Practice intermittent or extended fasting for weight loss, health, longevity etc?

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  • Nicoleburba
    Nicoleburba Posts: 58 ✭✭✭

    I and my husband made intermittent fasting as a way of life. I started it first, and my husband joined me, because he saw that it works well. It was hard to start at first, because I was used to having breakfast at 7am. I started pushing my breakfast to a bit later and later every day, and now I have it at 10 am. I have a cup of tea without sugar (just tea and water) at about 8am. I do not care much about weight loss, for me is more important to have energy and to feel good. I do not do any other fasting.

  • @gardneto76, for most people "dry fast" means no food or liquids of any type. "Water fast" is no food and no liquids except water. Some intermittent fasters do drink coffee, green tea, and other items. It is a topic of endless discussion once you get into the lifestyle.

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭

    @gardneto76 I am glad you are looking at changing your lifestyle and taking personal responsibility for your health. The statement don't worry from your Dr is good advice in one way, but bad advice in another. In my opinion, to have a problem and not do anything about it other than worry is counterproductive. On the other hand to be aware of a problem and do something about it and not worry is a very good thing.

    I recommend people use the glucometer multiple times per day to get an idea of how they are responding to different foods and activities. My one patient was shocked that some of the fruits and juices she was consuming would raise her blood sugar quickly and sometimes significantly. The reason I recommend looking at the prices of the test strips is so you are more likely to use the meter frequently. Once you know eating pineapple spikes your blood sugar, but you so love pineapple and it has great enzymes, you can see how you can eat other things with the pineapple to slow the sugar rise and fall.


    Taking it slowly and getting more information about what your body is doing will help you succeed.

  • erikawinterton
    erikawinterton Posts: 98 ✭✭✭

    I have been intermittent fasting for years now. I do a cyclical process of not eating until noon, fasting a day, then clean carb loading. It actually is much more effective for weight loss because it confuses your metabolic process. I adapted some things from the guy who did Vshred, and the book Headstrong from the Bulletproof coffee guy.

    The primary benefit for me was a clear mind. After about 60 hours of fasting your mitochondria have an opportunity to clean up your brain and produce more ATP. I feel like a champ mentally when I fast.

    I also noticed some things about F.A.T sydrom above. Which cautions and scares women away from fasting, but I wanted to make a note here about my experience and research:

    With athleticism in women the actual problem women might fact is hormonal norlmalcy, and neurological mylon shield depletion.

    Most hormonal normalcy is still in place when a woman is at about 18% body fat percentage. This is coming from the hormonal tracking book published back in the 90's called Taking charge of your fertility.

    I myself and some girlfriends would loss weight and have issues conceiving, missing periods, and unusual cycles, plus spotting.

    By adjusting diet and incorporating in more high quality fats, like avocado, MCT oil, coconut oil, grass fed butter ect. These issues become non issues for me.

    I also like pruvit products that are exogenous ketones. They are essentially like feeding your body ketones, instead of your body having to propduce its own ketones from fasting.

    Please note the above company Pruvit is mentioned as an option, but it is affiliated with an MLM, so if that isn't appropriate I can remove the comment.

  • sunflowerstressrelief
    sunflowerstressrelief Posts: 29 ✭✭✭

    The benefits of intermittent fasting have been enormous for me personally particularly when I relaxed some about adhering to rigid pre-assigned schedules of when to eat or not. Most days I enjoy 20 hours off and 4 hours on but that’s just what works for me.

    After practicing intermittent fasting for a while I noticed that my body was sending clear messages as when to eat or break the fast and it would normally be after a complete clearing of my digestive system.

    To take in some warm lemon water 15 - 30 minutes before breaking the fast also provides lymph movement and is as well soothing for the digestive and nervous system.

    Benefits I enjoy from intermittent fasting are reduced inflammation, enhanced energy and a definite increase in metabolism.

  • Jannajo
    Jannajo Posts: 173 ✭✭✭

    I REALLY LOVE FASTING, AND HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABT it, using it often,at least each year, 10-30 days, for some 25 years (I am 77y/o, healthy, no pain) but then again, I lack all the fancy 'resources or explanations': perhaps this will help, there is no keto that can help u, no ketoses that u can be very sure of, usually it does not happen actually; 3 days is the very minimum for healthy results, drink so much water u think it is ridiculous, like 4 litres, sipping or in gulps, buy some books on fasting as Bragg's and go to the truenorthhealthcentre website or call Dr. Golhammer there, or see his videos..santa rosa is the place he helps u out, to fast up to 40 days or longer, with medical staff on hand; I have fasted at home, for 2 months but I follow guidelines carefully: drink the 4 litres of (pure) water,(I add ginger, mint perhaps) take only small amounts of medication (thyroid hormone in my case, with hashimotos), or none, NO EXERCISE, do not even shower or bathe, brush teeth, no energy must leave body, it is too busy in autophagy, ridding u of all the old, unhealthy cells. Go to fasting centre (many of them in California, Florida), but at home, try fasting water-only some three days anyway and always remember, eat exceptionally well (before and after, no meat or dairy, imho)as your lifestyle or u will have many symptoms appear the first few days, then u recover and feel very fine. I do use this for health, and with My Saviour, Jesus, Who speaks of it. Eating low calories is not resting for the body very much, I do not use this, but fasting 18 hrs daily works well and may have some small benefit, I use this. I may fast on juices also-I make my own, of course, order 25lb bags of carrotts, beets, etc for this.

  • dimck421
    dimck421 Posts: 203 ✭✭✭

    I began intermittent fasting quite by accident. My grumpy tummy lead me to eat only between the hours of 0900 and 1700. Since then, I tweaked my time to 0900 to 1500. I noticed I lost weight without really trying. THEN, simply because I had a grand supply, beautiful fresh green salad mix began my meal of choice. Goodness, easily, I think I gobble down about a pound of salad per sitting. My goal was not necessarily to tick down the scales, but that was the result. I seem to be stepping into a plant based lifestyle, again, without mindfully doing so. Between intermittent fasting and consuming lots of plants, if weight loss is your goal, it will happen! :)

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    I have been fasting 20 hours a day for several years and have lost 60 pounds and brought my blood sugar and a1c back into the low-normal range. I had basically plateaued for the past year and read about how our bodies learn to adapt to the fast so we have to shake it up. I started ‘cheating’ every 2 weeks or so by eating early, a high carb meal. I have a bottle of kombucha in the morning and another in the afternoon and then eat for about 4 hours. I don’t eat refined sugar or flour and no vegetable oils (well rarely) and went from basically bed bound to active and busy all day running the family farm. Since I started cheating I have broken the plateau in the past 3 weeks and am finally getting close to my goals. I don’t anticipate ever going back to the SAD (standard American diet.)

  • andrea745
    andrea745 Posts: 89 ✭✭✭

    Such a great discussion @danielle.meitiv . I am a certified integrative medicine health coach who has had stomach issues my whole life I am now 61. When I was young and became very sick, I could not eat, so when the idea of fasting was first becoming popularized, I had such a strong reaction against it because I literally felt like I was starving when I was sick in my 30s. However, since studying health and nutrition and learning about all the wonderful ways some type of fasting, cleansing, and detoxing can have on the body, I am a fan. From a health perspective fasting allows your body to stop expending so much energy digesting food, so it can take care of other energy-using processes in your body like detoxing and repair, etc. From a purely historical perspective-- we as modern people eat too much and do too little. From a personal perspective, I know when I stop eating around 5 pm, and don't eat again until 9 or 10 am, I feel better. I sleep better, have better energy and feel less bloated. Ironically, my dad who was an old fashion doctor used to tell us as kids, when you get a stomach ache, stop eating. Now as a trained health coach, I understand why. Often times stomach aches are due to nasty little bugs in your system that like all the carbs, sugars, etc that unfortunatley is consumed in the standard american diet. If you want the stomach ailment to stop sooner, stop eating and that wil starve out the problem bacteria that keep feasting on your food. As for @dalans I do agree with others who have said that people with serious health conditions need to fast or highly restrict eating ONLY under supervision of trained health professionals. A dear friend of mine just returned from True North where she went on a 2 week fast to get off lots of medications that were causing her serious health side effects. Doctors tested her urine and blood several times a day during the supervised fast.

  • charr80
    charr80 Posts: 15

    I was doing an intermittent fast starting at 10 am to 6pm. After a few days I didn't miss the breakfast. It's all about forming a new habit. I did find it challenging to make & eat all of my meals withing a short time frame. It had to all be timed out really well. A lot of focus and attention went to this. in the end I couldn't keep it up. I was never fasting to loose weight only to be healthier so that made it even more challenging to keep my weight up.

  • Melinda
    Melinda Posts: 123 ✭✭✭

    I have doing this and Keto for about 6 weeks now. I'm down four pounds, 6 inches, and my A1C is down 3 points.

  • danielle.meitiv
    danielle.meitiv Posts: 30 ✭✭✭

    Wow I am so excited to have this great group to learn from. So much great info and experiences!

    My interest in fasting is maintaining my current weight - won't lie - but i'm especially interested in the long term longevity, autophagy, anti-cancer benefits, etc. There's a lot of illness in my family, especially among the women: cancer and premature death and autoimmune disease. Form everything I've read and felt, fasting makes a huge difference. I have Hashimoto's and celiac and think fasting helps to keep my immune system healthy and not overactive - and research backs that up.

    My husband has Hepatitis B (inactive) and had cancer as a kid so he fasts 2x/week and feels great. He's slim but it helps to keep off the belly fat (he's 50 next week).

    During COVID I've been eating more carbs but i'm getting back on the fasting track now.

    My usual practice: eating window 12 - 8pm or so most days, with only coffee with coconut or almond milk. I used to do 1-2 40 hour dirty fasts a week but drifted away from that.I'm planning to go back to it. I need to pick a day and just do it. I used to do Saturday- Monday and Wed - Fri so I guess tomorrow is as good a day as any to restart!

    Happy fasting!

  • MartiinCentral Oregon
    MartiinCentral Oregon Posts: 27 ✭✭✭

    My heart doctor told me about KETO and also about intermitant fasting.....He suggested that I watch Dr. Jason Fung on YOU TUBE. I would highly suggest that anyone interested in the fasting check him out. He is a kidney doctor that cures many of his type 2 diabetes patients with fasting. My husband has lost 55 pounds and is totally off his medications. I have only lost 35 pounds but am still going.

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    Dalans, I have had over 25 surgeries and 5 of them were on my back and neck. I’m also an intractable pain sufferer too so I feel your pain. I was 70# overweight and practically on bedrest. I also had a problem with apathy/pain fog/ pain fog and lost my incentive to live, move or generally participate in life. After several years of not really living, I started cleaning up my diet and eating organic as much as possible. I then stopped all “refined” sugar and flour as well as vegetable oils. My weight started dropping, giving me the incentive to continue and I learned about intermittent fasting. I began fasting and worked up to 20 hours a day with a bottle of kombucha midday and had so much more energy that I’ve been doing it for 3 years now. My weight had plateaued until recently and I discovered that fasting the same way all the time allows the body to adapt and stop losing. I started mixing it up by eating a healthy but high carb meal for breakfast once in a while and have finally gotten down to less than 10# of my target weight.

    I will never go back to the standard American diet (SAD) again! I haven’t had this much energy since my 20s and I’m 57 years old. I won’t say that it’s easy but I do think anyone can succeed because I couldn’t exercise at all in the beginning and was sleeping 16-20 hours a day and now I’m awake 16 hours a day and active for a large portion of that. I take breaks and I definitely can’t sustain enough consistency being active that I could go back to nursing but I am happy and have an active life in my parish, in my garden and running my household again.

  • tinarock
    tinarock Posts: 37 ✭✭✭

    I have practiced various forms of fasting for years. In 1979 I did a water fast for 7 full days. I lost 10 pounds doing that and they stayed off for a long time.

    In recent years I have practiced intermittent fasting fairly often. I like to eat dinner early anyway; and I generally don't get to breakfast til about 10 AM. So almost by default I frequently do 16 hours fast/8 hours eating window. This helps me keep my weight in a desirable range without any real effort.

    Occasionally this year I have practiced a "modified fast". This goes for 3 days and I limit calories to 800 per day. I do that by eating what I usually eat but omitting some things.

    Also, not fasting, but lately I have added in some mindfulness about WHAT am I eating. When I cut out the foods that come in a wrapper, weight falls away.

    In conjunction with careful eating, I get at least 5000 steps daily.

    Staying in shape is 80% what you eat, and 20% exercise.

  • norabelehcim
    norabelehcim Posts: 58 ✭✭✭

    ...as with many posting here, I have learned of many practices and philosophies of fasting, as observed in cultures or by practitioners around the world. I practiced fasting of different lengths and types for a very long time, varied by circumstance, requirements of gestation/nursing periods, injury recovery times, etc. Adequate hydration has been imperative for me, as otherwise my performance / reaction levels decrease.

    Incidentally, I read, once, that Sophia Loren practiced fasting consistently, consuming only juices and vitamin tablets.

  • Emily
    Emily Posts: 14 ✭✭✭

    Wasn't trying to lose weight. Wanted better digestion, that's all. Decided I would not eat until five or six hours of bedtime which often is 1 a.m. Not hungry in the morning - coffee with supplements is all. So I began eating at 1 or later and quit eating at 7 or 8. Right off the bat, not hungry other times. A few days only a two-hour window. Didn't call that fasting - ate what I usually do, which is a mammoth heavy salad of five cups or so with Bragg's vinegar and Ellora olive oil, blue cheese crumbles and sunflower seeds. Steak or eggs usually next. Whoops, I lost five pounds in a month, and the next month, another five pounds.

    Figured out this was intermittent fasting. Added to first meal heavy seeded rye bakery bread with homemade garlic butter. (To die for: 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream, organic [exactly that], with a whole head of garlic whipped into it. Ate a LOT of this, to get over something, every day. That is a foundational all-over health benefit.

    Realized this was intermittent fasting. I am totally sedentary and older. I now follow the routine because I like the weight loss. Am working on my 14th pound. Nope, not shapely yet.

  • kfoto
    kfoto Posts: 108 ✭✭✭

    I totally agree on Intermittent fasting. Women benefit the most with a 14-36 hour fast. Just two times a week. Keeping under 500 calories and drinking water and green juices. Such amazing healing benefits !! Lots of science to back us up!!

  • kfoto
    kfoto Posts: 108 ✭✭✭

    Keep in mind our ancestors did fasting. Look at their work schedule, they grew what they ate. They ate when they needed it. Snacks were picked. We need to return to simpler times Right! Don’t stress. Check in with your self, how do you feel? What do you need? I make green juice with my vita mixer, celery, turmeric, ginger, Cilantro, parsley and some times an apple if I need sugar or beet if my liver needs support. I use a nut milk bag to strain my juices. Ready for the day. I can freeze theses juices in two cup canning jars. I have found my best is to not eat after 4 pm because I gain the most after. I am better mentally and haven’t had low sugar issues. Keep a food journal and find what you need or don’t.

  • dalans
    dalans Posts: 35 ✭✭✭


    @Owl Thanks so much for sharing your road with me!! It gives me hope in knowing that maybe I can get back to pre-injury/surgery status. Would you mind if I would personally message you every now and then for encouragement?

  • danielle.meitiv
    danielle.meitiv Posts: 30 ✭✭✭

    I’m planning a DIY fast-mimicking diet for next week, Sunday to Thursday (7/19-23). That’s basically 1000 calories for Day One and 700-750 calories Days Two through Five, with low protein (16g) and minimal carbs (mostly from vegetables). I use Chronometer to measure and record my calories and macros.

    Anyone want to join me ? Or for a different kind of fast for any of that time?

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    I have been doing intermittent fasting for a while now. Usually I have gust been eating 8 hours on, 16 hours fasting. I like to get up in the morning and get things done, an then eat a some point early afternoon. I drink plenty of water and I admit that I also indulge in coffee in the morning. Usually I try to just eat three meals although sometimes I do snack. At first, I was able to loose the bit of weight that I wanted to. But I do have to be careful about not consuming too many calories. I have recently learned to bake bread and that has been too tempting. I recently had to go to the hospital for an intestinal blockage. Fasted for three days in there. I had always considered that I didn't have the will power to fast that long.

  • Nancy A.Maurelli
    Nancy A.Maurelli Posts: 44 ✭✭✭

    What a fascinating thread this is!

    No such thing as ONE SIZE FITS ALL, as these responses clearly show. What works well for one person may not work at all or actually be harmful for another. A lot depends on one's gender and state of health and unique body chemistry.

    I cannot imagine EVER going without food for more than 12-15 hours (overnight). That's plenty of time for food to move through my digestive track. It is only natural that I would eat again at that point, and whenever my body indicates that it needs liquid and nutritional support. I don't believe that the way ancestors ate is any indication of how we ought to eat as a broad brush rule. Have we not evolved? Don't our bodies have intelligence that we can listen to and respect?

    Lastly, I would like to call attention to the underlying assumption in many of these posts that losing weight is a desirable goal for everyone, and especially that women ought to attempt to maintain their pre-menopausal weight through their entire life span. Let's be careful not to make our personal goals and aspirations into an obsession OR be dogmatic that others ought to do the same thing as we are doing....

  • clebed2000
    clebed2000 Posts: 2 ✭✭✭

    I have been doing the 16/8 intermittent fasting for the past 3 months now, with no processed foods only foods that I grow or harvest and couldn't be happier with my energy, digestion and losing 20lbs (I also try to get in an additional 10 kms a day on top of my normal daily activity).

    Definitely loving this thread😊

  • danielle.meitiv
    danielle.meitiv Posts: 30 ✭✭✭

    There's a lot of insight and wisdom here. I'm wondering what other sources of info people rely on. Let's start a list of books and other resources. Here are a few of my favs:

    Pretty much ANYTHING by Dr. Jason Fung, books, blogs, etc: The Complete Guide to Fasting, Life in the Fast Lane, The Obesity Code, The Diabetes Code. The Longevity Solution.

    Dr. Valter Longo - The Longevity Code

    Dr. Mark Mattson - no books but great scientific resources. Here's an article summarizing some of his research: https://lifeapps.io/fasting/5-human-fasting-studies-with-dr-mark-mattson/

    and a great recent review article from a science journal:

    https://www.gwern.net/docs/longevity/2019-decabo.pdf

    Others?

  • Acequiamadre
    Acequiamadre Posts: 269 ✭✭✭

    Thank you for starting this thread. I started a modified Keto-16/Ketotarian approach, which includes a 16/8ish feeding/fasting window. It has only been a couple of weeks but some benefits: brain fog gone, blood sugar more stable, less fibro-like joint and facia pain. As an aside, I lost about ten pounds in about two weeks.

    Besides the fasting window, this approach is lowering carb intake, increasing fat and protein, with an emphasis on healthy veggies, fats, and protein. I know this a little digression from fasting, however, I have very few cravings while eating a lower carb (like 40-45 grams a day NOT super low) which makes fasting easy. Before it was more difficult and my blood sugar reacted to breaking a fast.

  • probinson50
    probinson50 Posts: 49 ✭✭✭

    I learned about intermittent fasting recently and have read both Dr. Fung and Dr. Pompo's books. I started intermittent fasting and then working up to 3 x 24, 3 x 36 and then quarterly 5 day. I tried the Prolon mimicking fast, but there was something in it that caused painful bloating, so I stopped those.

  • annflancan
    annflancan Posts: 84 ✭✭✭

    Some people have better results with PSMF (Protein Sparing Modified Fast). I have had very good results with it (lost 60 lbs.). Now I follow OMAD (on meal a day). Because I eat Keto I find that if I eat somewhere between 2-3 I am not hungry until the next day's meal.

  • ceriridenour
    ceriridenour Posts: 52 ✭✭✭

    I intermittent fast on a daily basis. I adopted this way of living a couple years ago and I am the healthiest I have ever been. It allows your the proper rest it needs to evacuate properly and to use the nutrients in the food properly. I know if there is a day when I cannot follow my regimented schedule, my system is messed up for days, so I tried to schedule appointments and such around my intermittent eating.