Intermittent Fasting - anyone tried it?

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,011]

I've been doing it for a couple months now and maybe lost like 5 lbs. All I do is skip breakfast... Lol I wake up at 545 and my lunch is at 1145 or 1215. I drink about 40oz (to freedom) of coffee when I wake up til like 7 and then about 20 oz of Gatorade 10 to hold me over til lunch. 

Edited February 15, 2020 by RegularGuyGamer

[phart010 | 1,705]

I’ve done intermittent fasting. It’s real good. It’s hard to do for the first few days , but once you’ve gotten past that point it’s actually not that hard to keep the mind off of food.

[Quest4Nes | 376]

I dont eat carbs anymore . You get used to it. Diet soda is still a crutch for me though. Better than consuming the real sugar Id say. Real sugar would probably kill me a little faster.

[Gloves | 11,761]

1 minute ago, Quest4Nes said:

Diet soda is still a crutch for me though. Better than consuming the real sugar Id say. Real sugar would probably kill me a little faster.

It's not any better, and potentially worse.

[Quest4Nes | 376]

3 minutes ago, Gloves said:

It's not any better, and potentially worse.

scare tactic myths. Old studies trying to link it to shit have been dispelled

 

I kind of use it as a snack. Cuts out all the snacking on foods. Makes that way easier where Im pretty much only eating meals. Ill drink my aspertame and sucralose. Seeing that Ive probably lost atleast 75 pounds since june, Id say it works fine for me.

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by Quest4Nes

[Gloves | 11,761]

Just now, Quest4Nes said:

scare tactic myths

IgNoRiNg ScIeNtIfIc StUdIeS iS fUn

[Quest4Nes | 376]

1 minute ago, Gloves said:

IgNoRiNg ScIeNtIfIc StUdIeS iS fUn

but they werent accurate scientific studies.

 Old studies trying to link it to shit have been dispelled

 

I kind of use it as a snack. Cuts out all the snacking on foods. Makes that way easier where Im pretty much only eating meals. Ill drink my aspertame and sucralose. Seeing that Ive probably lost atleast 75 pounds since june, Id say it works fine for me.

Oh no, I slightly altered my gut bacteria. Thats pretty much the only finding from diet drinks. Do I need to drink more water? Yea, but I mean who doesnt?

Edited February 15, 2020 by Quest4Nes

[Gloves | 11,761]

1 minute ago, Quest4Nes said:

but they werent accurate scientific studies.

 Old studies trying to link it to shit have been dispelled

 

I kind of use it as a snack. Cuts out all the snacking on foods. Makes that way easier where Im pretty much only eating meals. Ill drink my aspertame and sucralose. Seeing that Ive probably lost atleast 75 pounds since june, Id say it works fine for me.

For weight loss yeah I'm sure it's fine, since weight management is simple CICO.

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

11 hours ago, Gloves said:

It's not any better, and potentially worse.

Moderation is key for any of that stuff.   I think the real danger for diet soda comes with the fact it's low calorie and people think it's okay to drink 6+ of them a day because of that.

That's where I was at one point, then I completely cut it out for several years.   Now I may have one a day or every other day.   Most real soda tastes sickeningly sweet to me now.

[Link | 2,708]

relevant to topic imo

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/feb/13/how-ultra-processed-food-took-over-your-shopping-basket-brazil-carlos-monteiro

 

[Strange | 1,700]

I’ve never done intermittent fasting, but after high school I woke up one day and said “fuck this” about my weight and started a proper diet and exercise. I ended up losing over 100 lbs. I just want to echo what another user said and never think of dietary changes as a “diet” but a change in lifestyle. I still follow my diet to this day and it has just become what I eat. Also, exercise is very important. It doesn’t have to be anything wild, I just ran three times a week. Started out walking until I could run for prolonged amounts of time.

[MegaVolt | 6]

I do IF and have been for around 6 months. I eat lunch around noon and eat dinner around 5:30; maybe a small handful of nuts as a snack in between there. I don't eat at any other time. Has worked great for me.

That said, it isn't a miracle cure. I have also cut most sugar out of my diet (I eat a little dessert on Saturday's only) and I eat healthier and do portion control. IF isn't going to do a darn thing if you eat two pizzas and a pan of brownies and think you are just fine because it was in the eating "window." You also have to work out. IF should be a small piece of a lifestyle change in general.

[Estil | 1,261]

To paraphrase DJ Tanner from the Full House episode where she has a nightmare about her SATs...fasting!?  I...I don't think I could even do slowing!  Same goes with speed-run Final Fantasy and Zelda and so on...I'm still trying to get anywhere close to mastering slow Final Fantasy!!

[CMR | 519]

I did over a 20 hour fast today.  If I can ever get over that weird feeling of running on empty, It'll be a piece of cake.

[Boosted52405 | 178]

On 2/14/2020 at 8:18 PM, Link said:

This is very true. But I have trouble with it, because I cook most of my food myself. It’s difficult to calculate when everything isn’t packaged to the serving (I eyeball, I’m not going to weigh out my diced onion), or sometimes not marked at all (fresh produce and butcher meat). Of course, that has other benefits. You know what you’ve got, and you can avoid hidden sugars and HF corn syrup by choosing other brands or products. They’ll put sugar in anything. Tomato sauce. Peanut butter. Rice krispies. Vegetable broth! Come on!

This is a good point.  Been cooking a lot this weekend and realized I have no idea how many calories I'm putting together and had to guesstimate a bit.  I'm comfortable with this approach at this point to take baby steps and not get too deep too quick, but it does seem a food scale is recommended which I'm sure I'll explore at some point.

I definitely have a habit of snacking on stuff when the night calms down (single dad to a 2yo gamer-in-training, some evenings are nonstop), so that's been the challenge so far which may sound weird to some.  So...I am trying to drink water more instead but it's blah - checking out some unsweetened tea tomorrow!  Mornings are super easy, I think I was used to not eating much due to snacking closer to bedtime.

[Boosted52405 | 178]

On 2/14/2020 at 8:59 PM, RegularGuyGamer said:

I've been doing it for a couple months now and maybe lost like 5 lbs. All I do is skip breakfast... Lol I wake up at 545 and my lunch is at 1145 or 1215. I drink about 40oz (to freedom) of coffee when I wake up til like 7 and then about 20 oz of Gatorade 10 to hold me over til lunch. 

Hey 5 pounds is a great start.  It sounds like you're cutting out a nice chunk of calories each day, my initial focus is to hold a deficit each day as well.  Although the more I'm learning, there seems to be a whole next level where folks time their macros throughout their eating window.  Interesting stuff, but am going one step at a time :).

[Grondorr | 49]

I find IF works best in combination with keto. When you are able to do it, it feels great as you have so much energy.

[Boosted52405 | 178]

On 2/14/2020 at 10:11 PM, Quest4Nes said:

but they werent accurate scientific studies.

 Old studies trying to link it to shit have been dispelled

 

I kind of use it as a snack. Cuts out all the snacking on foods. Makes that way easier where Im pretty much only eating meals. Ill drink my aspertame and sucralose. Seeing that Ive probably lost atleast 75 pounds since june, Id say it works fine for me.

Oh no, I slightly altered my gut bacteria. Thats pretty much the only finding from diet drinks. Do I need to drink more water? Yea, but I mean who doesnt?

Wow, 75 pounds since June?!?!?  Impressive man, mind sharing what you've done to achieve that?

Sodas might be one of the biggest things that I enjoy daily...damn caffeine/sugars/carbonation, definitely a habit/addiction.  I currently have Diet Pepsi in the house, which is one of the only few diet pops I enjoy...but many things I've read suggest that regular pop might actually be more tolerable (healthy?) for your body (and that the fake sugar can become crazy addictive).  I might switch back to regular soda and track the calories accordingly.  And yes, I know soda is bad folks...

[Boosted52405 | 178]

23 hours ago, CMR said:

I did over a 20 hour fast today.  If I can ever get over that weird feeling of running on empty, It'll be a piece of cake.

You really did a 20 hour fast or trolling?    I think that's considered the OMAD One-Meal-A-Day approach, and is pretty hardcore...if done intentionally care to share more about your IF schedule or experience?

[Boosted52405 | 178]

18 minutes ago, Grondorr said:

I find IF works best in combination with keto. When you are able to do it, it feels great as you have so much energy.

Tried keto a few years ago for about a month, I definitely lost weight, and pretty quickly too.  Was sooooooo hard to sustain though, I've never wanted to eat pizza so bad in my whole life.

With that being irrelevant, some people are super passionate about it and it does appear to be crazy effective with IF.

[Quest4Nes | 376]

3 minutes ago, Boosted52405 said:

Wow, 75 pounds since June?!?!?  Impressive man, mind sharing what you've done to achieve that?

Sodas might be one of the biggest things that I enjoy daily...damn caffeine/sugars/carbonation, definitely a habit/addiction.  I currently have Diet Pepsi in the house, which is one of the only few diet pops I enjoy...but many things I've read suggest that regular pop might actually be more tolerable (healthy?) for your body (and that the fake sugar can become crazy addictive).  I might switch back to regular soda and track the calories accordingly.  And yes, I know soda is bad folks...

I count carbs in general. I dont eat bread. I dontt eat pasta. I dont eat potatos

I dont snack much, but if i do its some sun flower kernals, cheddar cheese sticks, or some pepperoni.

I drink diet mountain dew or diet dr pepper. Its not any more addicting than normal soda. I try to mix in some water. The sugar in drinking regular soda if you drink it will set you back so much from a carbs/calorie perspective. They arent worth it. 

 

I mainly eat meat and a vegetable. I eat a steak 2-3 times a week.

Slow cook a roast with carrots and green besns(miss the potatos in that one lol)

Stir fry some chicken and broccoli.

In a pinch ill go to whataburger and order just a few beef patties and some cheese.

 

My go to take to work meals are hamburger meat all chopped up and cooked with some sprinkle cheese and sour cream. Ill buy a huge pack of hamburger(the 77/23 10 pound log) divy it up and cook a couple pounds and take that for 2-3 days of lunches. Ill also patty some and hace hamburget steaks and put a spoon of A1 sauce on them(about 3 carbs for a tablespoon) 

I have the personality that if i stop now i suffered and wasted all that time for nothing. So after the first 2-3 week adjustment i got used to it. I eat around 20-30 carbs a day. Some days i push it. Some days i dont. If i go barely over, who cares? Its way better than i was regardless. 

I constantly tell myself and reinforce if i talk to others about it, that I am choosing not to eat carbs. Not that " i cant have it".  Ive had a few days where i ate what i wanted. Christmas time, thanksgiving,. Brothers birthday weekend cake and japanese steakhouse. Its ok to do that every once in awhile. Just hop back on the nect day. Your body will readapt quickly as long as you get right back on it.

 

I guess you could say its lazy keto. I dont bother with the headache of percentages. I just try and diversfy enough of what i eat and make sure i have plenty of fats .

I feel way better. I think another year of this and ill kick in more exercise. For now i just altered what i eat and its done wonders.

 

 

[Link | 2,708]

41 minutes ago, Quest4Nes said:

Ive had a few days where i ate what i wanted. Christmas time, thanksgiving,. Brothers birthday weekend cake and japanese steakhouse. Its ok to do that every once in awhile. Just hop back on the nect day.

very true. Some people call it cheat day. I do moderation. Like captmorgandrinker said you can keep some bad habits if you scale back on frequency/ amount.

1 hour ago, Boosted52405 said:

it does seem a food scale is recommended which I'm sure I'll explore at some point.

Ha. I have a scale, but it’s for baking bread.  Weight is more accurate or useful than volume for measuring flour. I haven’t got around to actually using it for that yet, but it’s come in handy for some other things. 

Nothing wrong with baby steps. 

On 2/15/2020 at 11:16 PM, CMR said:

I did over a 20 hour fast today.  If I can ever get over that weird feeling of running on empty, It'll be a piece of cake.

When I changed my diet, it took me a bit under two months to stop feeling hungry all day. So that’s one benchmark or example to look at for what to expect.

[jonebone | 1,307]

You get used to it, I've done this for about 4 years or so at this point.  

My recommendation to anyone who struggles is to do a 12-12 first before working up to the 16-8 version.  My eating window is 11AM to 7PM, though I usually slip up and snack at 8 or even 9 sometimes.  Weight loss isn't my goal though, just maintaining a healthy weight.  If you are actively targeting weight loss then you have to be more strict.

I typically have coffee at 6 or 7am ish and drink lots of water otherwise.  I skip breakfast and eat a light lunch but absolutely obliterate dinner and snacks all evening.  I've tried eating breakfast or big lunch and I still wind up snacking heavily in the evenings after dinner.  No urge for sweets all day but anytime after dinner, especially on a gym day, I always snack on something.

So eating really light otherwise allows me to keep my total calories more or less in check.  Diet is only one part of the equation though, make sure you get some exercise too.  

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,011]

10 hours ago, Boosted52405 said:

Hey 5 pounds is a great start.  It sounds like you're cutting out a nice chunk of calories each day, my initial focus is to hold a deficit each day as well.  Although the more I'm learning, there seems to be a whole next level where folks time their macros throughout their eating window.  Interesting stuff, but am going one step at a time :).

That's where I'm at. I'm coaching, working full time, planning a wedding and taking grad classes so I just don't have time to exercise like I want to and I still Wana be able to grab some chic fila or five guys on the way home once a week and not feel horrible about it. I just figure, restricting my calories in the morning for those 6-7 hours before lunch is enough to help me not get chubby, which is the main goal. I'm 6'4 and weigh 220 so I don't have a ton to lose I just want to maintain what I got while my life is hectic. 

 

I have noticed an improvement in my hunger levels tho. If I skip breakfast I'm not actually hungry until lunch anymore. It took about a month to get used to it but now I can skip meal and not feel like I'm going to die. 

Edited February 17, 2020 by RegularGuyGamer

[CMR | 519]

18 hours ago, Boosted52405 said:

You really did a 20 hour fast or trolling?    I think that's considered the OMAD One-Meal-A-Day approach, and is pretty hardcore...if done intentionally care to share more about your IF schedule or experience?

I did it.  I don't do that everyday.  Normally when I fast I do 12 to 16hrs.  On the weekends I like to see how far I can take it, and this weekend I did a little over 20hrs.  I probably could have gone 24, but I was tired and wanted to eat. 

I don't think this is something you can just start doing.  It's like exercise, you kind of have to get used to it.  My biggest issue isn't the hunger, but the mental lethargy I feel.  That's probably caused by sugar addiction.  I usually stop eating at about 6:00 in the evening and take it from there.  That way if I decide I do want breakfast, I can at least get a 12hr fast in.