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Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

sciencedaily.com

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Re: Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

#11

Post by tcmb »

jedberg wrote: post #5

I tried IF for a while. I lost a couple pounds and then plateaued. What I realized is that the main thing it was doing was preventing me from snacking at night. I didn't really eat any more than normal during the eating period, I just didn't eat my usual outside of it. So exactly in line with the study. It just didn't do much for me weight-loss-wise. I was already skipping breakfast most days, so waiting until lunch…

So you actually ate less during IF, while in the article both groups consumed the same amount, just at different times: "The same amounts and types of foods were consumed on both schedules."

Their IF (or eTRF) groups stopped eating at 2pm each day. Presumably they went to bed a earlier than you, as their breakfast was at 8am, so shifted by your two hours that would mean no food after 4pm.

I'd have a hard time doing that. In a way, dinner is a reward for the day's accomplishments for me. I'm not saying it's impossible to adapt to that, but I'd rather work out more than fast for 16 hours every day.

Re: Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

#12

Post by ellius »

ikeyany wrote: post #7
catotheyoungest wrote: post #2

This is strictly anecdotal, and I would honestly love to see this subjected to a rigorous study, but I lost twenty pounds without additional exercise or dietary changes in the last six months just by having a sleep study done, getting diagnosed with sleep apnea, and being put on a CPAP machine. How much obesity and depression could be prevented or alleviated just by making sure people could get a decent night's sleep…

Are you sure your diet did not change? Even your portions stayed the same size?

Can't speak for OP, but my appetite and then weight have steadily decreased for six years since beginning CPAP. As a person with apnea I had no idea that my constant fatigue was causing me to eat so much, or making sustained exercise so impossible, and I really didn't even understand how tired I was. Once I was getting something approximating a good night's sleep, I had more energy, which made me less hungry and more able to sustain exercise. So it was a virtuous cycle and involved the habits you're describing, but those were made possible by alleviating the underlying problem.

Re: Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

#13

Post by noodle »

To add my strictly anecdotal experience:

I recently started to diet for the first time ever. Never really needed it, but getting older, I noticed my weight steadily increasing despite regular exercise and finally decided to change.

I always skipped breakfast, but I became a bit more strict about timing and snacking at night in order to align with IF. Switched my diet to a lazy keto (basically adkins) diet - still don't track calories, just intentionally reduced carb intake to below ~25g net per day and increased fat intake. Occasionally I have a cheat meal.

Down 35lbs in ~2.5 months.

Side effects: I feel like my energy levels are much more consistent throughout the day, but also very discernable. Which is to say, if I'm working out, I can really feel it when I run out of gas. Related, I can't lift as much weight as I could, but that is expected while I'm actively trying to lose weight. I feel like there's a bit more mental clarity, but that could be related to energy levels.

Re: Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

#16

Post by catotheyoungest »

ikeyany wrote: post #7
catotheyoungest wrote: post #2

This is strictly anecdotal, and I would honestly love to see this subjected to a rigorous study, but I lost twenty pounds without additional exercise or dietary changes in the last six months just by having a sleep study done, getting diagnosed with sleep apnea, and being put on a CPAP machine. How much obesity and depression could be prevented or alleviated just by making sure people could get a decent night's sleep…

Are you sure your diet did not change? Even your portions stayed the same size?

To be honest, I'm not sure. I don't recall making any conscious changes, though I don't have the sugar jones I used to have.

Re: Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

#17

Post by tyingq »

mabbo wrote: post #15

11 adults in the experiment. No control group (other than against themselves). Experiment ran 8 days. I mean, I'm interested, but I want to see further research before I call this a real result.

Yeah for sanity. Sad I'm having to post this and vote.

Re: Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

#18

Post by catotheyoungest »

pizza wrote: post #4
catotheyoungest wrote: post #2

This is strictly anecdotal, and I would honestly love to see this subjected to a rigorous study, but I lost twenty pounds without additional exercise or dietary changes in the last six months just by having a sleep study done, getting diagnosed with sleep apnea, and being put on a CPAP machine. How much obesity and depression could be prevented or alleviated just by making sure people could get a decent night's sleep…

So did you stop eating as much, or having fewer cravings or anything like that?

I don't know. I hadn't bothered to quantify, but my sugar jones isn't as bad as it used to be.

Re: Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

#19

Post by prostoalex »

jedberg wrote: post #5

I tried IF for a while. I lost a couple pounds and then plateaued. What I realized is that the main thing it was doing was preventing me from snacking at night. I didn't really eat any more than normal during the eating period, I just didn't eat my usual outside of it. So exactly in line with the study. It just didn't do much for me weight-loss-wise. I was already skipping breakfast most days, so waiting until lunch…

Satchin Panda from UCSD did a round of podcast interviews when his book came out, and the advice essentially boiled down to having a feeding window of up to 8 hours and having it start towards the earlier part of the day rather than later.

The weight gain/loss/plateau seems to correlate with the insulin presence in the blood system, and meals eaten later in the day tend to generate higher insulin response compared to exact same meals eaten mid-day.

Re: Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite, improve fat burning

#20

Post by alexpetralia »

mabbo wrote: post #15

11 adults in the experiment. No control group (other than against themselves). Experiment ran 8 days. I mean, I'm interested, but I want to see further research before I call this a real result.

I always appreciate how the HN crowd evaluates the quality of the evidence, not just the quality of the headline. Great filtering function.
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