Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting • Hacker News Board

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

#101

Post by atupis » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:21 PM UTC

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #99

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 n…

Have you tought starting going a gym. Getting more muscle definitely helps.

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

#102

Post by imglorp » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:35 PM UTC

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

It should be over in two days. Carb withdrawl makes you a little more tired. After that, you should even out -- no more crashes and highs -- to a constant level of good focus and energy. You do need to bump your fat and protein intake, first to avoid the addiction eating by actually being full, and second to provide energy. After a couple days you switch to burning fat instead of burning sugars.

See reddit.com/r/keto for help.

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

#103

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:35 PM UTC

atupis wrote: post #101

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 n…

Have you tought starting going a gym. Getting more muscle definitely helps.

I took up rock climbing early on, and in fact that hobby became motivation for losing weight instead of the other way around. I sped a good 6+ hours at the rock climbing gym every week. It was not sufficient to fight the compulsion and I still have to average around 1600kcal/day to maintain.

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

#104

Post by andreygrehov » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:37 PM UTC

stevehawk wrote: post #83

andreygrehov wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. The problem is that Steve Jobs ignored Ehret’s concept of a “transition diet,” and became taken with the idea of being a fruit-only eater right away.

I thought the problem was that he ignored getting treated for cancer and died?

No way?! How confident are you? Anyways, I mentioned Steve Jobs just as an interesting fact. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't personally believe that anybody should be cautious recommending a book. It's a whole separate topic, but in short, can't help one if he's stupid enough to try whatever is on the internet, but I'm glad to share useful information with the smarter one. Otherwise there is no neither progress nor evolution.

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

#105

Post by jiscariot » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:38 PM UTC

I've been doing intermittent fasting for about a year--it seems to work for me because I struggle with controlling portion sizes. Mon/Wed of every week I limit caloric intake severely--I skip all meals and snack on olives, pickles, maybe a small amount of avacado in the evening along with a couple of La Croix. Not sure why olives/pickles, other than I wanted to keep the fasting foods keto-friendly. Other than that, I used to chew a lot of gum during fasting, but have since stopped because I'm not sure what exactly "sugar alcohol" is doing to my body.

It has worked out well for me. I started at 230 in June and hit my baseline of low 190's in mid-November. I've been there since doing the 2-day fast. It is not too bad so long as you can stay busy, although it does really affect my mood on those fast days. It has helped my mountain/road biking immensely.

Just wanted to share my experiences...if anyone has other recommendations for fasting days, please share.

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

#106

Post by jcousins » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:42 PM UTC

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…

Congratulations on what you have achieved. I have had very similar experiences going from 450lbs+ to 250lbs and counting as a disordered eater. The low carb change had a marked impact on my willpower, among a plethora of benefits, but introducing long term and intermittent fasting took it to another level where I was finally comfortable stating that I am in control after 20 years of battling disordered eating. I am thrilled to read of others getting the same results.

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

#107

Post by throwaway413 » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:51 PM UTC

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.

Agreed that binging after fast as compensation is a common trend and not a healthy one. I think the way one practices the fast definitely will lead to differences in productivity. Personally, I work fewer hours but find myself to be more productive for those fewer hours as I have generally prepared better to get work done during those specific times - which isn't something I do for my "normal" workflow.

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

#108

Post by extr » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:52 PM UTC

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,…

I'm the same way. People always nag me to eat breakfast but that actually just makes me hungrier and throws off my schedule. Generally if I don't eat anything I won't get hungry for a few hours after waking up, until 11-11:30 like you. I'll have a "big" lunch, like chipotle burrito size, then a light dinner 7-8 hours later. No snacking and stick to drinking water, black coffee, and alcohol. I remain at the same weight I was in high school and haven't fluctuated more than +/- 5 pounds over my entire adult life. It honestly rules and I don't even know how I got into this routine, just that eating breakfast usually seems gross to me.

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

#109

Post by jcousins » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:52 PM UTC

jiscariot wrote: post #105

I've been doing intermittent fasting for about a year--it seems to work for me because I struggle with controlling portion sizes. Mon/Wed of every week I limit caloric intake severely--I skip all meals and snack on olives, pickles, maybe a small amount of avacado in the evening along with a couple of La Croix. Not sure why olives/pickles, other than I wanted to keep the fasting foods keto-friendly. Other than that, I…

I had mood issues with one meal a day regime, I managed to resolve it with Tryptophan supplementation (an amino acid known to act as an antidepressant, avoid if taking SSRIs) for two months and upping my cruciferous vegetable intake significantly (half a kilo a day). This was after reading The Diet Cure by Dr. Julia Ross. I have since stopped taking the Tryptophan and mood remains stable.

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

#110

Post by throwaway413 » Fri, May 25, 2018, 5:52 PM UTC

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.

Right now where I am (SoCal, USA), Fajr (first daily prayer) is around 4:30 and Maghrib (prayer at sundown) is around 7:30. So ~15h fasts this year.

At the same time, Ramadan shifts up the calendar ~12 days every year, so during Winter fasting the days are much much shorter and I agree with what you're saying.