Ask HN: Are you still doing intermittent fasting?

[swah]

Have you been doing this for a long time? Do you change your schedule for the weekends?

For me its easy for me to avoid eating during the week, much more than controlling my eating habits and eating like an adult... but then weekend comes and it becomes 10X harder, especially if others are eating around me. And then a sunny day comes and you "have" go have some barbecue and beer, an hamburguer at night, etc.

[chatmasta]

Yes but not on purpose. It's just the natural way of living when I don't buy snacks and my fridge is usually empty.

I feel way better living like this than when I'm home for the holidays binging on cheezits and having three meals a day. I like the hunger pangs; it feels like my body is doing useful work, and it makes the eventual meal all the more satisfying.

[j_crick]

For me it’s also that at some point I stopped wanting snacks in the evening because with the right diet eventually the cravings went away. I also got used to falling asleep on an almost empty stomach, and trying to sleep right after a meal now feels simply uncomfortable.

[yowzadave]

> Yes but not on purpose. It's just the natural way of living when I don't buy snacks and my fridge is usually empty.

Same--I've never set about intentionally doing so, I just developed the habit of not eating breakfast, and as a result my body just doesn't start feeling hungry until 1-2PM anyway. I have a late-ish sizable lunch, and then usually only need something snack-size in the evening.

It was different when I used to work in an office that had an endless supply of catered pastries; the temptation was too great, and it always seemed like a small amount, one at a time.

It's hard to be prescriptive about this, though--other people in my family have a much more intense relationship with food, and feel weak/ravenous if they skip a meal. For whatever reason I'm lucky enough to not feel it in a very physical way.

[vipa123]

Same here

[ComputerGuru]

Couldn’t have timed your question better: It’s Ramadan, so a huge chunk of the world is currently fasting from 5am to 8pm (or thereabouts, depending on latitude).

[ycombinete]

It’s lent as well, so huge chunks of Christendom are fasting as well.

[jstx1]

I still skip breakfast and have done for years. I can skip lunch most days but I feel better if I have a small lunch.

Here's Peter Attia talking about some of the potential problems - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6wczdlcBtI - his perspective is particularly refreshing because he was a big proponent of intermittent fasting / time-restricted feeding for a long time.

[jmkr]

Most of my life I never ate breakfast, and for much of my life I skipped lunch. Lots of people are surprised by this, but apparently it's called one meal a day or something. Though for a while I've been doing a smoothie breakfast. Cutting back on that since it's a lot more calories than I thought. I find these days I'm hungrier and more prone to "feeling it in my brain" than when I was younger.

[AlexErrant]

He was such a proponent that he was the chief medical officer for Zero, a fasting app

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFxAHRo4NqM

He used to do four 7-day fasts per year (one per quarter). He's chilled on that though after doing a dexa scan and seeing how much muscle mass he's lost. Exercise seems to be what he's focusing on now. He tweeted this, which I found remarkable: https://twitter.com/PeterAttiaMD/status/1499407558468980736/...

Basically, the hazard ratio of being a smoker is _better_ than that of someone who doesn't exercise. Louder, for those in the back:

    No exercise is worse than smoking

Compare smoking in photo 2 against "low vs below-average [exercise]". That hazard ratio is worse than smoking, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Going from virtually no exercise to _any exercise at all_ is better than quitting smoking.

[zadjii]

For me, I only just realized I'd been doing it since college, like, accidentally. The way my schedule worked out, I just rarely ate before noon, and then usually ate dinner before 7pm. Only just recently did I realize that was technically IF?

These days, I've noticed that I usually get one major hunger pain about 9-10am, and if I can make it through that without eating, making it to noon is easy. So I just make sure to have an extra cup of coffee right to distract the mouth, and before long, it's lunchtime.

But I really hardly hold to that schedule on the weekends. I'm really not trying to do it intentionally, it's just habit at this point, so if I slip, IDGAF. Plus, now I've got kids, and I'm the designated "eat whatever they don't so nothing is wasted" parent. So that basically results in small snacks basically 7-7.

[sometimeshuman]

"Are you still doing Intermittent Fasting?" Yes.

"Are you still saying Intermittent Fasting?" No.

Out of respect to people who have the discipline to go 24hours or more without eating I can't bring myself to say I am "fasting" simply because I had a late breakfast and early dinner. "Time restricted eating" (TRE) is the phrase I personally use.

Adopting that phrase might free you from feeling like an imposter if that is partly the reason you are troubled by not adhering to it on weekends. Just do TRE weekdays if that is what your lifestyle will accommodate. It's what I do and I consider it a personal win.

[zargon]

Yes. Time-restricted eating is the preferred term in the literature too, to distinguish from real fasting.

[jrvarela56]

I tried for more than 3 months and it did not help me lose or keep a specific weight. In my case, doing 16:8, 20:4, 22:2 type of fasting didn't work bc I was famished by the time I had the meal.

What I've seen in my fasting and weight logs, is that doing multiple day fasts helps me keep weight off. The problem I've had in the past was not transitioning to a 'maintenance' schedule.

I'm doing 3 days of water+coffee (this is my third week). Last time I tried this in 2021 I lost 25 pounds (195->175) in 2 months. My plan now is to transition to 2 days a week once I've lost the weight.

[exfatloss]

I gave up on fasting for weight loss as well. It's just another form of caloric restriction and that just doesn't work for me. My body is just too efficient: it immediately turns down the metabolic rate to adjust.

I've done 5 days fast, 2 days feeding for a month straight and didn't lose any weight that I didn't immediately regain upon the 2 feeding days.

[jason_slack]

What is your diet like when you come out of fasting? Are you refeeding for a few days and restoring electrolytes before you go for a heavy meal?

[xeromal]

Lucky for you today! It's ramadan so I'm sure a few hackernews users are fasting until near the end of the month. I've always wanted to see glucose levels for people who fast like that.

[girthbrooks]

Yes, but I’m cheating with my adderall prescription. I stop eating at 8PM and start at noon so I’m mostly just snacking through my eating window and when it wears off I’ll have a larger meal with a bunch of fiber so I’m not starving before bed.

Much easier to do when your appetite is suppressed. Also - don’t know if taking adderall breaks a fast, so I may be totally off.

Haven’t measured my weight change, but I’m certainly burning more calories than I’m eating so it could be a number of factors.

[876978095789789]

> Yes, but I’m cheating with my adderall prescription. I stop eating at 8PM and start at noon so I’m mostly just snacking through my eating window and when it wears off I’ll have a larger meal with a bunch of fiber so I’m not starving before bed.

Funny, I got downvoted yesterday for suggesting Adderall abuse is a problem, and here you are admitting that you use it as an appetite suppressant.

[exolymph]

I was up until I got pregnant! (Intermittent fasting pairs extraordinarily poorly with morning sickness. And then once that wears off you're ravenous all the time.)

> weekend comes and it becomes 10X harder, especially if others are eating around me. And then a sunny day comes and you "have" go have some barbecue and beer, an hamburguer at night, etc.

It's okay to take days off! Especially if that makes the diet/lifestyle more sustainable for you overall.

[meifun]

Yes. I intermittent fast every day from 2pm until noon the following day. I allow myself a 2 hour eating window (22:2) per day. This 2 hours involved me eating a decent amount of a mostly raw vegan diet. I do still cook sweet potatoes, rice and broccoli. I also eat beans and some nuts. I drink 32oz lemon water and 32oz of celery juice each AM.

I fast for 2-3 weeks quarterly. Water only.

When I am sick for any reason I start fasting immediately.

What has this done for me? My weight is finally where it should be from decades of abuse. Autoimmune conditions and diabetes are under control.

I posted a while back that my sleep was about 2-4 hours nightly. Over the last 5 or so months that has increased to 6 hours a night.

Edit: I drink at least 1 gallon of water per day.

[JohnFen]

Weird that you are getting downvotes.

[alcyone]

I've been doing 20/4 for quite some time, even through weekends. barbecue, hamburgers and drinks on the weekend are my weakness too. my tricks to beat hunger are:

- go for a walk, it will stop/slow your craving pretty fast. i do walk a lot, but just going around the block is usually enough to distract my stomach.

- consume electrolytes like potassium capsules. i take 1-2 99mg capsules per day.

- get some iodized salt, eat a 1/2 teaspoon 1-2 times a day with water. this will boost your energy on an empty stomach.

- coffee/caffeine. i drink 3-5 cups of coffee or tea per day.

- eat a big, healthy dinner, with some berries or an apple for dessert.

[taylodl]

I've often wondered if I'm doing it wrong. I seem to feel the best when I've had a big breakfast, don't eat during the day, and have a light dinner. I also tend to lose weight when I do that.

[JohnFen]

I am a big believer in the idea that we all have different bodies and different needs. That in the end, the right way to eat is the way that makes you feel best. And once you're really in touch with your body, you can reliably let your cravings guide you to what sorts of food you should be eating.

[JohnFen]

I've been intermittent fasting for about 30 years now, although I didn't know it was called that and I never consciously decided to do it. It's just the way I naturally eat: one meal per day.

[deadlast2]

Been doing it for the last six months... I lost no weight for months.Found I was eating sweets and cakes on my days "on" which more than made up for the fast. Also be warned when you fast there is a marked reduction in your intelligence hard to explain but you will notice it if you start looking. Could be because I am a little older 53 but I think I can correlate the reduced performance directly to the fasting. Still keeping at it and I will tell you why it is simple an easy way to eat and over the long term if you keep at it works.

[wccrawford]

I do it occasionally, especially if I over-indulge the night before. This morning, for instance. I had far too much pizza last night, so I skipped breakfast.

But I also do it sometimes to try to lose weight, which hasn't been successful. I'm still a little reluctant to do it every day, and my wife worries a lot when I say I'm considering it. But cutting calories has been really, really hard, so I'm still thinking about it.

I definitely don't have the same energy level by lunch if I skip breakfast, so that's a factor, too.

[rco8786]

I skip breakfast most days (or wait until ~10am to eat anything) and don't typically eat anything after about 6pm. It's kind of like accidental IF, but it works for me.

[Phenomenit]

Yeah , this is pretty much me, nowadays I work out quite a bit so I’ll have a proteinshake in the morning but I usually don’t eat anything before lunch(12). In the evening I won’t eat anything after dinner(17) except for another shake if it’s a workout day. My weight has plateaued but I’m still losing fat and gaining muscle.

[satisfice]

I did a 19-hour a day fast for 3 years. Stopped for a year, then started again a few months ago on a more manageable 18-hour schedule.

At first I lost a lot of weight, but then it slowly came back despite being sticking to the plan. So that was frustrating.

I do find that I have much less gastric trouble when I fast than when I don’t. I just feel comfortable in this mode. This time around I am allowing myself to have broth if I get very hungry.

[srameshc]

One of the ways is to not starve or deprive yourself of food that you like. I wouldn't include alcohol in it. But moderation is the key. I eat from 6am to 6pm and I eat well during those hours, but try to restrict after that time. Sometimes it's hard to not follow that regimen and I try to not feel guilty about it. It's alright to be easy on yourself sometimes.

[xboxnolifes]

Never intentionally, but some people consider 16 hours without eating to fall under fasting, and that's a schedule I generally follow naturally. It's pretty easy considering half of that is just sleeping, there's usually a few hours gap between dinner and sleep, and the rest happens from skipping breakfast.

[hirundo]

Effortlessly, by replacing carbs with high quality proteins and fats. No interruptions of a carnivore diet for the last 36 months, 90 pounds down, diabetes and cancer in remission. I was a severely bulimic binge eater on carbs. On high fat/protein I feed at about 7 and 3 and am just not interested in food other times.

[beavis000]

Same here. I switched to a very low glycemic diet and I've gone from 193 to 181 in less than 2 weeks with very little effort. Note -- reading the research on the damage of glucose spikes over a prolonged period of time (read: years) has made it easy for me to want to avoid sugar and "white" carb. Going low glycemic has required little to no willpower on my part; i've found a way to turn my hypochondria/anxiety into a helpful/beneficial thing. I suggest reading "Glucose Revolution" (yes, the title makes me cringe, and it's written on an 8th grade level) -- it contains lots of easy tricks for lowering glucose spikes that work, even for people that aren't compelled to adopt a super duper low glycemic diet like me.

[csdvrx]

> I was a severely bulimic binge eater on carbs

The weirdest thing I've noticed is whenever I eat pizza, it makes me super hungry about 5h later.

I don't like feeling hungry so I've banned pizzas.