AIBU to think Intermittent Fasting is a gimmick?

[NeedToChangeName]

I know a few people who swear by Intermittent Fasting and make a big deal of only eating between 12 noon and 8pm

To me, this just sounds like (1) skip breakfast and (2) no snacks after dinner

AIBU?

Most definitely not... 4 stone down with it, old so think in stones, best thing I've ever done

Thankfully, mine doesn’t! I actually can manage porridge if I put some cream in it and have a short walk after it. But I rarely need breakfast these days. My mum insists it’s the best thing for Diabetes cos that’s what her nurse tells her and she won’t listen to me!!

@Soapyspuds

Why is it shockingly bad not to eat breakfast?

Same.
It's not just about missing meals, it's how your metabolism works.
If I eat breakfast I'm eating all day.
16:8 is fantastic for me, no cravings, I don't feel hungry and I'm losing weight, no foggy head or exhaustion

It isn't.
Some blokes in the 70s decided they could sell more if they got people hooked on carby foods.
Once they did that they invented SW/WW 🤑

Up until I was 40 I ate 3 meals a day and was an effortless size 8.
But I think eating 3 meals is unnecessary in peri-menopause, unless you are super active. My family is full of super slim diabetics.

@Denimdreams

I tend to agree. I was hoping soapysuds could enlighten us.

You should be eating a good wholesome breakfast. Having no breakfast is shockingly bad.

Utter nonsense. Where is your evidence? This line, probably dreamed up by Mr Kellogg, has been debunked. It may have been true for a while that there was some correlation between healthiness and eating breakfast, but if you sell generations of people the idea that it's healthy to eat breakfast, guess what? People who care about their health and look after it in other ways will tend to obey and eat breakfast. Hence the correlation. But correlation is not causation.

Article about why skipping breakfast is not bad for you
here .

Having said upthread that yep, it's just skipping breakfast and evening snacks, I actually do agree with this - it is a bit more restrictive to that. I find one of the challenges is that it isn't very sociable - when I stick to it strictly I miss evening drinks, particularly, and I end up having to break it if I want to eat a meal out with friends because no one else wants to eat at kiddy tea time!

I drink herbal tea and black coffee in the morning, which took some getting used to but I'm used to now.

It's brilliant. Lost loads of weight on it

I run at 6am 3 days a week, go from that to the school run and to work which is another 6k-ish steps and don't find it a problem to then keep fasting until somewhere between 12 and 1 (I try and do an 18 hour fast) but I have a sedentary job. I can see how the combination could be too much, though it might be worth giving it a try. I found the first few days hard but I found it surprising how quickly I got used to it - I don't feel hungry in the morning at all any more really. And I actually feel more alert than I did before, and that's quite common apparently.

YABU, you just sound bitter about your friends finding something that works for them.

I need to get back into it, but when I did IF, I lost weight, had loads of energy, acid reflux disappeared. I did 16/8 with a weekly 36 hour fast. Honestly, after getting over the first 24 hours, I felt like a Duracell Bunny.
I have always struggled with breakfast anyway. My body does not like any food after getting up, so I can easily go a few hours after waking before eating.

Also you are not just 'skipping breakfast', you are still break(ing your)fast, but after a minimum of 16 hours usually ( I do 18 hours)

I discovered it six years ago and went from a size 14/16 to a size 10 and have maintained that since, other than when pregnant/post natal. Total game changer.

If you understand the science around insulin levels, basal metabolic rate, ketogenesis etc. it makes a lot of sense. Our bodies did not evolve to be fed generous amounts of carbohydrate at regular intervals.

"Also you are not just 'skipping breakfast', you are still break(ing your)fast, but after a minimum of 16 hours usually ( I do 18 hours)"

Well, except that breakfast also has the meaning of 'morning meal' I suppose. On the other hand, I see no problem with eating traditional breakfast food at any time of the day.

Like any diet, it will suit some people and not others. The hardest thing for me in terms of losing weight was trying to find a diet which suited me. I've tried them all. I like IF because in my eating window I eat pretty much whatever I want...I don't go crazy but I like that i don't have to cut anything out entirely.

@Hairbrushhandle im always awake at 5 too & can't even blame the kids!!

what time do you think you need at eat by?

if it was 7, you could start fasting at 6 & do 13:11. Or if you could manage 5pm 14:10, but it really does change family life if you usually eat dinner together.

maybe just be a bit conscious if eat 2/3 well spaced meals and not snacking at all other than that. It will give you some of the benefits of fasting without feeling crap, then when the kids stop waking you up so early give it a go then?!

It definitely works but as someone with a history of an eating disorder all I can think of is that it's just starving themselves. It's just extreme restriction rules.

It worries me that starving is pinned as 'healthy fasting' but of course everyone has different levels of willpower and healthier mindsets to cope with it.

As a keen sportswoman, this sounds SO unhealthy. To run fasted and then not eat for HOURS afterwards cannot be good for your body.

there is some evidence that even if you do 12:12 it helps and once you got 8pm -8am ie no snacking late evening you can try altering one by an hour then another hour so maybe 8am-7pm . I need to eat before I start work or I feel light headed as I have to start work by 9am the latest I can eat is 8.15-8.30am, I try and do dinner for 6-6.30 with no evening snacking so unless a treat day out with friends or celebrating I eat only 3 meals a day one mostly carb free ( don't count carbs in veg seeds or yogurt)in a 10 hour window it has helped me lose 2 stone in a year

Theres different levels of it so I think it’s right it has its own name.

I do agree 12-8 (actually called 16:8) is just fancy renaming of skipping breakfast though 🤣

But there is a whole sliding scale down to 23:1 (one giant meal a day)

So if you do 16.8, but eat the same calories that you normally would by eating breakfast, will you lose more weight?

@Welliehead You might but not much. Your body will target the stubborn fat during the last few hours of your fasting window (hour 12-16) and it will lower your blood pressure, inlammation levels etc. So there are other benefits to 16:8 even if your goal is not to lose weight.

16:8 only involves 'skipping breakfast' if that's the meal pattern you choose.
I do well on 16:8, or 15:9, or 17:7, or whatever suits that day. I 'break fast' at 7 am (or 6, or 8) with a sugared black coffee, or green tea plus strip of dark chocolate or a few berries. My first meal is around 11 am (or 10, or 12), my second meal around 3pm (or 2, or 4). Meals are roughly equal portions, and any dessert is eaten as part of a meal.

I'm mostly home-based at the moment, so I've been able to fall in to what is most natural to me. I did this to help recover from ongoing illness, but if I look back, there are many times in my life when this was my natural pattern. A sliver of sweetness first thing; lots of food late morning; and a similar amount late afternoon/early evening.

That queasy shaky feeling on waking, or between meals, vanishes once blood sugar has evened out.

My understanding is that we burn energy from available food first, then glycogen from the liver, and then body fat stores. A well functioning metabolism should be able to switch smoothly between fuel sources, invisibly to us. Fasting helps achieve this.

A tummy rumbling for 10 minutes, which passes, is genuine hunger. A gnawing, craving, restless feeling of wanting more, even just after eating, is fucked up regulation of blood sugar and/or hormonal and/or metabolic systems.