usually don't. I am because I stopped fasting and starting eating the things I hadn't been (wheat, mainly) and I gained 10+ pounds. I also think it is a gut biome thing, but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax. But usually I just eat and don't count calories. It is only when I need to get a jump start on losing weight. So this is maybe the 2nd time in 8 years that I've counted calories. And ... I really hope it works so I can fit into my shorts this summer. |
Anonymous
4 pounds in 2 weeks is A LOT. |
Anonymous
. Disagree completely. It was hard when I was running around 4pm as a commute home from work. (My window is more like 5pm to 10pm/11pm ... because I taste while cooking dinner and like wine after.) First thing in the morning or even up until mid morning you just ride energy from the day before. If it doesn't work for you, it does. But for many people, it does. Caveat, I never ever ate breakfast once my parents let go of it around 12 or 13 and always enjoyed a late night snack instead. I've also never been overweight. So, it wasn't a new plan more the world no longer saying how I eat is terrible. |
Anonymous
830 is not early. It's just morning. MY workout begins at 5am. If you start at 830 you are likely done by 930/10. You have one or two hours to wait for nutrition. I have 5-6 hours to wait after a workout. Try it. It's a long time. My "day before" food is looooong gone by 5am. |
Anonymous
but all you are doing is moving the window from 6 or 7 dinner (last food) to 11 pm (last food). That makes your fasting from 11pm - 3pm. You are only fasting for 4 or 5 hours before your exercise. I have a family I eat with at around 7pm. The math on your note doesn't work for early am. |
Anonymous
So it doesn't for for you. Why are you so insistent that it won't work. I do IF, I eat dinner at 6, I work out at 5/5:30. Then I eat around Noon. It works for me. It doesn't work for you. Everybody is different. Now, let's leave it there. |
Anonymous
Sounds like you're not eating enough at your last meal then. What does your day look like in terms of meals - what are you eating and when? |
Anonymous
Most people will drop more weight in the the first few weeks of a diet but then it slows down to a normal loss rate. |
Anonymous
1) I read The Obesity Code (I am not obese, but am interested in how keeping insulin/glucose spikes low/less frequent seems to improve health and longevity AND I have a small caloric daily need, so I wanted to maximize the two meals a day I eat). 2) I have never been a big breakfast eater but I had to wean myself off several cups of coffee with a little sugar. I added a bit of heavy cream instead. I also save money since I"m not buying 6$ lattes at starbucks. That being said, I learned somewhere that your body produces ghrelin when it expects to eat--we take this as a hunger cue. You can push back that ghrelin clock by 45 minutes a day, so so intermittent fasting guides suggest moving your normal breakfast time (if that's what you are skipping) by 45 minutes each day until breakfast is really lunch. 3) I only feel hungry if I didn't get enough sleep and/or drank alcohol the night before, both of which affect blood sugar. Usually it passes, drink water etc. However, if I dont feel "right" I will eat something (low carbish though). 4) Hangry--see above. I think you learn to distinguish between hunger cues because you're used to eating at this time vs really really need food. I also recently did a 4 day water, coffee and broth fast and learned that hunger really does come and go--its not like a crescendo that just gets bigger and bigger until you can't stand it. I never ever thought I could do something like that, but it was fine. I dont particularly recommend it but I wanted to try it. I only did it when everyone was out of town. 5) health improvements: my cholesterol, which has been high since my 20s, has dropped into normal range. I haven't changed what I eat really (I generally have good eating habits). I sleep better because I am not eating near bedtime. I also have pretty good blood sugar which I think is partly IF and partly not having a lot of high sugar/high carb foods and if I do have something like that on occasion, I do it with a meal to slow down the spike of sugar/insulin. 6) This is the hard part. According to a lot of researchers, the healthiest version of IF would be to have breakfast and lunch and skip dinner. My own personal ideal--eg when I feel most like eating, would be 10:30 am and 4 pm. But we have family dinner and often not until 6:30/7 because of various classes, etc. I do not skip meals or anything in front of my kids because I have one child who is somewhat overweight and self conscious and one who is underweight and extremely picky. I cannot afford to introduce anything that could further undermine the goal of a healthy family dinner. I am, however, pretty consistent about not eating once dinner is done and try to end dinner by 7:15 or so. I go to bed between 10 and 10;30, and 3 hours minimum between a meal and bed is best. Finally, I want to say that this, for me, is a lifestyle. I am not losing weight on it, because between two meals and an occasional snack between them, I am still eating my maintenance calories (which is low, like 1300-1400 calories). It does mean that I can actually eat two satisfying meals, rather than dribbling little snacks all day long. I of course also exceed this at times, when I go out to dinner or have a dessert, etc, but in the main it helps me stay relatively normal weight (bmi is 22 or so) , which is tough for a 5'1 " 52 year old woman. My goal this year is to cut out alcohol almost entirely (never at home, just on occasions out) and to get back into working out and lifting more weights. I had an injury and surgery so for the last 5 months I have only been walking and I have lost a lot of muscle. |
Anonymous
Yes, PP here. Some of it is just dropping the bloat I had from the holidays and associated overeating/overdrinking. I'm eating what feels like a normal lunch and dinner for me but my diet is also cleaner than it was for most of December bc I'm back in my normal routine. |