It's best to keep a hunger on.

Nick Comstock said:

 

Also this is Thomas DeLauer. He fasts regularly. And it certainly appears that he works out pretty regularly too. 

That's not Thomas DeLauer, that's me!

Steroids make your junk shrink...

Just sayin..

So, I decided to test myself.  Sunday night we finished dinner around 7PM.  We had company all weekend, so we'd been eating more heavily than usual- and more meat than usual.  Sunday dinner was Chicken Scallopini over pasta, with fried green tomatoes and mushrooms.  Ice cream for desert.

Monday morning I woke up, grabbed a big glass of water, and left for work.  Got to work, and downed another glass of water.  And had a cup of black coffee.  

I had to head up to another office in town that morning, which I walked to (it's about 2 miles away, all city streets).  Takes me about 22 minutes to walk it, versus 10 minutes to drive and 10 minutes to park and walk from the parking garage.  And it was 70 and sunny yesterday.  Downed a glass of water after each walk.

When I got back, it was lunchtime.  Had some more water.  

Had a cup of decaf coffee in the afternoon.  It's 2PM now, feeling a little hungry but at this point I know I can make it to dinner.  I've already avoided the temptations of:

1) A cake a co-worker brought in

2) A bag of potato chips someone left in the breakroom

3) The offer of pizza from a co-worker for lunch

4) all the restaurants I had to walk past in the city that day

Got home, had some more water, played with the kids and did some work on the car.  We had dinner at 6PM- so I was officially fasted for 23 hours.  Interestingly, I ate about a normal portion for dinner (we made vegetarian Mexican), and felt full.  After putting the kids to bed and doing a little work in the garage, I came in and felt hungry, so I ate some leftover indian food and a small piece of chicken before going to bed.  The only alcohol I had was a glass of wine with the leftovers before bed. 

Other than a slight hunger, no real issues.  I did feel a little more tired than usual around 10 last night, probably went to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual.  I also noticed, when I woke up this morning, my knee that always, every morning, gives a loud pop when I get out of bed made hardly any noise at all.  Interesting.  

Eating normally today.   

mtn said:

Looks like there is evidence that it can improve memory: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19171901

If I skip breakfast I get a massive headache, which basically distracts me from anything else.  Not sure how that will improve my memory.  I can, and often do, skip dinner entirely, but breakfast - woe be me if  that happens... I drink a ton of water already (thank you kidney stones...) and that doesn't do squat for reducing hunger.

In reply to Ian F :

Then eat breakfast. It's not about which meals you skip. It's the amount of time not eating.

Well, I did my first 23.5 hours. I'd had my last snack, which was really a meal, at 10PM on Sunday. I made it until 9:30 on Monday--no issues until I went to make my a snack for my pregnant wife. At that point, I lost all impulse control and had two bratwurst. Not what I had intended on doing; I wanted to eat nothing until breakfast today. In any case, I skipped breakfast this morning because of my large late night snack.

Anyways, I'll be fasting again today until dinner around 7--likely something very fatty because my wife mentioned she wanted alfredo tonight, and when we have alfredo, we make it ourselves. With full fat everything. 

Ultimately, I think this will be something that I do for about a month or two, and after that maybe once or twice a month tops. After one day, I don't think I'll be able to sustain it. But we'll see--small sample size, after all.

Trans_Maro said:

Steroids make your junk shrink...

Just sayin..

close buddy of mine in high school had a saying that his doctor prescribed him steroids otherwise he would be too big.

Oh, high school.

In reply to mtn :

My experience is that it gets easier. 

In reply to mtn :

Sure, just had to best me by 1/2 an hour.  

Nick Comstock said:

In reply to mtn :

My experience is that it gets easier. 

 

Mine too.

The most helpful things for me:

1. Routine. Find something consistent and stick with it. When I'm tempted by something in the morning, it's easy for me to push it off knowing that I can't eat until noon. Remember that every routine or habit is made up of three things: a trigger, a routine, and a reward. I've made the actual feeling of hunger something of a reward. I like feeling hungry once a day because it tells me I'm not eating too much. Which isn't exactly reality, but it's a tangible feeling that I can use in my routine.

2. Sensitivity. This isn't something you can train or add...I'm super sensitive to what I eat, and it makes turning down donuts (for example) really easy. I focus on that "I just ate a donut and feel fat and sugar high and gross" feeling I would have if I ate it, and it's enough to turn me off.

I am going to give it a try after dinner tonight and see what happens.

For me, I've found it's not what I eat or when, but how much.  When I pay attention to portion size, it'll help me with weight loss.  

In reply to Ian F :

I'm not specifically talking about weight loss. Although that's the easiest thing to track.

There are numerous benefits to overall health through fasting. Here is some information I found.

Autophagy: A study looking at liver cells found that the number of autophagosomes increased 300% after 24 hours of fasting, and a further 30% around 48 hours of fasting - began to decline after 48 hours (3)

Immune Health- USC Study - Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system. A study from USC found that prolonged fasting (2-3 days) can reset and regenerate the immune system - resulted in the depletion of white blood cells and triggered stem cell-based regeneration of new immune system cells. Found that white blood cells are broken down during fasting, which in turn forces the stem cells in your body to produce more - The new white blood cells are not just new, but healthier and more effective than the previous cells. It also reduced the enzyme PKA, which is the key gene that needs to shut down in order for stem cells to switch into regenerative mode - triggers stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially regenerating the entire immune system (4)

Ketones- A study from the Yale School of Medicine found that exposing human immune cells to BHB following 2 days of fasting resulted in a reduced inflammatory response. BHB blocks NLRP3 inflammasome by preventing K(+) efflux and reducing ASC oligomerization and speck formation - potassium efflux, ASC, and speck formation are common triggers of NLRP3 (5,6) *NLRP3 inflammasome - a multiprotein oligomer that is activated in response to a variety of infectious stimuli or to cellular stress*

Digestive Health- Fasting acts as a “digestive reset” by giving the digestive tract time to rest from breaking down and absorbing food and helps it strengthen its mucosal lining - About 65% of the body's energy must be directed to the digestive organs after a meal. This reduces intestinal inflammation and improves motility (contraction of GI muscles in digestion) - leads to better nutrient absorption and improved bowel movement.

Brain- Fasting reduces synaptic activity (synapses allow chemical signals to be passed between neurons.) - the brain’s way of conserving energy and giving itself a little reboot. Reducing synaptic activity helps limit the unwanted oxidative damage in the nervous system - overactive synaptic activity linked with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease (10) Lastly, BHB can cross the BBB due to its hydrophilic nature and can provide the brain with an immediate source of energy.

References:

1) Short-term fasting induces profound neuronal autophagy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

2) The Profound Benefits of Fasting (and Autophagy) | Synchro. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://besynchro.com/blogs/blog/the-...

3) Short-term fasting induces profound neuronal autophagy: Autophagy: Vol 6, No 6. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/1...

4) Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system | USC News. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-tri...

5) The ketone metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate blocks NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammatory disease. - PubMed - NCBI. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

6) Can Fasting Fight the Flu or Common Cold? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/...

7) Fasting enhances growth hormone secretion and amplifies the complex rhythms of growth hormone secretion in man. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

8) Augmented growth hormone (GH) secretory burst frequency and amplitude mediate enhanced GH secretion during a two-day fast in normal men. - PubMed - NCBI. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...

9)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?....

10) How Fasting Allows The Brain To Recharge Itself | HuffPost. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/f...

Okay three weeks in. I did about 23.5 on Monday and am at about 22 right now. I may wait until the morning to eat or not. Depends on what the wife wants to do tonight. 

I wasn't really feeling it Monday and it was hard. But today has been great and I feel fine. 

Over all I still feel much better than I was previously.  

I weighed in today at 181.7. I guess I need to start thinking about a cutoff weight. 

In reply to Nick Comstock :

How often are you fasting?

I'm "sort of" bagging this. I just can't do it more than a day a week or so, and I overeat when I'm done. Not really overeating so much as eating 2000 calories in one sitting--fine for the day, not for the sitting. 

I'll keep it up for about a day a week, but in general this is not for me. One thing I am going to try to do though is to eat dinner earlier in the day, and skip breakfast. Easy to get 18 hours of fasting in that way.

In reply to yupididit :

Currently twice a week. Mondays and Thursdays.  I tried the 16/8 method and didn't like it. I feel better doing the 5/2 method.

One day in so far and it was not really too bad.  The wife and I are going to try the 5/2 method starting Monday.  Thanks for the inspiration to try this, we have both been thinking about it just had not pulled the trigger yet.

In reply to Aaron_King :

I'd certainly be interested in progress updates for you or anyone else trying out fasting. 

Also are you guys doing it to lose weight or general health?

In reply to Nick Comstock :

Even though I tip the BMI scales into the "slightly overweight" category (at 5'10" and 180 lbs) I also have a 32" waist and am generally pretty active.  So I'm not concerned about my weight presently.  More interested in this for the general health benefits you mentioned.  Don't think I'll do it on any sort of a rigid schedule, perhaps just once a month or something.  I did feel less bloated and more mentally acute, and some joint stiffness I've been having seemed to lessen.  

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to Nick Comstock :

Even though I tip the BMI scales into the "slightly overweight" category (at 5'10" and 180 lbs) I also have a 32" waist and am generally pretty active.  So I'm not concerned about my weight presently.  More interested in this for the general health benefits you mentioned.  Don't think I'll do it on any sort of a rigid schedule, perhaps just once a month or something.  I did feel less bloated and more mentally acute, and some joint stiffness I've been having seemed to lessen.  

32" waist, you're probably pretty lean. BMI is a pretty good indicator, but a body fat percentage test is really a better one. 

Now for me, it says I'm obese. And to be honest, I probably am--but I'm 5'10" 220, with a 36" waist.

My dad has been on about this intermittent fasting stuff for some time now, and I have immense respect for his thoughts, opinions, and decision making process.  I have been putting off researching/trying it with the excuse that life is stressful and it's going to be that much harder to succeed when my go to for stress is snacking.  But yeah, I also really want to lose some weight, and the additional health benefits do sound quite appealing.  Now this thread keeps popping up...It's the straw that broke the camel's back, I tells ya.  When it came time to grab my breakfast/lunch this morning, I grabbed nothing. 

I'd like to make it to dinner, but thinking about it in those terms I'm not sure I'll make it past lunch...Which would still be a start, I guess. I'm trying not to think of it in those terms though, and breaking it into more manageable chunks.  First at breakfast, I can make it to break.  Now break, even when my coworker came in with a fragrant slice of pepperoni pizza, I can make it to lunch.

It especially doesn't help though knowing that the lower file drawer in my desk is filled with snacks, even if they're not terribly unhealthy ones. It's just sitting there, staring at me...

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to Nick Comstock :

Even though I tip the BMI scales into the "slightly overweight" category (at 5'10" and 180 lbs) I also have a 32" waist and am generally pretty active.  So I'm not concerned about my weight presently.  More interested in this for the general health benefits you mentioned.  Don't think I'll do it on any sort of a rigid schedule, perhaps just once a month or something.  I did feel less bloated and more mentally acute, and some joint stiffness I've been having seemed to lessen.  

If you're interested in the general health benefits of this then do it more frequently because if you felt better and less bloated then you probably need to lose some weight.

There's a lot to be said about reducing our daily caloric intake for health purposes. We eat far too much, and often the wrong stuff, almost all of us.

In reply to Suprf1y :

Somebody said that we're not meant to be grazing animals. But now it's like most people graze from the time they get up until the time they go to bed. 

In reply to Nick Comstock :

I would say both but lean a little more toward general health.  I am 5 9 and about 180 so not too overweight.  I will try and keep the thread updated as we go