One 24 hour fast a week has helped where 5:2 did not

[Lemonthyme]

I have a good diet, being sober and exercising a lot, perimenopause was starting to cause weight gain. With some levels of change to my diet to cut out the crap, this changed to stability (which would and did cause loss when I was younger). There was one thing though that pushed me into trying something different and that was my HbA1c result which was 5.8%. So despite doing EVERYTHING the NHS tells you to do to be a healthy weight, I was still overweight and very close to prediabetic (other countries would already class this as prediabetic).

I've not had another HbA1c result back since I started once a week 24 hour fasting on top of everything else I've done but what is changing is I'm losing weight. Total weight loss is c. 1-1.5 lbs a week so not huge but consistent and enough that it's really starting to be noticeable.

I have been so fed up since perimenopause hit with things not working. I'm really pleased something is and it kind of makes sense that if there's good evidence that intermittent fasting works to improve insulin resistance, if IR was my problem, that would have been making it harder to lose weight so it is a complete lightbulb moment for me that it's probably been that.

As for "how" as that's what I would have been wanting to know. I "read" an audiobook on the science behind the hormones of weight loss and it advocated one 24 hour fast a week (or possibly two) for insulin resistance and metabolic flexibility as your body has to switch to burning fat. Two sounded terrifying but one sounded possible. They then went onto explain that all you do is finish eating dinner on, say Monday at 6pm then miss breakfast and lunch the next day, eating dinner on Tuesday at c. 6pm or later. Well that sounded less frightening even though that is 24 hours, it's actually only missing 2 meals. I'd originally thought about doing it just once a fortnight but when I tried it, realised that it was easy enough (it only gets a little harder from 4pm onwards) and if anything I now almost look forward to my fasting days. What's more is if I'm busy with work, it's actually easier.

I'd previously tried 5/2 though and didn't lose an ounce. So I wanted to share this with people in case you've tried one form of "IF" type approaches and assumed they all didn't work for you (although I'm not really sure if 5/2 is really IF).

Top tips I have is to have herbal or spice (not fruit) teas so they're calorie free, black coffee and plenty of sparkling water. I don't personally have any sweeteners anyway but I think most people avoid them when fasting. Also if you find you're struggling and exercise a lot like I do, sodium can be depleted by fasting so another tip is to have some electrolytes or even a pinch of salt (e.g. in coffee) if you're struggling.

I genuinely cannot imagine stopping doing this now unless I'm advised to medically. It's far easier than any other method I've used to try and lose weight. I'm a total convert.

Interesting, I recently lost 2st 7lbs in weight following the Fast800 method, nothing worked for me until I tried it. Like you, I cut out all alcohol, and had no sweeteners and drank black coffee, herbal teas and water. It was an absolute doddle despite not expecting it to work. I did get all the recipe books and really enjoyed what I was eating. I probably lost about 2lbs a week. I stopped for Christmas and now do eat less than I did previously. I do little exercise apart from walking. For me I think sugar and carbs just don’t suit me so try to limit, or not eat, them. I love bread but not sure it loves me!

Meant to add I ‘fasted’ from 8pm to 12pm the following day

The thing is, will you not have to fast for 24 hours forever to maintain the weight? And if so, will you be able to do that?

And well done! I did lose weight with 5:2 but found I couldn't do it long term and piled the weight back on very quickly.

I know it might sound odd but yes I'm absolutely prepared to do that. I don't find it harder than doing something else to lose or maintain weight. In fact, it's the easiest and most effective thing I've tried. I think the only thing which might stop me is if it became contraindicated for health reasons or it suddenly stops working which may mean I switch to a version of time restricted eating instead. Or just try something else.

I think you're right to ask the question though. Whatever you do to lose weight you've got to be prepared to keep doing it for life.

Thanks @Lemonthyme . It does sound sensible and manageable. How careful are you around diet on other days?

This is one of the many ways one can restrict the number of calories ingested in a week.
Keep it up if it works for you.

I'm interested in this. Also struggle with perimenopause weight gain but try to do a fair amount of exercise. I did Fast800 and lost a good 10lbs in two weeks but this wasn't sustainable in terms of calories, then Christmas happened and I put almost all of it back on again. I don't think I can mentally face 800 calories a day again even though I lost weight and slept better. But I could probably manage 24 hours. OP what audiobook was it?

I did this for a while and got down to a size I was really happy with. However it stopped working (or I felt like it did, it probably was just that I wasn't losing weight as noticeably as I was the size I needed to be). I started doing much more intense exercise and upped my protein. If truth be told, I also relaxed quite a bit and the evening chocolate started creeping back in. Plus more meals out etc. I've now put a lot of it back on and I'm absolutely fed up. I'm much stronger in the gym, I don't particularly want to be skinny, but I don't want to go back to the size in was before so I'm going to give fasting a go again. It definitely works but sticking to it long term was tough, even though it was an absolute doddle for the first year or so

People really seem hung up on this on MN that it's "just another way to restrict calories". Of course you do reduce your calorie intake but it's only missing two meals a week. You do tend to eat a little more in the evening on a fasting day and while I don't binge, I don't get overly restrictive with that.

The reason I took this up as an idea was that there is pretty good evidence it supports reversing insulin resistance which makes losing weight harder and it forces your body into ketosis once a week which can support metabolic flexibility. Then there's the increase in HGH and autophagy that happens towards the end of the fast. So research would suggest it's not just about calorie reduction.

There is a recent paper which compares intermittent fasting with more traditional caloric restriction but it's pretty flawed. It lumps all kinds of IF (including 5/2 which I'd argue isn't fasting) into the test state and treats all other calorie restriction as the control. The different forms of IF have quite different impacts on your hormones, at least from what I've read in the research.

It was "Gut Reactions - the science of weight gain and weight loss" by Simon Quellen Field.

I got it for free on my library audiobook app. It's worth checking if your library has one. It's pretty awesome and we all need "free" right now.

You should avoid the herbal teas if you want to be in a truly fasted state but if you’re just doing it for calorie restriction I guess it doesn’t matter as much.

Thanks for this post @Lemonthyme . I've been prediabetic on and off for years, and have tried IF in the past. I'm taking a bit of inspiration from your post to try this again...

can I ask why that is? If the drink is unsweetened of course.

I am careful in terms of what I eat but less about how much. The latter I deal with intuitively (i.e. I eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full except on my one fasting day) but I also prioritise protein and fibre.

So yesterday was a pretty typical day:

• Chicken chipolatas (lidl) mushrooms fried in frylight, home made sauerkraut
• 3 mile run late morning.
• Lunch with cheese, pastrami (a bit of naughtiness on my part as otherwise I've really cut back on nitrites, normally it might have been nitrite free ham or chicken), cucumber, apple, carrot sticks, pickles, mustard. (If it wasn't Easter holidays I might reheat something from the night before. I work from home a lot.) It was kind of "picky bits" but I didn't have the bread I reheated for my son.
• Snack of some dates and pecans.
• Dinner was a harissa chicken dish with shallots, chickpeas and feta served with an orange, fennel and cashew salad and a green salad.
• Later snack of more dates (I adore dates) and walnuts.

I eat a lot of higher fat nuts, cheese and olive oil. I don't eat refined carbs much if ever. But there are plenty of carbs in things like veg, chickpeas, dates etc. I'm not going full Atkins. I try to keep the fruits and vegetables I eat pretty varied to hit 30+ plants a week. I'm also trying to increase the fermented foods in my diet (hence the recent introduction of home made sauerkraut). I don't drink but I haven't for 8 months and that didn't previously cause me to lose much weight. I don't eat cakes, chocolate, sweets and I'm not much tempted to. While anyone would google dates and say they're as bad as sweets, they also come with a good amount of fibre, magnesium and copper, all of which is helpful for metabolism.

Edited immediately as I had a sentence in the wrong place and it didn't make sense. D'oh.

I have been doing 2 x 24hr fasts for 10 years.(excluding holidays) It doesn't mean I can eat whatever I want the other days but it does help

Hmm. I'd not read that. Only that fruit teas should be avoided. Link? To be honest while I say "herbal", I might actually have a spice based tea. (There's one I have with long pepper, cardamom etc). I'm interested to know if this is different to black conventional tea and why?

Why would that be?

I am reminded of this clip... "Tea is a herb..."

The sweet flavour profile of herbal teas stimulates an insulin response taking your body out of a fasted state. Black coffee, black tea and water are all you should consume during a clean fast.

Herbal teas aren't sweet though? Do you have a link?

You Might like to read Walter Longo’s book ‘The longevity diet’ - he has done a lot of work on fasting. I try and do his ‘fast mimicking diet’ at least four/five times a year as well - definitely changed my health for the better.

Thanks. I don't honestly feel the need? At least not right now especially as fasting is working so why "fast mimic"? I'd rather do one thing a week rather than something for up to a week up to five times a year. Once a week fits into my lifestyle. But I'll keep it in mind if I need to make a change.

I'm still struggling to find any evidence this is the case, despite googling. Spice and herb teas as long as no fruit is added seems to be fine from what I've read.

I'm still losing weight by doing what I'm doing but obviously if I'm missing out on some of the insulin benefits of fasting, I'd like to know that! I even had a look at academic papers which suggested many herbs and spices actually reduce insulin levels so it would do the opposite. I.e. if anything, enhance the fasted state.

I can't find any dietitians advocating restricting unsweetened herbal teas but evidence is a bit thin. Do you have anything?

Evaluation of the Anti-Diabetic Activity of Some Common Herbs and Spices: Providing New Insights with Inverse Virtual Screening

There is a Zoe podcast on fasting which has come out today. I’m 3 weeks into this and finding it much easier than constant calorie counting. I eat a good diet generally but probably eat a bit too much for my activity levels and perimenopause has really screwed my weight! Down a little weight, and happy for slow and steady. Obviously only 3 weeks into it but in for the long term benefits of insulin resistance too.

Are you losing fat or water / muscle weight? IR suggests you need to eat less carbs and focus on building or working on muscle.