(Link removed due to censor issue, but the topic refers to an article by David Zinczenko)
He says skipping breakfast and having that long 16 hr fast is the way to lose weight.
"Skipping breakfast may be the key to skipping a lot of things -- excess weight, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and premature death, among them. How are you going to do all that, simply by pushing away from the breakfast buffet? By engaging an amazing process called "hormesis." Scientists tell us that if you challenge your body, the way you do with a 16-hour fast, it responds by preferentially burning fat, sharpening your mind, tuning up your heart, and turning on the human growth hormone jets"
I know back when I was young and skipping meals to stay thin, if I didn't eat breakfast I wasn't hungry until about 2:00pm, and then I'd snack the whole rest of the day, sort of negating the not eating breakfast.
I am a big breakfast eater so I'm not sure I agree with his theory. If I don't eat breakfast them I'm more prone to eat the snacks that people bring into to work and I'm more prone to eat even more the rest of the day.
Hmm page not found but I'm inclined not to believe this man's claims as they go against everything I've ever been told about dieting and healthy eating. Even if it does work in theory I know any potential benefits would be ruined for me by a lunch time binge! Starting to eat breakfast again was key in successful weight loss for me and I plan to continue eating my bowl of Special K every morning because it gives me enough energy to work out as much as anything
I googled the blog and found the article, thank you for sharing it.
I know for myself, once I have breakfast it "activates" my eating for the day. It doesn't matter if it's 6am or 10am. I am on a medically supervised plan and pretty much adhere to my time schedule but sometimes it's not possible (life happens!). But I do find when I eat breakfast very early, lunch comes very early (like 10am sometimes!). I figure I should follow what my body wants and if it's hungry, feed the hunger (plan approved foods in my case)!
I have learned that my weightloss really is about calories in and calories out plus exercise so it's not really mattering when I have them per se, it's just a matter of keeping myself hunger-free so I don't get the urge to cheat off my plan with junk.
I think we all need to stop listening to "experts," or even stop looking at statistics sometimes (such as the statistics that say long-term maintainers eat breakfast).
The best way to lose weight is the way that works for you. If that means eating breakfast, then eat it. If that means not eating breakfast, then don't eat it.
I wrote a post on my blog recently about thinking outside of the box because most of us are stuck listening to what we've been raised to believe about food. If one throws that out the window, it may be a bit easier to create and follow a plan.
His idea isn't new - just ask the "intermittent fasters" here.
Intermittant fasting can work, but it doesn't work for everyone. There's some evidence that it may work better for males and post-menopausal women than for younger women.
And it can be unpleasant and even dangerous for people with diabetes and other blood sugar issues.
I find it endlessly frustrating that the main gist of weight management theory is still focused on "which way of eating is best," rather on "which way of eating is best for which people."
The underlying assumption that everyone's body works the same, is the biggest myth of all. And even though it's now "common knowlege," it really isn't - because the focus is STILL on persuading EVERYONE to follow the same diet.
Rarely will you find a weight management or healthy eating book that acknowledged (let alone addresses) differences. And when you do find such a book, it's theory is usually based on nothing remotely related to science, and is unproven and untested.
One day we may have a better, more thorough understanding of the science, and there may be a diagnostic tool that will allow doctors and dietitans to determine the best diet for each individual. But that isn't the state of the science today. Today, trial and error is unfortunately the most sophisticated tool we've got.
It's hard though to go about trial and error without being influcenced by all the half-baked and crack-pot theories out there.
There's a thread here about this...intermittent fasting or Fast5, not sure what it's under. I feel better when I don't eat breakfast and only eat one meal a day. I do have more energy doing this and need to get back to it.
Sorrry about that, I should have checked the link after I posted it and then deleted the entire post because of the censored part. It was on the yahoo home page this morning, I didn't really even check to see the background of the author. Usually the ads disguised as articles are on the right side of the page.
Ah, silly censor It wasn't blocked because of that article or the book mentioned in the article. A spammer had tried to spam our forum with an ebook that matched the portion of Sarah's link that is censored. I'll edit out the link to reduce confusion, but the topic itself is fine
I personally rarely eat breakfast anymore! I find I'm not hungry in the morning until I've eaten, if I have breakfast then I eat lots more all day! But that just happens to be what works for me.
My understanding is that intermittent fasting can work really well for people who are very healthy functioning and everything inside works right - but if not, its dangerous. So for someone who is generally healthy, never been obese and wants to lose 20 lbs, it may work. If you are obese, you likely have at least low grade insulin resistance (probably undiagnosed), and intermittent fasting would not be good. Once your body is healed, intermittent fasting works better. So its a great tool for *some* bodies, but not all.
I cant for the life of me understand why intermittent fasting is effective other than being a way to cut overall amount of calories you eat.
Two reasons... going off my memory. You wake up in the morning due to the hormone cortisol being released. It is released in large amounts but goes down as the morning goes on. Cortisol can have effects on insulin and so, if you eat a breakfast right after waking up... it can cause a substantial insulin release --effectively stopping any calories you eat from being burned off (as you might think happens with breakfast)
There is some evidence out there that not eating for 16 hours causes your body to release growth hormone... which stokes up your metabolism and is overall supposed to be good for you.
This is my vague memory.
However, I don't know if I found it worked for me. I find it easy to do on the weekends. But during the week, if I don't eat until I get to work I am ravenous.
But I find it interesting ... and if I don't feel like eating -- I am thrilled that I can let go of the guilt.