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Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

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Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#21

Post by bcheung »

SilasX wrote: post #19

I had just been reading Antifragile by Nassim Taleb and he theorizes that fasting works by exploiting your body's "anti-fragility" and need for stressors by periodically starving it of some resource, which forces it to adapt in a way that improves the overall system (eg by economizing). For similar reasons, he recommends a diet of "different nutrients at different meals" rather than making each meal balanced in itsel…

That's a generalization but there are a few concepts that fit.

1) autophagy causes the body to consume cancerous and senescent damaged cells

2) by lowering metabolism free radical production is decreased

3) inflammatory effects from insulin don't happen if insulin is not being released into the blood stream

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#22

Post by roymurdock »

serg_chernata wrote: post #17
Lazare wrote: post #7

I've been doing IF (the "one meal per day" form) for a while now, mostly because I find it helps me focus during the day. When I used to eat breakfast, I'd be productive in the morning, until I started getting distracted by craving lunch. Then I'd eat lunch, and end up sleepy and groggy afterwards while I digested. Now that I'm used to IF, I feel more productive; I spend less time at work thinking about food, and I m…

This is exactly what I do and I find that I have more energy throughout the day even though I also work out more than I did before starting IF. However, people don't typically believe me that eating less is making me feel better and have more energy. Although for me it's not just about fasting, it's also about making sure my one big meal of the day is all about nutrients as opposed to calories.

> even though I also work out more

Are you doing cardio or lifting? I'd like to try IF, but I'm concerned about how it will affect recovery time and muscle building after heavy lifting.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#23

Post by [deleted] »

js2 wrote: post #18

I've been following the 5:2 fast since Jan 1, and running 60-80 miles per week. I've run my 3 best marathons in this time, including a PR. (I'm not crediting the diet for this, just saying that the diet hasn't hurt my performance.) I'm mostly doing it as an experiment for myself, after talking with a friend who did it last year, and watching the BBC Documentary on the diet (Eat, Fast, and Live Longer). I thought runn…

[deleted]

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#24

Post by api_or_ipa »

SilasX wrote: post #19

I had just been reading Antifragile by Nassim Taleb and he theorizes that fasting works by exploiting your body's "anti-fragility" and need for stressors by periodically starving it of some resource, which forces it to adapt in a way that improves the overall system (eg by economizing). For similar reasons, he recommends a diet of "different nutrients at different meals" rather than making each meal balanced in itsel…

Very interesting that you brought up Taleb. He's been a spirited force in my education, often forcing me to re-think my learned statistical habit to tend towards the mean. It's true that the average human would have 1 breast and 1 testicle and be very inapt at reproduction. Taleb, being a self-recognized patron of literature and written thought, often brings up supposed cultural origins to human heuristics. Thus, I present a few immediate recollections from my classical and literary education.

In Julius Caesar, Brutus famously quips

There is a tide in the affairs of men Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

And in Ecclesiastes:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Just food for a pondering thought.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#25

Post by serg_chernata »

roymurdock wrote: post #22
serg_chernata wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly what I do and I find that I have more energy throughout the day even though I also work out more than I did before starting IF. However, people don't typically believe me that eating less is making me feel better and have more energy. Although for me it's not just about fasting, it's also about making sure my one big meal of the day is all about nutrients as opposed to calories.

> even though I also work out more Are you doing cardio or lifting? I'd like to try IF, but I'm concerned about how it will affect recovery time and muscle building after heavy lifting.

I tend to do a little bit of both; everything in good measure. In my opinion, the combination of IF and something akin to Keto approach to food composition(low carb, high fat, low-medium protein) is only improving my recovery and performance. If the idea is that our body actually uses fat as it should, as an active source of energy instead of a battery that keeps sitting around, things should work at the very least equally as well if not better. This is a very personal experience, of course.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#26

Post by shostack »

jonnathanson wrote: post #9
Lazare wrote: post #7

I've been doing IF (the "one meal per day" form) for a while now, mostly because I find it helps me focus during the day. When I used to eat breakfast, I'd be productive in the morning, until I started getting distracted by craving lunch. Then I'd eat lunch, and end up sleepy and groggy afterwards while I digested. Now that I'm used to IF, I feel more productive; I spend less time at work thinking about food, and I m…

I'm with you. Breakfast has always felt very skippable for me. My body doesn't seem to crave it in any way. I'd grown up listening to the conventional wisdom: eat a hearty breakfast, or else you'll be so hungry you'll snack all morning and afternoon. But I never really found that to be the case. Really, I experienced the opposite effect, as you've described. Whenever I eat breakfast, I find myself hungry again anywhe…

It's weird how that works. Like you I never feel the urge to have breakfast. Like, never. Sometimes I'll eat it if its available because I'm a lean guy and it has always been hard for me to put on and retain mass. However more often than not I don't have breakfast on the weekends. And if I'm really engrossed in something, there have definitely been times when I skip lunch too.

I haven't really experimented or tested the impact of this yet, but I wonder how it ties in alertness/energy levels. I'm normally a zombie in the morning and don't get productive till the afternoon and evening.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#27

Post by runwerks »

js2 wrote: post #18

I've been following the 5:2 fast since Jan 1, and running 60-80 miles per week. I've run my 3 best marathons in this time, including a PR. (I'm not crediting the diet for this, just saying that the diet hasn't hurt my performance.) I'm mostly doing it as an experiment for myself, after talking with a friend who did it last year, and watching the BBC Documentary on the diet (Eat, Fast, and Live Longer). I thought runn…

nice. do you run in the morning or afternoon? i'd considered doing the same as you but I usually run after work and hate running with food in my stomach...

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#28

Post by pc2g4d »

jonnathanson wrote: post #9
Lazare wrote: post #7

I've been doing IF (the "one meal per day" form) for a while now, mostly because I find it helps me focus during the day. When I used to eat breakfast, I'd be productive in the morning, until I started getting distracted by craving lunch. Then I'd eat lunch, and end up sleepy and groggy afterwards while I digested. Now that I'm used to IF, I feel more productive; I spend less time at work thinking about food, and I m…

I'm with you. Breakfast has always felt very skippable for me. My body doesn't seem to crave it in any way. I'd grown up listening to the conventional wisdom: eat a hearty breakfast, or else you'll be so hungry you'll snack all morning and afternoon. But I never really found that to be the case. Really, I experienced the opposite effect, as you've described. Whenever I eat breakfast, I find myself hungry again anywhe…

I basically never eat breakfast and see no negative effect, but when I tell people this they immediately get concerned about my wellbeing. The "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" idea is deeply ingrained in our culture.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#29

Post by brooklyndavs »

js2 wrote: post #18

I've been following the 5:2 fast since Jan 1, and running 60-80 miles per week. I've run my 3 best marathons in this time, including a PR. (I'm not crediting the diet for this, just saying that the diet hasn't hurt my performance.) I'm mostly doing it as an experiment for myself, after talking with a friend who did it last year, and watching the BBC Documentary on the diet (Eat, Fast, and Live Longer). I thought runn…

Your experience is interesting to me. I'm a runner as well and I end up doing several races per year including a marathon, a few 1/2s, few 5k and 10ks. Do you do any interval training or long runs on the days you fast? What do you do about post run nutrition replacement and do you do glucose replacement during your longer runs? I'd love to shave off a few pounds for racing reasons as well. I always find myself eating more as I up my milage anyway so my weight usually stays constant.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#30

Post by xhrpost »

js2 wrote: post #18

I've been following the 5:2 fast since Jan 1, and running 60-80 miles per week. I've run my 3 best marathons in this time, including a PR. (I'm not crediting the diet for this, just saying that the diet hasn't hurt my performance.) I'm mostly doing it as an experiment for myself, after talking with a friend who did it last year, and watching the BBC Documentary on the diet (Eat, Fast, and Live Longer). I thought runn…

Do you feel a need to eat right after running to rebuild muscle?
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