Intermittent Fasting Results
As most of you know, I’ve been experimenting with intermittent fasting this month. I’ve been trying to spend at least one day a week with a low amount of calories, about 50% of my usual daily total, and another day a week with no calorie intake at all. Overall, my results have been positive, but I don’t think this is an experiment I will stick with, at least not in its current form.
Physical Results
I’ve lost three lbs this month, something I wasn’t really planning on. That’s good news for me since I’ve been stuck at a weight plateau for several months now. Unfortunately, I’m not expecting this change to last since I’m not going to stick to the fasting routine I was doing this month. Looks like I’ll need to find another solution to these last 15lbs.
I will say that I was surprised at how easy it was to not eat. When I first considered this experiment, I thought I would have serious difficulties with hunger during the fasts and with binge eating on the day after the fast. Neither one of these things happened and I actually found it very easy to not eat. I didn’t feel starved, either on the fast day or the on the next day.
At the same time, my workout performance has stayed the same. I was actually worried about this when I initially started this experiment. I was concerned about the effects of a very restricted calorie intake on my muscles and endurance. However, this proved to be unfounded, at least in the short term. My physical performance is just fine and I am capable of just as much running and weight lifting as I was at the beginning of this month.
Energy Levels
Here’s the odd thing. On the evening of a fast and on the morning after a fast day, I felt incredibly energetic. I was awake, I was attentive, I felt great! I thought I’d be feeling tired and weak from the lack of food, but instead I found myself feeling full of life and ready for anything that came my way. Mentally, I felt sharper and more capable plus I felt happier somehow. I don’t quite have the words to describe how I felt, but it was definitely good. This feeling would last right through the post fast day.
Social Issues
Here’s the problem, and the reason why I couldn’t keep this up. As I discovered through this experiment, food plays a huge part in my social life. No matter who I’m with or what we’re doing, eventually, people want to eat. When they eat, they don’t want me sitting there not eating. That would not be social and I suppose it would make them feel a bit weird. That means that on days where I want to fast, I cannot spend much time with other people. Unfortunately, that just won’t work for me.
I’m a very social person and I enjoy spending time with other people. There’s just no way that I’m going to give up this part of my life. Therefore, there’s no way that I can maintain this habit of intermittent fasting even though I like the health benefits. However, there is a way that I can adapt and retain some of this experiment.
Adaptation and Improvisation
As social as I am, I don’t go out every night. There are evenings when I stay home and do things like work on 60 in 3, read or do school work. This usually happens about once or twice a week. On these days, I plan on skipping dinner altogether and eating only a small lunch. That means that I’ll be doing one to two partial fast days a week, which sounds about right to me. I’m hoping that this is enough to gain the benefits of fasting without interfering too much with my life.
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What new thing are you trying out this month? For me, I’m trying out a whole new approach to the people around me, but that’s a topic for a different time and a different blog. 
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Interesting with regard to yuor energy levels. I have tried this before with mixed results. It occurs to me though, after reading your post today, when I have tried fasting, my reason for abandoning it has ALWAYS been becuase I sleep so poorly on an empty stomach. It has not been worth the (would-be) benefits gained for having to struggle trhough the night. A non-scientific observation that applies to just me. Thoughts and observations from anyone else……?
I didn’t have any issues with sleep. If anything, I actually slept better on those nights where I skipped dinner. Obviously, this could defer from person to person, but for me, the partial fast days were excellent.
Gal
I’ve had mixed results with energy levels and fasting as well. It also interrupts my sleeping patterns, I think.
I’ve done fasts that have lasted from one to three days. In both cases, I felt great. However, when I exercised or did any physical activity, the results were different. I could exercise with no difficulties during a one day fast. However, I found I absolutely ran out of gas very quickly when I tried to exercise during a 3 day fast.
- Dave
Gal,
Interesting reading your own results. I started using I.F to reduce body fat on Jan 1st this year, so I am using it for over 8 weeks. I started with 1 or 2 days a week of fasting for 24hrs. This would be after evening meal. So I would go from Sunday evening to Monday evening for example. As the weeks have gone by and I become more aware of my body and when I am truly hungry I have played around with the eating window. I think one of the advantages of I.F is that it is flexible, you can fast for a 24hr period at times that suit you 2-2 6-6 etc. I have not had a problem on the social side. I would say most of social stuff is on a weekend, so that helps, but also even if it is midweek, it is on evenings, so that still fits my plan fine. I have documented my own experiences on my blog for anyone who is interested ( just click on my name on this post ). I would agree with you on how easy it was not to eat, for me this has been the easiest thing I have ever done to reduce my weight, and I know it is something I will continue to follow, but we are all different. I think even reading your own experiences with Intermittent Fasting, perhaps you just need to play around with the timings ? with I.F nothing is set in stone, just move your eating window. The results for me have been better than I hoped for. In 8 weeks I have lost 26llbs and 12% body fat, and at no time I have refused any foods I would want to eat, nothing has been off limits. The only rule is not eating during the 24hr period. I have modified this slightly now as I am doing more fasting during the week, and eating as I want ona weekend ,again this is when from a social point I would find the same problems as you did. Unlike other commentors I have not had any problems with energy levels or sleeping, perhaps this is something related to reducing their sugar intake ? I don’t know. One thing I have noticed though was I do feel the cold more.
@ Dave
I have only done 24hr fast and have not found any problems with working out on that, I don’t think with how my lifestyle us now I could do 3 days.
I’m am amazed that you actually felt energetic. Did you ever get that sick feeling because you were so hungry?
I never felt sick or weak or anything else like that.
Gal
If your not really used to it, you can feel physically sick and dry from the throat down. I guess you train your mind which concurrently improves your energy level. Great post
I have heard that fasting is generally bad for any healthy diet but I guess if you are seeing results then go for it.
I won’t say its bad but should be done with a good knowledge of the consequences.