Is Fasting Good for You?
Hey guys!
People have been practicing fasting for thousands of years as part of religious belief. But recently, fasting for weight loss has become a popular trend in the health and fitness world. A quick Google search brings up some claims that sound like they could be legit, and some claims that seem like more of a stretch.
So as usual, I wanted to know more! I LOVE reading about this stuff and learning how things work (or don’t work). So…what’s the scoop on fasting? Let’s check it out!
Fasting does have some benefits…
First, people look at it as an “eating style.” Not a diet. Some feel that for long periods of time, intermittent fasting is easier to stick to than straight-up calorie restriction.
I can see how that would be helpful, but I think it all depends on what they’re eating when they CAN eat. This doesn’t seem to be something that teaches people about how to fuel the body with healthy foods.
Ok. Moving on.
Here’s the theory behind fasting:
It’s so cool to deep dive into how our bodies react to different foods and eating styles!
So – when you don’t skip meals, your body breaks down your food and uses it for energy. Any excess is usually stored as fat. But when you fast, your body eventually uses up all of its energy stores (glycogen). When that happens, there is a switch and your body starts breaking down fat for energy and might even make some ketones to fuel your brain and muscle.
This SUGGESTS that fasting could burn fat while preserving muscle mass. Some experts say it could also improve metabolic health (things like insulin resistance, inflammation, etc.) But most studies have only been done in rats, and the exact mechanism is still not fully understood.
…but it also carries some risk
There’s always a “but.”
Most research leans toward fasting as a safe practice. BUT there are some things to watch out for.
First, some people might experience things like dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches and fatigue while fasting. IDK about you but feeling like that would probably make it hard for me to stay active.
Dehydration is another risk. Even though water, plain tea and coffee are allowed during fasts, I can see how it would be easy to lack hydration. Some fasts suggest using laxatives too…which is just plain scary.
Finally, you could actually gain more weight than you lose. One of my main hesitations about fasting is the fact that it leaves room for a lot of people to “cut corners” or do it in an unhealthy way. First, people could restrict their calories during eating windows wayyy too much. That would slow their metabolism, and it would be harder to stick to. Then, they’re more likely to binge at some point.
On the other hand, some people might think they can eat whatever they want during eating windows.
If people use fasting as kind of a bandaid for their unhealthy eating habits, I can see where the risks come into play.
Different types of fasting
There are so. many. types. of. fasting.
Like, who knew there were so many ways to basically skip meals? I’m not even sure I’ll scratch the surface here! But I’ll go over the most popular ones.
Intermittent fasting is currently the most popular type of fast for weight loss.
Most intermittent fasting methods are short term, ranging from skipping one meal to skipping an entire day of meals.
For example, the 16/8 method means your “eating window” is 8-10 hours per day, and then you fast for 14-16 hours. Most people following this method choose to stop eating after dinner until lunch the following day.
The 5:2 diet is slightly more restrictive, allowing normal eating for 5 days per week. However, on the other 2 days you’re restricting calories heavily (like, only eating 500 calories on those days!).
Finally, the Eat Stop Eat and Alternate-day methods involve a complete fast for 2 – 3 days per week. Whoa. I would definitely be hangry on those days.
Like I said, these are just a few of the most popular intermittent fasting schedules. Some people actually fast for days or weeks at a time!
At least most fasting guidelines recommend sticking to eating healthy foods during the “eating window,” and of course maintaining regular exercise.
Are fasting teas a thing?
Fasting teas? Yeah, those exist. But what are they supposed to do…and are they legit?
Some tea brands, like Pique Tea, sell special “fasting teas.” These teas claim to help with satiety and energy so you can faster for longer periods of time. I didn’t see any iffy ingredients in any of the teas I looked into (unlike detox teas), but they mostly seemed like regular varieties of tea.
There is some research that suggests that tea could help with satiety. But I don’t think the claims from the brands specifically marketing “fasting tea” are very strong.
My advice? Just buy regular tea.
As always, it’s about lifestyle. NOT extreme changes.
If you’re on the fence about intermittent fasting, do some research and weigh the benefits vs. the risk. And of course be safe if you try it! No amount of weight loss is worth feeling restricted or tied down to a lifestyle that isn’t making you happy.
Fasting may be a sustainable practice for some people, but I’m going to bet that it’s not for most. You know I’m all about those sustainable lifestyle changes! If you’re working on making healthy changes to your diet, focus on eating whole, nutritious foods. Develop habits that you can stick to for the rest of your life.
I’m curious! Have you tried intermittent fasting? What did you think?
63 thoughts on “Is Fasting Good for You?”
There are 63 comments posted by our users.
I agree that you have to find something that you can stick to! Thanks for this amazing blog entry. In my opinion, I loved intermittent fasting. I tried it a few times already, sticking to it on and off. I don’t do It all the time, but mostly when I feel too bloated or have the feeling I gained some extra weight. It has always helped me with regulating my eating habits, especially not eating too much in the evening anymore. For the last time, I downloaded an IF app and started counting my calories for an extra kick. IF in itself is good, but with counting calories I gained a better understanding of certain types of food and how much to eat to feel satisfied, without having a food baby all the time. For my IF and calories tracker, I use Yazio for quite some time now. I searched for a good app to start tracking and I stuck with this one because it seemed easy to use. It has all the features I need: Intermittent fasting tool, possible, great database, barcode scanning for my foods (https://www.yazio.com/en/calorie-counter). How were your experiences with Intermittent Fasting? I know everyone is different, but I’m curious to know how your day looks like when you’re on IF!
Iam on IF for 4 months it’s pretty good and easy to follow. I also eat hethy whole food i cut out on sugar and preservatives. Along with piit and some weightlifting It helped me reaching my weight goal
I do intermittent fasting and here are
Top Ten health benefits of intermittent fasting :
1- Increases insulin sensitivity
2- Promotes weight loss without counting calories
3- Lowest triglycerides
4- Lowers blood pressure
5- Increases HGH
6- Reduces inflammation
7- Up regulates autophagy
8- Prevents type II diabetes
9- Reduces cancer risk
10- Increases longevity
Cassey , I think you are our role model!!! Even though you might not be a celebrity you are mine role model. I’m pretty sure a lot of people have you as a role model. I love your videos they inspire me so much.Thank you for making videos!
I used to really not be a breakfast person; I never wake up hungry so trying to get myself to eat a meal so early in the morning would make me feel sick! My job at the time involved me starting work at 11am and my lunch break would be around 3pm. I would skip breakfast but maybe grab a matcha latte around 11am, eat my first meal at 3pm, maybe grab a couple little snacks during the day then eat dinner around 8pm and it really worked for me! I didn’t feel like I was missing out and I lost weight! I realised this was basically intermittent fasting and I would say if it feels natural and works for you and your schedule, try it! I never set an intention to start fasting, it kind of just happened and it actually worked out great for me. As long as you are eating good meals it can be fine and totally healthy! Now that my schedule has changed, though, and I have a job where I wake up at 7am and start at 9am, I totally need breakfast or I feel DEAD by the time I reach the office! My advice is to find what works for you and your schedule at the time and go with it 🙂
I’ve tried intermittent fasting (16/8, 18/6 and 20/4) with keto and also intermittent fasting without changing my diet. When I didn’t change my diet, I felt completely awful and drained of all energy, but when doing keto, I felt full the whole time – sometimes to the point that it would be time to break my fast and I simply wasn’t hungry, so I just waited until I was. I also felt much more energetic, and was actually hydrating myself much more. Unfortunately, as a student, I couldn’t afford the high quality food over a long period of time, so ended up having to do a middle ground, where I was eating healthier than before, but not quite at strict as keto. I still don’t get that hungry, but don’t quite have the energy I did when doing keto.
I was actually doing something like “intermittent fasting” all along since I was around 18 (I’m 22 now). When I was younger than that , I would always try to eat breakfast and dinner since it was recommended for “losing weight” and “good metabolism” and skipping meals was a deadly sin. But I was forcing it so bad. I was never hungry in the morning, my first notice of hunger came around 10 AM every day (waking up at 6) and hunger stopped coming after around 5 PM.
So after a few years of forcing myself to eat breakfast that made me feel sick the whole morning and forcing family dinners that usually took place at 7 PM that gave me trouble sleeping, I told myself to screw what “is recommended” and started listening to my body. Told my fam that I will always enjoy weekend lunch with them, but the dinners are too late for me so I’ll skip them.
Fast forward to today, I feel 100% better when I skip breakfast/dinner when I’m not hungry. I take something with me on my way to university and eat when I’m hungry. So I have an 8 hour eating window almost every day, and fast for the rest. My weight is healthy, my body and mind feels healthy. I don’t know if I’d recommend fasting to everyone, but I’d totally recommend listening to your body and try what feels good, what compliments YOU.
I tried intermittent fasting sometime before. but what u said is correct. I made it as a bandage for unhealthy eating. I use to binge on foods. I convince myself that I haven’t ate for 14hrs.. so eat eat eat. I ate all sugary foods. I vil.not.have energy to workouts. so I made an excuse that i will be tired if i workout. yea it worked for me at first. i lost few kgs but my face looked very dehydrated. I could not sustain them for long term. After getting to normal eating I gained back all.my weight ( also few extra kgs ).. Now am trying hard to get a nice physique. Till now I couldn’t stop.my binge eating. I dont know whether this method is good for weight loss. May be it doesn’t work for me. Now am trying hard to go back for normal eating and workout regimen. 🙂
I am a HCA and work a night rotation. One week on and one week off. I do a 24 hour fast from my last meal to supper after my rotation. It seems to help reset me after I come off nights back to regular eating times. I tried intermittent fasting the 16/8 but I didn’t like how difficult it was to fit into my rotation. I’m also a busy mom with 4 kids and sometimes staying in a strict eating window did not work. Over all I have found that I just want to listen to my body ques and eat and drink when my body asks me to.🤗
I just wanted to add some information about this. This website: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/topics/fasting#time-restricted-eating has great information about fasting and addition benefits to it. Dr. Rhonda Patrick, the website owner, has done amazing research regarding body function in many contexts. I suggest looking at her website and everything she has on it! She has great information, podcasts, and videos including ones with other experts. Great woman to learn from.
I tried intermittent fasting but couldn’t stick with it for too long. I have seen people achieve some amazing results with and without this diet plan so while it is very useful, it is not absolutely necessary if you can control yourself and have regular and healthy meals over a long period of time
So here is the thing, I live in Milan where habitually dinner time is quite a bit later than when I lived in the US roughly anytime between 8 – 10 pm. For this reason, when I wake up in the morning I am typically barely hungry, and by default I just don’t end up eating till lunch sometime between noon and 2 pm. So, I intermittent fast without even trying. I wouldn’t say I gain weight, and I wouldn’t say I lose any either … I pretty much maintain. What is most important to me though is listening and checking in with my body. If there is a morning where I am hungry I eat whatever it is my body is craving. I behave in a similar way when selecting what to eat for lunch and dinner and live by Michael Pollan’s food rules “Eat food, not too much, mainly plants”.
Haha i pursued intermittent fasting for i guess 2 months? i did actually like it- is what I THOUGHT- however, my body didn’t respond well enough – i had lost my period instantly. to others it might sound like heaven, to me it was just pure sadness. i have always struggled with absence of period or irregular pattern but intermittent fasting just made it worse. Intermittent fasting is not even recommended to women in the first place because of its tremendous effects on our hormone system – and i can assure you that the worries are reasonable enough, i experienced them first hand.
well, destroying your entire regulative system which your body has BUILT UP TO is quite contra productive…
But hey, all bodies are different so maybe there are a few who can live with fasting and reach their goals! Just remember that all bodies are different and not everyone can adapt to certain lifestyle and diet changes!
It also purifies the body from toxins and getting rid of bad cholestrol. It gives the practice of being more positive towards life. But it’s not about keeping yourself hungry for many days or more than a month. Your body needs nutirtion and balance then the rest of the year should be on balanced diet and listening to your body and a lot of hydration with lemon and mint. Some people can’t control the appetite.
I like to have a balanced meal plan. But i can’t control myself.
My fasting is religious fasting for a month only every year. That is purely religious that makes me stop eating from morning before sun rises to sunset. First few days are just body takes time to adjust and then become the part of routine. But i eat good in the morning and good in the evening. Depends on me what i want for myself.
I feel like if i don’t control my eating choices even in fasting it doesn’t affect my weight loss. For example i am eating full heavy meals it doesn’t affect anything. So the meal plan should also be there to shake the weight. This time i m eating less carbs it seems it is helping me to burn. Plus spiritual benefits. Otherwise i am always looking for something to eat. Serving kids their snacks; i am with them. That’s hard to stop yourself otherwise.
Conclusion: I am sad now this fasting month is ending. A lots of benefits plus self control, patience, forgiveness, blessings. Abstaining from bad habits just because i am fasting.
God says: if you don’t stop your bad deeds i ‘ve nothing to do with your hunger. It’s kind a practice every year to stop yourself while being negative. A reminder. Because we all start again as human being. Best wishes.
Yes! I just started fasting from 6pm to around 10am. I’ve been at it for a few weeks and still go on my runs during the weekend in the AM. I wanted to do it because i noticed I ate most of my empty calories at night after my daughter went to bed. So I figured, why not try it! It is almost 9am right now and I am of course thinking of food, but I’m not ravenous. Everyone is different. I don’t do anything too intense while in fasting, but it helps with all those empty calories consumed. This came at the right time since I’ve been wondering about IF on a deeper level. I have been breaking out a bit more, but that could also be due to my monthly friend lol.
I do intermittent fasting…and want to loose….I see your videos they are really really very helpful to me…I just want to ask….If l stop intermittent fasting then will I gain weight or anything else…? And thank you for helping me in weight loss journey..😄😄
Some studies have shown that IF may not be suitable for women due to more hormonal imbalances, this doesn’t seem to affect men. Did you find this too? I tried IF in the past and definitely felt on some days more moody and hangry in the mornings than on others but that may be due to intensity of work too! Would be interesting to know what you think about it?
Thank you for sharing these thoughts, really clear message. A friend recently shared she was doing somehting similar to 16/8, which started a conversation. I feel that ultimately learning how to listen to the body is likely the best way to go with this. To me this is really about knowing where the limit is, and less about the structure. Translating might mean “ok, so I’m under the 14hours, am I still able to think, feel balanced, and not stressed?” If the answer is a sounding No, then probably it’s good to be flexible. To me, if stress starts to criple the body, there might be signs it is not wokring, and each body is different, each morning is different, each moment of our lives impacts how we consume energy. I normally have a steady base of 12h between dinner and breakfast and have implemented better check-ins during morning to allow myself space to consider how i am feeling. And the quality of nutrition is key here I would say. What we don’t eat when we are fasting is not to justify what we eat when not fasting – that’s like exercising to eat junk food.
I do the 16/8 fasting method. I feel great when I do it. I stopped it for a vacation and didn’t feel as great
I do a 12- 14 hour fast most days and I feel great when I wake up. I used to wake up bloated but I feel great now. I try not to eat past dinner time so if that is around 6 or 7, I will normally have my breakfast after my workout at around 9:30 or 10. Now this is during quarantine so I have time to eat later on, but if this was a regular time I would eat breakfast at around 7:30.
I started fasting first week of February this year. I had went to doctor and they weighed me, when I went back the first week of March I was down 23 pounds. I also keep it low carb and nothing but fresh foods. Nothing processed. I keep my body guessing one day I might do 16:8 next 23:1 then 18:6, I have done a 28 hour. But I mostly listen to my body during my fast to determine how long my window is. I love the way fasting makes me feel. I have came off of two prescription medications, one for blood pressure ( I was taking two now I am unfortunately still on one ) the other for inflammation and joint pain. My weight loss has leveled out ( yes I need to lose more ) but I’ve maintained what I have loss to date. I plan on trusting the process and sticking to this way of life for me. My next goal is to start exercising leaning up and toning. I also want to say I have went through menopause and unfortunately still having hot flashes but it is a huge accomplishment for me to be able to lose my menopausal weight gain. My body is not accustomed to carrying around alot of weight. Before menopause I eat anything I wanted and never gained a pound. So even tho I am 49 and I know your followers are of the younger generation I will be trying to participate in utilizing your videos. Your only as old as you feel and in my mind I don’t feel 49. So hopefully I can keep up with you, although I may have to use modifiers for a while I will get there eventually. Thanks
I was never much of a breakfast-eater so about a year ago I decided to try intermittent fasting. I eat lunch at 12 and dinner somewhere between 17:00 and 20:00. I eat clean for those meals but I eat until I am full. Personally, I had a lot of issues with feeling hungry (like, all the time). Intermittent fasting has taught me what kind of “hunger” I need to satisfy and which is just me being bored or maybe not 100% full anymore. I am going for over a year now – probably because I am not super strict about it, but I usually eat twice a day unless I have a late night out/working late etc.
I have experience in fasting.
I did a 1-week fast for health reasons. Not to lose weight, to meditate, find to myself and concentrate on spiritual health. For one week all I had was tee, vegetable juice at lunchtime and fruit juice at dinner time. I guess I averaged at about 300 calories a day. The strangest thing was: I did NOT feel hungry. What I did feel was a feeling of peace and happiness. I had long walks and meditated.
Now for weight loss: I did lose 8 pounds in one week. this weight was back on about a month later. But then again I dod NOT do it for weightloss but for spiritual reasons.
Would I do it again? Maybe. But this is not something you should do on a whim. It needs to be prepared and the days after the fast are also important to sloooowly ease back into eating, if you do this incorrectly, you might get really sick, stomach-wise…
I have tried the 5:2 diet and while it is successful for weight loss, once you finish it the pounds just go back on. The best diet i have found is the 2 day diet. Where 2 days a week you cut out all carbs and then the other 5 you eat fairly normally but in moderation. This was a diet I did 6 years ago and i now stick to it in my day to day life and have kept the weight off. Would deffo recommend.
In my Chinese medical school, the feeding teacher analyzed intermittent fasting from the point of view of this medicine. It can be useful, but only in the evening (skip dinner) and only if you don’t have to do anything and go to bed early. If you just have to go to the cinema, you have to eat. The breakfast the next day must then be very abundant. Fasting the greenhouse allows the Yin to “fix and clean the body” (explained in simplistic terms). My teacher said that these benefits can also be had by going 1 or 2 dinners a week. The fact remains, however, that during the rest of the day you have to eat well.
Hi, I really like your post! I’m on 16:8 intermittent fasting. That fits my daily routine perfect. I can’t eat in the morning and so I made it my habit!
Love, B
hey Cassey, ive ben doing the 8:16 method for about 4 weeks now and for me it really helped with uncontrolled eating, meaning that im actually eating healthier and more toughtfull now. The thing that made the biggest impact for me is that i no longer get tired after meals and i acully dont binge as much as before. However it took me about two weeks befor i noticed these benefits.
I intermittent fast on a daily! 🙂 I find it to be suitable for my digestion and also gets my productivity up.
I really like intermittent fasting and think my body works a lot better on it. I do my cardio in the morning – if i eat before i really struggle and i feel lethargic after eating it. Fasting makes me drink a lot more water too. The first couple of days i was hungry but now i never eat till about 12pm and feel great for it! ✨ just listen to your body and see what works best for you
Many Christians fast as a way to overcome various temptations and to devote more of their time to God. You replace time spent cooking and eating with bible study. I recently did a 2 week water fast for this reason. After day 8 my energy levels were really high. I didn’t feel tired and I was very productive. My mental clarity was amazing. For me I am able to fast safely because I have learned how to fast from several pastors like Miles Monroe. But to fast just to loose weight seems unnecessary. You could actually just eat raw vegetables for several days ( no cheating) and see better results than not eating at all. The fiber and water in vegetables causes your body to flush out a lot of waste. It’s basically like a natural colon cleaning.
It is the month of Ramadan in the Muslim community and we fast from sun up to sun down for 30 days. It is an amazing experience. You are less burdened during this time and for us we do not consume water either! Nope, not even water. Nothing from dawn to dusk. In my community even after Ramadan we strive to eat only one meal a day ,(you can have water, tea, or coffee) as we believe this is the beginning of the best way to honor your body by letting it rest between meals and not overworking it with the constant shoveling of foods. I definitely attain clarity of thought and mind during these times and maintain high energy which is important as a fitness Instructor teaching multiple classes.😊
I actually started Intermittent fasting this week. For two days (not together), I stopped eating, after dinner, which was close to 11 p.m, since my husband works late, and I didn’t eat to close to 2 the next day. I wanted to stretch it to 4 p.m, but got feeling so hungry that I just caved.. Seems a little tricky, but there are some benefits to it.
I tried but not working
I am in day 8th of intermittent fasting and doing regular exercise as well. I feel so good for myself. I don’t even crave for sweets, junk or whatever. Yes ! Nothing.
I am loving it…
As a Muslim, we are used to fasting, in this case, it applied to the intermittent fasting category. In fact, we do it 30 days straight during Ramadhan (I assured you, the level of concentration and determination is increased during that month!). I enjoyed every second of it, and kinda love the way I’m giving my digestive tract a break. But it all comes back to what you eat when you break fast. Studies showed that eating nutritious meals when breaking fast will enhance the fasting experience, gorging it processed carbs and junk food tends to make me more fatigue during fastimg periods.
Hi Cassey! I used to intermittent fast back when my schedule as a baker was 4am-12pm. I’d start eating after I got off work, and since my bf didn’t get home till around 8 or 9pm, we’d eat dinner together, meaning I’d still be full when I got up at 3am the next day for work. Quarantine changed our schedules and at first I maintained the fast, but I felt like I was forcing myself not to eat when I was hungry, so I decided to just start eating when I felt hungry and go about my day as normal, not worrying about any sort of “eating window.” I have not gained any weight since quitting intermittent fasting, and my relationship with food is a lot better now. So that’s my two cents 🙂 I feel like it works best if it fits well with your schedule; otherwise just eat (balanced meals) when you’re hungry. Obviously if it’s for religious purposes that’s a different story, but purely for weightloss I’d say it just adds unnecessary stress to the experience of eating.
I’ve been trying out intermediate fasting 16:8 window, with an occasional 18:6. I eat very clean and healthy, along with regular exercise. I’ve only tried this type for a week or so, but I’ve been doing a similar type of fasting back in highschool where I didn’t eat past 6pm. It helped me maintain my weight in the past. I’m currently 134 lbs, 5’3, I’ve got some muscle on me haha. I’m not overweight but I’m not as lean as I’d like to be. So I decided to try out intermediate fasting to see if it could help me shed a couple pounds. So far I’ve experienced mental clarity when I study in the morning, and energy throughout the day. Not gonna lie though, I did feel quite fatigued, dizzy, and a little nauseous for 30 minutes during yesterdays fast. I layed down and waited it out. But if I ever feel very unwell, of course I’m going to listen to my body and eat! But so far, I’m enjoying it 😄.
So I’ve just recently been getting into intermediate fasting. I realized that’s what I unknowingly did during high school. I didn’t really have time to eat breakfast cause school started really early so I would just eat during break and lunch. I would have an early dinner or no dinner at all (depending on how I was feeling) and I used to work out. Although my lunches and snacks were filling they were always healthy.
I feel a lot better, I used to “force” myself to eat breakfast (cause it’s supposedly healthier to do so) and then I spiralled into anxiety which just made me eat all day.
I’m in a better headspace and intermediate fasting has made me feel more normal
I love fasting, I eat in a 4 to 5 hour window every day. I’m very conscious of the types of food I eat and have an extremely healthy diet. I do have one cheat meal on Friday of anything I want. I lost 20 pounds I just couldn’t shed doing this and have kept it off for almost 3 years now. It has become second nature now and I can’t imagine ever going back to eating all day long again.
I’ve tried the 5:2 style of fasting before (a few years ago), and it did result in some weight loss. But, at the end of the day, I found that it wasn’t a sustainable diet – it made me feel so obsessed with restriction and on the days where I wasn’t eating enough, I felt tired, and cranky and all that bad stuff. I haven’t looked back at that since and I think I’ve found a good balance of healthier meals that I actually love to cook and eat! I love food too much to make it something I become anxious over! Xx
I’ve unintentionally been intermittent fasting since high school and I’m 26 now. I do have narcolepsy type 2 so I have to take modafinil in the morning and afternoon. I realized my stomach couldn’t handle eating things early in the morning and I realized I wasn’t hungry until lunchtime. Before quarantine I would eat my 2 meals coming home from work at 5pm-9pm. If I did feel hungry I had nuts and fruit or a salad at work to eat but nothing too heavy. If I ate my meals at work I wouldn’t be able to concentrate and feel sluggish even with my medication. It sounds horrible not eating for that long but it’s to help me stay awake. Post quarantine I eat 2-3 meals from 12pm-6pm with nuts and fruit in between.
I’ve been doing intermittent fasting (16:8 or 18:6) for the past couple years, and it works great for me. Growing up I always heard that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, but whenever I ate breakfast, it would often make me feel sick to my stomach. If not, eating that early in the morning would make me ravenously hungry the rest of the day and I’d end up overeating. So it suits me much better to begin eating in the afternoon. I’ve also struggled with binge eating for years, and having an “eating window” that closes at a certain time keeps me from overeating late at night.
I started doing IF again and it’s been about a month now. It fits perfectly with my schedule cuz I don’t have to rush to try to eat breakfast before I head in for work so my first meal is around noon. I still eat 3 meals a day and then either a snack or dessert. I find that I’m not as hungry as I used to be between meals and my mood and attitude is better for that. Also when I have the chance to workout in the morning, I’m more energized and perform better when fasted and don’t feel weighed down by the food in my belly. I still make sure that I eat enough cuz I can see how some people end up severely restricting calories to where IF is more harmful than beneficial.
I always want to try it but I was not sure if I can be at work and start to eat the first meal at noon. So I used opportunity of home office/quarantine and I have been doing 16/8 for about nine weeks. For the first few weeks I had some side effects as constipation, flatulence…I exercise at least 30 minutes per day often in morning fasting window as I have now sedimentary lifestyle..I also used some fat burner (as this is good mood booster as well) and I did not lost any weight, I see more muscles on my arms and maybe abs (not sure). I think I might eat not enough calories in eating window so I at least bought protein shake to have enough proteins. I am 35 years old and I believe I would have been very skinny and muscular if I had been 10 or more years younger.But I like this new style as I can have more calories in afternoon meals – so I am not scared to have some butter on vegetable, more egg yolks, mozarella etc. So I will stick on this lifestyle for a while and Lets wait if I see some results on fat percentage. I am wondering what my body will do once I am back at work. Because normaly I tend to be angry when I am hungry (this came with age, after 30)…So maybe fasting will help me to avoid this hAngry feelings 🙂 Sorry for language, I am from CZ 🙂
I just want to add that my mother do fasting (last meal about 5-6pm) for year or more and she lost quite a lot of belly fat without any dieting or exercising…
I think we do have to be careful. Also, each one of us are different, with different levels of activity, possible vitamin deficiences, chronic diseases, taking various medications that have side effects and requirements, etc, etc. One coworker I know worships fasting like it’s an occult, but she has turned extremely angry, irrational and just plain mean. What does that say? And that’s just one such negative example. I have more. Good to be a skeptic given constant fads and trends.
I have been doing intermittent fasting for several months now and my doctor gave it the ok and has been pleased with my results so far. I eat from 11-7 which isn’t a huge change for me. I’m usually so busy at work I’m unable to eat anything before 11 anyway. The biggest change is being strict with my no eating after 7. I have lost about 30 pounds so far. I’ve gone down 2 pant sizes, and I feel good. I don’t have less energy or feel dizzy. Most of my fast time I’m asleep for and If I do feel hungry i Will drink water and that is typically what I’m hungry for. I think the most important thing for people to remember is you can’t go crazy during your eat times. You have to eat normally and you should be trying to eat healthier as you’re doing it as well. Also. Results aren’t Always shown in weight loss. One week I may lose a pound or 2 and the next week I won’t lose any weight but I will lose inches around my body. I do recommend intermittent fasting if done properly but definitely do your research before jumping in. It’s definitely changed they was my household eat for the better, but it isn’t for everybody.
ive been accidentally intermittent fasting since probably the beginning of quarantine due to having nothing to wake up early for so naturally, I’d be falling asleep between 12-3am and waking up at 11/12. However, doing this has clearly trained my body to eat less but also, slightly scarier; i just dont feel hungry. like at all. i haven’t used that as an excuse to not eat anything at all because i know that’s plain unhealthy (for me anyway) but it’s kind of scary how easy it’s becoming to forget to eat 😬 on the other hand, i have noticed a more snatched waist recently though so im not entirely complaining lmao 😝
I’ve been doing it but my hours I do it have been changing. But I deleted my app because I was tired of feeling devoted to it. I felt benefits of IF but also some days I don’t think I ate enough. And other times I wasn’t hungry but I’d eat just because I knew I hadn’t eaten enough and wanted to make sure I was full until morning. You definitely need to have a good relationship with food, and I’m not sure I’m there yet which is no big deal, but I am grateful I tried it!
Jamie-Lynn
I think fasting is not for me especially since i had a pretty disoredered relationship with food and still struggle with food anxiety from time to time working on it though 👌foti
I do a combination of both intermittent fasting (12-8) and the 5:2 diet, for me it works out well because I am usually not hungry for breakfast in the morning anyway. And the 2 days I fast are not too difficult because I allow myself to eat more than 500 calories if I did activity that day, and since quarantine started I definitely have been doing a lot of exercise. However, I am also not someone who gets very hungry very often due to having a naturally slow metabolism, so I can see how if your metabolism is fast it would definitely not work for well for you.
I’ve been doing intermittent fasting (11am-7pm) for the majority of quarantine so far and it’s been working very well! definitely gives me the guidelines and control I need in my otherwise overturned and lawless life, and prevents mindless eating. Definitely not for everyone, but it’s really helped for me!
I started intermittent fasting on Sunday of this week and I am down 3 lbs (I assume it’s a lot of water weight). I find that if I stop eating at 8pm the night before, I can wake up, be productive, do a workout at 11am and then eat at 12pm. The schedule seems to work well for me, especially because I’ve been sleeping in during this quarantine. It’ll probably also work well for me once things get back to normal, since I’m a teacher and we never have time to eat until lunch time (if we’re lucky)!
I’ve been doing 8:16 IF for about 2 years now, it has become a life style for me. I normally eat between 9 to 5, or 8 to 4 since lock down. I generally eat healthy anyway : no refined carbs, cut out added sugar though I will have cake/chocolate 2-3 times a month, lots of veg. Since end of April I’m combining keeping a food diary with IF, in order to achieve my desired body fat percentage around July. It’s not for everyone but I’m someone who a, live on my own and only have to feed myself, b, like structure and routine. I’m not anal about the window. For instance, if I dine out eith friends I won’t frantically push my breakfast back to ensure I fast for 16 hours.
I actually kind of practiced intermittent fasting accidentally for awhile. I have a lot of time in the morning before I feel like eating breakfast around 11, then ate lunch at 1 or 2, dinner at around 8. It worked well for me. I hate eating right before or after exercise and would often work out in the AM, putting me off my breakfast until almost lunchtime. It all changed when my job changed my schedule, but I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if it worked better for my schedule/lifestyle. Those other fasts sound terrible to me.
I recently read up on a post that said intermittent fasting is a type of disordered eating, as it promotes disorderly behaviour around food such as ignoring hunger cues when they occur outside of the assigned “eating window”, can possibly accelerate the path to unhealthy binges, and even develop anxiety over the rules created around eating and food . While I do believe fasting for your culture holds entirely different significance, I think intermittent fasting may have potentially been culturally appropriated by the diet industry to promote weight loss when you should just listen to your body and eat when you want/need. If you happen to still eat in this style because its part of your routine and its healthy, then power to you! I just feel like its unnecessary to call skipping breakfast or sleeping for a longer time “fasting”, why does the way we eat need to be labelled or classified at all? This is just my personal opinion, and I would not be so harsh to say that people who fast have an eating disorder, but may simply be involved in disorderly behaviour. Would love to see anybody else’s opinion on this!
I believe that IF can lead to disordered eating if you do not have a healthy relationship with food! I see benefits of it, as I’ve tried for a bit to do it. I’ve also watched nutritionists videos explain that it’s not skipping breakfast and people who do IF are still eating the same number of calories which I do not believe. But I do agree, power to you if it’s healthy, but be cautious of disordered eating
Agree!
I agree it has all to do with your relationship with food! I know some people would get triggered by this comment because they think they’re psychologically fine when in reality I feel it is just a cover up for restrictive eating. However I think as long as people are listening to their hunger cues and those cues happen to be between the hours of 12-8 or something then it’s all good, but there definitely shouldn’t be such strict guidelines and people shouldn’t place rules around eating/food in general in my opinion!
I just realized that I practice intermittent fasting and didn’t even realize it! I don’t eat breakfast because it upsets my stomach and makes me feel bloated. So the first meal I eat in a day is lunch. Then I have snacks later in the afternoon, dinner in the evening, and maybe some dessert – all within 8-10 hours! I’m not trying to lose weight or restrict what I eat – this is just the natural rhythm for eating for me. I workout just before lunch and then again after work (quarantine habit – not my usual schedule!).