intermittent fasting

[billh]

anyone try this? how many meals did you skip, and which meals? the idea is that our bodies evolved to handle a sporadic food supply and therefore modern humans are more healthy if they mimic this lifestyle. Here's an example of research in lab animals that supports this idea . . .

http://sciencenewsmagazine.org/articles/20030607/food.asp

[umd]

Some body types handle intermittent meals better than others

[Carbonfiberboy]

I have a riding buddy who started a one-day/week fasting routine while he was in India recently. He likes it philosophically, but it really messes up his riding if he's not very careful. You can't make glycogen without fuel. He's had bonk and near bonk experiences on days following his fast day.

[EJ123]

Starting it on Friday.

I've consulted Martin at www.leangains.com and I can't wait. This is for fat loss and not for body composition or lean gains.

[ottsville]

lolzers. Eat multiple SMALL meals each day, count calorie expenditure and intake(intake<output), and lose weight without crazily impacting your blood sugar and energy levels. Despite what you are reading, regular intermittent fasting is HORRIBLE for athletes.

[BloomBikeShop]

I've looked into this and tried it a little bit, but nothing serious. I'm a fan of the research posted at Tim Ferriss' website, it was a good read:

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/03/02/postponing-death-caloric-restriction-vs-intermittent-fasting-part-1/
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/03/03/real-life-extension-caloric-restriction-or-intermittent-fasting-part-2/

[mateo44]

I was starving right before dinner last night -- does that count?

[Pat]

It depends on the mileage you are putting in, whether you ride every day or not and how much extra weight you have.

[photonick]

Stupid idea, sorry no offense but I think all this stuff is bull****, the body is not created like this, this to me is a great way to set yourself up for wearing out your pancreas and insulin pump.

[1fluffhead]

Stupid idea, sorry no offense but I think all this stuff is bull****, the body is not created like this, this to me is a great way to set yourself up for wearing out your pancreas and insulin pump.

Proof for your statement? I have never heard that fasting would wear out your pancreas.

[photonick]

Ok, you deprive your body letting things like the pancreas go to total rest then load it many people get diabetes this way. You cause your body to produce large amounts of insulin intermittently rather than letting your bodies digestive system steadily digest food throughout the day.

[photonick]

I mean i really could care less knock yourself out but my father got diabetes from essentially doing the same thing to his pancreas.

Everyones looking for these bull**** ways to loose fat instead of eating properly and having some self control, moderation, thats all i'm going to say. I can safely say i ate 60 pounds off my body in a year.

[ottsville]

Everyones looking for these bull**** ways to loose fat instead of eating properly and having some self control, moderation, thats all i'm going to say. I can safely say i ate 60 pounds off my body in a year.

My initial thought was to respond with a "HTFU and get some discipline" but figured most would say that fasting requires discipline. However I think that making long term lifestyle changes is the way to go and requires more discipline.

So yeah op, HTFU. Eat right all the time.

[photonick]

+341234

Just because peoples bodies adapt to feeling comfortable during a fast doesn't necessarily mean that your body is performing properly and healthy. I mean in college I got this great idea to just skip breakfast and eat lunch most of the time and then have a big dinner, i felt terrible the first few days and then felt great, then the weight started packing on...

[ottsville]

Proof for your statement? I have never heard that fasting would wear out your pancreas.

spiking of blood sugar and resultant insulin response is considered to be a possible cause of type II diabetes.

[photonick]

Not to mention it's bad news when the body starts taking fat from organs.

[pista]

I usually skip breakfast and lunch And have a decent dinner, not big, just decent. Been doing this since I was a teenager.

[kopid03]

(Calories in - Calories Out)/~3500 = pounds of fat lost

[kopid03]

Here is a quote from that Life Extension article above:
"If people increase kcal out by exercising, they end up increasing kcal in because they eat more. It’s called working up an appetite. And since exercise doesn’t burn a whole lot more calories than simply sitting on one’s butt, it doesn’t take a lot of food to compensate."

I don't know what this guy's definition of exercise is, but I know when I bike and run I burn a whole lot more calories than I do when I sit on my butt.

[mateo44]

Here is a quote from that Life Extension article above:
"If people increase kcal out by exercising, they end up increasing kcal in because they eat more. It’s called working up an appetite. And since exercise doesn’t burn a whole lot more calories than simply sitting on one’s butt, it doesn’t take a lot of food to compensate."

I don't know what this guy's definition of exercise is, but I know when I bike and run I burn a whole lot more calories than I do when I sit on my butt.

+1. That's a pretty idiotic quote for a lot of reasons.

People will try anything to avoid the hard, ass-busting work often required to lose weight.

[BloomBikeShop]

I usually skip breakfast and lunch And have a decent dinner, not big, just decent. Been doing this since I was a teenager.

Sounds a lot like the warrior diet - http://www.warriordiet.com/

Gotta love the fancy trademarked diet that means "eat a big dinner and nothing else." :rolleyes:

[frugivore]

Some define fasting as resting, and I like this definition. Resting has many facets- emotional, physical, mental and physiological (digestive/food). When one is resting this allows from great healing and recovery to take place. Recovery is as important as exercise in the equation for health and fitness, and sometimes the rest we get at night is just not enough, when we engage in an enervating and toxic lifestyle. So sometimes resting and abstaining from food is indicated.. but sometimes it is contraindicated, and it must be done with wisdom- I believe best done in nature, with supervision from an expert, though I believe one can go a few days or even a few more on one's own without this safely. But to me it makes no sense to abstain from food without resting the mind and body for recovery. food takes a lot of energy to digest so not eating allows the body to use that energy for elimination and growth. Them crazy humans eat so much and so wrongly and the wrong foods and engage in enervating lifestyles that their bodies are not able to keep up with elimination which should be easy and natural. Yeah if we all lived ideal in the garden of eden would we need to fast during the day rather than just during sleep? I doubt this. But it is more important to live healthfully and not need to fast then to live wrongly and use a fast to make up for your indiscretions in life. The straight and narrow is a path of joy that we can learn to walk upon and grow strong. whatever you believe as truth, live those things. I have fasted and I plan to do a long fast this next winter- meaning some 20 or 30 or so days, to make up for the standard american diet I lived on for 24 years. Fasting is great but be careful and be wise. you might want to read some of the books by doctor herbert shelton. Good luck on your path

jerry