To think that eating for 2 hours of the day is not intermittent fasting!!

[FamilyTrrree]

A friend of mine and her husband only eat for a 2 hour window in the day in a bid to lose weight. This seems ludicrous to me and unhealthy. Surely this isn't a diet anyone should be on and could do more harm than good!

Before we band things as unhealthy and harmful it's useful to explain why you think it's so rather than because it's not what you or others around you do.

In terms of what's healthy it's more about what you eat plus given this is just short term whilst they lose weight isn't anything to worry about unless what they are eating is insufficient in nutrients.

Sounds extreme!

I have heard of the OMAD diet (one meal a day!) but I think it means only one main meal, and something tiny and snack-ish (like a bit of fruit or a low fat yogurt, or a cereal bar) for the other 'mealtimes.'

May try it myself in January! I need to lose 30 pounds.

My DM has spent more of this year in NHS hospitals than at home. They certainly seem to subject patients to a 16:8 fasting to food available regime. DM wasn't overweight.

I certainly cannot eat three meals a day and mostly have one but sometimes two.

Not sure this is an issue or a problem OP.

The one meal a day (OMAD) diet is a thing. Are you basing the fact that you think it’s unhealthy on anything other than gut instinct? Because there are definite benefits to it. Humans don’t need to graze constantly. I remember in the 90s we were told to constantly eat small amounts to keep our metabolisms humming but that just isn’t bourne out by science.

I do the 5:2 and often choose to only have an evening meal on fast days. It’s fine. I don’t usually feel hungry even if I haven’t eaten for 24 hours. This Christmas, to avoid weight gain, I’m going to do a the OMAD. So I plan to have exactly what I want for Christmas lunch but that will be it all day. Why exactly do you think it’s not healthy?

No, it's intermittent eating.

Sounds fine to me tbh. I do 5:2 and on the "2" days I can eat very little - I'm just no hungry and I know that once I start eating I'll tend to carry on. And when I wake up the following day (having eaten well under 500 calories the day before) I also won't be hungry. It's an unusual approach but may be totally viable.

I often (most weekdays) only eat in a 6 hour window. (Eg 12 and 5.30).

And To be fair, you can eat A LOT of calories in a 2 hours window.

It's perfectly healthy and stabilised your blood sugar so the point is that you're not starving. It's what our bodies are designed to do. Hunter gatherers certainly didn't make sure to eat 3 square meals a day plus snacks.

IF has some health benefits although they need to be researched more vigorously.

From personal experience IF makes me feel great, reduces my cravings for crap dramatically and gives me more freedom because I’m not trying to stretch 1800 calories across 3 meals and snacks.

However, I have read that OMAD which I imagine is quite similar to a 2 hour window has shown some health drawbacks (something to do with triglyceride levels I think?) that other types of fasting have not.

My personal favourite is 18:6 (1pm - 7pm) :)

If they are happy with it then it’s not really anyone else’s business. I only eat one meal a day—not by design, I’m just not hungry enough to warrant eating until dinner time. I think it’s excellent to try a period of ignoring hunger cues particularly when they line up with “traditional” meal times in order to relearn what hunger really feels like. Too often we’re conditioned to feel hungry at certain times of the day without actually having the need to eat. It’s habit. It’s perfectly possible to get all you need nutritionally from one meal.

One meal a day is intermittent fasting and any kind of fasting has health benefits. Weight loss can be a welcome side effect.

Fasting keeps insulin low as this is triggered by eating. If you fast for over 20 hours you stimulate autophagy which is when your cells can start to renew and regenerate.

I practice fasting, both intermittent and extended (up to 14 days) so that my body can recover health wise. I am diabetic and have reduced my insulin and medication to almost nothing now. It's easy to do when you become accustomed to it but you do need to feast and feed your body well. It's not starvation as fasting does not slow metabolism down. Calorie restriction however does.

It wouldn’t suit me at all. I’m a grazer. I normally only have two meals a day but snack every hour or two. It works for me.

I could easily do this at the weekend, no breakfast, large lunch, nothing else. I’d really struggle on a work day though.

Do you people on 1800/day lead active lives?

Risks associated with intermittent fasting. It's an article discussing one meal a day.

I once fainted in the shower when I skipped breakfast and had had an early dinner the night before.

But that’s you Family that can’t cope without eating regularly and that’s fine. You can’t really apply your experience to everyone else and decide that is how everyone should feel.

I had dinner yesterday at about 5pm and will have dinner tonight in about an hour. I’m not hungry, dizzy, shaky, weak or confused, if I was I would eat.

Saying it’s not for you or that you’re curious how it works is one thing but, ranting about ‘overweight people and binging and starvation’ and sharing the one article you could find about risks because you don’t like it when lots of people on this thread have shared different viewpoints is a bit baffling.

A friend not only eats just one meal a day (evening), she's keto! I couldn't live like that but she seems happy enough.

"Becoming extremely hungry" has made me giggle . For me, after quite a lot of reading the research that's been done on it, the only risk I consider legitimate is around people who've previously had eating disorders and whose attitudes to food make a diet like this problematic. Otherwise if you feel very unwell, shaky, whatever, you take it as a sign that you need to eat.

It's a perfectly fine and healthy way to eat, as long as you are getting your nutritional balance right.

We are evolved to live on a fast vs feast model. Much more aligned with our natural states than grazing throughout the day on smaller meals.

If your body is working as it should it becomes fat adapted (efficiently uses fat for fuel) and you will not be hungry.

If you do think you'd be hungry then it's because you're body is badly trained and is adapted to sugars. This is the case for most people in our carb laden world today. Our bodies are not designed to run this way.

Most efficient fuel: ketones
Next best: fats
Worst fuel: sugars

ranting about ‘overweight people and binging and starvation’ and sharing the one article you could find about risks because you don’t like it when lots of people on this thread have shared different viewpoints is a bit baffling.

I haven't mentioned anyone being overweight. The couple I'm referring to aren't overweight in any case.

It was this comment I was referring to Family

I personally think it's insane to fast for that long with such a small window for food. No wonder so many people in this country are overweight when people think methods like this are good. It's only teaching you to ignore your body's natural queues for hunger and no doubt you then stuff your face for 2 hours, teaching you to not listen to your body telling you it's full. It's basically starvation and the binging!

Easy Andy I eat (less than) 1800 a day and I am very active. I run 5km every morning, and do upwards of 18k steps a day.

I'd get bad indigestion if I tried to squeeze all my calories in one window... actually, I'd massively overeat. In a kind of panic about getting thru the other 22 hrs I'd stuff myself almost sick.

I'm much better nibbling little & often. Try not to eat but I can always reach for something if I truly need it. Works for me. I'm more likely to forget to eat than to overeat that way.

It all depends on our eating impulses and speed if eating I guess. For me a 2 hour eating window works. One big meal that I chew slowly and take my time over, is fine. I’ll often sit down for 2 hours to eat the whole meal over. It’s usually an Indian meal and so would be approximately 1000-1500 calories but will be balanced. During the day I drink black unsweetened tea or coffee or water. I have not only lost weight on this diet, but have maintained my weight loss for 10 years on it (I do one or two days a week for maintenance). I have pcos and this way of eating has also helped keep my insulin levels in check.

People are different. If you suffer from e.g. anaemia, low blood pressure, type 1 diabetes, you absolutely shouldn't do a fasting style diet. For many people, however, it's much healthier than a little and often style diet. But you should definitely talk to a doctor before doing it.