So one diet strategy I've found scientifically interesting lately is intermittent fasting -- skipping meals for a number of hours (i.e. 24 hrs) a couple of times a week, and eating healthful, normal meals the rest of the time. As a form of calorie restriction, it obviously works. Studies show that it helps with HDL cholesterol and blood sugar regulation -- which are good for long-term health.
One thing I've been pondering is whether it has psychological effects (positive or negative) on self-control, whether it might set off binges vs. whether it might be helpful to moving beyond restriction cycles.
I found that after doing my first mini-fast (lunch-to-lunch, about 20 hours), which was only a calorie restriction to 900 for two days, I didn't feel like eating more than normal the next day, and I oddly felt less deprived than I would have under normal circumstances.
I'm interested in doing that kind of fast one or two times a week long-term, but I really don't want to set off a binge, and it looks like most IF advocates are paleo-diet men, not carb-loving nearly-vegetarian women. So I just wanted to see if anyone here has had good or bad results with IF and staying in control of binge behavior.
Hi! While I'm not prone to binge, I often have to reign myself in from feeling munchy and snacking throughout the day. I'm not a calorie counter, but I do count carbs and sugar grams. I find that I can keep my snacking in control, when there are hours during the day where food simply IS NOT AN OPTION.
I eat in a 1pm to 8 pm window, so I don't really ever feel like I can't SPEND the carbs/sugar on a snack and not have any for later. I've heard of calorie counters feeling better as well, because they are not wasting their calories in the morning on breakfast and snacks before lunch, and they can eat more when their bodies feel like it later in the day.
I LOVE IF and it kickstarted me from a month-long plateau and made me realize that I was wasting my daily carbs on boring breakfast food! Try it out, and check out the thread under General Diet plans. Best of luck!
I love IF too! My window is different from Txalupa's. Mine is 8am to 3pm. This works for me because I work out at night and 1) I can't work out on a full stomach and 2) it suppresses my appetite so I don't want to eat afterwards anyway. And this way of eating has NEVER triggered a binge. I was afraid like you were when I first started but ironically, for me, it starves off the binges. But my binges were more centered around cravings and portion control. It wasn't as much mental.
I say keep trying it. Maybe start off doing a 20/24 hour fast 1x a week and see what happens. But be sure to stay hydrated!!
I've never heard of this before and I definitely am going to give it a try. I never really liked eating really late in the day (but of course I do anyway) because I feel like I don't move all that often in the evening. Plus, I love breakfast since I get up very early. I'm going to try a 9am-4pm window for starters.
I'm a modified Paleo-girl myself. Have to be due to diabetes/PCOS issues. I do eat a lot of leafy greens, but very low on the starchy veggies. No processed food at all due to a soy sensitivity.
The IF has helped me stay out of the kitchen and away from over-indulgent grazing. It's my natural inclination to eat in the afternoons/evenings, so that's my eating window. I fast the other 16 hours. I don't feel deprived at all now, and at the moment, I'm feeling a bit of a rush with the emptiness. (It's time for me to eat!)
I really do feel more in control of the eating now. You know, everyone who's addicted to something can totally avoid it, except for food addicts. We all gotta eat! But with the IF, I can avoid it. And with my other health issues that affect me so adversely when I don't stick to the plan, I am motivated to eat all the right stuff during the eating window. And as long as the crap food isn't in the house, I'm good!
During my eating window, I still eat till I'm full. Even stuffed (at Easter dinner). I don't know if I would be so faithful to my plan if I did the IF as well as cut way back on the calories. I'm a big woman. My body needs food! But I can eat within a range of 1400 to 2100 and still lose weight.
I'm not a binge-eater per se. More if a lifetime clean-your-plate-club member. Small plate or big plate, I'll empty it! I just don't go back for seconds any more.
Question: Do you do your 16 hour fast everyday? or just a couple times a week? and do you find yourself adjusting it to fit certain occasions?
For example, I want to do the next 3 days in a row and then I am going out of town this weekend and with people, it wont work to be fasting during the evening (I still plan on eating control, etc). If I like it this week, then I want to pick up on it again after the weekend.
Hi I'm kinda new around here, i've been lurking for a while though.... and since reading other people's experiences on here i've been giving IF a go. and it's AWESOME.
I have VERY recently managed to get my binging under control, and since starting IF it has been easier and easier to maintain a healthy - non binging weight loss.
I think for me it comes down to several factors:
1. blood sugar spikes, when my blood sugar is spiked i binge. so if i'm eating lots of meals there's more chance to spike it.
2. when i eat my dinner after a day of fasting i am full MUCH faster, and less tempted to snack - which can lead to binging. it does help that my main meal is usually very healthy and filling - veggie soups, sir fries etc. because that's just how we like to eat.
3. I find it much easier not to obsess about my next meal when i know it's not for a long time.
4. I find I often binge if i am really full/have eaten more than i should have an i think well, i'm so full already i should just have a binge and enjoy it because i'm probably going to be sick anyway (i know... it's perverse). but when i do IF my calorie level is low enough that i never get to the what the **** i've ruined it all anyway! level.
Sorry if this is rambling and/or unclear!
(i fast 24 hours ish from Dinner to Dinner whenever i can - this is dependent on social occasions etc - Easter holiday with the parents really threw me but at least 3 times per week)
my backstory briefly - I was anorexic between 16-19 years old, then that turned into Bulimia when i started gaining weight back, the bulimia has been with me pretty much since. I've been a 'healthy' weight since then, but gained a LOT when i started University due to drinking - junk food - new love. My top weight was about 170lb, and i'm now at 137, during ALL that weight loss however the Binge Purge cycle has been a fact of my life. It SUCKS. I hate it. I am talking true binges here which i'm sure everyone here understands, which has not only been awful for my health, but has hampered my weight loss at every step.
Tater, I do fast everyday. My eating window is from noon to eight. I haven't had any problems sticking with that eating window. (Except tonight! Serious carb cravings kept me eating till 10. My first time going off-plan on IF.) Haven't had to adjust it for any occasions yet. First challenge is coming up in a couple weeks when I go on a retreat near Sausalito. They'll be serving breakfast and lunch, but no dinner. I'm going to skip their breakfast, bring my own things to augment their planned lunch of salads and grilled chicken or tofu (I'm sensitive to soy and chicken that's been fed soy), and I'll either go out to dinner or bring something along to cook for myself. I like my eating window because it fits in with most social eating I'd be likely to do.
I really do like going out for breakfast on the weekends and I miss that. But if I push the kids a little, and maybe quit eating a little earlier the night before, I can do a brunch at a favorite spot that accomodates my needs.
Hello, ladies . I'm an IF newbie and am a convert. I just started a new thread in "support groups" and if any of you would like to join in, please do :-)
It may be an issue of semantics in the original post, but referring to "skipping meals" "900 calories" "form of calorie restriction" all together could suggest IF helps one eat less than he/she should. Some people who practice IF are restricting their calories and some are not. Referring to IF as a form of calorie restriction that encourages skipping meals implies IF is simply reducing caloric intake beyond what is already being reduced. Yes, fewer meals are consumed, but the meals which are consumed should not be normal meals- they should be very large comparatively to account for the nutrients and calories not consumed during the fasting period. If you are on a 1600 calorie diet, skip breakfast and lunch, dinner should be a large 1600 calories, not a normal 600-800 calorie size. Caloric intake should be the same as a non-IFer.
I do not intended to tell others how IF should be used; I've only been practicing it for two months myself and am not in a position to tell others how and when calories should be consumed. It could be that two 900 calorie days referenced were then followed by two 1600 calorie days, and were part of a healthful calorie cycle. I don't know and I am not here to criticize or accuse anyone for what and how much he or she eats. What I do feel compelled to do is point out to others that IF is not really a weight-loss method to help cut calories even further by skipping meals. It is specifically to consume calories in a shorter window to reduce the duration of high levels of hormones in the bloodstream which spike after eating, as explained well in the original post.
As the sister of an anorexic who absolutely would tell others she is practicing a scientifically proven healthful way of eating called IF to avoid eating breakfast and lunch and then eat what others would perceive as a healthful, normal dinner of 600 or so calories, which is NOT IF's purpose, I felt moved to speak up and clarify to others who may be reading and curious about IF. I will apologize in advance if this offends anyone. The bottom line is I interpreted the original post in a specific way, whether how it was intended or not intended, and wanted to make sure others don't do the same.
IF & self-control
