The science of intermittent fasting

[Afro_Vacancy]

I binged ate hardcore this weekend. The amount of ice cream and other sh*t I hate was obscene. Will likely take me at least a week to recover from this one lol

How dare you go out partying on Halloween weekend?

 

[kj6723]

How dare you go out partying on Halloween weekend?

lol no partying here. Just been immersed in my studies and eating massive amounts of junk food. Still been consistent with my workouts but just eating like sh*t.

I have zero social life at the moment. I actually went out with a chick last week, but about 30 seconds after she got in the car I decided I had no interest lol, and my workload with the program I'm in makes it super inconvenient to go out of my way to initiate any kind of hanging out....I have a new found respect for everyone I've known who went into the medical field. The amount of information you're expected to retain is borderline absurd lol

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

*October 21st, 2016, 186.6 lbs, 84.6 Kg
October 22nd, 2016, 181.8 lbs, 82.5 Kg
October 23rd, 2016, 180.2 lbs, 81.7 Kg
October 24th, 2016, 177.0 lbs, 80.3 Kg
October 25th, 2016, 175.0 lbs, 79.4 Kg
October 26th, 2016, 173. 8 lbs, 78.8 Kg
October 27th, 2016, 172.2 lbs, 78.1 Kg
*October 28th, 2016, 171.8 lbs, 77.9 Kg
*October 29th, 2016, 172.8 lbs, 78.4 Kg
*October 30th, 2016, 176.2 lbs, 79.9 Kg
October 31st, 2016, 174.8 lbs, 79.3 Kg

Back to fasting yesterday after a three day break. I'm not sure how I'll do it. I'd like to break through my record though lol so probably 2+ more days.

- David

 

[Will Resti]

My ex fasted one time a year. Every December she would fast for 10 days. I thought she was nuts but by day 3 she was so happy, energetic, her skin glowed, she slept better. There is something to it. I personally would never last that long but these 36 hour fasts sound doable.

 

[Baylad]

Clean up your diet first pump minerals (colloidal) into diet and massage

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

Clean up your diet first pump minerals (colloidal) into diet and massage

Good meal timing and good meal composition are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Rudiger]

I'm doing 20/4 fast every day for about a month now, because I had a hectic schedule before that I was barely getting enough calories a day (like we're talking 600-800, and at random times, no order whatsoever).

I'm on a keto diet and my calories have trebled up to over 2000, also doing at least 1 hour training (minimum 30-40mins cardio and lifting or mat work depending on the day) 5 or 6 times a week. I've lost 8 pounds (from 196 to 188 at 5 foot 10) in that month, but I'm not actually that crazy about my weight loss, I'm broad shouldered and carry it fine, people actually think I'm "trim" and in pictures it looks like I have a pretty good physique. But I know the reality that if I sit down and push my gut out, I could tie the thing in knots.

So anyway, I could do with losing another 10 or 15 pounds over time, but the main thing has been my body fat percentage which has gone down from 30% to 25%, I can already feel it in my abdomen and legs, for 1 month I'm happy with that as apparently it should pick up further in the next 4-6 weeks if I keep to the same dieting.

Also, I find with the keto diet and squeezing in large amounts of red meat, eggs, cheese, leafy greens etc in a short space of time, I literally get no cravings whatsoever. Sometimes I do over the 20 hours up to 26 or 28, depending on weekend plans to switch things around, and I rarely feel any cravings to actually eat, the keto diet goes hand in hand with intermittent fasting in that way.

 

[Rudiger]

Holiday season upon us, plenty of carb packed dinners to avoid for people on keto, and in relation to the topic, plenty of awkward meal times to work your life around.

Firstly with regards to keto, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, everything does seem to be doused in gravy but you can slyly scrape some off, some grams of gravy aren't really that bad as long as you aren't scooping it up on potatoes. Try and stick to the meat obviously, a little veg, and starters can be kept to salads (unfortunately the dressings can be packed, but most places consider only light drizzling of a vinaigrette or olive oil).

As for desserts, good fuckin luck! Even if it's low in carbs like a meringue, it will be too high in sugar which is just by-passing the reason for avoiding carbs in the first place.

Not everyone goes for desserts anyway, have some cake here and there if you want, but if you're having a social meal every day or other day around the holidays, just skip dessert and have a black coffee. As for alcohol, white wine is fine (and is pretty much the only thing apart from light beers, but they're still considerably carb packed in my opinion, and is only a viable option for getting drunk if you drink like a pussy) and also vodka with soda water and a squirt of lemon juice.

Of course with all this taken into consideration, more importantly you'll need to get your fats and protein in from sources before or after dinner, worth taking into consideration if you won't get that chance after dinner.

Intermittent fasting is just business as usual, know when your planned social events are over the next few weeks, same as switching things around at the weekend, you may have to fast a little longer than usual before packing in some calories.

I think it's still going good for me, it's hard to know because I heavily got into training since I started, but I'm actually enjoying all aspects at the moment as it's taught me some real discipline. It can be a pain in the *** hand-preparing every single meal, sometimes starving (though as per my previous post, on a keto diet packed with fat this is rarely an issue and you can go long periods of time without eating - such as the 50 hours I did over the weekend) and then throwing training into the mix, but it's worth it when you no longer feel a gut every time you lean forward.

I may have written this before but the most important thing for me to start off with was losing belly fat, and that's also regarded as the most difficult, and so far that's been great, stomach is real trim.

10 weeks into training/IF/keto, body weight down from 196lbs to 183, body fat down from 32% to 23%, muscle percentage has improved from 39% to 40% in the last month, possibly will be looking at upping my calories to build more muscle, now that belly fat is actually shedding.

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170106113820.htm#.WHELs097sqA.facebook

The first human test of early time-restricted feeding, or eTRF, found that this meal-timing strategy reduced swings in hunger and altered fat and carbohydrate burning patterns, which may help with losing weight. With eTRF, people eat their last meal by the mid-afternoon and do not eat again until breakfast the next morning. The findings were unveiled during a presentation at The Obesity Society Annual Meeting at Obesity Week 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

"Eating only during a much smaller window of time than people are typically used to may help with weight loss," said Courtney Peterson, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at UAB. "We found that eating between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. followed by an 18-hour daily fast kept appetite levels more even throughout the day, in comparison to eating between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., which is what the average American does."

This new research, funded by a TOS Early Career Research Grant awarded in 2014, suggests that eating a very early dinner, or even skipping dinner, may have some benefits for losing weight, although further studies need to take place to confirm that theory. Previous animal studies showed that eTRF helped rodents burn more fat.

The human body has an internal clock, and many aspects of metabolism are at their optimal functioning in the morning. Therefore, eating in alignment with the body's circadian clock by eating earlier in the day may positively influence health. This first test of eTRF in humans follows rodent studies of this approach to weight loss, which previously found that eTRF reduced body fat and decreased the risk of chronic diseases in rodents.

During the human study, Peterson and her colleagues followed 11 men and women with excess weight over four days of eating between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., and four days of eating between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Researchers then tested the impact of eTRF on calories burned, fat burned and appetite. Participants tried both eating schedules, ate the same number of calories both times and completed all testing under supervision.

Researchers found that, although eTRF did not affect how many total calories participants burned, it reduced daily hunger swings and increased fat burning during several hours at night. It also improved metabolic flexibility, which is the body's ability to switch between burning carbs and burning fats.

Whether eTRF helps with long-term weight loss or improves other aspects of health is still unknown. Peterson says that, because the human study involved only a small number of participants, a larger, more comprehensive study will need to take place.

Materials provided by University of Alabama at Birmingham. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

tldr; small study, small number of participants, short amount of time, shows intermittent fasting reduces appetite, but doesn't affect metabolism.

 

[Rudiger]

My progress: now 182 pounds, 22% body fat!

Sorry for the smug exclamation but it stayed dormant at 25 since my last post, it wouldn't budge nomatter how hard I trained, then this week it drops 3 and I'm only doing weight training. Very strange but I'm delighted, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where body fat is no longer a huge priority, just getting lean muscle and building some.

I should say that the 30% that I mentioned above was actually after 10 days training, my initial body fat could have been 32% or more considering the drastic change your first exercises cause.

I'm now doing 22/2 fast, and cram in 2 big meals in those 2 hours, but never feel hungry in the fast (not exaggerating, I mean rarely ever do I think I want food and even then, it passes). However I'm soon going to go up from 2200-2400 calories to 3000 as apparently you can't build muscle without such an amount. I am building some muscle but possibly that was already there.

At 3000 calories I'll need another small meal, so it'll be back to 20/4.

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

My progress: now 182 pounds, 22% body fat!

Sorry for the smug exclamation but it stayed dormant at 25 since my last post, it wouldn't budge nomatter how hard I trained, then this week it drops 3 and I'm only doing weight training. Very strange but I'm delighted, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where body fat is no longer a huge priority, just getting lean muscle and building some.

I should say that the 30% that I mentioned above was actually after 10 days training, my initial body fat could have been 32% or more considering the drastic change your first exercises cause.

I'm now doing 22/2 fast, and cram in 2 big meals in those 2 hours, but never feel hungry in the fast (not exaggerating, I mean rarely ever do I think I want food and even then, it passes). However I'm soon going to go up from 2200-2400 calories to 3000 as apparently you can't build muscle without such an amount. I am building some muscle but possibly that was already there.

At 3000 calories I'll need another small meal, so it'll be back to 20/4.

Your approach is similar to that of @kj6723 .

 

[Rudiger]

I guess you could say i semi/quasi fast. What I do is I only eat 1 real meal a day, dinner.

Throughout the day I still try to make sure I'm getting about 20-30 grams of protein every 2.5-4 hours, and I'll eat some light fruits or vegetables here and there, but apart from that I restrict carb intake to dinner time.

For dinner, I allow myself to eat pretty much whatever I want, within reason. I'll usually have desert as well. I like to make dinner my "1 meal" because that way I have a meal to look forward to throughout the day.

I stick to this diet about 5 days a week.

This method works well for me. Keeps my body fat low and my stomach pretty shredded. Again, it's not technically fasting, as I'm still consuming protein throughout the day, but I think it's important to keep that constant flow of protein to ensure optimal muscle repair for people who do strength/resistance training.

Does it matter when you get your protein throughout the day? Pre and post workout is pretty renowned as being vital (though, I still, as many times as I ask various people, have not been pointed towards the "proof", but as it's accepted by nearly everyone I guess I have to accept that it must be true) but as long as you get your relevant protein in a 24 hour window, I don't think it is wasted.

What kind of meal do you have? I can only imagine the portion size. Just to give everyone an idea of what I'm eating on my keto diet, which is low carbs, optimally 20g a day or less, but once you're in ketosis you can go up to 50g (not that I risk it). Also high fat, like 70% of your calories, and medium protein 20-25% of your diet, though I find it very hard to keep it that low. Anyway:

Cheesy cauliflour "potatoes"
300gram sirloin steak, medium rare and seasoned with chilli flakes

4 mozarella stuffed burgers, with keto almond flour buns if I can be bothered
Massive salad, lettuce, onions, peppers, mozarella cheese, cheddar, mayonnaise (lots of), coleslaw, 2-4 boiled eggs

Keto meatballs (made with parmesan, 80% fat mince, and mozarella) and pasta sauce around 5g carbs per 100ml (which is as much as I'd use)
Butternut squash spaghetti (or squash spaghetti)

2 salmon fillets
Sour cream, rocket, lemon slices

So I'll have 2 of these meals a day within 2 hours of each other, snacking in between with dark chocolate, greek yogurt, some "keto bombs" to get my calories up if the meals aren't quite making it (the salmon fillets one is a bit low for example). But 2 of these bad boys in large portions definitely doesn't leave me hungry.

I hope that gives people an idea of how to manage it.

 

[pjhair]

@David_MPN what's your opinion on brown rice? Is it a better option than white? There are numerous articles stating brown rice is better but I have heard few people say that whole grain foods may not be as beneficial as people think.

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

@David_MPN what's your opinion on brown rice? Is it a better option than white? There are numerous articles stating brown rice is better but I have heard few people say that whole grain foods may not be as beneficial as people think.

If you have to eat rice ear brown rice. And rice might be better than bread as well. But really a salad is much better.

 

[pjhair]

If you have to eat rice ear brown rice. And rice might be better than bread as well. But really a salad is much better.

The problem is I am a vegetarian. I don't eat egg or drink milk. So rice is the only thing that makes me feel full. It's a very important part of my diet. Also, despite eating it two times a day, I am really lean and fit. But I am worried about health effects of white rice. My uncles have diabetes so I am taking all the precautions I can to steer clear of foods that may play a role in causing the disease.

 

[hairblues]

The problem is I am a vegetarian. I don't eat egg or drink milk. So rice is the only thing that makes me feel full. It's a very important part of my diet. Also, despite eating it two times a day, I am really lean and fit. But I am worried about health effects of white rice. My uncles have diabetes so I am taking all the precautions I can to steer clear of foods that may play a role in causing the disease.

Are your Uncles fat?

 

[pjhair]

Are your Uncles fat?

They are overweight now but they are close to seventy ears old. I don't think they were overweight in their twenties or early thirties. My father is pretty healthy though. He doesn't have diabetes even though both of his brothers have it. He always ate well and exercised whereas his brothers didn't. As there is some genetic predisposition to diabetes in my family, I am trying to be careful about what I eat.

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

The problem is I am a vegetarian. I don't eat egg or drink milk. So rice is the only thing that makes me feel full. It's a very important part of my diet. Also, despite eating it two times a day, I am really lean and fit. But I am worried about health effects of white rice. My uncles have diabetes so I am taking all the precautions I can to steer clear of foods that may play a role in causing the disease.

I think basmati rice actually does better than most other white rice. Here's a list of glycemic indexes:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods
As a diabetic you probably really want to worry about the insulin index, not the glycemic index, however the glycemic index correlates very well with the insulin index anyway so it doesn't matter. Further, the insulin index is not measured for nearly as many foods.

You can also try quinoa from time to time. I'm not sure if quinoa is better than rice, but alternating between the two might be better as it has a somewhat different nutritional profile.

Here's Dr. Axe on quinoa
https://draxe.com/10-quinoa-nutrition-facts-benefits/
I'm not sure if Dr. Axe is totally reliable, but the general idea for something as widely discussed as quinoa should be pretty solid.

 

[hairblues]

They are overweight now but they are close to seventy ears old. I don't think they were overweight in their twenties or early thirties. My father is pretty healthy though. He doesn't have diabetes even though both of his brothers have it. He always ate well and exercised whereas his brothers didn't. As there is some genetic predisposition to diabetes in my family, I am trying to be careful about what I eat.

Okay i have some diabetes in my family and from what i understand is if you maintain a healthy weight range AND get your ac1 tested at least yearly if not bi-yearly you should be fine.

The ac-1 is the best test if you have family predisposition because it tracks your sugar control over months.

there is a lot of pre-cursors to diabetes..a good physician will recognize and address them...even diabetes has pre-diabetes..which is a signal to be careful what to eat before medication is even required.

best thing to do is stay on top of regular physicals and don't gain weight.

the weight gain especially stomach weight changes hormones in the body.

if you have NO diabetes predisposition even gaining weight can give diabetes.

this is why often people with weight related diabetes as soon as they lose weight and change eating they can be asymptomatic and not have to take medication DR Lustig a childrens pediatric endocrinologist has spoken about how a lean paleo diet has made medication unrequited in many of his patients.
Paleo definitely not vegetarians though.


ONCE you know how your body responds to glucose from foods over several months period you will know better if you need to make any dietary changes from how you currently eat..

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

Toronto nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung has this video on diabetes:

I've watched a lot of his other videos and read a lot of his blog. He is very much on top of things and is building a reputation for himself as "the fasting doctor", his clinic has now seen thousands of patients through supervised fasts.

In blood tests, you should probably ask for HBA1C, insulin, glucose, and adiponectin.