Weight loss- Intermittent Fasting

[Peaceseeker]

Has anyone actually lost a steady amount of weight using intermittent fasting? I have read a lot on fasting and dabbled a little, and I am well aware of the research on longevity and health benefits. I am curious about it from a weight loss perspective from anyone who has actually been successful with this approach. What does your week look like? How long have you been doing it? Have you lost a significant amount of weight?

[Deb in NZ]

In 2013 I began IF as a way to lose weight.  I lost 50 pounds in the first year & kept it off for 4 years.  Then last year we demolished our kitchen in January & the new kitchen wasn't finished & ready to use until Thanksgiving.  Eating healthy & IF just became too hard with all the stresses of living in a house under renovations & I gained back all the weight I lost.  Six months of eating too many meals a week at McDonalds didn't do me any good.  Three weeks ago I began IF again & am slowly beginning to lose weight again.  IF does work, but for it to work long term you need to commit to it as a way of eating for life, not a quick fix diet.  

 

A typical week for me while IF is on fasting days (my "salad" days) I fast, only drinking water, from the end of dinner the night before until dinner on my fast day.  That dinner consists of a big plate of salad, with a bit of protein (lean meat, eggs, a sprinkle of cheese, etc.) for flavour & to help keep me feeling full until morning. I eat no carbs on fasting days.   On my "eating" days I eat as normal & no foods are forbidden.  I find that after a week or so of IF I do not want to overeat & am satisfied with much less than I was before beginning this WoE (way of eating).  I aim for 3 "salad" days a week & 4 "eating" days a week.  I never fast 2 days in a row & seldom have more than 2 "eating" days in a row.  This past week Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday were fasting days, while Wednesday, Friday, Sunday & Monday were "eating" days.  I had planned to fast on Monday, but dd phoned Sunday night to let us know she would be stopping in on Monday for an early lunch & asked if I would make sticky buns.  I won't pass up warm sticky buns, so swapped days around.   This is one big benefit of IF.  You can enjoy life & still lose weight.  

 

Things that I find helps me to succeed is to try not to drink my calories.  I only drink water on fasting days & try to limit my soda on other days as for years Coke was my morning coffee.  I only eat when hungry & never eat to just be polite.  As I still do eat dinner on fasting days my family didn't notice for many weeks that I was fasting the rest of the day.  But my children were mostly grown by the time I started IF.  At first I would make the rest of the family a normal meal, but soon they were requesting salad plates like mine for dinner on fast days.  They still ate normally the rest of the day & I do add some carbs to their salad plates (cold potato, left-over pasta, etc.)  Ds#2 would sometimes put his salad into wraps to eat it.  As a family we all eat more veggies & less junk when I am IF.  

[Guest]

I lost 3 pounds in a month with the only change being adding in fasting from 8pm until noon most days (not every day). I like it and will stick with it. I also like the idea that I’m being intentional with my eating not just eating because it is eating time.

[PrincessMommy]

Have you checked into the 5/2 Diet, which is a type of IF?  I've done that with success and hope to do it again this year.

 

 

[Kassia]

A friend of mine is doing it now and has lost a lot of weight and finds it an easy way to diet.  She likes not thinking about food and what she will/won't eat most of the day.  

[ktgrok]

I find it helps...especially when I'm not doing anything else to help, lol. But I don't do a long fast, just from say 11pm to noon the next day. Basically, I like to have a bedtime snack, so I started skipping breakfast in order to keep my eating within a 12 hour window. 

[Pegasus]

Here's a good introduction:

 

https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting

 

I've been using intermittent fasting to maintain a large weight loss that was achieved by a LCHF diet. I'm maintaining the same diet as a "way of life" but a medication that I am now taking is causing a slow steady weight gain if I don't add intermittent fasting as well.  It is VERY flexible, frequency and duration is determined based on what else is going on in my life and the scale.  Some days, I eat all three meals, some days I just skip breakfast and postpone lunch, other days I eat only dinner each evening.  I do drink coffee with cream during my fasting time so not a TRUE fast but still effective!

[teachermom2834]

I have done it on and off and it works and really helps me keep the right amount of focus on food. I was fasting from about 7-8:00 pm (after dinner) to about noon the next day. The hunger subsided and some days it would be 2:00 before I would think to eat. Once I get going it isn't that hard. I fell off the wagon over the holidays and I can't get back on. Problem is I love something with my morning coffee. I don't want to cook when I wake up so I end up with a habit of a protein bar of some sort with my coffee first thing. Maybe when my current stock of bars is gone I will try again.

 

I realize that wasn't particularly helpful. I do believe it works and your body adjusts pretty quickly and the hunger subsides. It is just hard to get started sometimes, for me.

[JudoMom]

Here's a good introduction:

 

https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting

 

I've been using intermittent fasting to maintain a large weight loss that was achieved by a LCHF diet. I'm maintaining the same diet as a "way of life" but a medication that I am now taking is causing a slow steady weight gain if I don't add intermittent fasting as well. It is VERY flexible, frequency and duration is determined based on what else is going on in my life and the scale. Some days, I eat all three meals, some days I just skip breakfast and postpone lunch, other days I eat only dinner each evening. I do drink coffee with cream during my fasting time so not a TRUE fast but still effective!

I've wondered if this would be effective even when drinking coffee with cream. I just don't see myself giving that up. I can deal with the hunger, but dealing without coffee seems insurmountable.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I do this but not on purpose.  I don't get hungry until about noon so I don't eat until noon.  I stopped eating past 7 or 8 because of the reflux issues.  I have lost weight, but I have been on a low carb diet so it is hard to say how much IF is part of it. 

 

Ok, seeing the post above I DO have coffee with a bit of half and half in the morning.  It's a very small amount so I doubt this really counts as eating. 

[Cosmos]

I find it helps...especially when I'm not doing anything else to help, lol. But I don't do a long fast, just from say 11pm to noon the next day. Basically, I like to have a bedtime snack, so I started skipping breakfast in order to keep my eating within a 12 hour window. 

 

I've thought about doing this (and have done it sometimes but not consistently). But then all of the recommendations seem to say eating breakfast is a must for losing weight, healthy lifestyle, etc. How do you square that? Or do you just ignore the recommendations?

[SparklyUnicorn]

To add, I would be very surprised if this is doable for most people on a high carb diet because when I'm not on low carb I'm hungry all the time.  I have to eat every few hours.  I don't know if that's normal, but I suspect it is not uncommon. 

[marbel]

I will lose weight pretty easily if I stop eating around 7 pm and don't eat till I am hungry in the morning, which generally happens about 11am.   I don't consider that skipping breakfast, just delaying it.  When I am disciplined about it, and when my schedule is such that I can wait till 11am to eat, it works really well. But it requires discipline or the weight comes back easily.

[mamaraby]

To add, I would be very surprised if this is doable for most people on a high carb diet because when I'm not on low carb I'm hungry all the time. I have to eat every few hours. I don't know if that's normal, but I suspect it is not uncommon.

It may surprise you, but I eat a high carb diet and do not have to eat every few hours. :D Lindsay Nixon of Happy Herbivore does IF. She talks about it on her podcast, Shortcut to Slim.

 

It’s a tool that may work for you, OP. The only way you’ll know is to try it. Worst case scenario you hate it and move on to something else.

[FO4UR]

A mix of low carb and IF and fasted cardio helped me pull off the last of the baby weight, about 30lb.

 

I found that exercise makes some carbs a requirement. Getting those carbs from fruits and veggies helped me, basically going grain free.

 

I fasted from 6pm until after I did an hour long stroller walk, usually 8 or 9 am. Then I usually had eggs & cheese and a fruit for breakfast.

 

 

 

I like IF. Timing it can be tricky. You really have to think about your own schedule, not someone else's.

 

 

The bottom line is calorie intake. If your goal is to stay in calorie deficit, then your goal is to time your calorie intake so that you are not too hungry to sleep or work. IF can help you stay in deficit without feeling like you are starving all day. It doesn't work for everyone though.

 

Some people do much better eating small snacks every 3 hours. The benefit to that is you "train" your stomach to digest a small amount at a time. Overeating binge for a 'small meal every 3 hours' person looks like 800 calories, not 2000 calories. Less damage is done when you do splurge because you just get full fast.

 

 

Personally, I've experimented with a lot of diets, and I do best when I just decide what foods I will and won't eat. (Banana? yes. Muffin? no. Natural fruit sugar? yes. Refined sugar and flour? no.) Then plan my food around my day. Fruits are best consumed before and after exercise because carbs are used for energy and muscle repair. If I were IF, I would plan a large meal with plenty of fat and protein right before the fast. I would plan cardio right before breaking the fast.

[Ann.without.an.e]

I've wondered if this would be effective even when drinking coffee with cream. I just don't see myself giving that up. I can deal with the hunger, but dealing without coffee seems insurmountable.

 

 

I did it with my coffee as "breakfast" and I still lost.  I used a little creamer.  That was all I had though.  No solid food.

[SparklyUnicorn]

It may surprise you, but I eat a high carb diet and do not have to eat every few hours. :D Lindsay Nixon of Happy Herbivore does IF. She talks about it on her podcast, Shortcut to Slim.

 

It’s a tool that may work for you, OP. The only way you’ll know is to try it. Worst case scenario you hate it and move on to something else.

 

Yeah I suspect I may have some blood sugar issues?  Specifically my blood sugar plummets if I eat a very high carb meal.  Years ago I figured out there are some foods I flat out cannot eat otherwise I feel like passing out (cereal of any kind and oatmeal).

[BarbecueMom]

I do this unintentionally, due to GI issues.  Instead of skipping breakfast though, I skip dinner.  Decent breakfast, small lunch (or small breakfast, decent lunch, depending on leftovers), maybe a light snack, no dinner.  Progressively smaller amounts until 4:30pm or so, then nothing until the morning.  Reflux hates late meals, and IBS isn't too thrilled with them either.  Full disclosure, I have zero hunger signals or appetite.  I think my third child kicked that nerve ending during pregnancy and it quit working.  Or the gastritis killed it.  Or aliens.

 

I'm actually trying to keep weight on, but since that seems to be difficult eating this way, I guess there's something to it for intentional weight loss.

[Guest]

I've thought about doing this (and have done it sometimes but not consistently). But then all of the recommendations seem to say eating breakfast is a must for losing weight, healthy lifestyle, etc. How do you square that? Or do you just ignore the recommendations?

I personally have always, always, always ignored that recommendation on breakfast. I’ve never been keen on breakfast anyway. The one place I did see a logic behind not eating breakfast (or, not always, or not early) was in the book The Paleo Manifesto. In the book, the author says that most people are in amild state of ketosis every morning; it is why your breath is not pleasant. He said it was better to keep the ketosis going a while before you “break-fast.†I used this book as permission to be a light eater in the morning, which is what I have tended to be my whole life. :)

[Guest]

To add, I would be very surprised if this is doable for most people on a high carb diet because when I'm not on low carb I'm hungry all the time. I have to eat every few hours. I don't know if that's normal, but I suspect it is not uncommon.

It is true for me. I can burn for ages on a pair of scrambled eggs, but give me a bowl of cereal and I’m hungry again in a couple of hours. Too many carbs messes me up in more ways than one.

[SparklyUnicorn]

It is true for me. I can burn for ages on a pair of scrambled eggs, but give me a bowl of cereal and I’m hungry again in a couple of hours. Too many carbs messes me up in more ways than one.

 

I miss cereal. It's so quick and easy (and tastes so good).  I can't recall the last time I had any.  : (

[Kassia]

I miss cereal. It's so quick and easy (and tastes so good).  I can't recall the last time I had any.  : (

 

Me too!  It's one of my favorite foods.  I rarely eat it because I can't stop once I start.  I can't remember the last time I ate it either.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

Me too!  It's one of my favorite foods.  I rarely eat it because I can't stop once I start.  I can't remember the last time I ate it either.  

 

I could go for a bowl of corn chex..or rice chex...so good.

 

Ok...I'll stop now.  LOL

[marbel]

I could go for a bowl of corn chex..or rice chex...so good.

 

Ok...I'll stop now.  LOL

 

Don't do it!

 

I love cereal and milk.  But I don't eat it.  The other day my kid bought one of my old favorites (Grape Nuts) and I just couldn't help myself.  I had a small bowl with milk. 

 

Oh, the heartburn that caused me.  I felt terrible for hours after eating that.  

 

Now I have to look at that box of Grape Nuts in the pantry and know I can't have any.  

 

Or maybe I should try some with yogurt...  no, it's just not the same.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh gawd I won't do it.  I'm sorry every single time.

 

It wouldn't be the same on yogurt no, but it might be a nice crunch.  I like crunchy things on yogurt.  I make a lower carb granola type thing that's pretty good. 

I've seen some pretty insane low carb attempts at cereal.  Cinnamon flavored pork rinds.  Oh gack.  That sounds scary.  I'm not THAT desperate. 

[Meriwether]

How does IF affect metabolism?

[Laurie4b]

That is the way I lost 60 pounds and have kept it off. 

 

I was eating a healthy diet, heavy on fruits and veges,  but the weight was coming off very slowly. However, I noticed that when I exercised late in the day, that I wasn't really that hungry so skipped dinner a night or two per week and that really helped the weight loss to progress.

 

Now, if I start to gain, I just dial back my last meal of the day to about 4:00 pm. As a breast cancer survivor my risk of recurrence goes down with a 13 hour overnight fast period, so it all meshes together. I also don't eat within 3 hours of bedtime so as not to spike my blood sugar/ insulin overnight.  It's been pretty painless for me. 

[mamaraby]

It is true for me. I can burn for ages on a pair of scrambled eggs, but give me a bowl of cereal and I’m hungry again in a couple of hours. Too many carbs messes me up in more ways than one.

Yeah, that’s never going to carry me to lunch if that’s what I eat for breakfast not even if I add in some other protein. If I up the fat I end up nauseous, plus the lack of fiber wrecks with my digestion which causes problems with some of my female issues. 40 grams of oats, some flaxseed, and frozen fruit? I’m good until lunch even with a long run in between the two meals. Fiber and carbs are my friends. This morning’s 100 grams of carbs (high fiber cereal) and 25g of protein got me through my run and into early afternoon. I think I had lunch around 1pm, but I could have gone longer. I wanted to hit my post-workout refueling window, tho.

 

I wouldn’t eat all carbs the same way. Whole grains and fiber intact. If I want more processed/lower fiber carbs then I’d eat them on a run or after a run.

 

I have read, though, that you don’t have to go all out on IF. You can just work towards limiting your food intake window moderately and still reap some benefits. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

 

Treat this stuff like an experiment and you’re the test subject. What happens if I do x? Can I adjust it slightly? Oops! That was not a good idea. What if I...

Edited January 9, 2018 by mamaraby

[Deb in NZ]

How does IF affect metabolism?

 

From the books I read about IF, it seems to keep your body guessing, so no slow down of metabolism.  In a normal low calorie diet your body reacts to on-going low calories by slowing your metabolism as a defensive move.  In IF you have a very low/ no calorie day followed by a day of normal eating.  Your body never gets a message to guard your resources (ie slow down your metabolism to save fat to avoid starvation)  If you fasted for days on end with out eating normally your metabolism would be affected & the weight loss would stop.