A beginner's guide to intermittent fasting (2012) • Hacker News Board

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

#41

Post by Abekkus » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:17 PM UTC

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…

I don't notice that effect from IF, but I definitely notice irritability when I'm restricting calories and actually losing weight.

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

#42

Post by arboghast » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:17 PM UTC

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…

Except that in his podcast he spreads a lot of bad science. I'd even call it misinformation. The work on Sirtuins role in health span and life span is, at most, inconclusive. Multiple studies on trans-resveratrol failed to show any improvement whatsoever (and yes, even when mixed with a fat to increase bioavailability). Maybe NMN does something, maybe not. It's not yet clear.

He states everything as facts while most of his own studies have never been successfully replicated, even disproven in some cases.

I'd take everything he says with a grain of salt. He's been called out multiple times by his peers, including his own friends like Matt Kaeberlein.

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

#43

Post by tyjen » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:21 PM UTC

When I have rest periods, I naturally gravitate toward intermittent fasting because I don't like spending time preparing and eating food. I didn't know what it was until it became trendy.

Most of the time, I'm engaging in 4-5 hours of intense aerobic activity and three days of weight training per week. Unfortunately, if I attempt intermittent fasting, I am fighting fatigue and more prone to injury.

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

#44

Post by 300bps » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:21 PM UTC

virtuallynathan wrote: post #26

300bps wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calorie counting is the one true answer. Everything else is an approximation. I used MyFitnessPal to count calories - makes it pretty easy.

Do you know how many calories you burn? Do you actually know how many calories are in your food? I have a metabolic cart, and the answer surprises me sometimes on the former - just standing at my desk all day I burn >3300kcal. I actually went to talk to the guy in the Casey Neistat video about food labels, and almost bought a bomb calorimeter. Calorie counting, while not useless, is not very helpful. https://youtu.be…

I know approximately how many calories are in my food. Like I said I use MyFitnessPal to track it.

I know approximately how many calories I burn. In addition to using an Apple Watch I track my workouts.

And honestly this is good enough. If I target a 500 calorie per day deficit, I miraculously lose 1 pound per week. Which makes sense because simple arithmetic says that there are 3,500 calories per pound and 7 days times 500 equals 3,500.

It really is that simple. What on earth do you have a metabolic cart for? You wear that on your face all day every day tracking how much carbon dioxide you breathe out? And you really believe you’re burning 3,300 calories just standing? I could maybe believe that if you are in the morbidly obese BMI range.

Calorie counting is extremely helpful. Ask anyone who did it for the first time and suddenly realized they were eating 9 servings of potato chips at a time without even thinking about it.

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

#45

Post by killjoywashere » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:22 PM UTC

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…

tl:dr: shift your window.

I did 18:6 for about 6 months a decade ago and noticed the hangry effect (as did my wife and kids!). I went from 232 to 190 lbs though, placing top 5 in triathlons, so the method undeniably works. It's been 10 years and I found myself back at 225 and decided to get back on the IF wagon in December, with one modification: I stop eating at 9 pm and start at 3 pm, so by the time I encounter my wife and kids, I'm not hangry.

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

#46

Post by jacobrussell » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:23 PM UTC

imron wrote: post #31

Intermittent fasting. A.K.A skipping breakfast

Haha this is what I thought reading the article. One thing I don't think was really touched on was exercise. Am I suppose to exercise during the fat burning period i.e. 12 hours after my last meal?

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

#47

Post by shaunpud » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:24 PM UTC

I've been doing OMAD since the start of this year and loving it. I'm sat at a computer all day, why do I really need to feed this body if I'm not exerting the same amount out. I find when I eat lunch now, it's a real drag, and since I'm so full after it I don't even need dinner, and can usually wait until the next day around dinner time to find that I'm hungry again. I do get a ~30 minute brisk walk in daily but no way changes my hunger. Definitely see some weight benefits, probably lost > 5kg since doing it. And like one comment said about testosterone levels, yeah, I've definitely experienced it ;)

Edit: It wasn't instant, I did find it hard in the beginning, but once you're over the grind, maybe a week or two, it really is smooth sailing.

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

#48

Post by chronogram » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:24 PM UTC

These threads probably attract mostly people who are dieting or looking to diet, so maybe it’s helpful to have an observation from someone who has never been overweight: I notice overweight people like low-to-no fiber foods and are unaware that they are only eating a few grams of vegetables per day. Maybe it is a good idea to make sure that every meal you have contains a real amount of it, so if you have 3 meals per day that every meal contains 15gr of fiber; or if you have 2 meals per day that each meal contains 20gr of fiber.

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

#49

Post by shlant » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:25 PM UTC

civilized wrote: post #8

I want to put in a good word for old-school calorie counting. If you don't have good "gut intuition" for how much you're eating, you may find that IF just causes you to eat more in the time you are allowed to eat. CC tells you how much you're taking in, so the numbers tell you when you've eaten enough. I often find that, when I stop at my calorie target (1500), I'm actually not that hungry... but I still have an urge…

"If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations — then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation — well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against…thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation."

- Arthur Eddington

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

#50

Post by manc_lad » Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 1:25 PM UTC

tyjen wrote: post #43

When I have rest periods, I naturally gravitate toward intermittent fasting because I don't like spending time preparing and eating food. I didn't know what it was until it became trendy. Most of the time, I'm engaging in 4-5 hours of intense aerobic activity and three days of weight training per week. Unfortunately, if I attempt intermittent fasting, I am fighting fatigue and more prone to injury.

I also find my fasting with exercise leads to me being more susceptible to illness as well as injury.

I don't typically feel hunger or thirst much so I have to make sure I eat consistently.