to think some people overreact about fasting?

There's some truth in people who think it's normal to eat every day, are greedy?
Fasting is another part of disordered eating. Intermittent fasting, is fine, if it physically suits someone.

How was it a dig?

As a greedy fatty, I fast 16hr a day.

Yes that. It's not the fasting that upsets people it's that people can be so evangelical about it.

I don't care what or when you eat, but if you're going to keep telling me why your way is the best way, I'll give my POV.

Well ok then. I apologise. I personally believe that our differentiation in definition of fasting is probably exactly why people take issue with him. They likely think like me… think that fasting means a day+ without eating. Not everyone will listen to his whole explanation- many will simply react to the word, idea or sound bite.

I don’t know why anyone would care that someone confines their eating to an 8 hour window. It’s not particularly extreme.

Also shoehorning in a little dig about anorexics!

Ok I just looked him up as I was curious and apparently:

"Dr. Rangan Chatterjee advocates for "time-restricted eating" rather than extreme fasting, recommending a gentle approach to boost metabolic health, improve sleep, and increase energy. He often suggests a 12-hour eating window (e.g., 8 am to 8 pm) for beginners, focusing on quality, whole foods and allowing the body to repair during overnight fasting"

Therefore he does advocate for intermittent fasting so I am not sure why you seem to think my comment wasnt relevant

If he's talking about intermittent fasting, eating within a 12hr or 8 hr window that's not controversial and is a fairly normal way of eating, it's probably how most people would naturally eat if we didn't have to work

If we're talking about proper fasting as in going days without food or eating one meal then tgats a different matter. As someone with a history of disordered eating, I have never once felt good when going longer periods without eating. Ots only the buzz of self satisfaction that has powered me through

I think any major strict rules about eating that impact with day to day living are almost always disordered. People talking about needing huge amounts of willpower to follow a diet are again almost always disordered. Pushing proper fasting will lead to EDs, because naturally those are also the type of people that consume content from people like Dr Chatterjee and having a medic back up your starvation methods is great fuel for ED.

I do the "window" eating method which I prefer to call it over "intermittent fasting". Same thing though, and it's great for me, the discipline works and it becomes a habit. Stops me from raiding the choccy box/snack box at night. Win win. It's not for weight loss at all, but it does tend to keep things even most of the time. It's not at all hard to do either IMV.

Fasting just means not eating for a period of time. It’s not defined by how extreme it is or whether it’s common. 16/8 is usually classed as time-restricted eating, which sits at the mild end of intermittent fasting. Plenty of people might do something similar naturally, but doing it deliberately as a structure is still a method.

By that logic, walking isn’t legit exercise because people do it anyway in the course of their day. 16/8 is just the mild end of intermittent fasting, it being common doesnt mean its not a good method to use.

Because the question is why do people react badly to fasting not does it help with weight loss/stabilisation…

anorexics also think their tactics ‘work for them’ fyi.

Because the question is why do people react badly to fasting. The answer is because it is starvation which is a disordered eating behaviour, however not eating for one evening isn’t starvation… so the definition of fasting specifically explains why some see it as a tool and others see it as dangerous.

I mean, OK, I am not sure why that meaningfully changes anything or why you seem so pedantic/picky about it.

It's still a helpful method for people that maybe can't realistically or medically do entire days without eating. 🤷‍♀️

Oh God, you are on that Facebook group arent you? 😂

Why are you arguing when she's said it works for her?

Then you just eat early, to me fasting would be going an entire day or more without calories intentionally. Hence why yours is called intermittent fasting not just fasting.

I do mine differently - I eat between 8am- 4pm. Never eat after 4, (often I stop around 2-3pm) Its transformed my sleep quality completely and I sleep so well now

Fasting is fantastic. I do a 3 day fast now and again for autophagy.

I don’t see 16/8 as fasting. That’s just having breakfast late and dinner early.

Constructive. 🙄

One Man’s fasting is another man’s disordered starvation periods. If a teenage girl suddenly wouldn’t eat for whole days at a time and said she was fasting everyone would say she had an ED. But if a grown man or woman does it suddenly it’s just discipline?

I see both sides. I personally find fasting immensely helpful (I do 16/8 method).

It has really helped me lose weight and for my health. I am very pro fasting.

However, I joined a fasting group on Facebook and promptly left because it was utterly batshit and very dysfunctional. People were handwringing because they'd had a hot water with lemon and self flagellating because there might be calories in the lemon and maybe they'd have to start their fast all over again and OMG how awful of me, I feel so guilty about it etc. Then some people would come on to tell them they werent taking it seriously and how dare they have lemon in their water and to fuck off if they werent going to do it properly etc

It was really balmy and made me think that fasting does tend to attract people who are a bit all or nothing. So, I do it, but I stay well away from groups like that because they can be very dysfunctional and evangelistic.

As long as the faster doesn't expect non-fasters to not eat around them and doesn't go on about it then surely we can all just keep out of each others eating habits.

Same.

I've been 'fasting' since I stopped eating breakfast around the age of 11.

I don't eat breakfast because I can't, due to never being hungry in the mornings.

So I eat dinner at 6pm and lunch the next day at 12pm.

Apparently this means I 'fast' for 18 hours 🤷‍♂️