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Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

well.blogs.nytimes.com

101–110 of 174 posts

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#101

I've been practicing intermittent fasting for almost a year now. It works fine for me. I generally eat no breakfast or lunch. I drink only water throughout the day. I run a 5k every morning on an empty stomach with no ill effects. It really helps keep my body fat low and makes me conscious and deliberate about what I eat. The only exceptions are meals I eat for social reasons (e.g., work lunch meetings) and mornings…

One thing that doesn't get talked about very often is the social aspect of fasting. I've learned to just shut up about it because more often than not, people generally think you're crazy.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#102

My personal anecdote is a bit different. I don't have a breakfast on a daily bases since I can remember, for the simple reason that I wake up a little bit nauseous every day, and it takes me a couple hours to actually feel like eating anything, so I just go on and wait for lunchtime. It's never helped me lose weight, and I can't really correlate to any improvements in my everyday life. It got me on a daily Pantoprazo…

I've never eaten breakfast. I just assume I'd get even fatter if I did. I'm sure someone will tell me that must be part of the problem. But why should I eat when I'm not hungry? Breakfast makes me feel queasy and bloated.

I tried and failed many times too. I just drink a cup of coffee and eat lunch after about 3-4 hrs after waking up.

I am worried about how it is going to effect me longterm.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#103
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you find your sleep patterns on days you missed breakfast? And what about your general stress levels? I heard a sleep doctor give a lecture awhile ago who repeated the advice of eating a hearty breakfast, primarily as a way to encourage good sleep. She said that our bodies interpret food within 30 mins of waking up as a signal that food is abundant, which lowers our general stress levels and makes it easier t…

Couldn't you make the same argument about a hearty meal within distance of sleeping? I typically eat at the end of my day and ALWAYS conk out 2-3 hours after my last meal.

Yes, of course. Have a hearty breakfast and a hearty dinner. Light lunch.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never eaten breakfast. I just assume I'd get even fatter if I did. I'm sure someone will tell me that must be part of the problem. But why should I eat when I'm not hungry? Breakfast makes me feel queasy and bloated.

I tried and failed many times too. I just drink a cup of coffee and eat lunch after about 3-4 hrs after waking up. I am worried about how it is going to effect me longterm.

I'm pushing 40 now. Blood pressure and numbers on my blood tests are still good. Would love to lose some weight without exercising though. Knees can't take it.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#105
I've tried IF on-and-since since 2010. While I found it pretty useful for weight loss, I constantly felt foggy and dased mentally, even after months of going at it.

My body(or brain, I guess) works better when I eat small amounts of protein every four hours or so.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#106
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only exceptions are meals I eat for social reasons (e.g., work lunch meetings) if i know beforehand there's work lunch i usually ends the "eating window" earlier the night before so i can reach the goal!

That's something I should probably try. I've been trying to eat smaller portions on the days I have multiple meals. That's actually difficult for me. One of the advantages of IF is that it allows one to worry less about portion size.

definitely. I've tried to do smaller meals but found it difficult too so I eat a decent sized lunch and eat a relatively big dinner and it's worked out well for me so far

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#107
post #32

I have being doing IF now for a 4 months and out of all the various dieting methods I have tried over the years I'm very impressed so far. I only do one meal a day (big lunch around 2pm) and then a protein shake and maybe a beer at 8ish. I like that I can have a beer every day. I have noticed a couple of things with diet: * shockingly you can still workout hard while starving. * it seems to help regulate and improve…

And you do this every day? Not what I picture when I hear "intermittent" - the article mentions the 5:2 plan, but I'm curious what other schedules are common. I've always skipped 2 meals monthly as religious observance, but I'm seriously considering 5:2 to try out health benefits.

re: other schedules, Precision Nutrition has a nice e-book on intermittent fasting that covers several different protocols.

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#108

My personal anecdote is a bit different. I don't have a breakfast on a daily bases since I can remember, for the simple reason that I wake up a little bit nauseous every day, and it takes me a couple hours to actually feel like eating anything, so I just go on and wait for lunchtime. It's never helped me lose weight, and I can't really correlate to any improvements in my everyday life. It got me on a daily Pantoprazo…

It got me on a daily Pantoprazole regime though, since the long periods without food have skyrocketed my gastritis.

I highly recommend you look into Pepcid Complete. I took Prilosec for years and it has some interesting side effects that even the experts don't know what they mean: it turns the lining of your stomach from smooth to all bumpy. I know I'm describing it badly, but when I had an endoscopy before and after being on Prilosec I noticed it in the pictures my Dr. showed me. When I asked him he said "no one knows what effect those will have on you long term." And this was from the premier Gastroenterologist in my area.

I immediately looked for an alternative.

The thing about Pepsid Complete (available at Costco for ~$20 for 100) is it has a weaker proton pump inhibitor and an antacid. I only take them when I need them and I take them far less than I did Prilosec.

Drug side effects are the dirty secret of the pharma industry. The FDA is just too weak to demand better and longer term studies on drugs.

Very related:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/10/25/high-prices

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried and failed many times too. I just drink a cup of coffee and eat lunch after about 3-4 hrs after waking up. I am worried about how it is going to effect me longterm.

I'm pushing 40 now. Blood pressure and numbers on my blood tests are still good. Would love to lose some weight without exercising though. Knees can't take it.

Find a knee-free exercise?
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