8 ms·

I think intermittent fasting is easier to implement for the average person. It's much easier to tell someone that they can eat as much as they want, but only be

• erklik 6y ago
  > until I'm full and I've learnt that it's very hard to know when you're satisfied in terms of hunger, and full in terms of desire. The level of food required to satiate my hunger seems to be quite different from when I am "full".
  • mrslave 6y ago
    Doing a 1-2 meal, 800 calorie/day diet for 8 weeks helped me to figure this out. The hard adjustment period was only for the first week. I then realized small and fewer meals was sufficient. Not that the remainder was easy, but it was a different kind of struggle - and noticeably easier than the first week.
    • stjohnswarts 6y ago
      800 is far too low for that amount of time unless you weight like 80lbs. 1200 calories at least to stop your body from using muscle for sustenance.
      • patrickk 6y ago
        > 1200 calories at least to stop your body from using muscle for sustenance. This is only true up to a point. A colleague put me onto a fasting method called “Buchinger’s Fasting”. I fasted for around a week and a half, muscle maintenance was not a concern. After 3 days, your body burns through the glucose reserves and you get brain fog. After that, indeed, your body tried to break down muscle mass for fuel. The trick is to do some moderate exercise to keep your muscles in good condition. After a few days, your body finally turns to your fat reserves, and rapidly starts burning away fat. After the first 3 or so days, you actually become numb to the hunger and go into a slightly “high”, hunter gatherer alert mode that enabled our ancestors to search for food when hungry. It really brings home that being hungry and not being fed constantly is a normal part of human existence, and the industrial era, shoving food down our gullets constantly is making us sick and prevents natural healing within our bodies.
        • chiefgeek 6y ago
          I assume that is from Buchinger Clinic in Germany? I watched a documentary (can’t remember the name) about fasting that claims it is more commonplace in Europe than elsewhere. They also claimed the Soviets studied it for years with favorable results.
          • patrickk 6y ago
            Yeah it's from Germany. I can personally attest to its effectiveness. Another colleague who is approaching retirement does it twice per year or so, and he's in great shape and looks great for his age. It was very eye-opening to see that and then to experience it.
        • boltzmann_brain 6y ago
          This aligns exactly with my experience. The body is very reluctant to turn into fat reserves, as they the best source of energy and must be conserved. As you said, exercise helps, and another trick to eat some carbs every three or so days to convince your body to start burning fat.
          • TheMightyLlama 6y ago
            How does eating carbs convince your body to start consuming fat?
            • ensiferum 6y ago
              Presumably by giving the signal that "food is available" and the system can break out of the hypocaloric energy preservation state. The problem is that the fat deposits are extremely valuable (in a non overweight person) and as one enters a hypocaloric state they become more valuable. I.e your body will rather throttle down metabolism and energy levels farther than start breaking down the fat for energy. Eating some carbs can healp to break this pattern.
              • mcdevilkiller 6y ago
  • ab8 6y ago
    The more you are used to eating in an average meal, the longer it takes to feel "full".
    • lotsofpulp 6y ago
      Also, it takes time for the chemical reactions in your body to tell you you are full, so if you eat a little bit, and stop for 15 min, you might very well find that you are full. However, once the taste buds are firing, it’s pretty hard to stop eating mid meal. One way is to take a little bit of food away from all the other food, eat it, and then force yourself to sit there while your blood sugar catches up to tell you if you still need more.
      • Cro_on 6y ago
        I find it easier to eat nothing for three days than to ration my meals. Though I'm sure this kind of response is pretty much hard wired tbh
      • OGWhales 6y ago
        Growing up my mom would make me wait to get a second serving to see if I was really hungry. It was effective
      • varrock 6y ago
        > it takes time for the chemical reactions in your body to tell you you are full This is why I suppose I don't enjoy eating when I am "starving" as we like to say when we haven't eaten in a while. I am so hungry that I can't even enjoy the meal because the hunger pangs I am feeling don't subdue until I am practically done with the meal, and sometimes, even afterwards.
      • blastro 6y ago
        very good point
      • deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      • hutzlibu 6y ago
• Barrin92 6y ago
  >It's much easier to tell someone that they can eat as much as they want, but only between 6-8pm (one meal a day). If eating is part of your social or work life as it is for most people then not really. Or you're going to sit there sipping water while your family or your colleagues eat or have drinks which is miserable
  • hombre_fatal 6y ago
    Though that's also a self-limiting belief. It might seem lame the first week of going out to lunch with coworkers and sticking to water, but in my experience you get over it quickly. The fun part is the conversation, not entirely that everyone is spooning food into their acid sacs at the exact same moment. You can also adjust your fasting windows to include one meal with family (as the person your responded to suggested, but you didn't actually reply to). Or only fast every other day. If you're fasting for a reason like to lose weight, then you'll have to decide if the goal is worth it to you.
  • anigbrowl 6y ago
    Most Muslims seem to manage it annually.
    • hyperbovine 6y ago
      Because everyone they know is doing it as well, that is exactly OPs point. Muslims living in non-Muslim countries have a much harder time with Ramadan, I know this from personal experience.
    • redis_mlc 6y ago
      Not really. They gorge themselves at night, so unlimited calories basically.
      • cvhashim 6y ago
        That’s true, and it sort of misses the point of Ramadan.
  • 6y ago
• johanneskanybal 6y ago
  Well that depends on what you eat ofcourse! If you’re concious about what you put in yourself designing meals that you won’t be able to finish is easy! (think bodybuilders fish and broccoli as an example or a bit of meat and tonns of cabbage etc). Fasting is ”easier” because you can get away with caring less about that stuff though.
  • ptd 6y ago
    You also get to eat good food, even if it’s only for one meal a day.
• tootie 6y ago
  Just anecdotal, but I did 12-8 fasting for a few months and it was not at all effective. I was starving half the day and didn't lose any weight at all. Mornings were tough and I was achy and cranky by 11am. 3 months in and my body never adjusted. I switched back to a normal meal schedule and felt better and didn't change weight up or down.
  • kaesar14 6y ago
    Do you have to get up quite early in the morning? Only reason I ask is because half the day being the time until 12 is surprising -- after your midday meal, if you've constructed your meal properly, you should ideally not be hungry until dinner. I think IF needs to be paired with a mindfulness about what you're eating -- having toast with butter for lunch will not work.
    • tootie 6y ago
      Usually like 7:30. Had to get kids to school. I always eat pretty wholesome food with lots of whole grain and vegetable. When I was doing IF, I needed a big lunch to regain my senses and frequently didn't make it to 6PM without needing another dose of food. I suspect I was fitting my normal calorie intake in that window. If the goal was to somehow trick my metabolism into wanting fewer calories, I don't think it worked at all.
  • pbrb 6y ago
    I've come to think this really depends on the person. I realized that I naturally intermittent fast, because it seems to work the best for me. Normally I eat my last meal of the day ~ 8pm, and nothing but coffee, tea, or water until 11am or 12pm the next day. The only time I eat something in the mornings is if I'm doing a workout or something active early in the day. Occasionally I'll feel hungry and eat something, but otherwise, I normally feel sluggish and slow if I eat breakfast. For my other meals, I actually eat a ton of food, around 2,500 calories on average. On the flip side, I know multiple people who have tried the same and have your exact experience. Oddly enough, three of them had tried keto and had great results where I personally didn't. I know there's no real correlation there, just thought it was interesting. Try keto maybe?
• tripzilch 6y ago
  > Once I start eating, I don't want to stop (until I'm full). Did you ever try, waiting 10 minutes? You eat a little, food gets in your stomach, after 10 minutes the message "I'm full" is sent. The point is, you won't feel full until those 10 minutes pass. But you don't need continue eating during those 10 minutes. I'm just asking because if you always do, you might be under the impression that it requires 10 minutes of sustained eating, to stop feeling full.