Intermittent fasting...update

[buhbye12]

SO... here are my stats: 167/166.5/130. Yeah. Christmas, holiday visitors, going out of town a few times... all have taken their toll. I'm starting to wonder if I am mentally (subconsciously?) not prepared to be thinner. I never lose more than about 5 pounds before my inner-saboteur gets me and I cave into junk food.

I have been reading the "Good Calories, Bad Calories" book by Gary Taubes. Absolutely fascinating! It makes me sick that such a scam has been perpetrated against the trusting and uninformed public for decades. I bet my dad that he couldn't lose 24 pounds by July 4 (my goal is to lose 30), and he said he is going to follow (ACK!) the Dean Ornish plan!!! I immediately bought him the Taubes book, and he, predictably, hasn't cracked it open yet. He is a baby-boomer who grew up all his life hearing that FAT is the enemy, so he is adamantly opposed to trying the Atkins WOE - he REFUSES to even listen to me when I try to talk to him about it. He keeps saying he's afraid for me to do it because fat causes heart disease and "high protein diets aren't good for you!". I guess I'm going to have to show him. I can't wait to go to my doctor this summer and see what my blood work looks like. And then I'll show it to my dad, who no doubt will still have a size 38 waist.

Anyway, I wanted to bring this up and see who might be interested/ have any experience with this:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/a...ay_to_bet.html

The above is a blog entry by the author of Protein Power, Dr. Michael Eades. It discusses the topic of INTERMITTENT FASTING. I found this information made SO much sense to me. The last time I weighed close to my goal weight (135 - this was 6 years ago), I had actually been doing this without realizing it. I was eating only once a day, and my meal was fairly low in carbs. I lost about 20 pounds in 3 months doing that! I had started a walking/jogging regimen too, but, as we've learned from Taubes's book, that has a negligible effect on weight loss, so I can't say that did anything but make my legs look nicer and more defined.

Anyway, I have decided to start doing that again: I have been giving myself a 3-hour window during which to eat (5pm-8pm), so there are 21 hours in the day that I put nothing in my mouth that has calories. (I have grown very fond of those flavored waters that have zero calories.) I actually had gained 3 pounds over Christmas and doing this plan I am back down to 166.5. It is SOO easy to meal plan - only one to worry about! I love the feeling of REAL hunger, too. By dinnertime, I am totally looking forward to my meal. I found during Induction, time and time again, I was almost nauseated by my choices - making myself eat meat, meat, meat and fat, fat, fat - I just didn't want any part of it after a while and not just because it suppressed my appetite. Now, each meal excites me!

Would anyone like to chime in on this topic? Please read the above-mentioned blog post by Dr. Eades if you are interested.

I have fasted before and know the benefits of giving your body a break from the constant task of digestion. It is good for so many reasons. (Google "fasting benefits" and you'll see.) I have read the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog - he tried intermittent fasting and said it wasn't for him. I imagine not everyone could do it and be happy, but so far I am pleased.

I also read this blog:

http://everyotherdayfast.blogspot.com/

This guy lost over 50 pounds in 9 months eating every other day. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but he stuck with it and got the results he wanted.

Hope to hear from some of you. I understand this isn't exactly the "Atkins" diet, (yes, I read the newest Atkins book), but would it be so bad to mix it up a little and combine 2 known health boosters (low carb and short fasts) to really get the best results I can?

I love steak. Have I said that yet? Well, I do. I love steak. Yum.

[blue996]

So you eat all your calories in one meal? I just wonder if that will mess with your metabolism in some way.

[Grant]

Fasting is one of those things that I just have a closed mind about. I jsut can't believe that it would be healthy for you and I just shudder at the thought of someone doing that to themselves.

On the other hand I recognize that my closed mind is very similair to the way a lot of people feel about Atkins. They just *know* it's bad for you but they've never really looked into it.

Oddly, even though objectively I realize this is unfair, I still can't bring myself to entertain the thought that it is a good idea.

huh!

[buhbye12]

Hi Blue996.

My understanding of this whole fasting thing is that you are actually TRYING to lower your metabolism. A lower metabolism apparently means a longer life span. For me, the fasting is not so much for the weight loss as for the health benefits it gives.

I am after 2 things: HEALTHY weight loss and EASY weight loss. After reading that article, there's no doubt in my mind that fasting is healthy. And combined with a low-carb WOE, I think it's a no-brainer for becoming healthy AND slimmer.

I know, I know, we have been getting it crammed down our throats for years that you "need to boost your metabolism" to lose weight, that you need to "eat 6 small meals a day to keep your metabolism up". I've tried that approach, and all it does is make me CONSTANTLY think about food... "what will I eat for my first snack, for lunch, for my second snack, for dinner...?" I think all that talk about high metabolism is overrated. Obese people who eat 6 times a day have high metabolisms too - what's it doing for them?

If you read the blog entry by Dr. Eades I listed on my initial post, it talks more about fasting increasing health and longevity than about weight loss. But when he and his wife undertook a 24-hour fast every other day, they said they couldn't help but lose weight in the process - even though they were consuming roughly the same amount of calories they would have had they eaten normally. So, did their metabolism slow down? Maybe their bodies became a little more efficient at utilizing the calories they ingested because of the 24-hour break from digestion. I don't know how it all works, and I get the impression that the doctors out there aren't too sure either, they just see the evidence. It lowers BP, helps auto-immune disorders, helps diabetes, etc..

But again, it is definitely not for everyone. I just know that it has been a godsend to me. I feel like I remember reading in my search for answers that you can't really change your innate metabolism THAT MUCH - that your metabolism is genetically pre-determined. (Of course, I can't remember where I saw that, so I can't back it up.)

Have you read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" yet? Seriously, it is an eye-opener. And it talks about metabolism and exercise as well as totally debunking the whole "fat is evil" myth.

[buhbye12]

Hi Grant, thanks for reading my very long post and giving me your input. Perhaps this website (one of hundreds on the subject of the health benefits of fasting) can shed a little light on the matter:

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psycho...ology/fast.htm

The study that Dr. Eades refers to in his blog is more about caloric restriction versus fasting, and the conclusion was that, though both approaches allowed for a much longer life span in the study subjects (rats), the rats who got to eat all they wanted only every other day were actually healthier and happier than the day-in, day-out, calorically restricted rats. Again, this is more for HEALTH than WEIGHT LOSS for me. I just got tired of the Atkins diet when I was eating 3 meals a day, which made it harder for me to stay on. This study confirmed to me that I can healthfully eat only one meal a day and lose weight. I look forward to my meals now, instead of dreading them.

BTW - did you take a look at the blog by the guy who ate every other day? I was perusing his food intake earlier and he ate pretty poorly sometimes, yet he still managed to lose over 50 pounds in 9 months! I mean, the guy ate McDonalds and Dominos pizza at least twice a week. I'm not saying that's good, I'm trying to point out that there must be something to the fasting thing, or how could that work?

[not2late]

I think Taube's book also mentioned a study that found with calorie restriction diets people lose weight, but once they are allowed to eat "normal" calorie amounts ("normal" as in the number of calories their bodies are meant to have), they regain their weight and then some. Plus their hunger is insatiable, so they have a tendency to over-eat. So maybe fasting might work as long as it is done not only for weight loss, but also weight maintenence. And when it comes to weight maintenance, I think it would get complicated because you would have to balance the nutrients so that you don't under-nourish yourself. In other words, you'd have to make sure that you are indeed eating a good balance of nutrients and eating enough of these nutrients to sustain your body during the fasting periods.

The other thing I would worry about is the effect on insulin secretion. Your body has no food/glucose, then you give it a big dose. In response, your bod would sent out a big amount of insulin. I don't know how that would effect your general health in the long run.

But I guess if it works for you...Personally, I don't like feeling hungry: I spent too much time already feeling that way when I was a low fat vegan/vegetarian. I only felt satisfied (not hungry) when I had finished eating, but after an hour or two, I was ready to gnaw on my coffee mug. And it wasn't long before food controlled me to the point that I looked forward to my meals, not because I really liked eating lentil-carrot stew, but because I was so hungry anything was appealing. I can't go back to that way of existing because I like being able to enjoy my food because I like the flavors, aroma and appearnce, rather than eating whatever it is because I'm starving.

[kate58]

I know food is a fuel for life, and that many people who struggle with their weight have a seriously love/hate relationship with it.

But, to me at least, food is also a pleasure, it is a social thing, something to share. I like nothing more than cooking a good meal or something tasty for family and friends, or sitting down to enjoy shared food in the company of people I love or whose company I enjoy.

Fasting is anethema to this. I don't want an 'eating window' at some specified time or whole days where those pleasures are denied me.

I love Atkins, because I can enjoy my food, I can still cook healthy and tasty meals for the people I care for, share sociable food and conversation any day or time I like and live a normal life when it comes to eating. Fasting every other day certainly isn't normal to my way of thinking, and I have difficulty seeing how it would fit into a normal family or social life.

It may be healthy, I dunno, but so are other ways of eating. Maybe it makes you live longer - but you know, we are all gonna die and while I don't want to do anything to hasten the end, the quality of my life is just as important to me as its quantity.

[buhbye12]

Thanks, all, for your replies.

Yes, I have read in many different places that when you restrict calories too much, if (or when) you go back to the way you were eating before, you will regain the weight you lost (just like all the people who fall of the wagon on Atkins... re-re-re-induction, anyone?). But this is not Calorie Restriction, it's FASTING. Big difference. I eat quite normally while I'm eating, and I am completely satisfied at the end of my 3 hour window.

I actually feel that this is something I can probably do for a lifetime. I never seem to care about eating much until around 2pm, so what's a couple more hours for the sake of my health? And you're right - when family is around it isn't as easy. I actually have been doing it only on the weekdays, then on the weekends I have been eating lunch and dinner.

My calorie intake during my 3 hours is probably slightly lower than if I had been grazing all day, but I by no means am starving. I break the fast with a protein and a fat - maybe a piece of lunchmeat wrapped around some cream cheese. That takes the edge off. Then I cook dinner for the family, and I probably eat more like a meal and a half-worth of food.

As for the insulin spike, wouldn't I need a large infusion of carbs to set that off? From the reading I have done, there seems to be something going on during the fast that tempers those effects, anyway. Dr. Eades and his wife normally eat low-carb, but they said they didn't during the fast, just to see what happened, and they still felt great and lost some weight.

Don't get me wrong - I love eating, too! So much so, that it seems to get me into trouble. It has helped me a great deal to give myself this one restriction. Since starting this, I noticed the things I crave for my eating window are almost always healthy choices. I CRAVE meat and fat, I CRAVE a nice big salad. I don't crave bread and cookies and donuts like I did before. My body seems to want the healthy food after going without for most of a day.

But hey! I only just started this, you know? Check back with me in couple months and I'll let you know just how DO-able it is. So far I am contentedly full and feel more vitality. But maybe I'll crash and burn. I just want everyone out there to maybe not eschew the idea of an occasional fast - it is a well-documented curative and - believe me - going for 20 hours without food is NOT THAT HARD. Your body doesn't go into starvation mode that soon, so you don't need to worry about that, and maybe we should remind ourselves once in a while what it's like to actually be HUNGRY. There are plenty of people in the world who know that feeling on a daily basis because they have no choice. We are so incredibly lucky to have an endless food supply.

I know a lot of you reading this are thinking how un-healthy it is to go without food. But isn't this type of fasting done around the world by certain religious sects to no ill-effect? Isn't it during Ramadan that you can't eat until the evening? I don't think any of those people starve to death from waiting till sunset for a meal. The worst thing I've heard is some people say they feel faint or weak. So have a cup of bullion (sodium) and take a potassium supplement to replenish your electrolytes. That's what I do, though I have never actually felt weak or faint - I have plenty of fat stores for my body to draw energy from.

[Sera]

my aunt does fasting every now and then inbetween her weightwatchers plan and she is quite grumpy while doing so and the little weight she loses is back on in no time once she goes back to the original plan.
tell me all u want but i do not, cannot, believe it is healthy to do this for more than a few days.

i was gonna write some more things but thought better of it and did not do it, I'm not going to bring my personal beliefs into this as I dont want to be "enemy of the board" lol

[buhbye12]

Hi Sera, thanks for reading my posts.

I have stressed that it is not for weight loss that I am embarking on this journey, but rather the fasting is to complement the health benefits of the low-carb WOE. Did you read the blog entry by Dr. Eades? I put that link in so whoever is interested can read for themselves exactly WHY I decided to try this. Did you read the article about the health benefits of fasting? (Link is in a separate entry on this thread.) I think it's written by a university student, but she still brings up some no-nonsense facts about fasting. You should read them.

As far as I am concerned, this has worked for me since starting over a week ago. I don't obsess about food like I did before (trying to plan 3 or 4 "approved" meals a day gave me too much room for error) and it fits in with my "style" of eating: I am a big-meal eater. I don't feel satisfied until I have eaten a big meal. I can't just snack on 3-oz packets of tuna and mayo.

I can't stress enough that it is definitely NOT for everyone, but it has been working for me.