Intermittent Fasting... the truth?

[Orlando234]

So, I’ve been reading about how IF works.

Some ‘experts’ say you eat less calories as you have a shorter eating window hence weight loss

Others say that after around 12 hours of fasting, your body starts to use stored fat for energy instead of energy from food intake. So if you fast for 16 hours (as I do 16:8) then your body spends 4 hours a day, burning stored fat.

I like the second theory... that sounds like it would work. But reading the first theory blows it for me because I probably eat the same calories in 8 hours as I did when I was just doing a normal calorie controlled diet. I just eat more filling meals (2 instead of 3 in a day plus I stop all snacking during the fast)

Anyone know which theory is correct?

Don’t know the science of it but lost 2 stone doing 16 8, having meals on smaller plates and being more aware of snacking and kept it off so far so it works for me.

I don’t know if this is slightly off topic... but is anyone using the ketosis-wee-sticks to see if they’re burning fat? Read about them in Fast800 and they’ve changed things for me! The bit about fasting I found really interesting was autophagy. Anyone doing fasting for the non weight loss benefits?

@TakeMeToKernow I've thought about buying the test strips, how has it helped you? Has it increased your motivation?

It’s massively changed my motivation! To see the results right there, instead of waiting for the scales to tell me, that this is working.

And an interesting insight generally. I’ve felt massively tired today, I’ve just been to the loo and the result is the highest result I’ve had, which may explain the lethargy!

Definitely not a calories issue.
I was eating more calories than ever when I started, as I was also doing High Fat Low Carb, I would eat lots of nuts, heavy on the oil, lots of cheese...changed milk for cream. I lost 12 kg

You won't be burning anything if you eat lots os carbs/sugar in your two meals though, you need to reduce that. You don't start burning fat after 12 hours just because, independently of what you have eaten, basically because your liver can store up to 24 hours of energy (that comes from carbs/sugars) So, say, if you've eaten pasta with wine for lunch and then some rice for dinner your liver will be full with its 24 hour storage capacity, so you won't start burning anything until your liver's energy has depleted (after 24 hours).
So, if you want to burn fat, you need to reduce your carb intake too. That way your liver won't be 100% loaded and you will swap to fat burning once you liver has run out.

It is long to explain, I recommend you reading The Obesity Code by Jason Fung. Amazing book.

@TakeMeToKernow
I did buy the strips when I started, to make sure I was on the right track.
Autophagy is an amazing thing!

If you do IF properly, you eat the same amount of calories but in a shorter period of time. It is not really for weight loss specifically but for modulating blood sugar and cholesterol which can lead to weight loss in turn, and can most importantly help with high cholesterol and diabetes issues. A lot of the IF you'll read about online is from trends cashing in on it and claiming it to be a true weight loss aid. A doctor will not make those claims. It can be a useful aid to become healthier but it's not a one size fits all thing and it definitely shouldn't be used to restrict overall calories.

Although for the vast majority surely it is for weight loss let’s be realistic!

I like the concept of not denying but delaying and having less of the food I enjoy but still having it. IF is purely weight control for most of us.

I’m doing OMAD (one meal a day) and I’m eating as much as I used to eat pre-diet. I eat high fat - low carb so can get a lot of calories in with nuts, full fat Greek yoghurt, olive oil etc. I’m losing about 1.5lb a week, but the autophagy benefits are the real win. I have increased mental clarity (I was worried I was developing early onset dementia) and a huge sebaceous cyst on my arm has shrunk spectacularly. I’ll keep on doing it for those benefits alone.
Read Fast, Feast Repeat and the Obesity Code if you haven’t already 👍

@TakeMeToKernow after how many hours did you get a different colour? I've been fasting for 16 hours but it's stayed the same so assuming I'm not in it yet

@1stimeboymum it was actually a diet change that pushed me into ketosis. The second day of following the Fast 800 diet for me.

I was already following weight watchers and wasn’t getting a positive result just from a 16hr fast. I did from a longer fast of c.20 hours, but only a slight positive.

It was the F800 (so cutting carbs and sugar) that was the difference, and once I started I was getting a positive result at ALL times of day, not just while fasted. But it gives m the motivation to get through the fast part iyswim?

Fast800 isn’t suiting me, so I’m going back to WW, but will be trying to keep the TRE and being more mindful of the sugar and carbs in my diet.

I eat my first meal at 1ish which includes a limited portion of carbs. I eat my evening meal without carbs around 7/7.30pm. I eat snacks such as grapes, apples, pears, unsalted nuts, wotsits crisps, nut bars, protein ice cream. I drink 2 litres of water a day. I eat 1400 calories when I go for walks and 1250 calories when I do not. I meal plan every morning. On occasion I will eat an extra biscuit a day or few crisps!

I started 16/8 at the beginning of November and I find it works incredibly. I go by the fit of my clothes rather than weighing myself, partly because I have lipodoema and an under active thyroid, which skews things somewhat. I don’t think I have ever lost as much weight on a traditional diet as I have this way. I nearly always have a bowl of porridge around 1pm as my first meal. It is very filling and satisfying. I do have a little tea and coffee during fasting hours but l only have a splash of milk and no sugar anyway. The weight loss is noticeable. I don’t care about the cause only the effect.

I’ve been doing IF and OMAD for over a year now. I still eat what I want to eat (I love carbs too much to cut/reduce them) and am currently 6 stones lighter (diet only). I still want to lose another 3 stone until I get to my goal. However, once I am there I will still be IF and OMAD to maintain. I like that I can still eat what I want, just in one go and I never feel hungry. If I try and eat regularly, that’s when I just feel constantly hungry and then I overeat.

My DH was a complete grazer and would get hangry if he didn’t eat regularly. However, since he’s seen how well I’ve done and after researching the health benefits he now only eats twice a day and says he feels better for it (compared to eating 6 times a day, like he used to). He just eats the same amount of calories to maintain as he isn’t overweight. For me, it’s definitely been the amount of hours I fast that drops the weight (generally 24hours) it doesn’t matter what I eat and I generally lose 1 to 2 kgs a week. My blood sugar and cholesterol have dropped since I’ve been doing this too, which is a huge benefit as I have PCOS and a family history of diabetes.

The NHS don’t agree with it though, they would rather have given me weight loss pills that stop me absorbing fat or bariatric surgery than advising me to do what I’ve been doing, got a massive lecture off a nurse from my GP surgery! 🙄 It doesn’t make sense to me in that respect... 🤔

Interesting. I need to read some of these links on fasting.

Another fan of Delay Don’t Deny here.

I tried 5:2 a few years ago and struggled. I actually find it easier to eat nothing at all than a small meal.

Black coffee and water get me through.
I’m not sure what happens inside the body but one of the strangest results are losing inches without sometimes losing weight. So you could lose half a stone and look like you’ve lost loads more. I think this is to do with Autophogy

I'm two weeks into fast 800 at the moment and have lost half a stone. The really big revelation though is how hungry I'm not! I'm eating loads of salad and will sometimes have a few nuts mid afternoon, but I'm not starving like I was when I had breakfast.

A lot of people are conflating time restricted eating e.g. 16:8 with intermittent fasting. They are not the same thing. With IF there is a deliberate reduction in calories, but with TRE people may consume the same number of calories (though of course they may not.

If you are following a low carb diet, you should remain in ketosis which means that you’re burning fat. For me, one of the functions of this is it a low carb diet changes my shape in a way that a low-fat diet doesn’t. I’m naturally a pear shape but when I have lost weight with low-carbing, are you significantly more fat on my bottom half then I do with something like Weight Watchers. I can be a heavier weight but a smaller size.