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Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

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Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#91

Post by pbourke »

stefantheard wrote: post #63
tozeur wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turns out I IF’d all throughout high school without even knowing it!

this was my realization too when I first started hearing about IF several years back.. "I do this already, but on accident" I have never eaten breakfast in my adult life. I eat once at 11:00AM for lunch, then again at either 6:00PM or 9:00PM for dinner depending on if I train that night or not. I don't snack or drink any calories, so this is basically intermittent fasting right? It seems weird but it does make sense,…

Yes, this is basically 16:8 (16 hrs without food, 8 hr window for meals)

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#92

Post by JoshMnem »

I've been experimenting with water fasting, intermittent fasting, and calorie restriction for over two years with good results. I gradually went from an "obese" BMI to normal, and reduced the symptoms of some medical conditions, especially after 3-5 day water fasts.

I think that if one is going to restrict calories, it's a good idea to eat a high-nutrient diet. Mine is mostly vegan + fish, and based on vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fruits. Almost zero sugar, low salt, no flour, and not a lot of grains.

A saying that helped me stay focused is, "Food is not a recreational drug."

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#93

Post by kaslai »

Tharkun wrote: post #89
sleavey wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the body needs 2000-2500 kcal per day, not cal.

For all intents and purposes, when someone says cal they mean kcal. A single actual cal is so ridiculously small it might as well be irrelevant.

Yep. 2000 calories is 2.32 watt hours. 2000 Calories (kcal) is 2.32 kWh. That alone should be enough to clarify the difference, especially if you've ever manually turned a dynamo. Even after energy losses, a person can push a few watt hours into a battery with a hand crank in 10-15 minutes, drastically exceeding the energy output of 2000 calories.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#94

Post by iamben »

mnort wrote: post #12
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #10

Like many programmers, especially us older folks, I've struggled with my weight my entire life. Three weeks ago I went on a ketogenic diet. This week I've added intermittent fasting, only eating between noon and six. After the "keto flu" period ended, it's been quite enjoyable. The IF comes quite naturally and is painless. I'm not one to spot diet trends, but my intuition says that keto/IF will be a big thing over th…

I'd be curious to hear more about what you experienced during your keto flu

I'm 6 weeks into a keto diet, haven't been over 20g of carbs a day throughout. Sleep is much deeper, but I feel I need to sleep longer.

First few weeks (in particular) I had to drop my weight amounts in the gym and found (fighting in) martial arts I tired quicker. Helped this with BCAAs and cream in my coffee prior to exercise (prior to this, my first meal wouldn't be until ~2pm and I'd exercise in the morning fasted). I suspect MCT oil would also help? Also struggled with low blood pressure/headrush when standing up quickly. Helped this with dioralyte and increasing my salt intake. Other than that, it's been good.

Pretty amazing diet really. Far, far leaner, no energy dip in the afternoon, and I'm far less bloated and uncomfortable. Although that's possibly because my diet seems to be a bit more FODMAP friendly. Interesting experiment, either way.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#95

Post by pbourke »

blunte wrote: post #11

One thing you have to pay attention to while aiming for a 12+ hour gap is that you don't accidentally consume calories in drinks, especially from sugar... so no milk, honey, or sugar in your tea or coffee. A little sugar calories will prevent the switch flip, leaving you in a starvation state where you feel awful and eat your own muscles.

I’d say that getting adapted to black coffee (I previously took it “light and sweet”) was the hardest part of starting IF for me. Took about 2 weeks, but now I’m enjoying it.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#96

Post by MegaDeKay »

amelius wrote: post #13

Sounds great, but is this compatible with: - bodybuilding - 20 miles daily commute by bicycle - intellectually intense work, e.g. hackathons ?

You can indeed get very strong and very lean with Intermittent Fasting. This is a goto site backed by plenty of good research.

http://leangains.com/

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#97

Post by jbm »

baud147258 wrote: post #54
throwaway413 wrote: post #44

Fitting to see this during this month, as it is currently the holy month of Ramandan for Muslims, who fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days.

Well, perhaps it's good for the metabolism of my muslim colleague, but right now his productivity is way down. Also I don't the ramandan fasting is particularly good since muslims usually eat a lot during the night to compensate.

I generally don’t have a problem at work (Ramadan + Keto). Then again I don’t get up at 2 AM to eat. (Generally have a 18:6 fasting to eating cycle)

Can you share how you are measuring changes in his productivity? I find that, in general, to be fairly difficult to measure, let alone find trends in small time intervals (like a week)

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#98

Post by jbm »

kolbe wrote: post #85
throwaway413 wrote: post #44

Fitting to see this during this month, as it is currently the holy month of Ramandan for Muslims, who fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days.

I'm not sure that qualifies as a fast by metabolic standards. Most people fast for 8+ hours every day. By the paper's definition, it's more like time restricted eating.

I believe 16:8 is an IF methodology - You easily hit 16 hours here in Tokyo (2:30 AM -> 6:50 PM)

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#99

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

kaslai wrote: post #56

I've had serious weight issues for my whole life, primarily due to my love of chocolate. As I approached 400 pounds, I took a hard look at myself and decided to make a change. For the past month (29 days now) I've been doing alternate-day fasting* where I eat about 2000-2500kcal on eat days and cap myself at about 100kcal of half-and-half with coffee on fast days (gotta get that joe). While a lot of it is no doubt no…

Intermittent fasting was a big part of the early stages of my own climb down from 320+lbs. One thing I will warn about is that, in my case, my body eventually caught up with me and my appetite became uncontrollable again, leading to compulsive eating that I was powerless against until I started taking ephedrine as an appetite suppressant. Don't underestimate the power of a ghrelin/dopamine feedback loop.

Also worth noting: according to my caloric intake log, I now need to eat well under the average to maintain my weight. My understanding is that there is no known way to avoid this kind of metabolic damage when losing large amounts of weight, so you just have to get used to it.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#100

Post by imglorp »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #10

Like many programmers, especially us older folks, I've struggled with my weight my entire life. Three weeks ago I went on a ketogenic diet. This week I've added intermittent fasting, only eating between noon and six. After the "keto flu" period ended, it's been quite enjoyable. The IF comes quite naturally and is painless. I'm not one to spot diet trends, but my intuition says that keto/IF will be a big thing over th…

Another Keto person here. I'm eating as much as I want, with no fasting, but strictly keto foods (no carbs).

I lost 10lb my first month (didn't need to lose much), but more importantly for me, my blood pressure is way down from borderline hypertensive 130/90 to 114/77 yesterday. The conventional wisdom is you control 10% of your BP with lifestyle. Low salt and exercise did not touch it, but Keto with the same exercise knocked it down in less than a month.

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