Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

jamesclear.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 202 posts

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#141

Post by gilbetron »

ballenf wrote: post #132
gilbetron wrote: post #106

Just started doing this (again) two weeks ago and am down 4 lbs already. All I do is skip breakfast, and be a little aware not to gorge when lunch/dinner comes around, and then stop snacks (other than maybe a pickle or something) after dinner. It really depends on the person, for my wife, she just calorie counts and can shed the pounds with little problem. I can't stand being constantly hungry and not eating until I'…

Does black coffee break the fast? No sweetener, not a flavored coffee.

I'm no expert, but everything I've read says coffee/tea is ok. I drink tea (love coffee, don't love what it does to me!) these days, and I put a bit of cream in it which is technically cheating, but seems fine so far.

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#142

Post by jellevdv »

ballenf wrote: post #132
gilbetron wrote: post #106

Just started doing this (again) two weeks ago and am down 4 lbs already. All I do is skip breakfast, and be a little aware not to gorge when lunch/dinner comes around, and then stop snacks (other than maybe a pickle or something) after dinner. It really depends on the person, for my wife, she just calorie counts and can shed the pounds with little problem. I can't stand being constantly hungry and not eating until I'…

Does black coffee break the fast? No sweetener, not a flavored coffee.

it doesn't break it

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#143

Post by pjio »

ycombinete wrote: post #93
marttt wrote: post #25

Has anybody here experienced more impulsive behaviour as a result of intermittent fasting? More internal anger, being rude or impatient with your peers or children much more often, etc. I was on IF for 2-3 years, and while I gained a lot from the mental clarity, I also admit turning into an uneasy person within. A quick google provided a 2020 paper that tackles this same question: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art…

If I skip breakfast I often eat like a maniac come lunchtime if I’m not strict with myself

I'm a "breakfast is my most important meal" person and therefore I eat breakfast and lunch but skip dinner. Works too!

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#144

Post by enraged_camel »

I've been doing IF on and off since reading this article ten years ago. It's a decent way to lose weight, but if you play sports or do any kind of strenuous exercise, you need to optimize your meal timing really well, or your performance and recovery will suffer in a big way.

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#145

Post by cphoover »

I don't think there is a universal solution for every person. People have different psychologies. For instance for me eating more earlier in the day tends to work. That way I have digested by the time I want to exercise around 6pm.

Covid was a real hiccup in my health goals, gym's closed, loss of routine, and having my GF move-in and have to accommodate someone else's patterns really set me back (not blaming her, it's just easier when you only have to worry about yourself).

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#146

Post by sasawpg »

vidarh wrote: post #140
JKCalhoun wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sense is that conventional dietary wisdom comes from an agricultural heritage — where we spent all damn day working the fields. Without that intensive labor, three meals seems to make less sense.

It was eye-opening once I started tracking my calorie intact and adjusting until I was in balance to realise just how far off typical dietary advice was for me. Especially as I was actively powerlifting at the time, and forums were full of advice about the massive amounts of food I "needed". UK NHS still say 2000kcal for women and 2500 for men, but for me after actually counting and tracking my weight at different in…

> Without actually being in a physically demanding job, odds are you're not "active" in any meaningful sense (of course there are exceptions).

That's a curious conclusion. I and most others in my circle of friends are active in a meaningful sense, at least based on my definition of "meaningfully active". Most of us are in desk jobs, and none that I know have what I would define as a "physically demanding" job.

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#147

Post by 01100011 »

nicoburns wrote: post #90
JKCalhoun wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sense is that conventional dietary wisdom comes from an agricultural heritage — where we spent all damn day working the fields. Without that intensive labor, three meals seems to make less sense.

Indeed. I often skip breakfast without issues, but I once attempted to do this on a cycling holiday where my morning consisted of cycling at a moderate pace for several hours and I ended up collapsing asleep at the side of the road for about half an hour, then continued very slowly until I could find some food. What you're doing can have a big impact on how much food you need.

I think you can train your body to deal with it. I used to hike a lot. I realized I felt a lot better while hiking if I didn't eat. I'd get up at say 5am, hike, and not need food until around noon before I bonked. It took work to get there. When I was younger, I'd get hypoglycemia if I didn't snack every hour or so. When I started hiking, I could go about an hour before I'd feel lightheaded. I got sick of it and started pushing through the wall. It was rough, then things started to change. After that, my eating habits changed even when I wasn't hiking. I got down to my ideal weight for the first time in my life at 40 years old.

That weight and the shape I was in allowed me to meet my wife. Unfortunately we like to eat garbage and now I'm back where I started at 47. It was a healthy 5 years though.

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#148

Post by TimMeade »

pjio wrote: post #143
ycombinete wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I skip breakfast I often eat like a maniac come lunchtime if I’m not strict with myself

I'm a "breakfast is my most important meal" person and therefore I eat breakfast and lunch but skip dinner. Works too!

There are several IF studies that say this may be the best way to do it. As the rising of the sun triggers some hormones that help process the food. So having an earlier 'window' has more benefits. Not a doctor. But something i have seen in my studies of this.

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#149

Post by threefour »

whoomp12342 wrote: post #2

what about when being hungry makes you distracted?

For me it required both dietary and psychological techniques to deal with feelings of hunger.

- During my morning fast if I'm hungry I'll mix two tablespoons of psyllium husk with water and drink it. Fiber helps you feel full and in this form doesn't break the fast https://www.ifbuddy.com/nutrition/does-fiber-break-a-fast/

- Psychologically I remind myself it's OK to feel hungry. I reframed feelings of hunger from a signal that I forgot to eat to a signal that in a few hours I'll need to eat, as if hunting and gathering will take a few hours so my body is telling me to start now :-)

Re: A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012)

#150

Post by 01100011 »

seer wrote: post #16
random_upvoter wrote: post #9

For decades of my adult life I skipped breakfast, going against all conventional dietary wisdom. Having 3 meals a day just felt like turning my body into a conveyor belt that produces faeces. Now I feel kinda vindicated. A few times I traveled with a friends who did the breakfast - lunch - dinner thing and after two or three days I had to opt out of either breakfast or dinner. I remember asking "how do you even manag…

The work from Dr. Sinclair, and various other scientist seems to agree that its not just weight and body shape, you actually live longer and have less illnesses throughout your life. Really fascinating stuff - the Lifespan podcast really changed how I think about all of this. I'm like you and haven't had breakfast in quite a while, but recently started skipping launch as well. A lot harder, but supposedly will feel a…

Sinclair is getting in trouble lately for his questionable research. Look into the spat between Dr. Charles Brenner and Sinclair over unsubstantiated and low quality research claims. Sinclair finally blocked Brenner and others on Twitter because they kept calling out his frauds.
Post reply on HN