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This assumption that people who overeat can just suddenly start fasting for hours at a time kind of makes me chuckle.
If people could just simply decide to stop eating for long periods of time, they wouldn't be fat in the first place.
From my own experience, intermittent fasting is something you're better off gradually easing into, rather than going from 0 to 60 with it overnight. It's also a lot easier to do if you're on a low carb or keto diet, where you're eating a lot of fat, which keeps you sated a lot longer than carbs do.
Years ago, I was a whole-foods, low-fat vegan for a couple of years, and I doubt I could have done IF while on it because I was hungry so often, but caloric restriction was easy due to the food being of low caloric density. I currently eat low-carb, high-fat, and have no trouble at all going 18-20 hours or more without eating, and without thinking about food. Occasionally, I'll go for 30-40 hours without getting hunger cues or feeling any desire to eat.
Intermittent fasting is just another means of calorie restriction, when you get down to it. I eat to satiety within my "window," and don't eat again until I feel genuine hunger. That's it. I don't have to bother with counting or keeping track of calories, which is great because I really, really stink at that. But once in a while I'll track my food for a week out of curiosity, then average out my daily caloric intake from that, and I'm always right on target.
Lots of people can't quit smoking...until they do. I was never obese so i can't speak to the difficulties of being obese but I know the only way to stop something is to stop, somehow. I used to smoke so I know how hard that is, and yet somehow I did it. Twice. Changing my eating habits and losing weight has been a piece of cake (ironic pun) compared to that. For me. Quitting smoking was a very, very difficult struggle for over a year. Cutting carbs was only moderately difficult, and only for about a week.
It’s interesting because my spouse did IF for some time, and then hit the wall in terms of body composition. He lost the 50 pounds he needed to, but his visceral fat level did not budge at a certain point. Then, a couple of months ago, a study came out suggesting that IF causes loss of subcutaneous fat... but can also cause visceral fat the be more resistant. I guess the take-home message is that IF works, but only to a certain point.
Even as a kid I hated breakfast and never ate it. So I have been doing IF for over 55 years. I am more conscientious now about only eating between 12-6.
Even as a kid I hated breakfast and never ate it. So I have been doing IF for over 55 years. I am more conscientious now about only eating between 12-6.
You were ahead of your time and didn't even know it.
Yea, I don't think anyone is claiming it doesn't work. Simply that it is not the superior way of losing weight vs chronic calorie restriction. IF is great for adherence purposes. If intermittent fasting were far superior I would be doing it but for me chronic calorie restriction works just fine.
I'll claim that it is. For myself anyway. It comes down to the individual adherence purpose you mention though. Put food in front of me all day, don't expect me to be able to successfully restrict my calorie intake. Close that eating window to just 6 hours or or even 1 hour on 24 hour fast days and it is far more likely I will have a calorie deficit by the end of the 24 hour period.
Currently doing Keto and IF. My ultimate goal is to eventually get off of Keto but continue to do IF for life if possible. When I get off of Keto, just make smart decisions about what I am eating. Like pretty much never eat french fries ever. Very in frequently eat non keto bread and pastas. I'll still want to eat pizza, maybe once a week but instead of eating half the pizza, maybe start by eating a salad and then just eat 3 slices of pizza instead of 6. Order smaller pizzas so we don't have half an XL pizza sitting in the fridge for the next day. And don't buy processed foods like chips, crackers and cookies. The kids are better off not having those in the house anyway.
It has been very easy to fast but my fear is that that is due to Keto. I hope when I eventually get off of Keto I will still be able to fast easily. We recently went on vacation where I went off the Keto diet and I did find that I was still able to fast easily for the few days I was off the diet. So hopefully that was a promising sign.
That study is silly and flawed. They had the people on IF double their calorie intake the next day. So if you normally eat 2,000 calories a day, you would eat 4,000 calories on you non IF day in this study. Who does that when they are doing IF? Don't pay any attention to this silly review.
I'll claim that it is. For myself anyway. It comes down to the individual adherence purpose you mention though. Put food in front of me all day, don't expect me to be able to successfully restrict my calorie intake. Close that eating window to just 6 hours or or even 1 hour on 24 hour fast days and it is far more likely I will have a calorie deficit by the end of the 24 hour period.
Currently doing Keto and IF. My ultimate goal is to eventually get off of Keto but continue to do IF for life if possible. When I get off of Keto, just make smart decisions about what I am eating. Like pretty much never eat french fries ever. Very in frequently eat non keto bread and pastas. I'll still want to eat pizza, maybe once a week but instead of eating half the pizza, maybe start by eating a salad and then just eat 3 slices of pizza instead of 6. Order smaller pizzas so we don't have half an XL pizza sitting in the fridge for the next day. And don't buy processed foods like chips, crackers and cookies. The kids are better off not having those in the house anyway.
It has been very easy to fast but my fear is that that is due to Keto. I hope when I eventually get off of Keto I will still be able to fast easily. We recently went on vacation where I went off the Keto diet and I did find that I was still able to fast easily for the few days I was off the diet. So hopefully that was a promising sign.
Yes, for YOU it is better because you adhere to this way of caloric restriction. Put them side by side and there are no studies in existence that show that Intermittent fasting is far superior than chronic calorie restriction for body composition.
That study is silly and flawed. They had the people on IF double their calorie intake the next day. So if you normally eat 2,000 calories a day, you would eat 4,000 calories on you non IF day in this study. Who does that when they are doing IF? Don't pay any attention to this silly review.
Both are doomed to fail in the long term. From my independent research, it seems IF and calorie restriction fail because they are not sustainable by the average person.
Low carb eating seems to work the best. And is sustainable--without hunger.
Why? Because carbs drive insulin and insulin drives fat. This according to studies done. Do the reading and research yourself.
The book Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes is a good place to start.
Last edited by LittleDolphin; 07-09-2021 at 07:18 AM..
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