thoughts on intermittent fasting?

[fourleafclover]

so i jumped on the intermittent fasting bandwagon a while back and it didn't really work. i'd been struggling with overeating at the start of my junior year and thought it might help. it did for a very short while, but what happened was then i'd end up eating tonnes later on in the day after having a very late breakfast/small meal at noon, after 15/16 hours fasting.
so after a while i realized it didn't work, went back to eating breakfast/lunch/snack/dinner/dessert. but i still had the feeling that i was consuming more than i needed - my face was not as defined as i would have liked, and i still felt heavy/hungry but not in a good way.
the past week i've been doing more "extreme" intermittent fasting - 17/18 hours without food, so my meals are now lunch and dinner/dessert. and i love it - it feels like i'm eating the perfect amount, and even though i get a bit hungry in the morning, it's nothing i can't handle. it feels like i may have finally found the perfect way of eating (for me).
has anyone else had similar experiences with IF, finding you needed to tweak it to suit yourself? or did anyone find it made their binging worse?

[Sailor Mars]

I do an 8/16 intermittent fast, and typically don’t eat breakfast unless I’m doing something in the morning that I need energy for. I take breaks on and off during the week, sometimes I’ll fast longer or shorter, it really depends on what I feel like. Intermittent fasting is good for controlling calorie intake and regulation, but is not meant to be a way to introduce eating disorders into your life. I do it because I work out a lot, and it helps me balance my weight for wrestling and things like that. It isn’t for everyone, and not everyone should do it, especially if they have a history of ED. You also have to recognize it’s more about what you eat instead of how much you eat. Your body is like a car, it needs fuel to sustain itself, but you’re not going to throw diesel into a gas truck, are you? Don’t try and work everything out by yourself, especially when it comes to dieting and body maintenance. Speak with someone. A therapist or psychiatrist about your issues with ED, and/or a dietitian about making a plan for yourself that works and helps you balance how much you eat and what you eat. You’re young, so don’t let yourself fall into bad habits and make things worse before you can fix them.

[ska8er]

If you eat three square meals a day of healthy food
and enough water to tolerate and get some exercise
you can maintain a healthy lifestyle. Fasting and or
binging throws the system off and then it is difficult
to keep weight off and it leads to overeating. It is
not easy but with enough will power bad eating
habits can be stopped.

[SouthernDude]

I try to do it, but I'm not strict on the hours I'm eating and fasting. I just try my best to not eat more than I need. Usually, I eat lunch, a snack, and dinner/dessert, though it depends on the day. I think it's helped me some, but my binge eating habit is terrible. I try my hardest to suppress the urges, but some days work better than others.

Bottom line: intermittent fasting is okay, as long as you make sure that you're eating what your body needs, try not to binge eat too much, and do other things to make sure your body is healthy.

[Bostonian]

Just so long as you get enough nutrients, there's nothing wrong with eating only what you need to.

[Bostonian]

Is intermittent fasting when u like eat one day and not the next? I'm confused cuz I do that without thinking about it and I tend to eat 1 meal a day. But I'll skip days or just eat 2wice a day.

I think u should try to portion your food and just listen to your appetite and if u want to modify it like tweak it then u should skip meals even tho ur hungry and eat when u get like starving and eventually your appetite decreases because your body starts picking up on the 'unavailability' of food and your appetite will decrease overtime

The physical process for this is scientific (or spiritual if u believe in god like me) and to explain it:

Your body metabolizes slower and burns fat slower (u lose weight in the long term) and your appetite decreases because the body thinks there is an absence of food in the environment

Yeah intermittent fasting is a sign of intelligence because it's the best eating style I think


Here is a brief and commonly accepted definition of what intermittent fasting is:

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. It does not say anything about which foods to eat, but rather when you should eat them. There are several different intermittent fasting methods, all of which split the day or week into eating periods and fasting periods.

[elisecoen]

Best. Thing. Ever. (For curing insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome). Certainly not for everyone. But if you are carrying 100 unwanted pounds especially around the waist, intermittent fasting is your panacea.

[RoxasPup]

I do a sorta intimetent fasting but its called working on a calore deficiate somedays a eat like 2000 calories some days i eat 1500 lately ive been too stressed to eat more then 1000 sadly

[DarkDragon]

this type of fasting can be beneficial but you're going to be testing your will power and you need proper planning to make sure you're benefiting. I fast sometimes to lose weight

[Pultost]

Personally, I think fasting is BS. I eat when I'm hungry, when I'm not I don't. There are moments when my appetite drops like a rock, and I have a flake of lettuce for dinner, and that's it, but that's strictly because that's what I feel like eating at the time, and not because someone says I have to.

[Blueisthecolour1]

I guess it can work I’ve never done it intentionally but I usually don’t eat anything after dinner till breakfast during the week

[pauly]

I don't believe that intermittent fasting is likely to be in your best interests.

Our bodies are far "happier" with consistency. You'd be better to keep to regular and healthy eating, three times a day. Concentrate on eating a good and wholesome breakfast, which should be your most important meal. If you need to lose weight, cut down gradually on what you eat but not to the point when you're hungry too often.

And don't forget that, even on a diet, you're allowed to have treats occasionally. :)