Fasting… does it work?

[Peppapog263]

I’ve been listening to a few podcasts lately about fasting and how it can be good for weight loss/health etc.

I generally eat dinner with the kids so finish eating by 5.30ish pm and then don’t eat again (during the week usually) until 7.45ish am. So that’s 14 hours. What is considered the best length to fast? How often? Not sure I could do much longer than that most days before going out with the kids etc but tbh I’ve never tried - I’m always usually really hungry for lunch!

I did 16:8 in June 2021 to loose weight and feel better. It was unbelievable how massively it influenced me. I felt energetic and alert in a way I hadn't before. I felt the best I had ever felt. I lost weight and my skin was better. It was like I had woken up from a continuous sleep and my body was suddenly fully awake.
I used Fastic app and in there it said one would need at least 14h. I really liked that app as it showed me what was happening in body after certain hours of not eating.

I’ve been doing 16:8 since Jan and have lost around 10lbs although I did it mainly because of the long term health benefits rather than weight loss. Have definitely found it easier to follow than other ‘diets’. From the various research I read it seems that any less than 12 hours there isn’t really a benefit and the ideal is 16. For autophagy to occur it needs to be at least 24hours😳 but I think for the Health benefits of reduced risk of neuro degenerative disease etc a lot of the research is based on 16:8 so that’s what I went for….

@olika love hearing that you’ve been on it since 2021. I’m really hoping this will be a sustainable lifestyle change for me rather than a short term diet. Have you ever tried a longer fast and did it make a difference compared to the 16.8 in terms of how you felt after? I’m wondering about doing the occasional 24hour fast but not sure if it’d make a difference to energy levels etc compared to just plodding along with 16:8

Also @Peppapog263 if nothing else my weekly shop got a bit cheaper as I don’t buy brekkie stuff for DH and I any more so if nothing else you save a bit of cash!

Not quite what you're asking but I've been doing 5:2 since the start of the year and have lost over a stone. It's also massively reset the bad habits I'd fallen into with snacking/boredom eating etc.

I've also found it really easy to stick to and have always struggled with calorie counting/everyday restriction. Game changer for me. Just wish I'd done it sooner!

It's brilliant. I do a couple of 25-hr and 12-hr fasts per year for religious observance, and always noticed how light and refreshed I felt the day after, having given my body a full break from digestion.

I decided to try intermittent fasting. I stop eating at 7pm and then have my first meal the next day around 11am. I don't do it on Friday night/Saturday morning, because it's not permitted to fast on the Sabbath in Judaism. So I do it 6 days a week, and have seen a massive difference.

I was carrying a lot of belly fat after having two children in two years, and it's really come off.

I'm 57 and about 8lbs overweight at the moment but look ok as I'm a pear so carry a lot on my legs. have been doing IF on and off for years, mostly 5:2 but also 16:8.

Age plays its part though as when I was in my early 40s I lost a stone just doing the 5:2, but it my 50s it doesn't get much weight off but allows me to maintain whilst pigging out at the weekend - so worth it for me.

The only way I can actually get weight off is to low carb - but (to me) it's such a batshit way of eating that I only do it once a year - between Easter and my summer hols, then once I've shifted it I drift back to using fasting again.

You have to see how it works for you, but I would certainly recommend it as an easy way to lose or maintain weight.

I’ve been doing 18:6 since Christmas. I stop eating by 7pm & start with lunch at 1pm. I’ve lost just two pounds so it isn’t working for me. I need to drop at least a stone. Don’t know if it’s age or the fact I can’t exercise as much because of a damaged spine which causes constant pain.

16:8 Did not work for me - I am 53 and found the only way to lose weight was to eat as unprocessed as possible and aim for a really slow weight loss of just 2lbs a month..... And walking / weights - I don not include any calories burned through exercise - aim for 1400 calories a day and only drink alcohol maybe once a month..... Upped my protein
I just have three meals a day - no snacks and eat my last meal by 6pm and have breakfast by 8am so I do 14:10

Have lost 32 lbs in 14 months

It works as long as you’re still
mindful of what you eat; all these things work by creating a calorie deficit

So long as I avoid sugar and starchy carbs, so that my blood sugar levels remain stable, I'm very comfortable eating only once or twice a day, within an eight hour window, so that I don't eat, only drink water for 16 or 24hrs most days.

From a 'morbidly obese' BMI > 40, i lost lots of weight and am now comfortably around BMI 23. B I've continued eating this way and feel really good, with loads of energy. It also simplifies life, not needing to eat.

When I look back on the days when I was overeating, I notice how much time it took up, planning and preparing 'feasts' and feeling lethargic immediately after eating. It felt almost like a hobby, certainly was a preoccupation. My life is much more interesting now, though it took me a while to find things to do which I enjoyed.

I've learned very different cues for hunger, too. There were so many reasons to eat, none of which had anything to do with what I now consider to be hunger.

TL;DR Fasting works for me though I can only comfortably do it when I'm not eating a lot of sugar and starchy carbs.

Yes I’m think of giving low carb a try (for lunches and breakfasts if I have them anyway) as I eat bread with my lunches most days!

I've tried fasting 3 times and every time I end up putting on weight. I think it just encourages me to binge eat

@FinallyHere Wow, well done - that’s v inspiring!
Eating habits sound similar to mine in the last ten years. BMI not as high but def not healthy!
Do you mind if I ask how long this took you and your approx age, please? I’d love to follow your example.

Thank you very much @LostNFoundSV

I'll be 64 in May this year and started this way of eating 10th January 2022 (but who is counting 😁). My weight has been stable since late autumn last year. I'm expecting to continue this way of eating because I feel so well on it.

It all started following @BIWI 's low carb bootcamps here on Mumsnet https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/lowcarbbootcamp without any intention of fasting which sounded a bit extreme to me then.

After a couple of weeks, I started to notice that I really wasn't actual hungry at so called mealtimes and was eating for so many non hunger related reasons , mostly to do with the time of day and very often being a bit bored with what I was doing and wanting a lift. Often I had eaten 'in case I would be hungry later on' which I can laugh (or cry) about now.

Fasting for me became something that just happened naturally. Now I eat according to how I will feel after I have eaten, an idea I picked up from the brilliant Gillian Riley

While the 'bootcamp' approach starts very strictly, once really well established, I find it very accommodating of special occasions and eating out generally. On occasion when faced with a meal comprising nothing suitable I know I can just push the food around my plate snd drink plenty of water

I've honestly never known such peace around food. Hope you find what works for you.

I do one meal a day fasting most of the time, but always fast 16-18 hours if not. I’ve lost about 11 stone in 3 ish years (I was very large). I’ve never been into the whole 3 meals a day and snacks way of living even when I was very young.

I feel great, but - I eat no processed food at all, no sugar, no fake sugars, no man made carbs and eat lots of animal fats and no seed oils. So feeling great is obviously a combination of both and from losing a shitload of weight.

Im mid 40s.

Did 16:8 keto with lots of walking and lost 5 stone in a year. Maintained for a year, then 3 stone gradually crept back on through the pandemic.

I was very strict with my intake, but allowed myself one treat a month, which was a really good coffee and scone with cream (no jam) on the way home from a regular medical appointment and found it became something I really looked forward to and enjoyed so much more than all the rubbish I used to eat. By the end of the year it was second nature and even on veggie keto I could eat out and stay on track. Being stuck at home over the pandemic, then some health issues were my undoing.

Started 18:6, ‘lower’ carb two weeks ago and am 10 lbs down, although most will be water weight at this stage. I am not ‘dieting’, I don’t want to have to weigh and log every mouthful, as I want this to be a long-term, achievable woe, but have cut out all rubbish and white carbs and upped my game in terms of only eating healthy nutritious meals with plenty of good fats and protein. Any carbs I do eat are wholegrain and I have drastically reduced bread, opting for salads over sandwiches.

Planning to build up to one 36 hr fast a week for autophagy, then 18:6 the rest if the time.

For reference, I am 53 and on HRT.

That’s so encouraging @FinallyHere Thank you so much for sharing - it really gives me hope that I can achieve the same. We’re similar ages so it doesn’t feel impossible anymore. I’ll check out the links you shared - thanks again!

Take a look at Jason Fung on youtube, he explains the mechanism of fasting really clearly. I find it works best combined with low carb.
Good luck!

I know this is an old thread, but I'm hoping someone replies back as I didn't want to start a new thread. I've recently started intermittent fasting, but I do have 2 cups of tea in the morning. Is that ok? I don't add any sugar in my tea, but I do add milk. Would that mean I'm breaking my fast? I read somewhere that as long as your intake is less than 50 calories, then the body remains in fasting mode - not sure how true this is.

Thanks!

I would say yes it would be classed as breaking your fast because of the added milk. I think black coffee or tea would be ok (no milk).

Hard core intermittent fasting would say yes. The evidence it’s based on though isn’t clear so actually a dash of milk rather than a full breakfast is still a significant calories defecit so if doing it to loose weight it’d still probably work. I have to say though when I did IF religiously it didn’t take long to get used to black tea/ coffee and I now often have it black whether fasting or not as sometimes I prefer it.

Of course it works, it's fashionable starvation. If you eat less you'll lose weight.

Thanks all! I'm doing it to lose weight, so glad to hear that it'll still work. I do love my tea, so it's going to be very difficult to switch to black tea, but I'll give it a go.

I can't comment on the fasting buti did stop putting milk in tea a while ago (I like it, it doesn't like me). Loads of people are appalled by black tea, but i really do prefer it now. Just make it pathetically weak to avoid the tannins getting bitter - if you're doing it in the cup then it needs to come out almost immediately. If we're doing it in the pot we just use one tea bag and let it stew for a good few minutes - doesn't seem to get butter this way. Or try red bush tea, which isn't supposed to have milk (but is also caffeine free - depends what you need in the morning!)