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Originally Posted by Jess77
Could someone explain exactly how to do IF?
Do you just limit your self to one meal a day or see just how long you can go before getting hungry?
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Jess, everyone IF's already unless they get up in the middle of the night to eat. That's why the first meal of the day is called 'break...fast'. Intermittent Fasting is making that overnight fast longer than 'normal'. The longer you can spend not consuming food (up to 48 hrs when your 'free amino acid pool' is exhausted and you will inevitably start cannibalizing your own muscle for repair etc.) the more likely you are to burn body stores of energy - either glycogen or bodyfat. If you are low carbing, you will already be in predominantly 'fat burning mode' but that could merely be dietary fat if you eat regularly and aren't in energy deficit.
You really want the fat you burn to be bodyfat rather than dietary. IF is a very effective way of doing that and also discovering that most hunger is habitual rather than 'real'.
But habits are often the hardest thing of all to change. And hunger is one of the most compelling of all sensations (throughout the animal world, not just humans), so it makes sense that eating less regularly throughout your waking hours can be a very difficult habit to break. That said, there is a huge variation in the intermittent fasting everyone does now without even being aware of it. I used to eat my last snack (supper) just before retiring at 11pm, and I ate breakfast at 7.30 the following morning, so I only fasted for 8 and a half hours. But somebody who didn't eat after 7pm and breakfasted at the same time would be intermittent fasting for over 12 hrs. We are designed to be able to thrive for at least 48 hrs without food, and our metabolic rate actually
increases for the first 24 hrs fasting, so there are very good metabolic reasons to do it.
Many IF'ers find that they can jump fairly quickly into much longer overnight fasts. It took me personally over 3 months to even make it to 15 hrs. But I have been a habitual grazer for most of my life. Even 5 years of very low carb had only moderately improved my need to eat every few hours or I felt like I would die of 'hunger'. Over a year after starting to ramp up my overnight fast length I now alternate between 20 and 22 hr fasts 7 days a week.
My individual experience is only relevant because if I can change my eating frequency, anyone can. And the health/bodycomp benefits of adding IF to just low carb are remarkable, so go for it, but only ramp up your fast length at whatever rate suits you personally, even if it is as little as half an hour a week. If you rush it, you are far more likely to toss IF altogether. Let us know how you go.
And Steph, eating is fun. If you are already losing at a rate you are happy with, then only add IF if you want the further health/ longevity benefits it confers. I IF because there is plenty to do with life besides eat, and IF'ing is an extremely effective way of eating well when you do eat, optimizing your health/bodycomp, and the rest of the time not feeling hungry. It depends how big of a time committment you wish to devote to the whole food thing.
Stuart
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